QotW: What’s your favorite Japanese car commercial?

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Steve Chang

Today, August 28, is the 70th anniversary of Japan’s first television broadcast and, thus, it is also the 70th anniversary of Japan’s first television commercial. TV signals began beaming at 11:20 am; the first commercial aired 40 minutes later. It was supposed to be a Seiko spot announcing the first noon on TV, but a mistake in the studio caused the film to be reversed and the sound muddled. The ad was halted after three seconds. Another version announcing 7:00 pm aired that evening as the second commercial. Since then, Japanese TV spots have evolved to an art form all its own.

What’s your favorite Japanese car commercial?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the worst trend in car culture these days?”. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 18 Comments

Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge, monument of legendary street races, turns 30 years old

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Ben Hsu

No blast down Tokyo’s legendary Wangan would be complete without an encounter with the Rainbow Bridge. The 2,618-foot suspension bridge links the city’s Shuto expressway to the Bayshore Route, sites of Tokyo’s storied street racing scenes. On August 26, the famed landmark of the hashiriya celebrates its 30th anniversary. Continue reading →

Posted in Nihon Life | 3 Comments

Toyota Celica, the first convertible with 4-wheel-steering

Posted on August 24, 2023 by Steve Chang

Today, August 24, is the birthday of a car that is pretty unique in the annals of automotive history. It’s the day the fifth-generation Toyota Celica Convertible was introduced, a car that most observers don’t think of as being particularly noteworthy. However, this humble Celica has the distinction of being the first factory convertible equipped with 4-wheel steering. Continue reading →

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Tokyo Landscapes circa 1971

Posted on August 23, 2023 by Matt De Mangos

In 1971 NHK went around Tokyo documenting scenes of everyday life. The footage shows a vibrant city full of hope and possibility. From children checking out at Mazinger Z toys in a Ginza department store to advertisements for Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury at the Nichigeki theater, it’s a time warp to an age when the capital was booming. Cars aren’t the focus of the hour-long film but they pop in and out of the many street scenes, making us drool over brand-new Mazda Savanna RX-3s and Nissan Bluebird 510s. Continue reading →

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Robot Detective‘s Joker — Guess the Car!

Posted on August 22, 2023 by Steve Chang

If you grew up watching Ultraman or Power Rangers you’ve seen a tokusatsu television series. Meaning “special photography” in Japanese, these action shows for kids usually had a sci-fi theme and used elaborate costumes and primitive live-action special effects to populate a world of superheroes, robots, and/or aliens. Of course, these characters needed similarly futuristic vehicles to get around in. This often resulted in regular cars dressed up as ornate, crime-fighting machines that were completely unrecognizable from their base models. Welcome to a new series on JNC where you guess the tokusatsu car.  Continue reading →

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QotW: What’s the worst trend in car culture these days?

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Steve Chang

Apologies for the late QotW, thanks to a big storm that knocked out power a JNC HQ. It was an annoyance, but not as big an annoyance as the many atrocities committed by car people. We, for one, cannot wait for the matte paint trend to go away. Back in 2009 we were saddened to see that Lexus USA painted their LFA press car matte black while introducing their brand new V10-powered engineering marvel in front of the world. Fourteen years later we’re still waiting for the fad to disappear. There are many crimes, both fashion and actual, committed in the name of cars.

What’s the worst trend in car culture these days?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your saddest story of saying goodbye to a car?”. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 38 Comments

Cruise through the streets of Tokyo circa 1970

Posted on August 18, 2023 by Matt De Mangos

Seeing old cars is one thing, but how about an entire city-full of what are today rare classics? A portable video camera would have been very expensive back in 1970, but luckily someone had the foresight to get one and record an everyday drive through Tokyo.

Despite what the title says this is clearly in the early 1970s based on the cars on the streets. We see countless Toyota Crown taxis, but also privately owned cars like 510 Bluebirds, Glorias, a Toyota Corona, Honda Life, a rare Publica pickup and even a Porsche 911. Billboards for Canon, Toshiba, Sony and Mitsubishi all float by, and the last segment passes through Ginza right by the soon-to-be demolished San’ai Dream Center with the Morinaga Globe looming in the background. The air is probably thick with hydrocarbons but the views are simply amazing.

 

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Enkei Al’Vita brings back an aluminum “steelie” that brought back an actual 1950s steelie

Posted on August 17, 2023 by Ben Hsu

Enkei has revived a classic wheel design that looks like a steelie but is actually cast aluminum. The original Enkei Al’Life debuted in 1990 with the same “looks like steel but lighter” concept. The remake is called the Al’Vita, appropriately, as vita is Latin for “life”. It’s equally fitting that Enkei’s hero car is an ND Roadster — the Al’Life could’ve been fitted to any car with a 4×100 bolt pattern, but was mainly created for the NA Roadster. Continue reading →

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This 1958 Datsun L210 is one of the first Nissans sold in the United States

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Ben Hsu

One of the the oldest Nissans in the USA is currently for sale. Nissan established a foothold in the US market one year after Toyota in 1957, and this 1958 Datsun 1000 would have been among the first sold. It might not look like much, but its build date is what’s historically significant here, and we can’t remember ever seeing one in such good condition. Continue reading →

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Barbie does indeed have some ‘JDM’ cars in her garage

Posted on August 15, 2023 by Steve Chang

A couple of weeks ago we wondered what “JDM” car Barbie would drive if she wasn’t in a Corvette. Turns out this chick has more cars than Jay Leno. We learned more than we ever wanted to know about her car collection, which includes a ton of weird made-up vehicles but also some that are actually cool. As a dad who doesn’t want to give his daughter unrealistic car toys, it was a deep rabbit hole to fall into. Continue reading →

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QotW: What’s your saddest story of saying goodbye to a car?

