Attention, attention, we are now interrupting what seems like regularly scheduled posts from Japan to give you some photos I’ve long been waiting to post. As most of you will have realized by now, I am currently in Osaka, Japan. I have so much content to upload as I have been making Vlog episodes basically real-time that I haven’t had much time to post anything else. Right before I left for Osaka, I had literally crammed two nights into completing these photos from Wekfest Chicago only to have them sit on my hard drive for another two weeks, lol. There’s just been so much cool shit happening on this sound of the pond that I haven’t been able to sit down to lay out this post. It’s a shame because I really enjoyed how these photos came out…

Little did I know that this event would be the last time I shoot a full event with my Canon 5DMKIV. Now that the camera is broken or anything, thank goodness, I just came upon a deal too good to pass up while I was in Osaka that I found myself with a completely new body to shoot with. And I’m loving it. Let’s just say that shooting photos here has been exponentially more fun this time around because I have a new camera to fuck with as well. I’ve been here for almost two weeks now and it has been a wild ride. I can’t really wait to see what’s next. This week has been a bit slower since it is the week back to work for many after the annual “Golden Week” holiday. This week-long celebration usually gives car enthusiasts out here plenty of time to have meets, gatherings, or even big events to go to. I swear, the first week I was here was non-stop. It seemed as if every day there was something going on. Not a great schedule for a guy that was jetlagged after not being in Japan for two years…but I made it work…

This week has been a bit slower. It’s still completely different than my schedule back at home but I’ve actually had a lot of time this week to go through photos and video. These photos from Chicago definitely lingered in the back of my mind but I just didn’t know when it would be a good time to post it. I’ve honestly been procrastinating the last two hours because I wasn’t sure if my suddenly injecting these photos into my feed would disrupt a pretty good flow of Japan content. But, after considering it long and hard, I decided I should post it. Why? Well. It’s easy. I still have some time here in Japan and if I don’t post these photos now when I have time to, I may never get to them and it’ll be way too old for anyone to want to see them. Sooooo, that is how I arrived at these words that I’m typing out to you now. These felt so long ago now. Even last week feels like it happened a long time ago. But I just can’t let these great shots go to waste…

So I present to you, live from Yasu’s house in Osaka, Japan, photos from the 2022 Wekfest Chicago event… Enjoy! It’s 2:03 AM here so it is time for me to get some sleep…

Cris from IRUNOEM’s ’97 Integra Type R was one of the first cars I encountered that early morning. His set-up is nice and simple with a stock body ITR running just a Mugen Gen. II rear wing and silver Volk Racing CE28N…

I’ve seen Ginesh from JDMChicago own a lot of cars over the years so appropriately enough, he showed-up in yet another car I hadn’t had the opportunity to see him in yet…

Shot this just because Advan RG in this spec and face is still one of my all-time favorite wheels…

One of Chicago’s staples in the automotive photography world, Chris Sullivan, stopping to catch-up with Ginesh…

Koui Viengchan’s Integra Type R running a Mugen front under spoiler, sideskirts, and Gen. II rear wing…

Bronze 16×8 Mugen MF10 wheels sitting nice and low on Toyo rubber…

Alcon brakes can be seen lurking behind the iconic bronze spokes of the Mugen wheel…

One of the rarer pieces on this DC2 were these chrome Mugen headlight covers…

Joel Zabel made the drive over from Milwaukee as he does every year in his NH0 NSX to attend Wekfest Chicago…

Had to get a shot of the Chicago skyline in the distance…

Looking at this car drive around during the early morning roll-in, I admired its simplicity but noticed that it didn’t sound like a typical KA or SR. As it turns out, I later discovered that this car has a Honda K24-swap in it that’s also been turbocharged thanks to the guys from TF Works…

Richy Contreras debuted a brand new build in the form of a JZX100 Toyota Chaser running Vertex sides/rear with a Julius front lip…

An AE86 Corolla Levin paired with a classic set of Work Equip 01 wheels…

A duo of brightly-colored S2000s arrived to display for Diamond Light works…

Nifty clear AP1 taillights on the green S2K running its of Voltex aero…

Nice low squat on this DC2 Type R as it pulls into the venue…

Two very different generations of Phoenix yellow Type Rs…

Mike’s A90 Supra wearing Varis Arising 1 aero and Advan GT wheels…

Clear taillights on this two-toned Lexus LS…

Pat’s Rocket Bunny Mazda Miata getting set to be rolled-off the trailer after the drive from Minnesota…

Another look at Richy’s Chaser on polished Volk TE37 wheels…

…and a better look at the Levin from earlier on Equip 01s…

Despite its dark appearance, the Chaser isn’t actually ‘black’ in color. My boy Jaime also owns the same color JZX100 and it’s a color called Ebony Teal Pearl…

An R35 GTR which was probably going to be a display vehicle for Mackin Industries seeing as how its on a nice set of Volk TEs…

Cool to see a privately-owned REALTIME Acura Integra Type R race car at the show. This one was pulled-off of a trailer and headed for the Gridlife booth…

Cris’ ’97 Integra Type R finally made it up the ramp to the staging area…

Zabel had to go burn-off some excess fuel before he could go inside. Odd thing about Chicago’s convention hall requirements is that you’re only allowed to have 1/8th of a tank instead of the standard quarter tank…

A couple more NSXs followed…

One of them being Pete’s Marga Hills-equipped NSX…

The Drennon brothers from PGK showed-up to showcase their Hondas…

Moe’s Honda Civic coupe running a Mugen Ferio rear wing, Desmond Regamaster EVO wheels, and Exceed by Mode Parfume front lip…

The car is also K-swapped with gutted interior and roll bar…

Moe’s older brother Squirk’s bagged NSX…

This FK8 Civic Type R cruised by wearing Varis aero, Volk Racing G025 wheels and Voltex GT wing…

A couple of dedicated Honda enthusiasts made the drive all the way from the East Coast Tri-State area to be a part of the Wekfest Chicago event…

I took a lot of trips up and down that long ramp into the Navy Pier hall trying to see all that I could as cars rolled-in. Eventually I saw some of my favorites from that trip when the boys from Team Vanish showed-up in their S-chassis drift cars…

I love the homage to the Japanese drift cars of old represented in both their aero selection and the lay-out of their vinyl graphics…

What I enjoyed more than anything however, was their camaraderie as they waited to drive-up that ramp to display their cars. You could tell that these guys were friends and have been together for a while now. All their cars had a particular style that all flowed well with one another and there was just a presence about them…

It’s true that you can have all the money in the world and can’t truly buy style, but that sentiment is elevated even higher when you come to understand that style, TRUE style, provides a car build with a presence and feeling that is only for the select few…

One of my favorite photos from that trip was capturing the Vanish cars with Chicago in the distance. This to me, was the defining image of what I envisioned Wekfest Chicago to be…

There are actually more photos that I didn’t use but I found myself shooting this scene quite a bit…

I’m glad that car guys like these, who you’d typically think would frown upon being at a car show instead of ‘using’ their cars, show-up to represent at events like Wekfest. It doesn’t happen too often but I always appreciate it when the effort is made. I don’t typically cover motorsports or drifting but I always show love by going to Final Bout or other grassroots motorsports events even if it does nothing for my audience…

There is another set of photos that I still need to post which I promise I will definitely get to, but I am in the middle of a very important trip in Japan that I must get back to. I know you’ll understand. Thanks for looking though and I appreciate your patience!…