my perspective from this years 2022 tokyo auto salon held in makuhari messe in tokyo, japan. enjoy x

if you follow SHIRTSTUCKEDIN across our social media platforms you would have seen myself, naoki & takeda made the giant treck to hokkaido last weekend, more specifically tokachi speedway. i have only ever been up to hokkaido once which was back in mid 2019 for a very small event next to chisato airport to take photos.

fast forwarding two and a bit years it was time to go back again however this time with a truck and 2 cars. on the sunday there was an event held and organized by takeda-san (YURA MODE) – it has been a while since he has put on an event up there due to the pandemic. ever since i saw naoki drive here for the first time a few years ago from videos kicking around on youtube i have always been beyond interested to at least go and see the course in person let alone drive it. being extremely far away from nara, kansai means multiple days off work and a bit of budget needed to make it a possibility.

to put it briefly how far away this course is from kansai the trip began in nara to fukui in the truck which was a 3 hour drive to the port terminal. from there a 22-23 hours boat ride to tomakomai terminal in the south of hokkaido. unloading the truck off the boat to then another 3 hour drive direct east just past a little city called obihiro to then, tokachi speedway totalling transit time to around 54 hours.

this is the first proper shakedown i’ve done in the practice car which i purchased at the start of this year, putting most of the time and efforts into the main 3037 meihan car but with that currently having it’s engine rebuilt the practice car was the pick to take up north. it is a very simple setup car. SR20DET, step 1 cams, HKS 2530 with a 12CM rear housing, 4.3 2 way, b-knuckle, stance suspension, radiator, intercooler and R33 mission. naoki took his main S13 up in which has had some recent work and loads of maintenance done to it along with getting re-tuned last week and making just under 580HP out of a 2.1L step 3 SR20DET.

usually when i go away driving i leave the camera at home however i’ve been more motivated to take it lately even if it means getting it out and taking photos for 10-15 minutes, memories will be forever and need to continue to remember this. below are a few photos i took over the period of the trip along with a 10+ RAW youtube video i have put together which includes the trip to and from, in-car footage and some outside footage of naoki absolutely ripping apart tokachi. towards the end of the day i managed to put the camera inside naokis car however the battery died instantly. if you have the time i highly recommend watching it below.

once again thank you to each and every single one of you for your following and love through contact and purchasing goods via the SHIRTSTUCKEDIN online store, it makes doing trips and driving like this a possibility and hope to do more as soon as possible. loveee always, caseyy 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

october/november two-thousand-eighteen – now available online – CLICK to shop now x

You might remember a few weeks ago some videos going viral from Nakamura Naoki’s newest S15 being tested for the first time. Being there and driving with Keisuke, Jamie and Nishio I decided to have a small break when Naoki and Miki showed up just to get some shots of the car prior being loaded to Australia for this years WTAC drift challenge next week in Sydney Australia in which he will be competing in. The initial plan was to head down to Okayama Prefecture to Bihoku Highland Circuit so the car could get up to speed and under some pressure properly however due to the multiple typhoons that hit Honshu over the last few months it was Motorland Suzuka that managed to stay mostly dry.

The newly painted S15 chassis – a 3 color fade painted by Naoki himself welcoming red up front for his newest and largest sponsor VALINO tires fading into pink and purple for the true N-Style feel. This is the same body that he has previously been driving in such as Kansai All Stars in 2017 etc. A few months prior to this day the SR20DET was removed and a 1000HP T88 2JZ that was purchased straight out of a Toyota Aristo, backed up with a holinger gearbox all tuned and set by Garage REMS.

Enjoy the images

This was the first time Nishio from Otokichi Family in Mie had seen the car also.

Shane Bingham from Stacked Inc always by Naoki’s side helping wherever and whenever he can maintain and prep cars.

A strong combination of grippy Valino tires, soft and forgiving Stance coilovers and Naoki’s insanely aggressive, snappy driving this car  lifting wheels off the ground everywhere.

Apart from a water hose popping off after 3-4 sessions and whatever tires were bought there car was somewhat faultless. I have been shooting and spectating Naoki drive for around 8-9 years now and this was one of the fastest and grippiest cars I have probably seen run, period. I wish him all the best at WTAC! If you didn’t get a glimpse of the videos check them out on the SHIRTSTUCKEDIN instagram x

On one of my most recent photos on Instagram I asked you as an audience what you would like to see more of from Shirtstuckedin. A large majority of you asked for more photos and detailed blog posts so let this be a start of many years of photos to catch up on.

Just over 2 months ago I set off for Japan for a short 10 day trip to pickup my new car and attend a few events such as the annual Kansai All Stars GP in Meihan Sports Land. Returning over 7 weeks later, here is a little scratch of the surface as what unfolded. 

My previous purple S13 was sold in order to get into something a little more setup and not so cosmetically sound to ensure confident driving which was replaced by this yellow S13 that I purchased off Naoki Nakamura.

The first day I was there I began fixing and replacing a few things and getting it somewhat ready to drive with the help from the boys at Stacked.

