Well, here we go again. Usually I grow tiresome of repetitiveness in life in general, but visiting Japan for the third time felt almost like the initial venture. I cannot put exactly into words how landing in the country makes me feel, but something along the lines of “exciting freedom”. I kind of knew what to expect in terms of the unique culture and lifestyle that Japan is rich in, but there is always something you see or experience that makes you realize how amazing the country is. Through these following posts, I will try and convey my feelings as truthfully as I know how, because my end goal with all of this is to just express myself, and present what I find that makes the Japanese automotive scene and culture in general so interesting.
Me and the old man went over this time round, so I made sure I planned the two weeks out so that it wasn’t all car-related activities. We landed on my birthday, 23 years old, man, its a weird age. Like the bridge between post-teenager and young adult.
Anyway, I am gonna let the photos tell the story for the most part, and what’s better than to kick this series off with the undoubtedly freshest and ballsiest classic-Porsche craftsman, Nakai-san.
We stayed at a family-friend’s home in Fujigaya, Kashiwa, Chiba Pref., which is a small rural area about an hour’s drive from Tokyo. Little did I know that the RWB HQ is based literally down the road from where we stayed for the majority of our time in Japan. Knowing this, I headed straight there on day #2, armed with both my D500 and D5100 Nikons.
We went around the last corner as per Google Maps and boom, Porsche Carrera 993s & 964s wedged onto the forecourt as efficient as possible utilizing every square inch of space. Luckily theres some land beside the medium-sized industrial unit, so I dumped the car next to a row of Carreras.
Hesitant to just barge in, especially since I didn’t even give Nakai a headsup, I tried for the front door but it was locked, so I took my time and gawped at how crazy his machines are.
Next thing, I saw a blue kei car with a dropped ride-height and multi-spoke wheels roll by and I locked eyes with the driver*, who just happened to be the man himself (*maybe pissy since I think I parked in his space). He spun his car around and parked up, whilst I was nearly shitting a brick, because if it were anyone else he might have told me to scarper. But he just greeted us and kindly invited us in.
I didn’t stay at RWB for long as it almost felt like I was in his house. The place, which acts as Nakai-san’s workshop/bodyshop/hotel/bar, is like a mini-museum with so much of the history of Rauh-Welt Begriff kept on display. To see that it all started from messing about with AE86 Corollas, this global icon has turned the heads of Japanese-car enthusiasts (including mine) and made old Porsches seem cooler than I had once believed. With his next project being the 996 chassis, I wonder how far he will go with the 911 lineage in the years to come.
This S30 Fairlady Z was making the rounds because I must have seen it out and about on 3 separate occasions 
Ride-thru for a Krappy Meal
Leaving Nakai-san’s natural habitat, we headed back to the house, just because I didn’t have much planned whilst being situated in Chiba.
But, on the way back, I came across a familiar signpost: SEED. I remember stopping by this place the first time I visited. I like how common high-performance tuning garages are, but in a very Japanese sort of way, most of them look like your average, run-of-the-mill service centres to the untrained eye. Though, once you spot the HKS or Greddy posters/banners, or the four-wheeled eyecandy for that matter, its reason alone to take a closer look.
SEED Race Car Engineering, is a do-it-all garage, catering towards highly-modified domestic models ranging from MX5 Roadsters to GTRs. The place was jam packed, but unfortunately most of the photos I took had either bad light or a lot of ISO noise, so I won’t embarrass myself by uploading them.
A short entry, but this is just a taste of whats to come once I get my ass into gear and sift through the GiGs of material I have stacked on my desktop.
Scroll for the bonus gallery…
Mazda and Suzuki need to team up once more, and give us a 21st century rendition of the Autozam AZ-1/Cara. Give Honda some keijidosha kompetition 
No clue what it was when I saw it, got given the keys and I didn’t want to give them back; then played the role of “chauffer” in Uncle’s Land Cruiser and I nearly fell asleep… 
Can’t go to Japan and not have this in your souvenir haul 
This clock was damaged during the Great Earthquake of East Japan in 2011, they must have chosen to keep it in rememberence of the disaster 
志向 