Looking back on everything now, I’m so glad that I extended my stay in Japan this time around. I was able to see and collect so much content that it has kept me pretty busy. It’s almost been a month since I got back and I’m still trying to get all this Japan content up. The last few months have home has been pretty stagnant in terms of doing car stuff. We have our usual meets and gatherings but nothing major is happening just yet. Summer is starting and that means that the car show season will kick-off shortly so that’s nice. If I hadn’t gone to Japan or just stayed for a week, I think my content flow would be pretty dry. I’m also glad that I decided to create and upload all the Vlog episodes while I was in Japan. Not only did it provide my viewers with an experience as if they were there alongside me, it also helped to build a consistent flow of content throughout. I imagine that if I had waited until I got home to edit all the video, we’d be log-jammed with not enough time to push everything out without it feeling forced. The way things are progressing now with almost daily uploads, it should lead us right into the Wekfest Seattle event, which promises to be a good one…

Last night I actually had a little bit of free time to just sit down and do nothing. Of course I didn’t just sit there. I was perusing Twitter to see if I had missed any NBA news or see what was new with Japanese car enthusiasts when I stumbled upon a rendering of the new Civic Type R. I don’t know what chassis code it is supposed to be, probably FL2 or something. FK9 would be cool but I doubt that will be it. Anyways, I thought it would be cool to lower it and put some wheels on it. You know, just to get a good idea if the car will look good modded. All these renderings and all these camouflaged photos of it just wasn’t doing it for me. I’m a car enthusiast and enjoy modifying cars so it doesn’t really matter what the car looks like stock. I dug up some photos of another Honda on Mugen MF10s that had the right angle as the rendering, chopped it up, slammed it, and even put an exhaust on it. Originally I wanted to stick with the Mugen theme and do the FK8 Mugen exhaust but it just didn’t look right. So, I went with another classic look and added a Spoon Sports N1…

…and here it is…

I added a bit of grain to it since it was a quick 15-minute Photoshop job that wasn’t very good to begin with. The grain helps to hide some of the imperfections of the low quality render and I even altered the color tones to match what a photo I shot would look like. Overall, I like it. I still think the FK8 CTR is a cooler, more aggressive-looking vehicle but the new CTR could actually be a good platform based on its simplicity. The body is very straight-forward, no crazy body lines, and has a good general shape to it. It’s simplicity means that it’ll be a good blank canvas for a lot of aftermarket companies to play with. I guess we will see what the production version looks like when it is unveiled in the next few months but so far, that’s my take on it…

Today, we are going to be looking at Part 2 of my Stancenation Japan G Edition Aichi coverage. As stated in the first post, I know this isn’t something we normally cover here on the site but I appreciate going to events like this in Japan because it provides me with the opportunity to  see more variety in Japanese car culture. The show was massive! I think there were over 750 cars exhibiting that day so it was quite a bit of walking and shooting photos for me. I didn’t shoot anywhere near that amount but I found myself enjoying this event quite a bit. The weather was nice, the venue was massive, and all the cars at adequate space. There was no cramming or putting cars too closely together. This allowed people in attendance to get a good look at every car in detail. With that many cars, you’re definitely getting your moneys worth because you’ll easily find yourself there for the duration of the afternoon trying to see everything…

By this point of my trip, I was really starting to get comfortable with my new Canon EOS R5. Just figuring out where all the buttons are and creating that muscle memory to be able to access everything quickly on the fly took some time. I love that I had so much time at this event because it really helped me understand just how this camera works. I think it translates to the final results because I feel like these are probably my favorite photos from my Japan trip. There are some shop visit photos that I really liked after this event but I think this was the turning point. This was when I finally got the hang of shooting with a new mirrorless camera body…

Enjoy…

Kicking things off with this beautifully-done Nissan S15 Silvia Spec-R with widened and radiused blister fenders and Works9 aero front…

Wheels are Work 18-inch Work VS-XX tucked nicely under the widened fenders…

Fukataku’s classic white/black two-toned AE86 Levin on Work Meister CR01 wheels paired with full CBY (Crystal Body Yokohama) aero…

