Click the link below to view in HD, much better viewing!

http://www.vimeo.com/9757441

I actually had a sore head and needed to get some fresh air, my camera tagged along and after a 6 hour editing session this is the results.

I really tried to capture interesting patterns created by lights casting through the surrounding objects, I then matched them to the music’s beat. I played with the footage speed increasing and decreasing to suit the song. You might of also noticed the music fading from left to right on your speakers, I played around with some surround sound settings aswell, thought it added a little more to the video.

Its a nice change from filming car events and I cant wait to do more random spur of the moment filming.

The Sony FX7 is ment to be a very poor choice for shooting night footage but I think it came out quite well.

If your wondering why im telling you all to head over to wearedrift.com im about to tell you now!
Basically with all the filming work and daily jobs i have i no longer have the time to update two blogs when i get home from events or filming. So basically i will continue to update this blog but it will be pointing you directly to my new filming project and the progress with the new drift documentary.

You will still get your daily fix of Japan drifting just shared with another site.

If you dont know much about the new project i highly suggest you take a look.

www.wearedrift.com

They really do showcase some of the best automotive photography around without any of the boring self indulgent stories.

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Reminds me of this video clip from JDM Insider.

Sad i wont be drifting but these things happen, I have a drift day coming up this month anyway! Just packed my Kei car up with all my camera gear and now we are ready to go!

See you guys back here on Monday / Tuesday after the epic weekend, then off to Mobara on Wednesday to film my mate Andy from Powervehicles.com running in the D1 Street Legal event and on Friday night I’m heading to Kiryu to film some local boys run the touge, damn I’m BUSY!!!

Interested in them? Drop me and email at luke@hashiriyaexports.com / MSN contact : automag_3@hotmail.com

Price : $950ish USD (www.xe.com for currency conversion)
Postage : Contact me for more information

Personally I think its just plain cool. Japan : dress in the lastest clothes have the latest phone conform and if your not like everyone else whos wearing the lastest fashion then your simply not cool. Its like these guys are saying no stuff that I am going to jump back 60 years do whatever the hell i want, F*ck everyone. In a weird way you have to respect that, even just being a Japanese person and getting a tattoo makes you can outcast.

What do you think?

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The first day the car was bought it was straight down to business with sanding and stripping the car for paint.
Sorry for all the lower quality photos!

By the second day the car looked like this.

Fresh paint applied the following week with bright yellow just like the Initial D RX7. Makes for an easy sale considering the amount of Initial D fans that are based in Japan, everything is done for a reason. 

Lights on!

Next was painting the new AVS wheels to match the car.

Dark burnt gold was decided.

All four of them complete.

Now it was time to start putting the car back together.

Wheels on!

Dirty carbon fiber rear diffuser, hot!

New mirrors because standard FD items dont really flow with cars new lines.

Installing the Mazda Speed 320km dash.

All finished and on display at Pit ORC for the Sunday Cup go kart event.

Nice and simple comfy interior.

Aggressive bonnet design.

Not sure how long Hoshino will keep this car for, maybe no longer then a couple months until he finds another project car he wants to work on. But he was talking about a turbo upgrade and some touge runs in this car. Either way it should be an easy sale considering the Mazda Speed parts list in this car and the nice yellow paint along with the number 7 specialized number plates Hoshino is getting for it, some Initial D fan will pick this up for sure!

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Every weekend with out fail for the last 2 months I have been going go karting at Pit ORC (Ogura Clutch) in practice for an event they hold every Sunday once a month called the Sunday Cup. Its an event in the format of a 5 minute qualifying session, two 6 laps races with 5-6 other people then a 10 lap session at the end. Pictured here the main office of the go kart centre.

The full course that is changed every week for a different race line.

Looking over the start line.

Looking over the back section of the track.

Before the race everyones weight is taken and the go karts have lead weights added to them so no one has a weight advantage.

I have had many practice session leading up to this event but nothing could prepare me for how serious the Japanese racers took these event. Full race suits with back supports, matching gloves and shoes, the full get up, these guys were ready for battle. You can buy you own brand new ORC go kart for 180,000 yen brand new, the huge advantage over these go karts compared to most rentals in Australia is all of them are actually fast. Bored out scooter engines, with fast acceleration and instant power these things fly around the track or can drift the course whole course no problems with slicks on!

The go kart getting fueled up before the next session.

In the pitting area waiting to head out.

Pictured here at the start line, the guy in the red jacket won the even with amazing lap times!

Basically for my first event I learnt quite a bit, for starters I need to be more consistant with my lap times and get my ass over the line. On track everyone is fighting each other, hitting each other, driving over each others tyres to get in front, its all pretty serious racing. I was running lap times from around 33 seconds to 32.80 seconds where as the pros were running 32.20 seconds up to about 32.80 seconds, so i need to shave about .30 off to mix it with them. It was a great day and big change from my usual go kart drifting, usually i would be crossed up front wheels locked up heading into the first corner off the straight while the rear of my go kart skims the foam wall. So its a huge change from drifting the karts, its much harder to go fast and skim off .30 of a second then it is to hang your tail out every corner.

Below is a little low quality video from the day, but if your ever in this area its a must do activity!

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I dont think they understand the meaning of these two badges.

A a popular shop called UNI QLO are releasing all old school t-shirts, such as Sonic The Hedgehog and Pac-Man etc. I love all the old school games and art work so I will keep you updated when I get new ones. I just bought a Pac-Man and Dig Dug shirt but each month they will be releasing more and more old school designs.

Raptors are cool.

This will destroy your night or enhance it very quickly depending on the dosage. After throwing down some shots it will contine to burn your mouth, lips and face for the next hour and at around 1,200 yen for a bottle this 96% Vodka is great face burning value.

Fancy some chocolate and banana pizza or maybe some watermelon with strawberry sauce and cream? The chocolate pizza is pretty good actually but the other crazy flavours are just a little bit too weird for me.

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