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PERKS OF THE JOB: Papa-chan’s custom gauge panel

By in 15-05-2009 5:35 pm

Remember Tomonori Akai’s purple AE86 hatch? After cracking the crankshaft of his 10,000rpm engine clean in half, he bought this turbo 86 we saw at Tsukuba circuit, transplanted the engine and replaced the transmission with a Toyota W55, replaced the diff with a 7.5-inch item bought from C&Y Sports.

So what happens when you run an industrial laser cutter all day? You make neat custom panels to fit your Defi gauges and other bits and pieces.

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DRIFT TENGOKU: The Bible according to Japan

By in 29-04-2009 12:30 am

I’ve been ridiculously busy doing some interesting stuff this week (which you might find out about a bit later on), while trying to finish writing a bunch of magazine articles and get ready for Ebisu’s Spring Drift Matsuri this weekend all at the same time.

As a result, I haven’t had time to get any photos up. However…

Translation: Cool! Hey Mr Policeman, can I have this video?

…after mentioning it a couple of weeks ago, I’ve had a bunch of people email me and ask if I can send them copies of Drift Tengoku. While I’d like to help spread the word (or at least the pretty pictures if you can’t read it), I have a better suggestion.

J-List, a website that sells all sorts of stuff from Japan, offers a subscription that you can pay for month by month.

I worked out the numbers, and the price they can do it for is about the same as what it would cost me to buy it here and send it by economy air mail without even making a profit, so you should check them out as an option if you’re not anywhere near a Japanese bookstore. As an interesting little side-note, J-List are located up in Isesaki in Gunma Prefecture, only about an hour away from all the famous Initial D roads like Akina and Akagi.

Click here for a direct link to the Drift Tengoku page on their site.

They also stock itasha books and models. I have one of the red Lucky Star AE86 hatches. :3

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ITASHA: Ranka Lee Lancer Evo wagon

By in 23-04-2009 12:30 am

I’ve been really busy the past couple of days, and haven’t had much time to go through any of older photos and develop them for the site, so check out this itasha seen in the parking lot at the recent Hyper Meeting, themed around Macross Frontier character, Ranka Lee.

It only makes sense, since this has been an all-girl week so far…

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WEEKEND EDITION: Japanese blogs, April 19th

By in 19-04-2009 6:30 am

While being everywhere at once would be a great thing as far as this site is concerned, the laws of relativity and the expressway tolls I’d rack up mean that it’s not quite possible.

So, instead of trying to bend space-time, here’s a few interesting photos collected from some local blogs.

First, here’s the R34 GT-t that Tezuka Tsuyoshi is supporting in D1SL this year.

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I SURVIVED A JAPANESE GAME SHOW: Shino and Ken Satoh coming to US television

By in 03-04-2009 12:30 am

A couple of weeks ago, Shino had mentioned that she had been asked to come along to Mobara Circuit with her car, because an American film crew were coming, and wanted to film her drifting.

Turns out it was for the second season of I Survived a Japanese Game Show!

For anyone not familiar with the show (link to Youtube segments here) it’s an American reality show along the lines of The Apprentice or Survivor, based around competing in team-based, Japanese-TV-style challenges.

The team that wins each challenge gets to do something cultural and fun, like visiting the Tokyo fish markets. The losing team has to do something difficult, yet still cultural, like working as rickshaw drivers or labouring in a rice field.

This week’s winners won a ride in a drift car.

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