Sentaro Oda showed-up to the Stancenation Aichi event with a completely different look than what he had the week before at Wekfest, running a different front lip, and wheel set-up. The SSR Hasemi Prot-S wheels give the car a much more 90s-era specific look over the Nismo LMGT4. The only way I recognized it was the same car was from the side-exit exhaust and roll cage…

Takuya Ito’s white BNR32 Skyline GTR with N1 ducts in his front bumper and bronze Volk TE37V wheels…

Seiji Ookawara has one of the craziest Kouki S14 Silvias I’ve ever come across in Japan with the custom widebody and everything but for 2022, he went even crazier with a livery that he says was inspired by the Evasive Motorsports Evo time attack car.

If you look past the livery, you’ll see a Vertex Lange front bumper, custom sideskirts, modified BN rear, EVS mirrors, a Big Country Labs wing, and ESB 30mm front fenders/50mm rear fenders…

Inside the custom-tubbed engine bay is a 400+ horsepower SR20DET utilizing a HKS GT II 7460R turbo, Tomei cams, and GReddy intake manifold, among other things of course…

Arakawa’s BCNR33 Skyline GTR Series 3 on Volk TE37SL in gunmetal. I couldn’t find much information on this build but the Omori Factory decal on the fender leads me to believe there’s likely more goodies under the hood. The “2193E” decals on the front bumper represent Nismo Type 2193E 5W40 Competition oil…

If you don’t recognize these specific style of Endless brakes, these are actually a limited-edition Midori Seibi x Endless collaboration set. The caliper has a small “Endless” logo engraved to the front and a Midori logo engraved on the back side…

Daisuke Araki’s 400R-inspired BCNR33 Skyline GT-R is most certainly one of my favorites of this entire trip. I love how he executed the classic 400R aesthetic in his own way…

The car just sits so aggressively and will definitely have some GTR purists uncomfortable…

19 year-old Kihito’s DR30 Skyline which he originally inherited from his father sitting nice and low now on Chevlon Racing wheels. Not completely sure what the front lip is…I think it might be a Jenesis lip?…

The engine bay has been cleaned-up significantly, repainted white, and hovering in the middle is a individually-throttled FJ20E engine…

Daisuke Nakagawa’s Lexus LS460 aired-out tucking gold-face BBS LM wheels…

Yasu showing our friend and X-Point model Yayo how to pose in the old Phaze2 Integra engine bay…

Yayo, obviously pulled-off the look a little better with some more grace…

I think some people on Japanese car Twitter started hating and complaining about her being in the engine bay, but it was actually our idea. It wasn’t like she was desecrating the car or anything, lol. And yes, the shows came off and she didn’t actually dig her heels into anything…

Hata’s wingless Mitsubishi Evolution IX with custom widebody box flares that have been radiused, lining-up seamlessly with the Voltex sides. The front looks to be custom using a Voltex lip as the starting base….

The widened body allows enough space to run this deep-lipped SSR Desmond Koenig wheels on the Evo IX…

At first I thought this was the old Tactical Art DC2 but that car is still in storage in Chiba. This ITR had a similar color but no aftermarket aero additions. At a glance I could see a cage inside, Volk TE37 wheels and Brembo brakes up front…

Couldn’t find the owner of this caged R31 Skyline sedan but the car definitely stood-out with the custom green paint, bolt-on over fenders, Work Equip 03s, and R31House Type 3 front lip…

The engine bay has been shaved smooth and repainted a dark gray hue. There’s no RB20 engine in here however. Instead, a newer naturally-aspirated SR20DE swap sits in its place…

Found a couple of guys admiring this Toyota S130 Crown wearing Junction Produce aero and a clean set of Koenig Special wheels…

There isn’t much you need to do to make these G50 President Sovereigns look good. The body and wheel base is so long that a nice drop, some quality suspension arms (likely T-Demand) to get the car sitting proper, and a classic set of 3-piece OZ Futura wheels are all that’s necessary…

