Tag Archives: bosozoku

EVENTS: 2016 Tokyo Auto Salon, Part 01 — A Preview

The Tokyo Auto Salon kicks off this weekend, and that means it’s time for the craziest builds the Japanese aftermarket has to offer. While gold-plated GT-Rs and VIP vans are still very much a part of it, looking past the glitz this year … Continue reading

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VIDEO: The dying tradition of bosozoku

“The view was breathtaking, especially at night. The lights would just go on forever,” recalls Kazuhiro Hazuki, the 21st leader of Specter, one of Japan’s most famous bosozoku gangs. In its prime, the Chiba Soumei Rengo (alliance), of which Specter was a part, stretched … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 03 — Made in the 80s

Have chrome-bumpered bullies been making you feel bad that your urethane-capped car isn’t truly a classic? Tell them to take a chill pill. Now that 1990 is the 25-year cutoff, everything that was built in the Eighties is officially a classic.

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VIDEO: Badass women on badass bikes

The style of this video is precisely what was parodied so well by the recent Car Bros’ Secrets of Japan Revealed sketch, but once you get past the over-dramatized Sheriff John Bunnell narration, there’s still some good footage of badass women on badass bikes. 

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EVENTS: Showa Car Preservation Meeting

The Old Car Club of Tokyo recently held it’s 3rd annual Showa no Kurma wo Mamoru Tsudoi or “Preserving cars made in the Showa Era” meeting. This is a gathering for cars made during the Showa Era, which ended in 1989 according to the … Continue reading

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ART CORNER: Bosozoku Cats and Kyuusha by San Mamiya

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. 

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EVENTS: Sunday morning at Daikoku Futo

Located right off the famed Wangan Bayshore Route in Yokohama, Daikoku Futo PA is a congress for car fiends. As die-hard fans of JDM-land know, representatives of any and every type of Japanese tuning subculture come together to appreciate the many facets of … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 New Year Meeting, Part 04 — Shakotan Sleds

The previous installment of our New Year Meeting coverage focused on originality. In Part 04, we travel to the opposite end of the spectrum. But among all of Japan’s customization styles, shakotan is perhaps the most appealing to JNCers. Translated as simply “low,” shakotan cars are … Continue reading

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JNC‘s top stories of 2014

As we mentioned, 2014 was the Year of the JNC. As it draws to a close, let’s look back at the things that most interested JNCers over the last 365 days.

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VIDEO: Happy Doukoho Eve, Everyone!

On November 22, 1978, over 3000 bosozoku motorcycles and cars swarmed the streets of Tokyo, cruising, parading, revving and generally causing a ruckus. On the following day a new Japanese traffic law would require helmets for all motorcyclists. So a huge … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2014 SEMA, Part 02 — Bosozoku style comes to America

If there was one thing we learned from SEMA this year, it is that you must widebody all the things. From Beetles to Benzes, everything is being massively flared, often with bolt-on over-fenders, ducktail spoilers and turaichi shakotan stances. Bosozoku style has finally come to America. 

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VIDEO: “The Streets of Japan in 4K”

Speaking of tuning trends, the neon Lamborghinis are back, along with biker chicks, RWB Porsches, and a brief glimpse of bosozoku sleds. It’s the current state of Japanese car culture, as viewed through the lens of the mainstream west. Love or … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2014 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 09 — Editors’ Picks

Each year as part of our Japanese Classic Car Show coverage, we pick our favorites to highlight. We had six members of the JNC team at the show this year, plus one car that we voted on collectively to give the JNC Award. Here’s what we chose. 

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EVENTS: 2014 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 05 — Made in the 80s

While chrome-bumpered machines from the 60s and 70s are still the Japanese Classic Car Show’s core, urethane capped 80s cars are making their presence known in a big way. In this installment we look at iconic cars from the Reagan decade.

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

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

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ART CORNER: Ryuji Tsugihara’s Yoroshiku Mechadoc

There are countless manga devoted to the subject of cars, but rarely do they leap off their comic book pages into the world of anime. Any self-respecting JNCer knows a few, but before Initial D or Wangan Midnight, before even Shakotan Boogie, there … Continue reading

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Happy Hatsuhinode from JNC!

In Japan it’s a new year’s tradition to wake up early, drive to the coast or the top of your nearest mountain, and watch hatsuhinode, the year’s first sunrise. Bosozoku take this seriously enough that police blockades are set up to … Continue reading

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MINICARS: Japanese Nostalgic Legos

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.

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KAIDO shirts now available in the JNC Shop

Our Kaido shirt that we did for this year’s JCCS was hugely popular and sold out at the show. It’s been a while but we finally made more so people who missed it at the event can get one, just … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2013 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 03 — Mad Tuning Styles

The Japanese Classic Car Show showcases a wide variety of makes and models, but perhaps even more diversity can be found in the subject of this week’s QotW — the multitude of tuning styles. Not only are there differing genres … Continue reading

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