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Takuya TK Akiyama

@akitakuya

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カメラマン | Photographer
🇯🇵🇺🇸 | SEA | OC | LA | JPN
Automotive - Account
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a year ago

Can’t believe it’s already week since the MAAYA ORIDO: APEX Cup presented A’PEXi x AlphaRex.

After the session rollers with A’PEXi GR86 project piloted by @maaya_orido_559 and @studytuned / @battlecraftparts x @exceed_jpn Civic EK.

Thank you @stickydiljoe for letting me in your Volvo for the roller opportunity! taken in Chuckwalla Valley Raceway by @akitakuya

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5 months ago

It was a fun day working on my EG in a quiet garage. Few more things coming for garnish/proper setup.

Just the usual guys (@bsidefabrication , @rivalautoworks and @unrivaledtuning ) working on their clients/projects.

#EGguProject #honda #civic #hondacivic #civiceg #eghatch #apexi #apexiusa #greddy #falkentires #zeroautofactory #exceedna #exceedjapan #bridezeta #brideseats #bridejapan #kaazlsd #kaazusa #eimerengineering #b16a #volkrays #te37sl #battlecraftparts #koyorad #koyoradiator #myrayswheels taken in どこでもドア by @akitakuya

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4 years ago

When you think of the famous livery, what car comes to mind?

For me, it has to be the No. 87 HKS Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32 Group A.

HKS entered the R32 into Japan’s top level JTC Group A competition in 1992, going head to head with established factory teams and some very serious GT-R machinery.

Then came Round 3… SUGO in 1993.

In only its second year of competition, the No. 87 took its first victory, beating the established teams at their own game.

It was a single victory.
Honestly, this almost makes the story cooler to me.

A tuning company taking what it knew from developing performance parts, building its own Group A machine, showing up against teams with years of top level racing experience and factory level resources…and winning.

There’s something almost cinematic about that. Almost like a movie script.

And wrapped around all of it was that unmistakable HKS oil splash livery, a design that became so iconic that decades later, you immediately know what it represents… for me. I truly hope all the fans that uses this livery knows the stories behind the oil splash… most likely don’t…😂

That’s what makes the HKS R32 Group A so special to me.

It’s a reminder of an era when a tuning company was willing to take its engineering directly to the racetrack and challenge the works giants.

Sometimes one victory is enough to create a legacy.

Also, I still can’t believe I saw it in the states… sprinting in Buttonwillow Raceway ✨✨✨ by @akitakuya

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2 hours ago

Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to color.
Especially for their cars.

For some reason, 90’s Civic hatchbacks have always looked especially good in red, at least for me.

I don’t really know why.

Maybe it’s the simplicity of the body lines against such a strong color, but Milano Red just feels so natural on an old Honda.

Then I learned there’s actually quite a bit of history connecting Honda with the color red.

Back in the early 1960s, Honda wanted its SPORTS 360 prototype finished in a vivid red. The problem was that Japan restricted red and white automobile body colors at the time because they could be confused with emergency vehicles.

Soichiro Honda (founder) wasn’t exactly happy about that.

Honda pushed for permission to use the color, eventually receiving approval, and that red SPORTS 360 became part of Honda’s early automotive history.

Maybe none of it is actually why I like red EG’s and EK’s. 😂

But knowing the history makes the color feel a little more appropriate.
There’s an intensity to red that just seems connected to Honda.

Sometimes a color just feels right. by @akitakuya

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a day ago

This EXCEED Front Lip V1 has probably been one of my favorite pieces I’ve had on the EG.

Now that I’m running the EXCEES V2, this lip has been sitting off the car for quite a while.

Technically, I don’t need it anymore.
But every time I think about selling it, there’s a little part of me that wants to keep it.

Not because I’m planning to put it back on anytime soon, but because it represents an earlier version of the car… and a certain period of the build that I still really like looking back on.

It’s funny how car parts eventually become little pieces of journey’s history. Although it’s a minor change for many people.

