Doridore Japan 2023 Coverage…

Doridore Japan 2023 Coverage…

This was one of those events that I totally did not anticipate attending while I was in Japan a few months ago. I usually try to keep my trips pretty spontaneous so on certain days, we’ll randomly go to a car event that we just heard about the day before. Sometimes they’re a couple hours away so it probably isn’t ideal to plan so late but that’s just how things go. I heard about the DoriDore event last year while I was in Japan because our friend Yayo was hired on to be one of their official event models. I didn’t know too much about it before since it was still relatively new, but the concept of it sounded really cool. DoriDore is essentially a drift and dress-up event for enthusiasts who love the “Shakotan” style of Japanese car builds. Shakotan, for those unfamiliar, basically means an extremely-lowered car aka a car that is ‘slammed’. This event is catered to those who enjoy the Shakotan-style specifically and want to take their cars drifting while hovering ever so slightly above the tarmac. Most of the time, the cars competing aren’t dedicated drift cars. A bulk of them are show cars and that’s kinda what makes this event so fun. For once, the cars drifting actually look good, lol. Style is the number 1 driving force. It allows for these show cars to go out there and slide around without prejudice. There’s no pro driver on their ass trying to get them to go faster and these guys just get to move around at their own pace…

Wekfest San Jose 2023 Coverage… Part 2…

Wekfest San Jose 2023 Coverage… Part 2…

For this second portion of the Wekfest SJ ’23 coverage, I’ll actually be spending a bulk of it spotlighting very specific builds that I encountered that weekend. San Jose is technically a 2-day event for the Wekfest crew because roll-in and set-up occurs the entire day prior to the actual show. Being that it is such a huge event with over 450 cars, it takes a good amount of time to stage every car and vendor. Add to that the time it takes to build the entire booth and the hours just fly-by. The good thing about having an entire weekend of Wekfest is that I actually get to experience the show. That sounds crazy from a spectator’s perspective but we literally spend all of our time work when the show happens all on the same day. Most of it is spend judging, some of it is doing all the announcing, even less of it is spent eating/relaxing, and whatever time I can muster in-between is used to shoot content. The bigger San Jose and Los Angeles events are fun for me because I have a few hours to actually walk the show and be a spectator myself. Los Angeles is obviously a good one for me because I can just go home and not be in a hotel. There are no suitcases involved. San Jose is nice because the hotel is directly connected to the convention center. So we can just walk back to our rooms after we are done for the day. There’s no rush to leave and the people at the San Jose Convention Center gives us as much time as we need to set-up. Long after the exhibitors are gone, we can stay behind and walk the show in peace. The doors are locked, security roams the building, and we get to do whatever we want…

Wekfest San Jose 2023 Coverage… Part 1…

Wekfest San Jose 2023 Coverage… Part 1…

Man, it has been quite a while since I put together one of these blog posts. Things have been so crazy hectic here that I find myself stuck in one of the rare occasions when I actually have TOO MUCH content to show you guys. Being in Japan for most of the first-half of the year will do that I guess. I collected so much photo content during those months that there was much catching-up to do after I returned home. And once I got home, most of my time was dedicated to executing the CHRNCLS x ADVAN collaboration properly. It was such a unique opportunity that there was so way I was going to NOT give it my all. As much as I hate to admit it, everything else went on the backburner as a result of that. I wanted to leave no stone unturned. There was no way I was going to allow someone to say “that’s nice but this could have been done better”. I wouldn’t let it leave my hands if that was the case. It wouldn’t be fair to my years of hard work. By the time the collaboration rolled-out to the public, there really wasn’t a second to breathe. The summer season had come upon us and I was immediately back on the road…

Why The WEST Is BEST Part 2: WEKFEST SEATTLE!!…

Why The WEST Is BEST Part 2: WEKFEST SEATTLE!!…

I originally assumed after this event that I hadn’t gathered enough footage for an entire vlog so I totally neglected to put this episode together. The San Jose event was looming and I had already decided that I would try to combine the two shows into one vlog. But, after I came back from San Jose, I went through the content and there was quite a bit of footage from Seattle. As I started adding clips to the timeline, everything that I managed to collect while in the Pacific Northwest was just the right amount. You guys know I love long-form videos so obviously I wish I would have captured more. There were just so many good builds at this event that I really wanted to spotlight. I simply ran out of time. I do so many different things at Wekfest events that I definitely wish there was more than one of me to go around. Seattle truly brings out some of the best in the west coast and we also get a good collection of custom cars from our neighbors in Canada. Sometimes I think I take what we have out here in the West Coast for granted so I thought now would be a good a time as ever to show you exactly what we’re all about!!…

