Now that all the videos are done and 14 different episodes are up on YouTube, I can FINALLY get to the photos I shot while I was in Japan for a month! I love making videos but there’s nothing I enjoy more than shooting photos. I mean, photo content is a mainstay here on The Chronicles but I opted to release Vlog episodes first because I just don’t enjoy editing photos on my laptop. The colors are just so different than what I’m used to here at home on my desktop and I’m also spoiled with this giant monitor I have in my office. It just wouldn’t be doing my photography work justice if I did everything off of my laptop. Not many will notice but even the Vlogs are slightly different compared to the ones I create at home…

One of the most important parts of this month-long stay in Japan was trying to find a balance between the two mediums. I didn’t want to miss anything in photos and I tried my best to be fast enough to capture everything I wanted on video. I purchased a new Canon body to shoot with during my first week there too so I ended-up with two cameras to work with. I thought it would make things easier because I wouldn’t have to switch lenses and could have one specifically focused on shooting video but everything just seemed more cumbersome having to carry two cameras everywhere. Nonetheless, everything did work out in the end and I didn’t break either one—which is amazing considering how often I feel like I’m going to break something…

Wekfest Japan was a bit different for me this year. I won’t get too much into it but I found myself with the freedom to just enjoy the show for once after a two-year hiatus from Japan. In the past I spent ALL my time working the event, judging cars while also doing coverage, trying to be a good representative for them, and to be honest with you, I felt a bit taken for granted by the staff over there. I think my work carries a lot of weight in the global automotive community. I’ve done a lot for this event series in Japan. It’s growth has been built off of my sweat equity. Their presence is strong because of the time I’ve put in. It’s time someone over there acknowledges it…

I had no part in the show this year. Everything I did was on the media side of it to represent Wekfest USA and to represent The Chronicles. I also went because I FUCKING LOVE CARS so I wanted to be there to see some of the best builds in Japan that I helped curate over the years with my hard work. I didn’t judge, I had no input on the show, and I might as well have bought my own ticket. And it was kind of a great time, lol. I was offered the freedom to do as I pleased and with that came great content. There was no stress of running out of time to do anything and I finally got to see what it felt like to be a spectator at the show. And you know what? It’s a pretty damn good car show. And I think I’ll just continue to go back as a spectator in the future to create good content for the people…

There are so many photos to go through still. I went to so many events that unpacking all this content is going to take me a few weeks. If you enjoyed all the videos, make sure to stay with me as I host the photos here this entire month. I’m gonna grab dinner and get back to work. Here’s Part 1 of the Wekfest Japan coverage…

We woke up bright and early to make the drive over to Nagoya for the show. Yasu was supposed to have an Exceed booth at the show so we decided to use the new GR86 as the display car for Wekfest. The car looks simple at a glance but it features the brand new Exceed Japan front lip and sideskirts for the GR86 chassis as well as coilovers and front/rear big brake upgrades…

One of the builds that I had been excited to see was Yanagi’s EG6 Civic which was sporting a brand new Idemitsu-inspired livery for 2022. It looked fantastic and I was super surprised to see that he included a Chronicles logo into the graphics scheme…

A number of Hondas have worn this style of livery over the years but Yanagi’s is one of the best ones I’ve seen. The whole car just pops and you can’t help but direct your eyes towards it as he cruises by…

Pandem widebody 987 Cayman on Rotiform wheels…

Tsubasa Nakamura’s J’s Racing GT widebody Honda S2000 with a Voltex Type 7 wing and Volk TE37V Mark II…

Get a closer look and you’ll see the custom side-exit exhaust on Kuro’s BNR32 Skyline GT-R on Nismo LMGT2 wheels…

Masun’s Tactical Art-built Honda Civic EK4. If this car looks familiar to you it was once Motoki’s old K-swapped Civic on CCW wheels…

Takumi Kai’s bagged Subaru BRZ on Weber Sports Zenith wheels…

A couple shots of Kihito’s DR30 Skyline coupe on Superstar Chevlon wheels….

Masanori Takeuchi’s custom-widened and radiused FD3S RX-7 from Team LOWЯESS. I remember he had a pretty nice RX8 before and I guess he must have sold it to build this FD…

Here’s a look at the rear radiused quarter panel tucking the tire of his Volk TE37V Mark II wheels…

Masaki Takeshima’s FD is always looking good with the custom widebody to pair with what looks to be a BN Sports Type 1 face and Weds Kranze LXZ wheels…

The rear features a carbon rear diffuser and LED taillights…

Ag’s Mugen CR-X Pro.2 on Work Equip 03. He actually has an Itasha-themed graphic on the other side but I didn’t catch it as he was driving in…

Pandem widebody R32 Skyline GT-R on new Volk Racing 21C wheels. Exterior looks to be painted a shade of candy apple red with the gutted interior in white…

Kazu’s TRA Kyoto Pandem V3 180SX covered in a brilliant coat of Sonic Titanium Metallic. The OEM Lexus paint pairs nicely with custom SSR Professor SP1 wheels with brushed faces…

Kenta’s classically-styled Mugen EP3 Civic on bronze MF10 wheels…

Imported LHD Volkswagen MK2 Golf with bolt-on over-fenders and what appears to be 14-inch concave-face Volk Racing TE37 wheels…

As it turns out, Johnny Tran has been in Japan this entire time with his VeilSide S2000 after the police disrespected him in front of his family. Glad he still has this amazing machine…

I found myself capturing a lot of photos of Takeuchi’s FD since it sat so aggressively…

