What do you want to read about Japan?

"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy) 11/25/2016 at 06:23 • Filed to: None

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I have a couple projects going on, so I was curious to hear about your interests when it comes to Japan. What do you guys want to read about the country? (It has to be automotive related).

Shops? Tracks? Events? Tuners? People? Places? Specific cars? Anything else? bring it on!

Berang > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 06:34

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I have heard there is a shop in (western?) Tokyo that only works on Subaru 360s...

pip bip - choose Corrour > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 06:41

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where are the good roads to drive on, other than the mountains.

Flavien Vidal > Berang 11/25/2016 at 06:52

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Hum... If you could find out more about it, I’d be curious to check it out...

Flavien Vidal > pip bip - choose Corrour 11/25/2016 at 06:53

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Well... Outside of the mountains, you’ve got traffic jams so...

Berang > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 06:54

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An internet friend took a lot of pictures there, let me see if I can get a location.

Berang > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 07:01

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Apparently the place is called Kato Motors, in Kiyose.

Flavien Vidal > Berang 11/25/2016 at 07:15

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Ok, found it, keeping in on the side for the next time I go to Tokyo :)

Anything else?

Berang > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 07:29

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More general, but I’m sort of interested in the pre-war car collector scene in Japan. Because I have no idea what it might be like.

Also, more weirder, another friend of mine showed me pictures of an Auto-Sandal he saw while visiting Japan. I didn’t know any still existed, but apparently there are three left. You should try and take one for a test drive.

Flavien Vidal > Berang 11/25/2016 at 07:35

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An Auto Sandal?? lol

Where am I going to find something like that??? :)

Berang > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 07:50

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Apparently, two of them are kept in the Sepia Collection.

Flavien Vidal > Berang 11/25/2016 at 07:53

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The Sepia Collection is not exactly close by, but I’ll give it a try :)

Berang > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 07:54

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They have a lot of rare cars though, so it would be worth a trip.

Wheelerguy > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 07:56

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1. Their rally racing and hillclimb scene.

2. If you can, hitch up on a Super GT race, or MotoGP at Motegi.

3. REVIEW TOY CARS!!! Anything you can find, as long as it comes from a vending machine/Gachapon stop, as well as R/C cars big and small. You will make like Mike Fahey.

Flavien Vidal > Wheelerguy 11/25/2016 at 08:06

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1 - That’s planned, I’ll actually register my own car for that... :)

2 - Would Fuji Speedway do the trick? That’s planned...

3 - haha, that could be fun unfortunately not something I’d be able to publish where I’ll “work” (more infos on that later as I simply can’t mention it as long as nothing is fully confirmed)

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 08:11

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Something about tuners would be interesting. I’ve been obsessed with BN Sports bodykits lately.

Flavien Vidal > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem 11/25/2016 at 08:13

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Hum, they are near Tsukuba... I could make a stop there next time I go...

daender > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 08:34

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Where do people keep their modified/beloved cars in a country where parking space is at a premium? I recall Kat stores her little Honda outside of Toyko because parking is supposedly ridiculous among other little loops to jump through. Do people living in tight cities store their cars in the city or keep them at a separate garage on the outskirts? I’ve seen owners on Speedhunters store their cars at the shops that maintain/tune/modify them.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 08:40

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Toyota Cavalier.

Flavien Vidal > daender 11/25/2016 at 08:58

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Kat stored her car next to her appartment because she was living in Saitama, which is outside Tokyo. Parking is not expensive here. I pay around 90$ a month for my car. Not much more expensive than anywhere else. I plan on getting many more car and I’ll just rent a hangar to store them... It will just cost me around 200/250$ a month.

If you live in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, you don’t own a car, it’s too expensive. But not much different than NYC or SF..

If you really live on the country side (20 minutes away from my place) parking is usually 20$ a month or even free...

Flavien Vidal > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 11/25/2016 at 09:01

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Just... Why??

S65 > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 09:24

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Tuner cars, like the HKS Zero R

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 09:27

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I know, right? Was hoping you’d ask the owner that.

LongbowMkII > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 09:46

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I’d like to know what shops work on bozosuku cars. Are they specialty shops? Or is it more on an individual level? It seems like a ton of custom fab work goes into them.

John Norris (AngryDrifter) > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 10:01

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Oh, I have one bosozoku question. How does one open the hood?

Flavien Vidal > LongbowMkII 11/25/2016 at 10:05

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Some shops have ties with them but yeah, mostly custom stuff...

Flavien Vidal > John Norris (AngryDrifter) 11/25/2016 at 10:09

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Haha, you probably just pull the pipes out. I doubt these are tightly fitted :)

Boxer_4 > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 10:13

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If you get desperate for new material ( which, how could you in Japan? ), you could always check out these guys:

K Staff , in Saitama (Kawagoe, I believe) is a garage and dealer that I’ve been curious about for a while. They specialize in the SVX...and the R32-R34 GT-R and NSX. They seem to be pretty big in the Japanese SVX community (they may even be the Japanese SVX community), and are known in the US SVX community as well.

I do believe their sales lot is ~5 km from their garage though.

(I’ve never heard you talk about this place, but correct me if I’m wrong.)

Urambo Tauro > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 10:18

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Daikoku Futo & coffee?

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 10:55

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I would imagine RC car stuff is popular but not so sure.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 11:14

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I want to know more about the weird JDM cars that no one would normally care about. Like instead of the GT-R teach me more about the Toyota Century or the differences between a SC and a Soarer

CaptDale - is secretly British > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 13:31

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EVERYTHING!!!!!

Spoon II > Flavien Vidal 11/25/2016 at 14:40

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I personally can’t get enough of the Dekotora scene, those guys are dedicated!