By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

The joy of illegal street drifting is alive and well near the famous parking lot at the Tokyo Docks known as “Daikoku Futo.” Many thought that the taboo sport has been diminished by police, but luckily for our viewing pleasure it is still alive and well. Check out more drifting excitement at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

The SUGO weekend produced this ultra-rare in Japan machine–I’ve never even seen one! As most of you know, the Scion brand is aimed at the North American market and no Scion-branded vehicles have ever been marketed in Japan. This current tC sports one of hundreds of available body kits for the model, this one from Kaminari. Treatments such as the functional air ducts above the front wheels were an excellent touch.  The car’s stance is certainly very appealing, and the huge rotors add to the aggression of the 10-spoke matte black wheels. Left hand drive, the whole bit. Not something you usually see in Japan! More views at Speedhunters.

-by Len Clarke

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Now here’s an RV that makes me want to hit the road. Check out the motorized pop-up second story and the bathtub with the panoramic views. The living space is petite, but looks to be pretty complete and functional as mini-campers go. See more at Japanese Nostalgic Car, including video of the roof unfolding into the “Japanese-style room” upstairs.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I had one of the best experiences of my life the other week. It all happened on a very cold, very wet Monday morning at the recently opened S odegaura Forest Raceway , a short 45 min drive from Tokyo. The idea was to meet up with revered Fairlady Z restorer Ando-san of TA-Auto to shoot a couple of his latest creations, one of which was this beautiful maroon HS30 240ZG. The 240ZG was built in 1971 to homologate the S30 for Group 4 racing and was only sold in Japan.  Continue reading at Speedhunters.

—By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

2009 has been quite a year for me – one that’s included a move overseas, a few new cars, and then a move from California’s Central Valley to the car culture epicenter that is Los Angeles. After spending the first couple months of the year in Japan, I packed up my things and returned stateside just in time for the start of the ’09 season. There are times when I miss Japan greatly, but I’ve had an absolute blast Speedhunting here in the good old US of A. For the first my part of my photos of the year, here are some shots I’ve taken on both sides of the Pacific this year…. Continue reading over at Speedhunters.

—By Mike Garret

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Toyota’s efforts in Formula 1 may have ended, but the final run of their F1 cars sure didn’t hold up the rest of the action during the Toyota Motorsports Festival. Joining the race versions of the LFA, Toyota had a nice surprise for everyone, in the form of a production version of the LF-A, sporting a rather catching shade of matte black. Next to the race cars it sounded much quieter and refined, but it didn’t look any slower when it shot past the main straight.  Continue reading at Speedhunters.

—By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Fuji Speedway is the place to be this time of the year as two of the biggest events of the calendar are hosted at the international circuit. I am of course talking about the Toyota Motorsports Festival and the Nismo Festival, which this year are held within two weeks of each other. This past weekend was Toyota’s turn, which managed to attract a pretty impressive 28,000 people to the freezing race track in order to celebrate the past year’s achievements in motorsport. Continue reading over at Speedhunters.

—By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Steve Neill

Steve Neill

I had been up all night, late into the morning, searching for the cheapest tickets to Japan. Where in Japan? Narita Airport. With the trip already planned, and all the stops laid out, I just knew I had to get started planning where I was going to go next. I had a lot of stops to make if I wanted to please the CarDomain crew. The trip was planned for January 15th, after the holidays. I had been looking for tickets within my budget for before that, but to no avail…

Originally I had made the plans for personal reasons, and although this is still true, I’ve decided that now is the best time to do some good photos and reports on some great places in Japan. With a brand new Panasonic Lumix in hand, and a heck of a lot of cash to spare, I think I’m set. After all, I had neglected to grab some photos the last time I went to Tokyo, so this time, it’s payback time.

The stops? Rauh Welt, Top Secret, RE Amemiya, Zele International, and a few private dealers. Of course I have to do some sightseeing, and I’ll be reporting every once in a while on the interesting cars I see driving around. In the meantime, here’s your chance to throw out some more ideas on good shops I should visit!

By Steve Neill

Steve Neill

I’ve just worked out an awesome deal with a photographer friend of mine, and I’m going to be starting a new series of articles not just about cars from Japan, but about some of the nicest and most beautiful landmarks in and around Tokyo. We’ll visit Shibuya in an R34 GT-R, check out the mountains in and around Tokyo in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and see all sorts of other unique areas from the general viewpoint of a JDM historian. My good friend Colin is to thank for all the wonderful pictures that will be provided. Here’s a hint of what is to come.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

As if it weren’t ridiculous enough, Japan has now apparently adopted its own version of a cash for clunkers program, offering “up to 250,000 Yen (roughly $2,500) to trade in vehicles 13 years old or more for new, more modern ones,” according to Michelle Krebs at Edmunds. The plan is expected to cost Japan $3.7 billion and increase Japanese auto sales by 20 percent. And apparently, Japan’s auto manufacturers estimate 10 million – or one-eighth – of the cars on Japanese roads are currently 13 years old or older.

I don’t have any facts to contradict that, but that number does sound rather suspicious to me. The problem is that Japan’s taxation system has already forced many cars more than three years old off Japanese roads. Continue reading at Hemmings