Shane, Jamie, Naoki, Ryota all donated a bunch of left-over aero from previous cars that were no longer running which made the car look a little neater.

I bought this car purely for the reason that most of the engine and driveline were mechanically A+. Time is always limited in Japan which lead me to such. The engine is a rebuilt S14 SR20DET with a metal headgasket, step 1 cams, HKS GT3037 with a high mount TRUST manifold, intercooler, oil cooler, radiator, RB25 fan, 2 way, b-knuckle and that is pretty much it. I have driven a few previously owned turbo cars but never enough to get into the groove so this was all still relatively new.

From my trip last year with the beige car I ran TOYO R1Rs up front which definitely was the pick for this car. 235/40/R17 on a 9J +12 Rays 57D.

Including all the aero off Naoki he also granted me with his X-D1 Origin Labo bonnet off his old S13 which quickly founds its place on the S13. Here it is the night before somewhat looking like a car.

Alongside my new purchase Keisuke Nagashima from New Zealand purchased another car off  Naoki Nakamura with all means and hope to start driving with friends and relations we have met over the past decade from traveling and shooting in Japan. Keisuke bought one of Naoki’s previous street cars which happens to be a S15 with a few very simple and efficient mods.

After a solid week both of the cars were somewhat ready to go and we got the word from Takumi Yokota-San who is the owner of the N-Body S14 and newly opened Sky Motors Drift Garage located in Higashi Osaka area that there was a practice day on at Mikawa Motorland held by Garage Dual.

Keisuke’s S15 looking pretty under the gas stand lighting.

The course is located in Aichi-Ken which is a solid 3-3.5 hours away from Osaka. On this route you pass through many beautiful mountain ranges from Osaka Prefecture into Nara and Mie. Being so far away we both opted for transporters. Keisuke’s S15 was riding above Takumi’s S14 in the N-Body truck whilst mine was on a separate truck thanks to Ryota and Imamaeda. We left early enough to get a few cool shots on the expressway, simple stuff like this always rocks me about Japan.

Always plenty to see along the way.

First PA stop…

…surreal situation for Keisuke and I.

Once off the expressway through Shinshiro you climb a dramatically steep mountain to get to the top where Motorland Mikawa is located.

In a way this was and wasn’t the best day to do a shakedown. Middle of summer in Japan or typically before Obon (national holiday) is unbelievably warm and humid. I think the temperature topped out at 41 or 42 degrees celcius however it was a good test to see if the cars would survive or not.

With no expectations of how many people would be there driving or spectating we were greeted by many local members such as MCR Factory who are very good friends with the Garage Dual family. Some of these cars setups are getting wild, 255/R18 up front, higher and even more grip all-round.

There were a bunch more famous cars and drivers around the pits and on the circuit however I’ll save that for another post down the track.

Perfect street car.

It was a nice feeling having Takumi-san with us on the day who wanted to do some car testing prior to Kansai All Stars which was the following weekend. 

Being a strong competitor in D1 Street Legal / Lights Takumi is an experienced, talented driver and mechanic. With 12 years of Nissan mechanics under his belt as I previously mentioned above Takumi has now owned his own garage in East Osaka (Yao) to be precise. 

After a few sessions back to back with Keisuke without any faults this car was probably one of the funnest things I have been behind. With the car tuned by Neo Style in Wakayama Prefecture it was somewhat making around 350-360HP on around 1 bar of boost. I decided to run radials on the rear – KENDA 265/35/R18 to begin with before jumping into a stickier, grippier tyre just to feel the car out. 

After a bunch of driving all morning post lunch it was time for an unexpected ドリコン mini-drift-comp in which Takumi mentioned to Keisuke and I if we wanted to be apart of it. Having had 3 members with cars ready to go we happily accepted. 99% of the cars entered. It basically consisted of 3 cars in 3 runs back to back, super simple and fun and a great way to break up the regular classed, practice runs throughout the day.

Thankyou for the photo Kurt!

Following the mini-drift-comp we had a few more short sessions before calling it a day. With about 45 minutes sleep and temperatures breeching 40 we filled up at the bottom of the mountain and slowly made our way back to Osaka. Moments as such will always be amazing.

My original intentions for this trip was to pickup the car and slowly do a few things to it in order to get ready for the end of the year when the weather in Japan would be slightly more enticing to drive. In saying that after this first day of driving Keisuke and I both knew what we wanted to do and were pretty set to maintain the cars and get driving again ASAP.

Besides Keisuke’s car getting a little warm after back-to-back runs and my dump pipe wiggling loose it was well and truly a trouble-free day. Here is a little clip following Keisuke and his mid-mounted JAZZ manifold. I also have a little bit of onboard footage from this day which I’ll have to get around to and edit!

More to come xxx

PS feel free to subscribe to my Youtube channel – here xxx

the drive to nikko circuit from nara early last year x

mitsuyoshi nishio-san. 音吉ファマリー leader from mie prefecture on a perfect, crisp morning at meihan x

nakamura naoki newest machine x