ART CORNER: Bosozoku Cats and Kyuusha by San Mamiya

Toyota Celica A20 & Datsun 620

San Mamiya is a brilliant artist from Japan that operates mainly on Instagram. With an apparent fondness for old cars, bosozoku cats and the superdeformed style that populates manga, his illustrations exhibit a unique Nihon style that can probably be loosely described as Japanese Ed Roth. 

In lots of — and by lots of I mean most — automotive art, it’s just a hyper-realistic painting of a car. It’s the “Here is a car” style. San Mamiya captures slices of Japanese culture and tuning styles and make them come alive with color and emotion.

The proportions may be cartoonish, but the details are indisputable. From Okamoto Condom decals on an FC to a seriously proper zokusha based on a Galant Lambda to an RX-3 in Katayama’s racing livery, he gets the finer points right.

Mad Manga

san_mamiya is obviously a close watcher of car culture on American shores. The Hot Wheels Mad Manga even makes an appearance.

Perhaps best of all, San Mamiya takes commissions. Simply contact him via his Instagram account and make your request. When he reaches 20, he closes the list until he can finish the artwork. Then the request line opens again.

San Mamiya’s talents aren’t limited to one style. He also draws new cars, muscle cars, and even real proportioned ones. You can follow him and make commission requests via Instagram or Tumblr.

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10 Responses to ART CORNER: Bosozoku Cats and Kyuusha by San Mamiya

  1. Nigel says:

    Awesome…and I see a 620 in there too.

  2. Ian Gopez says:

    Bryan is mislabeled. He is a Mazda RX7 FB. Look at the round headlights, wing and fender mirrors. I was all excited thinking he was an AW11 MR2 but nope. Too bad.

  3. Guinness Fox says:

    Never thought in a million years my boyfriend and I would be featured on JNC. <3 We actually commissioned san mamiya recently after acquiring an old celica and have been looking to get a datsun 620. We have both been hugely influenced by the JNC scene and we both have been long time readers. Keep up the awesome work guys. Your coverage always inspires us.

    -Kaiyin and Guinness

    PS- http://imgur.com/706daug (our recent addition to the family)

  4. Jun says:

    I follow him on Insta…love his work!!

  5. Dandy says:

    Beautiful work!! Definitely the “Big Daddy Ed Roth” of Japanese car culture! I love how well they really capture the feel and romantic mental image of the trends and not just the aesthetics. Definitely looking into making a future commission for when my one-owner ’97 ES 300 turns 20!! Fox ears are a sweet touch!! And congrats on your gorgeous new baby!

  6. robert says:

    ke30??? :’c

  7. Nick Gomez says:

    San mamiya has such an amazing talent! I commisioned him to do my 4 door 510 and sent him about 4 or 5 pictures in hopes for him to catch all the detail. He did not disappoint! ! His detail is amazing! Down to the paint damage on my rear door, the crack on my lip and the scribble on the trunk lid. He even took it a step further and included the dangered plate that I had made for car shows (our team name) I didnt ask him to add that or even send him a pic with it. He took it upon himself to look through my instagram and add more. I am also forever immortalized as a cartoon! ♡♡ as you can tell i absolutely love my drawing, ive had it printed and framed and stare at it as I walk out of my room everyday!

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