Typically around this time, the only visitors at Yasu’s shop in Osaka would be me. Wekfest Japan is usually happening during this period and I’d be over there getting ready to go to the show with him. Because of the global pandemic, and numbers still rising over in Japan, the border has been closed off to foreign visitors and I haven’t been able to return as I would usually. From what I saw online, like the rest of you, Wekfest Japan was a great event. There were less cars and the crowd was likely smaller than usual, but it was expected with the way things are going right now. With Yasu being so busy with work, not wanting to catch anything, and me not even being there, he decided it would be best if he just stayed behind this year…

Though I wasn’t able to make it, a couple of car guys instead made the drive to Osaka after the Wekfest Japan event to visit Yasu. Yanagi, who owns one of my favorite EG6 Civic builds currently and Masashi, who has been a Chronicles supporter for a good amount of time now with his S2000, both drove from Nagoya to Osaka after the show to check out Osaka’s Honda scene. Both are from the Tokyo-side so they don’t get much exposure to Osaka and their unique style other than on the Internet. Speaking of which, I actually came to know both these cars from Twitter, which is a huge resource for Japan’s automotive community. I’d say Twitter is much bigger in Japan compared to Instagram when it comes to Japan’s car scene. Many have both but if you want to see good car content from there, you’d likely find more of it on Twitter. I’ve personally never met either of these guys but have become pretty familiar with their builds because of the social media platform…

When Yasu told me that they were gonna come visit, I was pretty stoked about it. I asked him to take some photos and it turned out that he already had plans to. He even let them stay over night at his house since they made the drive all the way to Osaka without any plans to stay for more than a day. Talk about hospitality. Free room to sleep and a free shoot? Sounds like a good deal to me…

Most of the photos below are actually rolling shots that Yasu captured during the day. He’s been really into shooting rollers lately and they’ve been coming out pretty great so I have no complaints. I hope you enjoy them. I toss in captions whenever I can but most of the photos are pretty self-explanatory. Thanks to these guys for making the drive, thanks to Yasu for shooting, and thanks to you guys for looking….

Yasu shot some photos of Masashi’s S2000 first, during a late evening. Not sure where this spot is but I like the lighting and how grungy it looks. Perfect setting for this white S2000…

The engine bay of this S2000 was just recently redone and completed in time for the Wekfest event. It looks pretty clean and I think you’d be surprised to read that this S2000 is taken to the track quite often and driven pretty hard. Cool to see tha the continues to keep the car so clean…

The interior is pretty nicely set-up as well with a trio of gauges mounted to the dash and a suede OMP wheel mounted to a Works Bell Rapfix II…

Nothing too crazy on the outside, just a set of carbon canards, a carbon front splitter, Volk TESLs and a Voltex rear wing…

Yanagi’s EG6 is super cool to me. I’m not a big Itasha guy but I appreciate the builds over there that pull it off with subtlety like his. There’s just a graphic along the driver’s door and front fender and it all blends very well into the paint…

Some TODA Racing goodies for his Civic including this header…

…and a set of TODA cam gears…

Some Speedfactory goods from the U.S. like this radiator cap and filler neck. Unrelated but I like how he paint-matched his distributor cap to his valve cover. A nice touch and also very subtle…

More imported goods from the U.S. like this Rywire clutch master mounting plate and Chase Bays clutch master cylinder…

A Rywire engine harness helps power all things electronic…

Some hoodless rolling shots which will later come to attract maybe a little too much attention. Love that US Racing Sports front lip…

Not your typical gas station photo…

Some tandem rollers….

I actually really like the driver’s side of this build because it adds so much character to an otherwise very simply-executed Civic build…

A couple of still shots by a playground. Not really sure where these were taken because Yasu never takes me anywhere nice when I’m there, lol…

A couple more engine bay details…

He really pulls off these Enkei RPF1 wheels especially with some good tire sizing and ride height…

And then the police showed-up not too long after and wanted to know why there was a hoodless Civic just sitting on the street with a bunch of dudes standing around. Yasu had a good laugh about it because it just happens way too often but I’m pretty sure Yanagi got a ticket for is, lol. Worth it though to get these photos. Yasu absolutely killed it with this set and I’m so happy he was able to find time to shoot. I really wish I was there to do some shooting as well but I shall return soon! For now, thanks for looking folks!!….