I've been to japan a few times, but this past time I went with my girlfriend. We were there for two weeks, and had planned to visit her hometown of Fukuoka in Kyushyu for the first week, followed by a trip on the Shinkansen to Odawara where we would drive up through the mountains to a hot spring resort. From there we would drive to Tokyo for the remaining 4 days of the trip.
Our schedule was pretty tight, but she "allowed" me one day to visit anywhere I wanted in Fukuoka. So I choose the only viable option. The famous Subaru specialty tuner "Emotion Fukuoka". I had seen them in HyperRev and had looked forward to visiting them.
We had a hand-drawn map of the area, and hired a taxi to bring us there.
After taxing a taxi to the area, we spotted the Subaru Impreza WRX STI s204 outside.
Its a small shop, with a bay large enough to fit 1 or 2 cars. The way they operate is to discuss an upgrade plan with their customers, and then order parts and install them. I talked to the owner about many things, including my own plans. He was generally surprised that such a young person (27) could be into upgrading cars. In Japan, its very expensive to own a car with the cost of getting a license (driving exam schools are around $3000 and parking fees, with registration fees all add up, most "car guys" are in their 30s). He liked my plan to install the EJ207 with the Tomei stroker kit, and said that for racing, you can't go wrong with it. He had done one previously, and was very satisfied with the results.
The shops s204 (numbered #102/600)
HKS/Kansai air box
Shops Legacy B4 wagon, with AP Racing brake 6pot front kit, and OEM paddle shifters and tons of STI goodies from the factory. We don't get that stuff here. :(
Super JDM Cusco shop "Open" sign. well aged.
The s204, Masa, Me, my gf Aya and Maki.
The owner used to be a salaryman at a large company, but he has since quit and started his shop, he finds it much more fun and free.
My girl (left) and her best friend (right) in front of the shops beautiful Legacy wagon.
The shop was mostly garage space with a small office. They typically install or order parts that customers bring, so they don't stock much. I did find some Power Enterprise kevlar timing belts for sale for about 3400yen, or roughly $34usd. These sell for around $150 to $180 in the states, so I bought their entire stock (only 4). I'll need them for my own car build, and sell the rest.
I bought the belts for $30 each, and he gave me the badge, the emotion plaque, and the magazines for free.
I took a bunch of brochures too.