May 25, 2012
Photography By: Yuya Yamashita, Key Mamiya
Words By: Andy Carter
A Look Back At: USDM Jam Ver 9.0 (Japan)
When Mick Jagger sang “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” in 1969, he was certainly on to something pivotal in regards to the frustrations we as enthusiasts experience in our daily lives with our cars. Interestingly, however, it is the converse of that lyric that has created and fed various scenes around the world; that is, “you always want what you can’t get”. That idea reverberates throughout our culture everyday, from the diehard Toyota fans begging for the return of the Supra, to FF Honda’s fans begging for a legitimate Type-R. Luckily for the scene, few of us stop there. Many JDM and Euro enthusiasts go to great lengths procuring models, parts, and merchandise from our markets of choice. Whether it’s a JDM coin tray or an R34 Skyline, there’s a certain feeling of owning something that was never intended for our shores. Not surprisingly, this feeling isn’t limited to American gearheads. For the ninth year in a row, thousands of USDM enthusiasts gathered in the Mie Prefecture to check out the best of what the American car scene has to offer, as interpreted by Japanese enthusiasts.
Our friends from Weksos made the trip all the way from NorCal. Hopefully we can do the same next year.
An ultra-rare V-Spec II Nür edition GT-R parked next to VIP Modular's booth.
Japan has a huge mini-truck scene that is closely related to the USDM culture.
Seemingly unpopular in Japan as shown by it's lack of aftermarket support, 7th generation Civics are now catching on overseas as their cult following in the US continues to expand.
As the stance movement is the hot trend in America right now, the USDM movement in Japan is huge into fitment. Interestingly, it was Japan's VIP, shakotan, and drift cultures that originally inspired the movement in the States.
3 piece Tarmacs's (Fifteen52) all the way in Japan!
RML Snowflakes sitting pretty on this mark IV Golf.
Editor: Andy Carter