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Steve Chang

Today, August 14, is Japan’s official End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Day. This is because the numbers 8-1-4 can be read ha-i-sha, or “scrapped car”. While Japan is pretty good about recycling disused cars, they’re probably a bit more trigger-happy when it comes to disposing of cars in the first place, compared to the US. In any case, everyone’s got an automotive sob story about a car which met its demise, whether too early or at the right time but in a still painful way.

What’s your saddest story of saying goodbye to a car?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What was the most important machine ever invented?”. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | 8 Comments

Watch Honda co-founder Takeo Fujisawa’s induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Ben Hsu

Soichiro Honda’s name may have been on the buildings, but Takeo Fujisawa was just as important a figure in making Honda the global powerhouse it is today. As brilliant as Soichiro Honda was as an engineer, Fujisawa was equally talented as a salesman. This year Fujisawa was posthumously inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan. Continue reading →

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Watch the R32 Nissan Skyline dominate the Japan Touring Car Championship

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Ben Hsu

Between coverage of the latest variants of the Nissan Z and Skyline, we’re pretty NISMO’ed out. Instead, let’s return to NISMO’s heyday, when the R32 Skyline GT-R first appeared on the scene. It had been nearly 20 years since the GT-R name had been put on a Skyline, and no one knew yet what an absolute monster the R32 would be on the track. In its inaugural year it decimated the formerly dominant Ford Sierra RS500, the A70 Toyota Supra Turbo A, and E30 BMW M3. Continue reading →

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Nissan Skyline NISMO debuts to celebrate 60th anniversary of Prince Skyline S54

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Ben Hsu

Not content to launch just a Z NISMO, Nissan has also released a Skyline NISMO in Japan. Nissan Motorsports hasn’t touched a new Skyline since the GT-R was split off into its own model, and this marks the first time the Skyline has seen an official NISMO Skyline since the R34 Z-Tune. The model was created in part to honor 60 years since the first hotted up Skyline – the Prince S54A-1, predecessor to the Nissan Skyline GT-R — stepped onto the scene. Appropriately, the launch event held in Japan had the legendary sports sedan on stage. Continue reading →

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Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 or cake?

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Steve Chang

The “Is it cake?” trend is a couple of years old now, but people still can’t get enough of ultra-realistic desserts. For the launch of the J250 Land Cruiser, Toyota had a 1/10-scale FJ40 cake made to commemorate the occasion. It also happened to be the 72nd anniversary of the Land Cruiser, but luckily the cake wasn’t stabbed with 72 candles. Continue reading →

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Nissan Z haunted by ghosts of Z-cars past on a sleepless night

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Steve Chang

We’ve seen the formula before. A commercial for the Nissan Z brings out generations of older Z-cars to support the new one. Not a single word is uttered in the whole ad and the narrative couldn’t be simpler. A man goes out for a late-night drive to clear his head. But the visuals in this new spot give off a Blade Runner feel that’s kind of cool. Continue reading →

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QotW: What was the most important machine ever invented?

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Steve Chang

Today is Machinery Day in Japan. The holiday was established by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers to consider how machines can be created responsibly to benefit society, as well as to spur interest in the field of mechanical engineering. If you think about it, the whole of human achievement is one unbroken chain of using crude tools to make ever more advanced ones. Even the most state-of-the-art microchip owes its existence to someone banging a couple of rocks together. In honor of this holiday we’re going with an ultra-meta question this week. We’re presuming that if you’re interested in cars, you’re likely interested in other mechanical objects as well. Answers don’t have to be automotive in nature, though they certainly can be.

What was the most important machine ever invented?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What car would Barbie drive if she went ‘JDM’?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | 19 Comments

Why the Nissan Z NISMO comes in automatic only

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Ben Hsu

Zed-heads were all excited about the Z NISMO until it came out and it was confirmed that the only transmission option would be an automatic. That understandably caused dismay among enthusiasts, and made it the first Z in NISMO history that wasn’t definitively more desirable than its non-NISMO version. We spoke to some Nissan representatives to try to understand why this was the case. Continue reading →

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Hardest core Toyota Land Cruiser returns to Japan

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Steve Chang

It’s almost eerie how similar this week’s Toyota’s Land Cruiser launch has mirrored Nissan’s Z NISMO launch. Both made a big splash with the global announcement for an iconic nameplate, both had stylistic nods to heritage, and both then quietly released what is arguably the best variant for Japan. In the case of the Land Cruiser, that option is the revival of the 70-series Land Cruiser in Japan. Continue reading →

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Nissan Fairlady Z officially gets a third nose option in Japan, inspired by Z432-R

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Ben Hsu

The big news on the Z front this week has been the unveiling of the Nissan Z NISMO. However, at the same time Americans were getting a view of the tuned Z and its more aggressive face, in Japan a third nose option was officially announced. It’s called the Nissan Fairlady Z Customized Edition, and in addition to the front end the package comes with enough accoutrements to build an homage to the 1969 Fairlady Z432-R. Continue reading →

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