Tag Archives: Art Corner

ART CORNER: Beautiful dioramas of model cars from Japan

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Ben Hsu

Takuji is a Japanese artist who places 1:43 and 1:64 scale minicars into beautifully constructed dioramas. From AE86s on touge roads to Mitsubishis tearing through a rally stage to mechanics tuning Skylines in a garage, each scene is a slice of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner, minicars | Tagged 200sx, 323 GTX, 510, a70, ae82, ae86, alto, Art Corner, aw11, az-1, b110, beat, bluebird, c110, carol, carry, colt, corolla fx, fairlady z, familia, fj60, fronte, fto, Galant VR-4, Hakosuka, honda, Honda N-Series, jimny, K10, kei, kenmeri, lancer celeste, land cruiser, march, mazda, miata, minicars, mirage, mitsubishi, mr2, mx-5, nissan, rally, rx-3, s12, s30 z, safari rally, silvia, skyline c10, sprinter trueno, starion, starlet kp61, stepvan, subaru, subaru 360, sunny, supra, suzuki, toyota, violet, Vivio | 14 Comments

ART CORNER: The illustrations of U井T吾

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Ricky Silverio

For this installment of JNC‘s Art Corner, we feature another artist from Japan. U井T吾, 27, is a Kyoto-based artist whose day job is in character design for board games and social gaming. Fortunately for us, he’s also an enthusiast of old Japanese … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged a10, Art Corner, cherry cab, datsun, honda, honda z, jimny, kawasaki, kei, Kyosho, life, mitsubishi, Motara, motorcycles, nissan, pajero mini, stanza, subaru r-2, SuperCub, suzuki, U井T吾, violet | 9 Comments

ART CORNER: Bosozoku Cats and Kyuusha by San Mamiya

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Ben Hsu

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.

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged 2000gt, 240z, 510, a20, alto, Art Corner, aw11, b210, bosozoku, bre, carry, celica, chaser, corolla, cressida, crown, datsun, datsun 620, e70, fairlady z, fc3s, Galant Lambda, honda, hot wheels, jimny, juke, kujira, mad manga, manga, mazda, mitsubishi, mr2, nissan, prius, rx-3, rx-7, s30, s60, samurai, san_mamiya, savanna, sports 800, suzuki, toyota, x30, x40, x60, x70 | 10 Comments

ART CORNER: Papercraft nostalgics by Metmania Fan

Posted on November 4, 2014 by John Roper

Got some time to kill? Perhaps the art of papercraft as applied to some JNCs will do the trick. These are the creation of a Japanese artist who goes by the name Metmania Fan, and cover a whole range of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged 1000, 240z, 510, a40, ae86, Art Corner, b110, bluebird, celica, datsun, fairlady z, gto, mitsubishi, nissan, papercraft, s30, subaru, sunny, toyota | 4 Comments

ART CORNER: Skylines, Truenos and Robots by Matt Spangler

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Ben Hsu

We love it when JNCs pop up in unexpected places, especially when they’re obscure models never sold in the US. Last year, a hakosuka Skyline showed up in Adventure Time. More recently, we received an email from a friend that … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged 240z, ae86, Art Corner, c10, corolla, datsun, fairlady roadster, Hakosuka, levin, Matt Spangler, nissan, robots, s30, skyline, sprinter, te27, toyota, trueno | 18 Comments

MINICARS: Japan Post celebrates the Mazda MX-5’s 25th anniversary with commemorative stamps

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Ricky Silverio

On Monday, the Japan Post released a series of commemorative stamps and a 1:64 diecast car to honor the 25th anniversary of the Mazda Miata and the upcoming debut of the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 on September 3. We’ll be on hand at … Continue reading →

Posted in minicars | Tagged Art Corner, japan post, mazda, miata, minicars, mx-5, stamps | 4 Comments

ART CORNER: Rocket Craft’s stuffed cars are the cutest thing ever

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Dan Hsu

The problem with cars is that they’re made of metal. That means rust, skinned knuckles, and, most importantly, an inability to be cuddly. A shop called Rocket Craft has solved that last one for us by creating a series of stuffed cars, which are totally … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged 2000gt, Art Corner, bellett, d21, D60, estima, fairlady z, fd3s, hilux, honda, isuzu, kawasaki, legacy, mazda, motorcycles, nissan, pickup, prince skyline, r35, Rocket Craft, rx-7, s30, subaru, toyota | 13 Comments

