I typically go into most of my Japan trips without a schedule. It just works out easier that way. Things never go as planned so I’d rather just wing it most of the time and see what happens. Of course, there are specific things that I do want to do and see so I will make time for them. But, I was going to be there for an entire month and there was really no point in planning every single day out. The way Yasu works, my schedule was gonna get screwed-up anyway because he operates a lot like me. We would wake-up, get coffee and then decide what to do. These photos from the JJ Cup circuit event came to fruition randomly out of the blue. Neither I or Yasu knew that there was a track event that week. We were visiting a shop nearby and had some extra time to kill after, so Yasu asked if I wanted to make a stop at ACROSS to say hi to Joe. Typically I don’t think he is there during the day time but Yasu called and he just so happened to be there…

He told us to come by and when we arrived, we saw that he was loading a bunch of wheels and tires into his Toyota Hi-Ace. Joe greeted us and told us that he was getting ready to go to Central Circuit for a race event. Yasu asked me if I wanted to go and I shrugged like I usually do. “Yeah, if we have time, I’m down to go.” Central Circuit is a track that isn’t too far way and it is always fun to see race cars in Japan so of course I’m down. I look over towards his shop space and notice that he had his EF9 sitting outside. I saw a few photos of it circulating on Instagram and wanted to know more…

Joe explained and said that he had just recently finished the Civic about a month before I took these photos. It’s an homage to the Honda race cars of old with just a livery, no aero, and suspension/wheel upgrades…

He always comes up with some cool idea for liveries so for the EF9, he decided to recreate a classic Car Mate RÄZO theme…

It kinda worked out perfectly that Joe’s Civic was just parked outside his shop like this because I didn’t have to ask him to move it around for photos. His shop space is so scenic and always makes for amazing photos, but on this day, it was my first time shooting here during the day AND with a new camera body…

In just this photo alone you can see the sharpness and dynamic range with the depth in just the white TE37 wheels alone. The amount of detail is incredible…

Just two of many, many, white Volk TEe37 wheels that he was loading into his Hi-Ace that afternoon as he was prepping to go to Central Circuit for the JJ Cup Round 5 race…

The engine bay of the EF9 has been repainted in a traditional gray hue. Powering the Civic is a B16A engine with just some light modifications. Nothing crazy as he wanted to keep the car traditional for one-make competition…

With that said, you never really know what is going on inside these B-series engines or if they are truely “stock” or not…

Old school Mugen B-series header routed to a straight piped exhaust…

Classic Nardi 3-spoke wheel inside the half-cut dashboard…

Single red Bride seat with Takata safety harness and a full Mugen cage that has been modified and welded-in…

The doors of the EF9 have been completely cut-out to save weight…

Carbon fiber fuel cell cover in the spare trunk area…

As you can see here the car literally just got done recently in time to compete at a one-make race event the previous weekend…

No wing, no lip kit, just a traditional racing livery and a center-exit straight-piped exhaust…

Joe loves his EFs. Inside on of the garages there is his EF8 CR-X race car and his other EF9 SiR which he has had forever…

It even has an old Chronicles decal on it. I have no idea where he got it from, but these have been out of circulation in Japan for years now…

Outside he showed us his other Honda, a red EG6 Civic that he has been using for track events here and there…

One more parting shot before we left him alone to pack-up for the track. We ended-up heading back to the shop after to take care of work stuff…

Two days later, it was off to Hyogo to check-out round 5 of the JJ Cup event. I concentrated mainly on video for this event but did find time to shoot photos since we spent the entire afternoon there…

If you haven’t seen the Vlog episode yet, please watch it because it shows a lot of stuff from this event that I didn’t capture in photos…

And here are the photos…

When Yasu and I pulled-up to Central Circuit, we were greeted by a pair of EK9 Civic Type Rs from WHARP RACING in the pit area…

This was my first time seeing this Phoenix (Sunlight) Yellow CTR, owned by Honoka Hinata from WHARP. Her Civic featured wider fiberglass front fenders, a C-West front, and 15-inch Volk TE37 wheels…

Hinata was competing in the all-ladies class of the JJ Cup event with “7070chan” who was driving the white Car Make ACROSS EK9. You guys have probably seen this car plenty of times before on this page. It’s also featured prominently in my new book…

Like the previous black ACROSS EK9, her Civic is also K20-swapped. I don’t recall if there is anything done to the motor internally but it’s just a very simple K-swap otherwise with Hasport mounts, a custom intake, oil catch can, and Samco silicone cooling hoses. It also retains factory power steering and an OE PRB intake manifold…

Up front are 16×8 Volk TE37 wheels wrapped in 215/50 Yokohama Advan A050…

Higashino Racing EF9 Civic SiR. I have more detailed photos of this car below…

Komune Giken DC5 Integra with widened FRP front fenders with an additional flare mounted on top for even more track width…

If you like EK9 Type Rs, this was the place to be because they were EVERYWHERE…

DEVIL ANGELS EK9 with J’s Racing front fenders, Type-T double vented hood, headlight delete, red cage, black Enkei RPF1 wheels, and a 100mm Billion air duct mounted in the front bumper…

Taku from Dry Bear Racing had one of the few Civic Ferios at this event, running multiple sets of Buddy Club Racing P1 wheels and a familiar “Lightning McQueen” livery…

Masaharu Imuta’s DC5 Integra Type R looked great just sitting on the trailer all day. Something must have happened to it early that day for it to be sitting but I didn’t mind a bit since it gave me the opportunity to get a detailed look…