Why The WEST is BEST: WEKFEST SAN JOSE!!…

Why The WEST is BEST: WEKFEST SAN JOSE!!…

Crazy that we are already at the 15-year anniversary of Wekfest! It just seems like yesterday when we were surprised to be at year 10. What a ride it has been. Northern California is the birthplace of Wekfest so we always try to bring out the top-tier builds. It’s understood that expectations are high and all eyes are on what’s happening in the West Coast so no amount of energy was spared in planning out this entire show. As busy as it was, I tried to vlog the entire weekend and put something together for you guys to enjoy. I apologize that the quality of the video inside isn’t the most spectacular. The lighting isn’t the best so I had to use a mounted flash to add some extra light wherever I could…

Once A Year, Honda Heaven Exists In Saitama…

Once A Year, Honda Heaven Exists In Saitama…

On my last few days in Japan, I head back over to the Tokyo-side of Japan to check-out the 2nd annual “Chan-Oka Honda Meet” in Saitama. This meet is a special one for me because its entire purpose is to pay homage to the USDM West Coast Honda scene of the mid-to-late 2000s. While we spent the better part of our adult lives in America building Hondas inspired by the ones we saw in Japan, younger enthusiasts over there were studying our interpretations of their style. In the last few years, USDM Honda culture and style has developed a pretty big following in Japan. It’s become a style almost unique to itself because its an interpretation of an interpretation. Like if one person tells another person a story, and that person repeats that story to someone else, and so on and on, eventually the story becomes different. It just retains certain elements, or the core pieces, of the original story. That’s basically what the USDM Honda community consists of. It features many of the core ideologies of what we did here, but the execution is slightly different. Some parts are different because accessibility to certain brands are limited and Japan just does things unique from us because culturally, they weren’t raised the same. The Chan-Oka Honda Meet is an important gathering because it represents a big part of where the Honda community in Japan is headed in the next few years. For guys like me who grew-up during the golden age of the West Coast Honda scene, this meet is Heaven on Earth—but like, a Japanese version of Heaven 🙂

Exploring Life & Car Culture From All Over Japan…

Exploring Life & Car Culture From All Over Japan…

This one felt like we went everywhere from Osaka to Tokyo, then to Gunma, Saitama, and back to the Kansai region to hit Central Circuit yet again. It was a hell of a busy trip this time around. I really wanted to have new experiences exploring different places and showing you whatever I could while I was in Japan. There was a lot more footage of us just doing random things but I didn’t want to overwhelm you guys. I’d say this trip was unique from the last one because I really didn’t go into it with a plan. The goal was to explore—and that’s exactly what we did….

Pit-Walk At A Honda One-Make Race In Kansai!!…

Pit-Walk At A Honda One-Make Race In Kansai!!…

After Wekfest Japan and Doridore, we had a day-off to just do regular life, touristy things. Obviously I’ve been to Osaka many, many times but Nana had yet to fully experience what Osaka was all about. So we spent a day just showing her around before waking-up early the following morning to go to Central Circuit. Zerofighter was hosting one of their Honda One-Make races there and it looked to have a pretty solid collective of competition cars. Things get super interesting later in the day when it starts to rain pretty heavily but overall, it was another fun day out in Japan doing car stuff. Enjoy!…

DORIDORE Might Be One Of The Coolest Events Ever!!…

DORIDORE Might Be One Of The Coolest Events Ever!!…

I actually found out about this event last year when I was in Japan during Golden Week for Wekfest. I just couldn’t go. “Doridore” is one of those events dedicated to “Shakotandori” vehicles that just sounds fun to be at. It’s drifting but not so much a competition fueled by profit. The event is based more on style where enthusiasts drive the shit out of slammed cars that just look good and aren’t necessarily created to be competitive drift cars. Like, take the strict rule sets out of professional drifting and replace it with super slammed show cars that don’t care about winning. It’s a real visual spectacle. Winning is looking good while driving or parked. Style is everything. Sounds rad right? After hearing about it and seeing some photos from past events, it seemed super fun. I just didn’t have enough time to go so I had to miss it last year. When I heard it was happening again and the event itself was going to be bigger than ever, we decided to wake-up early to check it out. Boy did it not disappoint. I might have to make this a regular event to attend annually.

Back To Japan For Wekfest!!…

Back To Japan For Wekfest!!…

Well, it may seem like I just got back from Japan but here I am, back on a plane again to Osaka! The Wekfest event out in Nagoya is an event I try to attend every year so there was no way I was going to miss this one. There’s been some major changes this year with the event itself but the biggest, most obvious, change is the brand new venue! This place is huge! Before that though, we had some prep work to do and some adjustments after landing back in Japan. Enjoy!