Ever since the first murmuring about Speedhunters being dead for good hit the internet, I’ve been inundated with messages and comments asking me about the validity of what is being said.
I’m sure this won’t address everything that has been said. Still, I feel it is my responsibility as a contributor to the site for over ten years to share what I know, my experiences, and thoughts about Speedhunters’ future going forward.
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I’ve been looking at blank screens for what appears to be an eternity as I struggle to piece together the thoughts in my head. The latest news circulating Speedhunters is the universe’s way of telling me it’s time to execute.
So I’ll stop overthinking everything and simply write. Tokyo Tuner had always been on my mind, whether I was writing for Speedhunters or working on various other projects for clients.
How can I tie this to Tokyo Tuner? Could this be the perfect company to partner with to allow me to do this full-time? (Spoiler alert – it wasn’t).
Although Tokyo Tuner has an amazing community built around our experiences as automotive enthusiasts, I couldn’t think of a way to ask the community for help. I had to find ways to get everything going without bothering or asking for help. Pride is a fool’s fortress.
It has taken me years of learning, years of struggling, years of misplacing my faith and loyalty, and years of doubt to get to this evolution.
Tokyo Tuner has always been there, and now I need to be there for it, for the community it represents.
I honestly don’t know where this will go, and I can’t commit as much time as I would like to due to my current life circumstances, but I won’t give up. I will work with the community to ensure Tokyo Tuner keeps going, as it has always been about the community.
Thank you to all those who have supported Tokyo Tuner, believed in its purpose, and continually asked about it all these years.
Thank you to the shops and individuals that support Project Rough and allow me to create wild stores and experiments with it to share.
Thank you, Cube Speed, GK Tech, R31House/Shibatire, and Tuner Concept.
Thank you, Speedhunters. As I continue to move forward with Tokyo Tuner, please continue to support me, as I can’t grow this on my own – it has always been that way. Once I have everything set up, I will post about it here and on the social media channels.
When I first moved to Japan to try my hand at automotive photography, I barely spoke any Japanese.
That made it incredibly difficult for.. well everything, but when I would try and communicate with the car owners where to position cars for the magazine shoots, I found it a bit of a mess. Back then, Google translate was a bit of a mess too so I really was out on my own.
I figured if I could just show the owners where and how I wanted their cars positioned with a toy car, it would make everything run smoother. So I bought this toy Lamborghini Aventador.
And it worked! For the first year or so in Japan, I brought this with me everywhere I went. As my Japanese got better, I left the Lamborghini at home and it basically sat and collected dust. Now my two year old son plays with it.
While contributing to Fast Car Magazine back in 2018, I landed my first big cover shot. I flew to Thailand to cover this wild Toyota MR2, and ended up covering the Bangkok Auto Salon ( Tokyo Auto Salon but in Thailand), a local meet, and a few other features.
Lab Curiosity 