What if I told you that I’ve had an EK9 Civic Type R this whole time? Would you believe it? And what if I told you that it’s long gone now? Pretty crazy right? Well, it’s true. There’s another thing I have to tell you; it was supposed to be in California a long time ago. It’s a series of events, some rather unfortunate, that lead to the ultimate demise of an EK9 I had tucked away…
…and lead me and my friends on a journey to create another.
It’s been nice being at home. I still have a bit to show you from our last trip to Japan but yeah, it’s been really nice settling back into a normal routine here in California. After Nostalgic 2Days in Yokohama, we still had a couple of stops in Japan before hopping on a plane back to the west. Once I got back, it was time to unpack and figure out how to display all these new collectibles I got. While that was happening, I was also presented with an opportunity I didn’t think would ever happen. I guess you can say it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Here’s to a whole new adventure…
By this point in the trip, I had already been in Japan so long that I felt like I lived there and my friends were just visiting me. Attack Tsukuba was coming up and it was time for us to head back to Tokyo. Before that however, we go model car hunting and stop by one of our favorite shops in Osaka, Car Make Across. It’s always good to see Joe and I was surprised I hadn’t seen him my entire trip. We love seeing all the cool stuff at the shop and I had a gift for him so I really wanted us to go see him before we left Osaka. One we got to Tokyo, I had to take everyone to all the model car shops I had found the previous month to make sure they got to see all the cool collectibles. During an evening, we met up with some friends and I got to see a Civic that I had been wanting to see for a very long time….
During Auto Messe weekend, we always try to host a gathering somewhere in Osaka because there are so many people in town for the show. It just makes sense to bring everyone together for some post-show activities. That way it maximizes the experience for those who come to the Kansai region and it allows them to get a taste of true Osaka car culture. It’s not unlike Tokyo, when the masses all link up at various night meets in the city. This is just on a smaller scale but with a completely different vibe. If you enjoy cars, you already know that Osaka will be thriving that weekend. On this particular evening, we decided to bring our newly-finished Mintia “Cold Smash” EK4 Civic race car out. We had friends in town who hadn’t seen the car in-person yet and even though it is a dedicated race car, we thought it’d be fun to see this thing smashing around the city. A few days after that, we all headed over to Kyoto for a fun evening with Kei Miura from TRA Kyoto. You may know him as the man behind the popular aero parts company(s) Rocket Bunny and Pandem. We all grab dinner and then head back to his shop where he shows us some of his latest projects and goes through the unique process in how each build came together….
It was starting to feel like I had been in Japan forever. I’d say I was missing home but Osaka is basically my second home so they only thing I was really missing were my friends. That is, until they finally showed-up! It was good to see their faces and spend time with them again because Yasu might have been getting tired of just seeing me every single day. Osaka Auto Messe was fast approaching and everyone arrived just days before. Nana showed-up first after visiting some friends in Gunma, then Der and Kristian landed early morning in Osaka. We grabbed some food, walked around the city, and then it was off to the biggest car show in the Kansai region, Osaka Auto Messe!…
A couple months ago, Yasu acquired an old EK4 Civic race car that had spent much of its life competing in the Suzuka Clubman one-make race series. The car physically was still in pretty good shape but you can tell that it had been raced a lot. It just had a lot of wear and tear, you know? He wanted to do more circuit racing and time attack events this year using this newly-acquired EK4 so he asked me to design a livery for it. I don’t know why he thinks I’m capable of it because I’ve actually never done a full livery on a real car before but I figured I’d give it a shot. He owns a body shop so if it came out terrible, we could just tear it apart and redo it. My friends had always talked about doing a “Mintia” livery because it’s our favorite Japanese mint and has long been an inside joke. I think most of our friends and acquaintances know about Mintia because we’d always share them with everyone. Der even has a credit card with a custom Mintia skin. So I studied the packaging and went into full detail trying to come-up with a way to use the EK4 as its own Mintia case. Around late October last year, I came up with a pretty rough version of it. Over the course of the last few months, I refined it as Yasu started to transform the car in real-life. He painted the Civic a custom blue hue that matches the Mintia packaging and the graphics started to take shape once I arrived back in Japan last month. Now you all can see it come to fruition…
they’ll tell you that every visit is a unique experience. Kanjozoku culture is a staple here, though it may not be the most accepted, and often people ask me how they can experience it. Please don’t ask. I don’t want to put your life in danger or put you in a position that could get you in any trouble. It looks fun but there are so many inherent dangers that come with it. 100% of the time when people ask about it, I try to warn them about it and express that I would rather they not be involved. Just enjoy it from a distance. On this particular night, a few friends had an incredibly rare opportunity to experience it for themselves and we cruised out after a long day of work to make sure everything went smoothly. The guys from NO GOOD wanted to return a favor and offer some hospitality that was shown to them overseas. Don’t try this at home obviously and this is all not real and a simulation okay? Enjoy!…
After a few weeks in Tokyo, it was time for me to head to Osaka to hang out with Yasu and catch-up on all the happenings over in the Kansai region. There’s always something happening out there but I also enjoy Osaka because it feels like a second-home. Life seems almost normal when I’m out there and I’ve developed a normal routine out there, which is important to me. One of the first big things I had lined-up with Yasu was heading back to Kansai’s famed Central Circuit to check-out the Central Time Attack Challenge, a racing event that has become a regular stop for me during my winter and spring visits to Japan. This one is always a good one because I always find something new and unique to look at and this year’s was no different. I found a Honda I never thought would be a competitive time attack vehicle and also found some visitors that came from the Kanto region to compete with some of the best in this area…
In my ongoing adventures in Japan, I always try to experience new automotive events to expand my horizons. Of course I don’t want to stray too far off the path of things I love so it’s all still very Japanese-tuning specific. When I found out that my friends from Final Bout were hosting an event in Japan around the same time as Tokyo Auto Salon, I knew I had to check it out. Though it may be a driving competition hosted by Americans, the competitors themselves as well as the race track it is on is still very much Japanese. I knew it would be a great opportunity to run into some new JDM builds that I have never seen before. I was stoked to also here that they were going to make this a team-oriented competition as well and that’s one of the features of Final Bout that I have enjoyed in year’s past. Yasu had already flown back home to Osaka to catch-up on work so on this day, I linked up with my friend Cody Chan. He had already made plans to go with some friends and he was able to squeeze me in last minute since i hadn’t ever been to Nikko Circuit before. One thing that stands out about this event is that STYLE is a very important prerequisite. It doesn’t matter how good you can drive, if your car doesn’t look good, what the hell is the point??!
What a difference a week makes in Japan. I started off my trip on a really chill mood, just walking around the city and exploring new areas I’d never been to. Then a week later all my friends arrived in Tokyo and it was time to get back into work mode! Tokyo Auto Salon was upon us and there were some great new builds to see, but most of the fun was had after hours! There were meets all weekend, including one hosted by Sara Choi and your’s truly. Let’s just say things didn’t go as planned, but hey, that’s just what happens in Japan….
