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WEEKEND EDITION: 25th January 2009

By in 25-01-2009 11:00 pm

Today was interesting. The Japan Classic Car Association show was on today at Odaiba, but I didn’t make it there until about ten minutes before it closed.

Why? I had a very interesting interview for a foreign magazine lined up today. The photo should give you a bit of a clue as to who it was.

I still managed to take a few photos at the JCCA show though, and they will be posted up very soon. What I actually did manage to capture will have you all cursing me for not turning up earlier, I guarantee. Wait until you see some of the cars and the haircuts of their owners.

One other thing that’s interesting is that I’m getting a very high readership from Finland of all places, so tervetuloa, minun suomalaiset ystäväni.

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SUZUKI ALTO: Kei car love

By in 21-01-2009 12:30 am

Noriyaro is all about driving in Japan, so enough of the Sprinters and Nissans and big Toyotas for now. Have a quick look at the smaller side of going fast, namely the Suzuki Alto turbo.

This red one is owned by a girl down in Okayama Prefecture who doesn’t just cruise around narrow backstreets, but actually thrashes it on the track on a set of little 185/50 13-inch Advan Neovas. The three-piston exhaust note has a very distinct sound, especially when revving to 9000rpm and combined with a miniature blow-off valve.

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ULTIMATE JDM: You think your pallets are cool?

By in 15-01-2009 12:30 am

You’ve got nothing on a Mugen pallet.

Yes, this is a bit of a half-arsed post, but I’ve been flat-out since last Friday ferrying the boys from Auto Salon magazine around to various workshops around Tokyo and far, far beyond.

Unfortunately, since they’re paying me for it, I can’t go ahead and show pics of the cars, since that would be unprofessional. I can show you cool little things I find on the way and take photos of with my mobile phone though. I also just wanted to put this photo up before mag photographer Mark Pakula does. Ha, I beat you. Nyah.

More actual photos taken with a camera and not a phone coming soon.

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WEEKEND EDITION: 28 December, 2008

By in 28-12-2008 12:30 pm

The year is almost at an end.

I’ve met a lot of helpful and friendly people over the past three months here who have helped make things easy for the new guy, like Shino, Yoshio, Nobu, Hiroshi, Kenji, Tomonori, Ken, Tetsuya and Tetsuya, Kimihiro and Hiromi, Himawari Racing’s Mama-san, Yocchan, Tomohiro, the guy with the Starlet, Kaneda-kun, Wampaku-san, Lascaux-san and the dozens of other people who have helped me so far.

Thank you! 助けてくれて皆さんありがとうございました!

Of course, thanks to everyone who reads Noriyaro.

Now, enjoy a photo of a bejewled Hummer H2 seen at Daikoku Futo. I can’t for the life of me think of an appropriate caption.

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WEEKEND EDITION: 21st December 2008

By in 21-12-2008 12:30 am

Took the ‘Line to Fuji Speedway yesterday for an event held by Himawari Racing, which meant taking a photo of the car with the mountain. I remember Tsuyoshi Tezuka showing me a photo on his phone a couple of years ago of his daily driver Toyota Soarer under a cherry tree in full bloom with Fuji in the background. That photo might have to wait for another few months though.

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