The Integra looked like it had +15mm wide J’s Racing fenders with 17×9 Volk Racing TE37SL wheels paired with 225/40 Advan A050 rubber…

The rest of the DC5R wears INGS+1 N-Spec aero with a carbon GT wing…

Central Circuit was not only filled with Civics that day, there were also a pretty big group of R35 GTRs there, including this one from G-Project…

Here are some more photos of the Higashino Racing EF9 with no aero other than a carbon fiber hood and carbon front fenders…

Not sure who manufactures these carbon fenders but they’re definitely wider and allow the EF9 to running 225-wide Yokohama tires. The Volk CEs look to be 16×8?…

Under the hood of the EF9 is a B18C Type R engine with a custom intake, no-name header, and custom oil catch set-up…

Like many Civics you’ll find in this region, the EF9 has a custom center-exit exhaust…

The interior of the EF9 is fully-gutted with just a single bucket seat in-place, an OMP steering wheel, full cage, and radio/AC controls deleted…

I think I was just trying to be artsy here but the EF also had an old school TEMPLE RACING decal affixed to the rear acrylic hatch glass…

Myself and many others had no idea what type of hood was on Hinata’s EK9. No one seemed to be able to identify it but it’s such a good-looking hood with the vents seamlessly integrated at a low angle. She actually acquired the Civic with the hood already and there were no markings of any kind under…

Yamashita Shokai’s CL7 Accord Euro-R stood-out because it was one of the few Euro-Rs in attendance…

The CL7 is relatively simple outside, running just OEM Euro-R components and front-staggered Enkei RPF1 wheels…

The interior reveals so much more. It’s gutted inside with a full roll cage mounted in place. A KTuned shifter replaces the factory unit and there’s just a single seat inside the car. The rear seats have also been deleted and replaced with a M&M Honda delete plate. Look closer and you’ll see a Racepack digital display behind the MOMO steering wheel…

Inside the trunk are a pair of spare Advan Racing RCII wheels wrapped in Bridgestone rubber….

Without the number tag on the door, you’d probably think that this was just a lowered CL7 on Enkei wheels but it is so much more…

I don’t think I ever expected to see this EF9 in-person but boy was I stoked to finally get the opportunity after so many years. This is the one and only Rhythm Motors “Banzai Attack” Civic, which was one of my favorite Honda builds from Japan about a decade ago…

I had actually met the owner a couple of times, had dinner with him and seen some of his other builds over the years, but never got to see this EF9. This car looked so aggressive back when it had Barramundi Design Eleven forged wheels on it. Nowadays it is running a set of 8-spoke Volk CE28Ns…

Another shot of this R35 since it looked so good…

Everyone crowded around Koyan’s Puma-themed EK after he got into a bit of a wreck on the track…

Such a good, simple, set-up for street and track…

The T-Garage EK9 on black 15-inch Enkei wheels getting loaded onto a trailer at the end of the day…

I don’t know what it was but seeing this car get loaded-up was so therapeutic….

I can’t say I’ve always been a huge fan of the RPF1 but with a beefy tire and good ride height, it looks so good on an EK9 chassis…

Makoto Takashima’s EG6 Civic all loaded-up…

So cool to see all these Civics loaded and gathered together…

Makoto’s EF9 and Honoka’s EK9…

It’s much more common to see auto transport trucks like this in Japan instead of the conventional tow trailers we see here at home. It’s likely because of space and also because a lot of these car guys are also truck drivers who use their trucks for work…

The Car Make ACROSS EK9 tucked under the shade in the pit area. I believe she finished first overall that day in the all-ladies class of the JJ Cup…

I always enjoy the rawness of the Hondas that Joe from ACROSS puts together. They’re just so aggressive and have so much presence, even with minor exterior alterations…

It’s important to me to try to capture that rawness too in photos instead of trying to make the cars look polished as I would had I been shooting a feature car for the magazines I shot for in the past…

Keiya Katsumata’s EF9 with a front-staggered Enkei RPF1 set-up…

Joe’s Razo-themed EF9 packed-up. These Futura trailers are actually pretty popular in Japan, probably because they’re so small and light, and actually imported from the U.S. too…

Panic Racing TK-Works EK9 Civic Type Rs with matching liveries and parking angles…

Like all his other cars, the ACROSS Toyota Hi-Ace is also on Volk TEs…

Yasu’s GR86 is looking fantastic these days with the new Exceed front lip and sideskirts on. I can’t wait to get our kit on our GR…

Japanese-market Toyota Hilux pick-up pulling the EG6…

Civics as far as the eye can see here at Central Circuit…

Towards the end of the day, I just found myself relaxing and snapping photos of whatever I found interesting, so of course I had to get more of the Rhythm Motors EF9 SiR…

His custom carbon fiber dashboard is so sick with just a classic analog tachometer mounted in the center…

No need to ask for specs here, just rare 16×8 +35 4-lug 8-spoke CEs…

Spotted a random BNR33 Skyline GT-R parked by the restrooms. It looks simple but actually features an Auto Select “Devil Spoiler” front lip, Hasemi Sport sideskirts, Voltex GT wing, Endless big brakes, newer Volk TE37 wheels, and Craftsquare carbon mirrors…

Had to go back and get one more photo of Imuta’s DC5 Type R…

Love the little details on this EF9 like the cut rear bumper with cut-outs and carbon hatch with Osaka JDM wing. I do miss the BMD wheels though. It changes the whole look of the car with the CEs…

And a final photo of Central Circuit with the beautiful Taka countryside of Hyogo in the distance. Just a fun, chill day, on one of my first few days in Japan. Thanks for looking!…