If you’re gonna roll around this clean, you better have the cleanest audio blasting as well with the help of baller McIntosh amplifiers. The MCC404M is a pretty rare model to find these days and originally retailed for around $2200-2500 each…

Yosuke’s GRS180 Crown Athlete running the full T-Demand demo car package with a full catalog of their suspension components and SSR Executor wheels…

Y32 Cima from bippu car crew Club Progress planted to the pavement on Work Emitz wheels…

Hitoshi from Club Progress’ 21Crown Athlete running T-Demand suspension products and 19-inch BBS RS2 wheels…

Arata Kawaguchi’s Lexus LS460 looking great on Modellista aero and BBS Super RS…

Kyohei custom two-toned Toyota Celsior with flared and radiused metal fender work. The higher arches allow the Celsior to drive like this at static ride height, especially with shortened bumpers. The front is actually a one-off bumper using a K-Break front for an UCF31 Celsior as a base…

Hikaru Taguchi from Moontech’s TRA Kyoto Pandem GR86 build on Ploom Performance air suspension and new Ekrow WXW C1Mwheels …

I don’t know who needs to see this but this Mazda CX9 looked crazy bagged on BBS RI-A wheels with gold Ceika big brake kit…

Shou’s Vertex Ridge widebody Kouki S14 Silvia on Work Meister L1 wheels…

This Porsche 997 4S had a completely custom-made body to resemble a modern-day version of the classic Kremer Racing Porsche 935 K3/80 competition car. The now slant-nosed Porsche also has center-lock BC Forged wheels and it’s also Vortech supercharged…

Pandem Version 3 Toyota 86 on Work Meister L1…

This ECR33 Skyline Type M is a brand new drift car project built by R31House wearing a complete Garage Active widebody kit that has been painted the iconic Nissan Midnight Purple III iridescent color….

The factory RB25 engine has been upgraded with a GReddy turbo and R31House intake manifold…

The interior has been completely stripped bare with a full custom roll cage welded in place. Mounted to the floor underneath the carbon fiber dashboard are Wilwood pedals…

Dual brake caliper set-up in the rear of the Skyline Type M…

R31House brakes mounted behind Volk TE37V Mark II wheels…

The R33 was actually built for a female customer who also owns a silver R33 Skyline GTR. Not sure how competitive this build is meant to be but I can’t wait to see it in action…

An insane amount of custom metal widebody work on Ken’s Y31 Cima. The front and rear arches have been pulled out significantly and radiused so the entire vehicle can drive at this height. Even the rear doors have been reshaped to match the new bodyline…

If you don’t get a true grasp of how much wider the Y31 Cima is, just look at the deep lips on these OZ Racing-manufactured AC Schnitzer Type 1 “LeMans Edition” wheels…

Takuya’s BMW 640i Gran Coupe is stunning, sitting low thanks to T-Demand suspension on Work-produced Ekrow WXW C1M wheels with silver faces…

Rodrigo’s full K-Break JZS161 Toyota Aristo with custom radiused fenders shaped to house classic MAE Crown Jewel wheels. Through the small windows of the MAE wheels you’ll find 326power brakes…

RB Odyssey Absolute sharing a similar aggressive radiused body so it can roll on this staggered Work Meister L1 wheels…

Katsuyuki Uno’s Manz Factory-built Nissan Y32 Cima using the full catalog of T-Demand suspension products, T-Demand brakes and SSR Professor SP4 3-piece wheels…

This red NA1 NSX looked very late ’90s style with 3-spoke OZ Racing Cygnus wheels, an Advance Flatout GT front spoiler, and Marga Hills sideskirts. The rear spoiler I believe is a rare Mugen piece…

Naoto’s BNR34 Skyline GTR running Ganador mirrors, SSR Professor SP-X, and full Nismo Z-Tune aero…

Gonna close-out Part 2 with one more photo of Yayo and Nara’s DC5 Integra built by X-Point. I still have one final set of photos from this event coming so please stay tuned! Thanks for looking!!…