But while I was doing that I was surprised by this Mitsuoka Rock Star, which is something I never thought I’d say. The Rock Star is actually a product of the Mitsuoka Motor company, which often builds these limited-run custom vehicles that have styling inspired by American and European sports cars. This particular car is based off of an MX-5 Miata chassis and is designed to look like a 2nd generation Corvette. Only 50 of them were ever produced and this one is shown in the “Los Angeles Blue” colorway…

Meanwhile, back to the LOWЯESS FDs…

Sometimes I really enjoy the FDs with a ton of crazy aero like the ones you see at Attack Tsukuba and then there are times when I just like these simply-styled, hammered to the ground street car FDs…

I think I just like them in various styles because the factory bodylines are so good and they’re just so versatile when it comes to styling them…

Shoichi Hisada’s AE86 Trueno sitting aggressively on RS Watanabe wheels…

Chihiro Miyawaki’s EK9 Type R is one of my favorites lately, running C-West front and sides, a J’s Type-T hood, and J’s GT wing…

For Wekfest Japan he showed-off this mint set of rare Keiichi Tsuchiya wheels to contrast with his Spoon Sports brakes…

Taiki’s EK9 is yet another fine example of a rare silver Civic Type R, his being a Zenki model riding nice and low on chromed Mugen MF10 wheels…

Rear quarter angle of Hisada’s Trueno…

Never thought I’d like a AE86 on Kosei K1 wheels but this slightly widened Levin looks hard on these deep-hub K1s…

Ryo Shimizu once had a really nice black EG6 Civic but is now rolling in his AE86 Trueno coupe…

Two of the top builds at Wekfest Japan every year; the Ishikawa Body PS13 coupe and the Inazuma Worx AE86…

It’s always cool to see Masaru Ishikawa bring his son out to all the events he attends to share the experience with him…

This S13 sits so low that the front lip can’t even be installed until the car is unloaded off of the trailer…

Naoya Yamadoi’s BN Sports S14 Kouki looked so menacing in red on Work VS-KF wheels…

It’s always nice to see my gear represented well in Japan…

Wekfest marked the debut of Masafumi Eto’s latest project which was this ’97-spec Integra Type R restomod. The car has been in the works for a while now in the capable hands of craftsman Kazu Imai, and though simple aesthetically, is all about the details…

The main purpose of this build was to pay homage to classically-styled U.S. Honda builds. That’s why you see a host of brand new old stock Comptech products on the car, stuff you’d rarely even see nowadays here in North America, along with modern JRZ RS-Pro coilovers, and a tucked radiator with custom -AN lines…

The build is so heavily USDM-influenced that the engine is an actual North American B18C5 engine remade to look brand new…

Mao Nakai’s new project ’74 S30Z, bagged on RS Watanabe wheels and repainted Leaf Green Metallic which is an OEM Porsche color…

Widebody FD3S RX-7 on Work wheels from tuning shop LOOKING…

Koji Uematsu’s S2000 recently had a makeover and is looking fantastic these days with Spoon Sports rear over-fenders, front fenders, Voltex front, Voltex GT wing, Mugen hard top, and silver Volk Racing CE28…

SouthsiiiiIde Auto Customs Civic Shuttle planted to the floor of the Port Messe venue…

For this year’s show, they brought-out a custom rebuilt set of rare Yamaco Courrèges ACG wheels in a colorway to match their “Fake RTi” look…

The natural light inside this venue offers some pretty great photos at certain times of the day when light can peek in. Sad to see this venue go as this will be the last Wekfest here…

Kazuka Ohashi has been making pretty big waves in the automotive industry in the last few years with his insane supercar and European builds. What many won’t know is that one of his first major builds was this Civic coupe. I was surprised to see it again after all these years because I thought he had left all his Honda work behind him…

His builds have always had a bit of European inspiration to him and it is great to see his earlier work to compare to what he’s doing now. For this show, he added a set of Madlane aero discs to the BBS wheels on his Civic and the build looks better than ever…

Racing Padock Miyoshi’s Pandem FC3S RX-7 wearing traditional Racing Beat colors…

Teppei’s beautifully-executed Vertex Ridge S14 Silvia Zenki draped in bright lime green…

Right next to him was Yusuke Higurashi’s two-toned Onevia on Volk TE37V Mark II wheels from Illegal Sick…

Naoya Yamadoi’s BN Sports S14 once again, all cleaned-up and situated inside the venue with the hood removed…

A closer look reveals a tubbed engine bay resprayed in purple hosting an SR20DET set-up with Garrett turbo upgrade…

Daisuke Araki’s Nismo 400R-themed GT-R was one of my favorites of the show, displaying a good eye for detail to execute his vision of what a rare 400R should look like…

Many were worried on the Internet about this being a real 400R but don’t worry, it isn’t. Even if it were, how much of a flex would it be to create a “stanced” version?…

For what it’s worth I think this car looks utterly fantastic. I love the way it sits and how detailed it is. It’s so intricate that it literally made people mad who believed it were a real 400R…

Shinichiro Shirasaka’s bagged R33 Skyline GT-R is another car that I always enjoy seeing. It’s funny because this car actually book-ended my trip. It was one of the first cars I saw when I landed in Japan and was one of the last cars I saw when I left after I attended a small meet in Shibuya…

There is still a lot of photos to come. Though I released many Vlog episodes on this trip, I also found myself shooting a shit ton of photos, especially since I acquired a new camera body over there and was excited to shoot more. I’d say there are still two more parts coming but I’m still busy going through the photos now. If you enjoy classic photo content you’ve come to know here on The Chronicles, then you’ll definitely want to come back and see what else I captured in Japan. Stay tuned and thanks for looking!!…