first of all a very belated happy new year to each and every single one of you. we didn’t have much of a break during the end of 2024 into 2025 period due to preparing for a lifelong dream – having a car entered at Tokyo Auto Salon.

long story short boss man naoki spoke to me mid last year with a simple question of ‘do you want to participate in the 2025 tokyo auto salon’ next to my car, in which without much thought swiftly responded ‘yes’. before we knew it the end of the year was near, the HKS 2.1L managed to get hot which completely ruined the head, block and most of the pistons. following this the car went to SKY MOTORS in osaka to takuzo-san for a full pull-down and rebuild. new head, block, HKS 87mm pistons, rods, brand new oil & water pump, head gasket and some head work to get it back, running and not only ready for auto salon but for the 2025 season. the new engine made a wild 531HP at 1.65 bar.

i have been shooting this event for many years, dating back a few decades ago to Australian auto salon’s and even back to working with auto salon magazine when i was 16 years young or so. honestly this has been one of those self-manifestation goals i’ve had for a very long time. the fact that very minimal foreigners have had cars and or companies entered into this event has made me beyond hungry to make this a reality.

over the course of 3 days we had a rediculous amount of people pull through to say hello, express their gratitude and positivity with what we’ve been doing and creating for the last 15 years in which we’re forever thankful – so thank you everyone. as usual we’ve put together a video & very small photo gallery from the event (below). 3 days wild days of the event plus months of preperation.

next up is osaka auto messe 2025 which is held in osaka next week, february 7th, 8th & 9th. if you’re in japan during this time be sure to make it as it’s osaka’s largest event in the annual year.

ready for a giant year, thank you always. caseyyy x

this year’s 2023 D1GP series has come to an end with the final 2 rounds – 9 & 10 held in odaiba bay, tokyo. it’s been roughly 5-6 years since a round of D1 has been held here so it was something extremely special to be apart of and once again shoot & document.

friday’s practice consisted of rainy and slippery conditions causing nakamura naoki in his GR86 right into the wall leading the team to be awake until 5AM saturday morning right before practice and initiating round 9. after an extremely windy rainy & windy start to the day the event was close to being cancelled due almost all tents & booths being blown around the paddock into parked cars from the wild weather. luckily it had eased throughout the mid morning allowing D1 to continue.

shooting a drift event such as D1GP in the heart of tokyo throughout the day into the night is truly something special, here is a small selection of favorites i’ve edited for your enjoyment. 2023 series ranking #1st fujino from team TOYO, hokuto from team TOYO & nakamura naoki from VALINO N-STYLE. as always enjoyy. caseyy x

a lot of driving lately means a lot of new RAW video’s on the SHIRTSTUCKEDIN youtube. below are the 3 most recent driving events & videos i have attended, competed and put a video together:

– D1 divisional series – mobara twin circuit making it to the top 16
– Meihan Sportsland K.STRUE competition day – winning #1st place
– Gunma Sports Cycle Center – GUNSAI HARDCORE TOKYO event

plenty more videos up and coming from so be sure to subscribe to the SHIRTSTUCKEDIN youtube
click here to subscribe x

meihan sportsland c course – seimi school drift & mini-competition day. placing 2nd in expert class. enjoy a 20+ minute onboard youtube video below x

the custom car world of Kansai, Japan – Osaka Auto Messe 2023 – similar to Tokyo’s Auto Salon – Osaka has its own kind with a little twist of style and presentation. the last time this event was held was early 2020 right before the peak of COVID and the world closing. back again after 3 years it was very warming to see how many people were out and about attending the event. i made sure i was there at a decent time on saturday morning with my camera loaded to make effort to go through most of the halls and shoot.

this event is held at the port of Osaka near Nanko – Intex Osaka. This event has been running annually since 1997 so has plenty of returning and renowned car shops and business’ showcasing their cars and art every year. It’s estimated that well over 200,000+ people spectate this car show event over the course of the 3 days. If you’re into cars new and old just like the Tokyo Auto Salon i highly recommend visiting this show at least once in your lifetime.

below is my selection of photos from what i captured over the course of the weekend, enjoyyy x

2022年10月のドリフト天国表紙やりましたー
2022 october issue of DRIFT TENGOKU featuring my SHIRTSTUCKEDIN 3037 S13 on the front cover x

trying to put a lot more effort into onboard filming for my training and memories for sure however also each and all of you’s viewing pleasure. there are lots of RAW onboard and outside videos on the SHIRTSTUCKEDIN youtube including this first day back at meihan sportsland c course in the 3037 S13 in 10 months. another complete RAW edit with some outside footage to match some onboard runs. summer is definitely here in japan, drove the entire day slowly trying to ease back into the groove of how responsive and quick the car only running the car on low low boost for the entire day. as always, enjoyyyy! thanks @macey14 for the outside videos you legend! x

3037 S13 update as it hasn’t seen any sunlight let alone run under its own power since september 2021 (last year) blowing an engine at meihan sports land a month after kansai all stars. it is a very common situation in japan, even for myself for the time i’ve spent here with cars & driving to have cars pulled down and rebuilt immediately in order to get back out driving and practicing ASAP as that is priority, at least in the kansai region of japan. luckily enough i have had the 2530 practice car to fill in those gaps of weekly events, practice and traveling whilst the 3037 car got pulled down and rebuilt very thoroughly.

i will have some more in-depth information, photos & videos very soon with what changes and upgrades have been done specifically however will wait until the car is a little more complete. below is a small youtube video of some raw clips earlier this week heading out to PRO SHOP DIVERSION from SKY MOTORS as the car is now back together and running. a pre-run-in setting check before the engine is run-in as the engine itself and components are all different for the most part

the following update will be running-in the motor at suzuka motorland hopefully later this week, following that back to DIVERSION for the full-setting and finally PARTS SHOP TAKA for the livery install x

since kansai all stars it has been reasonably quiet on the driving front over here in japan. as usual the lead up to kansai all stars every year is very full-on for all participants and garages involved so it is very common to have some down time post the event.

fast forwarding a month last event nakamura naoki, his son nakamura ryuu, aki fujio & friends had a very small, intimate and rainy day at meihan d course. a little day to give the next generation some time to practice and get some seat time and drive with some of the best.

below are a few photos i took over a 20 or so minute period, rain was pretty full on. i have also put together an 8 minute RAW POV onboard video from my little action cam on youtube in which i will embed into this post also. be sure to check it out – naoki and his son properly driving together for the first time which was amazing to watch and capture. PS if you want to see any photos larger just right click and open in new tab – have laid them out this way as there are a few in this post.

big love, always. caseyyy x