Back with the rest of the photos from the recent “Phantom Day” event held in Chiba, Tokyo, Japan. Though this was a smaller event, I can imagine how much fun it would have been to just walk around all day and shoot some of these builds while shooting the shit with my friends over there. Hopefully sooner than later, I’ll be able to do just that when I can head back to Japan. For now, we’ll just have to look at these great photos captured by Yasutaka Shimomukai from Exceed Japan. I’m glad he’s been around me long enough to understand what cars I’d capture and what angles I like to shoot them at. He sends them over to me and I process them the same way I process my own photos. The end result are photos that look just like mine, honestly. Only people that are incredibly familiar with my photography and level of detail will notice the differences.
Huge thanks to Yasu for his hard work and always taking the time to get content for me while I’m away from Japan. Enjoy!…
For the Phantom Day event, I was asked if I could select a car to present a special award to. This was difficult because I wasn’t actually there physically, but Yasu did walk around the entire event and showed me photos of cars that I would potentially choose as a winner…
I ultimately selected Oka’s Integra, since to me, it perfectly suited the theme of the event, which was ‘USDM styling’. Though there is a thin line between what people consider now to be ‘JDM’ or ‘USDM’, I thought this Integra was the right choice because it does exactly that—cross both lines. It’s what you would imagine an Integra built here in California to look like if someone was building a Japanese-inspired Honda. But in Japan, it’s considered a Western interpretation of what ‘JDM’ is…
The interesting thing about this build is that I’ve seen it quite a bit over the past year but I never even noticed that it was a true USDM left-hand drive Acura Integra. The car suits the theme so correctly that you don’t even bother to consider it actually being an Acura once sold in America…
It even has a Chronicles decal on the dash, which had no bearing on whether or not I chose the car for the award or not. I didn’t even know it had my decal on it until I went through Yasu’s photos…
The engine bay is also executed in the style of a U.S.-based Honda build with a cleaned-up engine bay, a Rywire engine harness, a K-series swap with some Hybrid Racing accessories…
The exterior features a Japanese Integra Type R front end conversion, ironic yes, with an Exceed by Mode Parfume front lip, Mode Parfume sideskirts, Magical Racing carbon mirrors, and bronze Volk CE28N wheels…
Shibasaki’s EK9 Civic Type R always looks great, just keeping a fresh OEM-style CTR aesthetic with color-matched First Molding mirrors. He’s got a bunch of different wheels that he often switches between and you’ll likely see photos of his car floating around all over social media. His Civic is simple but it always sits nice and low on quality wheels, giving it a timeless appeal…
For Phantom Day he put on a set of 5-lug Spoon SW388 wheels wrapped in Yokohama Advan rubber…
This EK Civic had an interesting approach to USDM style, with the car completely repainted with a shaved engine bay and black accents outside that tie into the 3-piece Barramundi Design wheels…
The B-series engine features a SpeedFactory billet valve cover paired with a SpeedFactory oil breather set-up, Mugen header, tucked radiator, and Go-Autoworks intake…
From this angle you can see the shaved and extended shock towers as well as the Skunk2 Pro Series intake manifold…
Inside is a pair of Recaro Mugen MS-R seats, a custom sound system, and a collection of braces from the NEXT! Miracle X-bar collection…
The EK also runs front and rear Wilwood brakes with a classic Mugen Twin-Loop exhaust under the rear bumper…
Kazuhiro from Five Mart brought out this Honda Quint Integra which has been completely repainted and lowered on Volk TE37 Sonic wheels…
In the engine bay is a newer B18C Type R swap with a TODA Racing header and TODA Sports Injection kit…
A complete Mugen CRX Pro.2 is a rare sight these days so it’s always a pleasure to see one in the 2020s…
