Wekfest Japan 2022 Coverage… Part 3…


As I found myself going over the photos I shot from my visit to Top Fuel late last night, I decided that I would wake-up, eat lunch, and head to the office to get the final portion of this Wekfest Japan coverage up. I know for many of the Japanese, this coverage comes a little later than expected but hey, let’s just say we are saving the best for last, okay? Lol. As if these photos would be the finishing touches on yet another great year of this event. It’s a shame that I missed last year’s show, since it was the only one that I’ve missed since we started doing this back in 2014, but I’m glad a lot of the spectacular car builds returned from the 2021 event so I could see them…

I tried to keep a balance between the three sections, ensuring that there were an even amount of photos in each. I didn’t want the beginning to be top-heavy and loaded with photos with barely enough to put together for the end. As always, I wished I had been able to shoot more photos, see more cars in detail, and get more content for you guys but I honestly think I did my job to the best of my ability considering there was an entire Vlog episode to tie this altogether. Today we are going to look at some more builds inside the venue, and the roll-out. The end is always the best because this time of day presents the best lighting. That and also there’s a sense of relief that comes with knowing that the car show is over after a 10-hour day. I hope you all enjoy the photos and the new viewers that just recently found my work stick around.

There is still so much to show you guys from this amazing journey to Japan…

Enjoy…

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Chihiro Miyawaki’s C-West equipped EK9 Civic Type R on display with his J’s Racing Type-T hood propped-up…

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The simple aesthetic of the exterior extends into the engine bay where the factory B16B remains intact but with some upgrades. A velocity stack mounts to the end of an aluminum intake arm, Spoon Sports wires run into a Spoon-inspired yellow valve cover with oil cap, the radiator has been tucked away under the core support and the header is a rare 5Zigen Pro Racer manifold…

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Takanori Hanzawa’s DC5 Integra wearing Max Racing front, Max Racing vented hood, J’s Racing sides, a Voltex GT wing, Ganador mirrors, and Work RSZ-R wheels in white…

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Integra with a hybrid front bumper featuring a JDM DC2 top-half with a USDM 98-01 lower half and Exceed front lip. The entire car has been repainted as well, sits on air suspension with bronze Desmond wheels, Spoon Sports brakes and Spoon mirrors…

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Another shot of the Southsiiiiide USDM Honda Civic “Fake RTi” wagon on Yamaco Courrèges ACG wheels. Here you can see the Hello Kitty exhaust tip…

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Yoshiyuki Hamasaki’s FD RX-7 may look simple compared to some of the wilder FD builds in Japan but there’s actually so much more going on once you get a closer look. This is actually a Sunburst Yellow RX-7 Type R Bathurst model with a Eurou front bumper, Eurou front lip, RE Amemiya AD D-2 sideskirts, Mazdaspeed rear wing, Ganador mirrors, and Desmond Regamaster EVO II wheels…

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The L2P guys were noticeably absent from this year’s Wekfest event but one member, Seiya Suzuki, came to represent the car club with his DC2 Integra Type R wearing full Mugen aero, minus the hood, and paint-matched Spoon Sports mirrors…

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The Integra popped under the natural light of the venue with the help of these chromed Mugen MF10 wheels with custom center caps and signature blue Spoon Sports brakes reflecting off of the spokes…

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Takuma Ito’s incredible custom metal widebody Mercedes AMG GT with radiused wheel arches to fit Brixton forged wheels. If you’re wondering about the paint color, this isn’t a standard AMG GT color that is offered. It’s known as “China Blue” or “Professional Blue” and comes from the G-series Mercedes vehicles…

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Shinno Takeru’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII running full Voltex widebody aero, Voltex GT wing, Ganador mirrors, and Work Emotion ZR10 2P wheels…

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Yoshiki Sato’s Mugen-themed DC5 Integra built by Masa Chiba from X-Point running Desmond Regamaster EVO II wheels…

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The engine bay has been completely redone, shaved, and repainted to reflect a more “USDM” feel with products from Hybrid Racing, Skunk2 Racing, and Downstar Inc….