At first, they’re just modifications.
Then enough time passes, the car changes, and suddenly that old part reminds you of what the car used to look like and where the build was at that point in your life.

So…

Sell it to someone who’ll actually use it, or keep it purely for the nostalgia? 😂 by @akitakuya

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2 days ago

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3 days ago

Who guessed it right? The black & white photos from yesterday?

This is the NO GOOD RACING × EXCEED × CHRNCLS “MINTIA COLDSMASH” EK4 Civic SiR.

Yeah… the name is pretty long. 😂
But the car is pretty cool.

Literally cool… Mintia is a Japanese mint candy. If you don’t know or never had it, go to Tokyo Centeral or Mitsuwa and get yourself one (not sponsored).

There’s a much deeper story behind this EK, and I probably wouldn’t do it justice trying to explain everything in one caption. If you’re curious about the full history, check out @stickydiljoe ’s blog and YouTube video.

But one thing I really like about this car is how its identity came together.
Sometimes it starts with something completely random.

A conversation between friends.
A shared interest. An inside joke.
An idea that probably wasn’t supposed to become anything too serious.

Then somehow, that idea turns into a livery.
And eventually, that livery becomes something people immediately associate with the car.

Underneath all of that is still a Civic with its own history, but constantly changing here and there as the people around it refine things to fit their own standards, needs, and ideas.

Sometimes you just talk about something random with your friends and somehow it becomes the identity of the car. by @akitakuya

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4 days ago

One cool car hanging out here for a little bit.

There’s already so much hype around this thing that it’s probably pointless for me to make the photos black and white, motion blur, crop everything super close, and pretend this is some difficult “guess what car this is” post…

But here we are…

We’re borrowing it for JCCS this weekend, so I figured I’d have a little fun with it while it’s here.

The problem is, having this thing around is giving me ideas.
Now I keep looking back at my own Civics thinking…
Maybe I should mess with them a little more. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Anyway, any guesses?

Although I’m pretty sure most of you already know. by @akitakuya

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5 days ago

The quirky layout.

The Toyota MR2 Spyder.
Honestly, when this car first came out, I wasn’t much of a fan.

Practically nonexistent cargo space. Huge headlights for such a tiny car. And compared to some of Toyota’s other performance icons, it never really had the same presence to me.

But as I got older, learned more about cars, and became more interested in motorsports and vehicle dynamics, the MR2 lineup slowly started making a lot more sense.

It’s incredibly compact and lightweight. Rear-wheel drive.
And most importantly, the engine sits behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle.

That mid engine layout helps centralize the mass of the car, while having weight toward the driven rear wheels can help with traction. Combine that with such a small, lightweight chassis and you get a car that can feel incredibly responsive and to rotate.

Then you start looking into its motorsports history.
The MR-S wasn’t just a quirky little Toyota roadster.

Versions of it competed in JGTC GT300, and in 2002, the No. 31 ARTA A’PEX MR-S driven by Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi became the GT300 Drivers’ Champion.

Funny how your perspective on a car can change.

What I once saw as a tiny, impractical Toyota with oversized headlights, I now see as a quirky cool car with genuinely interesting layout and some pretty cool motorsports history behind it. by @akitakuya

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6 days ago

Pretty cool getting to see this car sideways in person.

The HKS Racing Performer GT86 RS-3.
We don’t get to see too many HKS motorsports vehicles running stateside, so being able to watch one actually perform rather than sitting quietly on display made it that much more special.

And of course, it’s hard to miss that signature oil slick livery.

Even against the black canvas, the highlight colors come alive.

There’s something different about seeing a car you’ve mostly known through photos, videos, and Japanese motorsports media suddenly right in front of you.

And even better when it’s doing exactly what it was built to do.

#hks #gt86 Drift by @akitakuya

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7 days ago

Who would be interested in these EXCEED novelty item?!

EXCEED Vanity Plate! by @akitakuya

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7 days ago