This one featured a set of re-barreled Mugen MR5 wheels for a bit of a modern touch while still retaining it’s classic appeal…
From this angle it looks the the wheel wells and fenders have been reworked a bit to house the now-wider MR5 wheels…
Tsunemi Tamei’s RE Amemiya-equipped Mazda RX-7 on BBS LM wheels. Check out the carbon fiber overlay in the engine bay with the factory twin-turbo set-up and v-mounted intercooler…
This FK7 Civic looked fantastic running a Blitz front lip, sitting nice and low on Work Wheels-produced JDM Concept GT5 wheels…
Everyone has that one friend that knows a guy that is just willing to absolutely hammer his CRV to the ground…
…and that guy also has a friend who is just as down to hammer his Suzuki to the floor…
Masatoshi Sakuma’s Morea Green Metalic USDM E36 318is coupe bagged on BBS LM wheels paired with paint-matched BBS caps…
Yuuki Kouno from Rock Photograph’s bagged Toyota 86 also on BBS LM wheels…
This Toyota 86 has been re-imagined to look like a USDM Scion FR-S Release Series 1.0 paired with 3-piece HRE 305 wheels…
This bagged Toyota 86 with Rocket Bunny over fenders and Rotiform wheels looked very USDM appropriate…
If you want to get mind-fucked check out this Honda Integra which has a USDM front bumper seamlessly integrated into the Japanese ITR face along with an Exceed front lip. I honestly think the car would look much better without the PCI sides, because those things are awful, but overall the car looks really interesting. I think it is safe to say that it also looks like a CD Accord coupe now, lol…
Concept, a popular audio shop in this region, had a full booth display along with their interpretation of a Spoon Sports CR-Z race car which is also K-swapped…
The X-Point built Mode Parfume widebody S2000 democar on Desmond Regamaster EVO II wheels…
The engine bay of the widebody AP2 has been shaved clean and completely overhauled to house a turbocharged F22C set-up…
Masa Chiba’s original CB Accord sedan build still alive and well on Rays Volk Racing Touring Evolution Fortesst wheels…
The engine bay has also been redone and shaven smooth to carry a custom turbocharged K24 swap with polished RBC intake manifold…
A Mugen aero-equipped DC5 Integra Type R that Masa Chiba from X-Point built about a year ago…
The engine bay is completely USDM-themed with a mix of products from Hybrid Racing, Skunk2, Rywire, and Downstar Inc…
Osaka made their presence known on the Tokyo-side with a duo of Civics from NO GOOD RACING…
This Red Bull-themed EK9 is certainly one of the cleaner examples of Civics from the infamous NGR car club…
Mori’s Milano Red EK9 Civic Type R is a build you’ve seen often here on The Chronicles, as I documented the creation of this project during the times when I visited Yasu in Osaka…
Not much has changed on the car, especially the engine bay, since it’s usually just stored at Exceed and brought out only for events…
Some recent changes to the exterior however, included a new set of TEs and paint-matched Mode Parfume sideskirts…
Yasu’s new Toyota GR86 Premium with prototype Exceed front lip and side diffusers…
Kenya’s S2000 with CR/Type-S front lip, front/rear Exceed big brakes, Exceed SSD suspension, Mugen hard-top, and Desmond Regamaster EVO II wheels…
Yasu’s FK7 Civic also on Desmond wheels with a brand new Exceed by Mode Parfume front lip…
Hiroshige from Mode Parfume’s own EG6 Civic SiR running their Mode Parfume front bumper, rear wing, sideskirts, and Endless-produced Mode Parfume brakes…
Masao from Mode Parfume’s Ferio sedan utilizing their Mode Parfume front wide fenders, front bumper, sideskirts, and SSR Professor SPX wheels…
Towards the end of the day, Yasu gathered up the boys to get some more photos before heading home to Osaka…
The X-Point built Mode Parfume S2000 being loaded-up on a fancy trailer…
And we end this coverage with a shot of Mori’s EK9 and Shige’s EG6…
That’s all for the Phantom Day coverage. Thanks for looking!!…
Fun Fact that CRZ used to be owned by spoon sports and was used in 2013 25 hours of thunder hill. The new owner Kswap the car from the original L15a7.