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Tsunemi Tamei’s custom pink Mazda RX-7 from Team Essence wearing full RE Amemiya aero and BBS LM wheels…

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Super Veloce Racing Ferrari F12 Berlinetta looking real mean sitting in the middle of the Port Messe show floor…

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Had to get a vertical shot of all the S2000s at Wekfest lined-up…

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Racing Padock Miyoshi FC3S RX-7 on Work Meister L1 wheels wearing TRA Kyoto Pandem widebody aero and a classic Racing Beat livery…

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Kurumi’s Pink Gold Metallic Scion FR-S build running a Rallybacker Version 2 kit with a one-off front bumper…

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The wheels on the imported FR-S are 18-inch Barramundi Design Starmarlin forged wheels…

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Shoichi Hisada’s AE86 Trueno looking good with OEM Kouki aero and RS Watanabe wheels…

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Koichi Hayashi’s Audi R8 LMS Ultra seated with Accuair suspension on BBS wheels with a full custom interior executed by 9010design…

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Eventually the show came to a close so it was time for me to shoot the roll-out, which is usually my favorite time of day to shoot with the sun coming down a bit. This was also my opportunity to see Yuta Desune’s Mini for the first time. Little did I know that I’d have a much closer encounter with this build later on in my trip…

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Kuro’s BNR32 Skyline heading out of the exit…

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Masanori Takeuchi’s FD3S cruised down after exiting on the other side of the building looking like he was hovering over the ground…

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I wish I had more time to get a better look at some of the FK8 Type Rs that were in the building…

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Another white R32 GT-R, this one with a full cage…

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A series of photos featuring Masaki Takeshima’s BN FD3S heading down the exit ramp. Love how this car looks and how much presence it has…

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If you watched my Vlog covering the Day Dream Itasha car show I went to, then you’ll probably recognize this EK9 Civic Type R. It’s the same CTR that was in the parking lot…

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Masaya Tomizawa’s Pandem widebody BMW E30 from Lowcul which is now in the process of getting a Honda K24 engine swap…

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I don’t know who owns this Mercedes S63 AMG coupe but it looked beautiful as it exited the Port Messe lot…

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Toshiya Ichiraku and RWB 993 Rough Rhythm now on matching green RWB wheels…

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It’s nice to start seeing actual Japanese domestic vehicles like this S130 Crown at Wekfest events. The Japan event abides by the “25-year import” rule that we have here Stateside because they want to maintain a U.S. image so we don’t always get to see newer JDM vehicles like R34s or S15 Silvias. I don’t know if this rule will change with a new bigger venue coming but I don’t mind seeing that rule completely eliminated…

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This Yonmeri C110 Skyline looked crazy exiting the venue, dragging frame on just a slight incline…

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Some rare shoes featuring some Nike Air More Uptempo ’96 and Kobe Seiko “Gotti” wheels by RS Watanabe…

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John from Lowbrain’s 1983 Toyota Corona coupe parked outside while the guys loaded-up for their trek home…

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Back inside the venue, I got a glimpse of the Port Messe venue for one final time. I think I’m definitely going to miss shooting here. Just a gorgeous venue with so much history and such a vast area outside for shooting all these custom cars going in and out…

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I thought it was only appropriate to get some photos of Yanagi’s EG6 as he was chatting with friends. This car just pops so much and looked even better with the sun gleaming through the window, casting a warm glow onto the Idemitsu livery…

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These actually ended-up being some of my favorite photos of the entire day and I didn’t even shoot these with my new camera. I had my Canon 5DMKIV out because I was trying to do B-roll footage and couldn’t pass the opportunity to take these photos…

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On that note, I invite you guys to watch the Vlog episode covering this entire event. It’s one of my best Vlog episodes to date and I loved how everything flowed together with all the different angles and footage I captured. Give it a watch!…

That’s a wrap on Wekfest Japan coverage. Thanks for looking/watching!!…

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