Internet Barn Find #5: Mooneyes Japan
July 20, 2009 by Hechtspeed · 1 Comment
If you’re not aware of hotrodding in Japan, its actually pretty big. Check out one of Japan’s own, the early Toyota Crown that Mooneyes Japan has done up in a cool hot rod style. Browse around their website, there’s some cool stuff to see.
Got an in on foreign countries doin’ the hot rod thing up right? Drop us a line in the comments section below so we can check it out!
Hechtspeed
Japanese Hot Rod Culture Pinstriped & Flaked!
January 31, 2009 by pikesan · 7 Comments
Every year at the Grand National Roadster show, Von Hot Rod assembles local, and as it turns out international pinstripers for the Pinstriper’s Reunion. The get together of 30+ pinstripers culminates with an auction where proceeds from the sale of donated items goes to charity. Hats off to Von Hot Rod for organizing this event.
Cruising through the end of building 4, the main hall with the AMBR contenders, many of the pinstripers are at work, including Von Hot Rod, but I what caught my eye was a couple of Japanese guys shooting a video.
I lived in Japan for a couple years and I speak some Japanese. I’m not sure what I like more… speaking some Japanese is great because you get to sneak up on guys and spit out “Hajimemashite, Pike desu.” (kinda means, How are you, I’m Pike). The look on their faces when this tall lanky American dude (call me henna gaijin) hits the accent dead on, but usually they look past me to see, who really just said that? When they finally see me smiling, they realize, it was me. After that, with some mangled grammar and alot of arm waving and picture drawing, communication happens and I meet some really cool people; especially when they’re hot rodders.
Nash, the guy shooting the video, from KustomKulture.jp (Japanese hot rod webiste) was the first guy I spotted. I figured he MUST recognize me since we’re friends on Myspace, but I had to introduce myself anyway. He was interviewing a pinstriper named “Ghost”. Ghost had painted and striped what I recognized as a Japanese doll I had seen before. Nash filled me in that it was named Daruma (da-roo-ma) (Japanese kanji: 達磨). Too cool!
Daruma is kinda like a wish doll. Daruma start out as a hollow and round shaped character with a man’s bearded face painted on. The face has eyes but they’re only 2 white spots. The dolls are generally purchased around the new year to help with a resolution or a wish for anything from good health to a promotion at work. When making the wish, you traditionally fill in the left eye with black ink, then if the wish comes true, you fill in the other eye. At year’s end, you burn the daruma and start over again, with or without the wish coming true.
I checked with my mother-in-law in Japan and also found out that the weeble-wobble shape of the doll has meaning, too. It says, ‘you can’t knock me down’ and symbolizes persistence.
That’s all probably more than you wanted to know, but now you’ve dabbled in Japanese culture and you can see how another country’s spin on an American art form like pinstriping can be taken to a new level. Japan’s hot rod movement is growing and their creativity and daruma-san like persistence that’s required to build and drive a hot rod in Japan is admirable if not truly amazing. More on that in a future blog!
So check out Ghost’s page (if you can read Japanese) and there are a few other pictures of his custom painted daruma with this story.
Great story? Want more hot rod and custom car stories from around the globe? I should get back to cars and hot pinups? Let me know in a comment below.
Yokohama Japan’s Hot Rod Show
While cruising Myspace looking for car and bike enthusiasts to bring to the light of MyRideisMe.com, I learned of the 16th Annual YOKOHAMA HOT ROD Custom Show 2007 that happened December 2nd in Pacifico Yokohama sponsored by Mooneyes Yokohama. 
I’ve got a special interest in what’s going on in Japan since I work for Nissan and I lived in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan in 2000. When there, I’d occasionally see a car that was completely out of place: an old Chevy wagon or a vintage Mustang, but nothing like what’s at this show.
To find the best pics of a Japanese show you look at Japanese websites, right? Good luck! That’s where a new friend from Myspace named Jiro from Gifu, Japan (near Osaka) helped me find some of those websites, especially this one: SP@RETIME. Maki Kurata from Nagoya, Japan runs Sp@retime and it is LOADED with outstanding pictures of the bike and hot rod scene in Japan. The picture to the left was just loaded. Maki and his buddies are riding in Japan now and it is COLD there now! This gallery’s called: いつものメンツで極寒ナイトクルーズ！ which loosely translates to: “The regular crew on an arctic night cruise”. Maki’s also got a Myspace page if you want to check it out. Maki’s Myspace
Maki told me a little about the show… Here’s his favorite bike:
It’s built by a shop called “Paradise Road” in Nagoya. In addition to building cars and bikes, they host the No.1 Custom car show in Japan. Paradise Road is owned by Happy Hernandez. He’s got a cool looking Myspace page too. Judging by the other photos I’ve seen of this bike floating around the web, this was certainly one of the finest at the show. I’ll share one more of pic from Paradise Road if I get permission.
Be sure to check out Happy Hernandez’s Paradise Road!
From there, I Maki-san served up his other favorites from the show and who built them.
This bike was built by “Hidemo” which I think is short for Hide Motorcycles. Here’s another website to check out: HIDEMO.
Browsing the Hidemo bikes, I found out this bike’s called Mod Chopper 3 and won Best of Show in Yokohama for the motorcycles. Check out all the details for this bike here (in English and Japanese) then go to the great photo presentation of the bike build. Click on the banner below to have a look, then check out the Other bikes built by Hidemo.
Then Dig this Old School Style built in Japan by Spice-MC.
Then you’ve got super detailed paint on this chopper called: MISARIINO from Motor Cycles-Den. At the website, there’s fantastic write-up about a bike made completely from titanium, aluminum and stainless steel called “The Titan” When you get there, click on it.
Finally, there were a bunch of trick cars at the show too. This car is in Japan!
Maki spent his time shooting the bikes, but his friend Kage got the cars. Most of these cars were Japan locals, but some had been flown in. The site is called “Rod-n-kustom Blogzine”. It’s worth checking out for the TONS of pictures and movies of Japan shows. This guy gets around! Click on his banner below.
After looking at the pictures at Sp@retime I had to say, WOW, there’s alot of innovative work going on! I haven’t seen something as cool as the Mod Chopper 3 in a long time. Next time I’m in Japan, I’m heading down to Nagoya to see my new friends drink beer and hopefully take a ride. I couldn’t be more impressed. Domo arigatou gozaimashita.
