When I departed on my return trip to Japan this Summer, I did so with the goal of reconnecting with friends and colleagues after the two years of travel restrictions. For 5 straight weeks I travelled around the country by car, train, and plane, all with the simple objective of ‘catching up’.
One of the reasons I enjoy visiting Hayashi at his shop, Auto House Solid, anytime I’m in Gunma is that there is always a large variety of tuning cars on hand. Hayashi services a wide range of customers so there is guaranteed to be something interesting in the shop.
At the beginning of my road trip to Mie Prefecture, I decided to make a detour down to the Izu Peninsula to visit my good friend Ando. Ando operates Auto Rescue Izu, a wrecker/tow service in Shizuoka. Over the past 2 years he had built a new shop to house and work on his personal cars.
Last week I made my way down to the Kansai Region of Japan for a few photoshoots I had lined up. Our first stop was at Esprit where I met our friend Sugikou-san. I wanted to photograph his Supra again for 80R because a lot of time has passed since our original shoot at Suzuka Circuit.
Last week we held a small get together at Autopolis International Racing Circuit in the Oita Prefecture of Kyushu. I had 3 photoshoots for 80R scheduled for this particular weekend trip down south, however a few could not make it last minute.
About a week after arriving in Japan, I received a message from my good friend Tsubaki. Since I photographed his S15 for Import Tuner back in 2014, we’ve always made sure to stay in touch as the years pass.
In this video we visit Skyline tuning masters Racing Factory Autobahn, deep in the countryside of Ibaraki. Kawai-san shows us some of the newer builds and I take a walk around the shop.
This past weekend I headed to Nagano to photograph my friend Tsubaki’s new S15 delivery. He had the car fixed and fitted with the new Garage Mak Type 6 front end. While I was there, we take a close look at Amemiya’s 1,000+hp S15 at the shop, and I also took some photographs of our friend Masato’s DIY S13.
Based in Japan’s unrivaled hub of neo-anime culture and unwavering creativity, Sector One turns out some of the worlds most detailed Itasha designs. After 2 months of having their flagship location in Akihabara, I was invited to come take a look at their new demo car; the former RE-Amemiya built LW-7 FD3S.
It’s been quite some time since I posted something about the ‘日本を見つけた’ series; I believe the last one was on the Sky Tree. I suppose now that we have some new followers I should bring […]
Spent a good amount time at Tatsumi PA last night with a couple friends. The moist, warm air, the late night atmosphere, good people, the coffee, the cars; it’s nice being back here. It’ll […]
みんな、おはようございます。
I’ve recently been noticing that many of NDF’s viewers are not only interested in learning about Japanese cars and motor sport culture; they are also interested in learning about Japan itself. Looking back on my […]
I had to make a quick run to Akihabara one afternoon (I say ‘had’ because I don’t particularly enjoy going there) to pick up something from ヨドバシカメラ, a.k.a 12 story Mega brain hemorrhage electronic/everything […]
Looking back at the pictures from Nao’s 90’s Cafe Meet at Heiwajima PA, I’m realizing that the turnout was quite good; better than I had anticipated actually. Throughout the night, various cars from the 90’s […]
…and as the rain began to fall ever harder, the Super GT cars charged on; fueled by the calm determination only those behind the wheel know. We pick up on the continuing coverage mid […]
レヴォルフェドットコム Revwolfe S.A. tuned S15 Autech Engine powered coupe. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but make no mistake; this car is extremely cool. High Power & Save Energy.
After my well deserved break after the Super GT practice session, it wasn’t long before the final race of the season got underway. In typical Japanese fashion, as soon as the flag dropped, so did […]
After some friends and I got done playing around taking photos on the expressway one night, we headed over to Shibaura parking area to see if there was anything going on. Daikoku was […]
. There wasn’t much going on tonight, so Yuta, Allan and I went to grab a drink at Tea Station; which is pretty standard at this point. Not sure why, but we all had our […]
. Spotted this little guy sitting by itself in the parking area near Motegi. Doesn’t it look ready to hit the mountain? .
. . Last year, during one of my trips to Sakuragicho, I watched the sun set from the Landmark Tower observation deck. While I was waiting I decided to film some traffic. I was able […]
. UP Garage moved there main store from Machida to Aobodai, so last time I was in Japan I decided to go check it out. I think time stopped for Addy because we must have […]
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OK so I lied about the whole ‘no more TAS’ thing; but I never got a chance to post up the Super GT Special. TAS is a trade show, and what better way to market your product than to slap it on a full blown, competition race car? There isn’t really, so, to my pleasant surprise, the Salon grounds were sprinkled with Super GT cars; like the Nismo built Motul/Autech GT-R. Super GT is a fairly unique series that puts excitement first. Only allowing pit stops during certain time frames, mandatory ballast for winning cars, and intake air restrictors all add to competition. Click past the break for more Super GT.
The JDM Clips/NDF collaboration delivers the goods once again with this feature on the legendary Amuse S2000 GT1. This car is one of the greatest tuning achievements of Mr. Hideki Tanabe’s lifetime, and for good reason. It’s looks are not only unforgettable, but it’s mechanical prowess has been proven on both street and track. The insanely wide body kit brings order to chaos and gives the car the aerodynamic performance close to that of a full race car. Click past the break to check out the car in more detail.
Japanese mega tuner Power House Amuse was on site at Super Autobacs Yokohama recently to demo their new aero kit for the Z34; the Vestito. Lucky for us, Taka was there as well to capture it all. Amuse has long been producing unique and aggressive aero kits for a variety of chassis. This is their latest offering for the Z platform; preceded by the Superleggera kit for the Z33 chassis. I believe Amuse took a less domineering approach to this kit, and put more emphasis on flowing lines and function; and flat out on the track the Vestito proves that it does more than just look good. Click past the break for more display shots.
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Next up in my Close-Up series is the bright orange Integra Type-R built by Type-One. Near flawless paint aside, you can recognize this as a possible race car because of the sticky Advans that are wrapped around the track-worn SSR Type-C’s. A closer look reveals most of the interior still in-tact; pretty common in Japan because of the abundance of open track events at places like Suzuka, Fuji, Twin-Ring, and Ebisu. Click past the break for more pics.
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We were walking back to our hotel after a decent dinner at a place in 伊勢佐木町 when I saw this old Datsun parked on the street. Of course the lighting and weather conditions were horrible for pictures, but since I didn’t get much material on this trip I decided to snap a few anyway. It had some pretty classic styling; such as the exposed rivets on the fender flares and rear wing. The gold Watanabes were a nice touch against the white and black color scheme. Click past the break to see a few more shots.
