© Vladimir RysNowhere does REBL Car Culture quite like Japan. Let’s take a ride through Tokyo’s technicolour underworld, with one of Japan’s most respected insiders at the wheel.
FromthewindinghillsidebattlesthatbackinthedaygavebirthtotheglobalphenomenonofdriftingtothestreetsofTokyowhereextrememods,ultra-luxeupgradesandmanga-inspiredautomotivemayhemcollideinaneon-litexplosionofcreativityandtuninggenius,Japanhasitall.
PickingApartJapan’sAutomotiveEcosystem
But with the home of Fast and Furious now home to a bewildering array of micro-scenes and subcultures how does an enthusiast even begin to pick apart Japan’s incredible automotive ecosystem. Have no fear, with the aid of one of Japan’s best-known students of the modding arts, we’re here to help.
MeetDinoDalleCarbonare–Tokyo’sModdingMaestro
Born in Italy, schooled at hill climbs, and raised close to an F1 factory in the UK, Dino Dalle Carbonare’s love of cars was baked in at an early age. But his passion transformed into obsession when he moved to Tokyo in the early ‘90s. Awed and inspired by the unique performance cars on show in the Japanese capital Dino vowed to stay put and has been covering the ever-evolving Japanese car scene ever since.
Dino DC Exploring Car Culture in Japan© Vladimir Rys
“Car culture in Tokyo is extremely diverse,” he explains. “You can literally find anything you could ever imagine here. People are into all sorts of cars here, and they're into modifying them. Everybody is trying to create something unique, something that reflects their opinion of how a car should be, and it creates an amazing culture to cover.
People are always trying to outdo their friends and push the boundaries and that has kind of made Japan a place that people look towards for inspirationDino DC“People are always trying to outdo their friends and push the boundaries and that has kind of made Japan a place that people look towards for inspiration,” he adds. “What really makes Tokyo shine is not only the variety—we do have a lot of imports here compared to the rest of the country—but people like to use high-end products and follow some of the tuning stuff that happens around the world. Maybe they like to share ideas, see what people are doing in other countries, bring it here to Japan, maybe evolve it, improve it, and kind of change it.”
DinoDCbreaksdownJapaneseCarCulture
RootsinRacingandDrifting
Japan’s devotion to radical car culture encompasses a multitude of styles and inspirations but in some way, all can be traced back to two art forms – racing and drifting.
REBL Car Culture in Japan© Vladimir Rys
Back in the early 1970s, famed Japanese racer Kunimitsu Takahashi began competing in saloon cars, driving the new Nissan Skyline KPGC10. To balance the poor levels of mechanical grip from the car’s tyres and the surfeit of power from its two-litre, straight six engine Kuni-san developed a wild style that involved power sliding into the corner apex before dropping the power to get a quicker exit. The technique earned him a plethora of wins – and the undying admiration of a generation of young Japanese drivers, who emulated his style on the track and more rebelliously, on Japan’s roads.
TougeRacingandtheBirthofDrifting
The wildest of these were the Touge racers. Two cars, one mountain road and a perilous power sliding battles from top to bottom with a lead car setting the pace and a chaser trying to match the pace and the sideways precision. The greatest of the Touge racers was Keiichi Tsuchiya who earned notoriety not only for his sublime skills but also for filming his efforts and releasing the results as videos. Seen by millions around the world, the art of Drifting was born and car culture in Japan had a new counterculture hero to worship.
The Honda NSX in Tokyo© Vladimir Rys
TheRiseofKaidoRacers
While drifting represented one stream of car modifying in Japan another more exaggerated form also began to gain popularity in the 1970s – Kaido Racers. And once again, this slice of Japanese auto madness can be traced back to motorsport and in particular the Fuji Grand Championship (shortened to ‘Grachan’) launched at Fuji Speedway in 1971.
Motorsports in Japan has always been very much linked to what people do on the street....Dino DC “Motorsports in Japan has always been very much linked to what people do on the street,” says Dino DC. “Starting from series like JGTC (Intercontinental GT Challenge), it’s always been an inspiration to see the race cars and kind of have that approach when you're crafting and modifying your own streetcar.”
REBL Car Culture Meet: Tokyo© Vladimir Rys
Featuring Nissans and Mazdas with heavy body kits, fans began to copy the style of the Grachan race cars and in 1975 the magazine Holiday Auto launched a column in which readers Grachan-inspired cars could be featured. Called ‘Oh My! Kaido Racer’ or highway racer, the feature spawned a style of creative modification that’s as popular today as it was all the way back in the mid-70s.
BambooSpearsandBoldBuilds
Featuring exaggerated ‘deppa’ front lips, wildly extreme rear spoilers and massive flares and skirts, Kaido racers are all about racing aesthetics pushed to the max. And no true Kaido Racer is complete without a pair of huge, tall, obnoxious sounding takeyari ‘bamboo spear’ exhausts.
REBL Car Culture Meet: Tokyo© Vladimir Rys
ACultureofInfiniteSubcultures
Drift cars and Kaido racers have since spawned myriad subcultures. On the race-inspired side are groups such as the Kanjo racers and Time Attack drivers, who, as the name suggests, try to set the fastest times in highly customised cars featuring high-performance engines at venues such as Tsukuba Circuit outside Tokyo, which holds the biggest time attack events each year and which has been immortalised in countless racing games.
It’s all about showing off your ride and car meet-ups are the place to go and do that...Dino DC TheCarMeet-UpScene
“It’s all about showing off your ride and car meet-ups are the place to go and do that,” explains Dino DC. “So anywhere from Daikoku to Tatsumi, the Tokyo area is dotted with little parking areas that people love to meet up and have a chat with their friends, see what they’re doing with their cars, where they’re going in the future with future modifications, and have a nice time chatting about the car scene, future events they’re going to hit up, and just going for a nice drive together with your friends.”
Showing off and planning upgrades – two things we’re totally here for at Oracle Red Bull Racing!
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