ART CORNER: The custom 1:24 models of Luis Aguilar, Part 01

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Guest Writer

We met Luis Aguilar at a local AE86 owner gathering and immediately had our brains melted by his astounding 1:24 scale plastic models. It wasn’t just his tremendous attention to detail that caught our eye, but his highly accurate adherence … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged a20, a60, Art Corner, bosozoku, celica, Luis Aguilar, nissan, r30, skyline, supra, toyota | 8 Comments

MINICARS: Japanese Nostalgic Legos

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Ricky Silverio

Apparently, building JNCs out of Legos is a thing. After stumbling upon a Toyota Celica built by -Kyusha-, we fell down the rabbit hole and discovered an entire subculture of nostalgics made of plastic blocks. Here are some of our favorites.

Posted in minicars | Tagged 117, 2000gt, 510, 620, a20, ae86, Art Corner, bosozoku, bre, c10, celica, civic, corolla, cosmo sport, csp311, daruma, datsun, ef, fj40, Hakosuka, honda, isuzu, land cruiser, lego, mazda, n360, nissan, ra272, rx-3, rx-7, sa22, savanna, silvia, skyline, tarago, toyota, Toyota Van | 4 Comments

ART CORNER: So apparently Louis CK was conceived in a Toyota Corona

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Dan Hsu

If you are not yet familiar with comedian Louis CK, do yourself a favor and look up his stuff on YouTube. Artist Jaeil Cho recently drew a comic version of one of CK’s bits about kids asking “why?” ad infinitum. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged Art Corner, corona, t100, t110, toyota | 3 Comments

ART CORNER: The least resilient Land Cruisers you’ll ever see

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Yesterday we saw Toyota FJ40s fetching some high prices at the recent Arizona auctions. These, on the other hand, are the cheapest Land Cruisers you’ll ever encounter. They’re also some of most easily destructible ones too, as they’re made completely out … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner, toyota, trucks | Tagged Art Corner, fj40, fj45, fj55, land cruiser, papercraft, toyota | 5 Comments

ART CORNER: Announcing the JNC Ken & Mary Art Contest winners

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Ben Hsu

This year we held our first ever JNC Art Contest. The theme, “Ken and Mary,” was inspired by the 40th anniversary of the C110 Skyline, and we asked our (extremely talented) readers to submit kenmeri related artwork. Here are the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner, nissan | Tagged Art Corner, c110, Ken & Mary Art Contest, kenmeri, kgc110, kpgc110, nissan, skyline | 13 Comments

Wednesday Wall: Mazda watercolors by Miki Nakajima

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Ben Hsu

The Mazda Japan Facebook page has been posting a series of beautiful watercolor paintings by Mazda designer Miki Nakajima. Subjects range from the 1950 Mazda PB-type three-wheeler to the 1970 RX-500 concept to modern favorites like the MX-5. See the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner, kei, mazda, trucks, Wednesday Wall | Tagged 110s, 787b, 808, Art Corner, atenza, az-1, carol, concept, cosmo sports, eunos 500, familia, hbr-type, luce, mazda, mazda 6, pb-type, presto, r100, r130, r360, repu, rx-3, rx-500, rx-8, rx-87, savanna, t2000, Wednesday Wall | 12 Comments

Friday Video: Nostalgic Nissan art by Osamu Samurai

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Matt De Mangos

Now that we’ve found Mary perhaps it’s appropriate that we share a video full of tricked out kenmeri artwork. Well not a video per se, but these frames of customized Skyline and Fairlady Z renderings by Osamu Samurai are nevertheless killer. They’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner, Friday Video, nissan | Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, Art Corner, c10, c110, fairlady z, Friday Video, gc10, gc110, Hakosuka, kenmeri, kpgc10, kpgc110, nissan, Osamu Samurai, s30, skyline | 10 Comments