It’s hard work waking up on a Monday morning after having spent Saturday and Sunday at a car show during the day and socializing the night away with fellow gear heads. Rod Authority mustered up the energy to embark on a few days of sightseeing in various cities around Japan as well as visit some of Japan’s top automotive shops.

We were fortunate enough to have a good friend to fill the role of tour guide. Eddie Numata was up early and eagerly waiting in the hotel lobby for us to meet up so he could take us to our destinations.

Eddie promised Rod Authority that he could get us to Nagoya in record time and he certainly did. The trip was taken at 185 mph–legally, via the world famous Japan Bullet trains system. Next to driving the open road in a hot rod the bullet train was an equally amazing experience.

We were eager to arrive in Nagoya so we could make our way to our first stop–Paradise Road. Upon our arrival we found owners Seiji Namai and Junichi Shimodaira busy with their day to day duties.

Seiji was busy upstairs with the retail portion of the shop and Junichi was downstairs in the fabrication area. Before our departure to Japan we had contacted Junichi to let him know that we wanted to visit the shop, take a tour, as well as sit down with him so he could share some of Paradise Road’s history with Rod Authority’s readers.

Junichi had an agenda planned for us and it was to first take us for a ride in his famous hot rod, “The Galaxian.” Soon after the welcomes and pleasantries Junichi fired up the roadster, pulled it out of the shop, and then signaled to hop in. After a few hot laps around the streets of Nagoya and some questionable looks from the locals we returned to the shop so we could sit down and hear about the roots of Paradise Road.

Paradise Road–A Path Paved By Surreal Depictions Of The American Hot Rod

Fascinated and motivated with the movie American Graffiti Junichi and his friends started Pharaohs CC in 1985. Shortly after the clubs initiation, the desire to learn about lowriders and the whole lowrider subculture grew. Sometime in 1986 Junichi, Seiji and two other friends made their very first trip to Los Angeles to check out cruising at all the famous hot spots like Van Nuys, Hollywood, Whittier Boulevard, and State College in Anaheim.

They were excited to see Lowriders and Kustoms both on the streets and at car shows. They got their fill at places like Angelo’s which was, at the time, a famous cruising spot. They were also fortunate to attend an RG Canning car show. It was at the Pomona Swap Meet that they discovered gold in the way of car parts and accessories as well as other cool items and memorabilia that they took back to Japan. With all this cool merchandise in hand they came up with the idea to open a car shop.

On March 7th, 1987, after quitting their day jobs they opened Paradise Road. It was small at first, actually it was a small spot inside of their friend Yoshi’s clothing store. Unfortunately it didn’t have any garage space so they would work on cars on the street. Word spread about the small shop and all the cool stuff they were doing. Eventually, the owner of Mooneyes Japan, Shige Suganuma, made them the offer of becoming authorized Mooneyes dealers. The increase in business required them to move to their own shop that included a garage.

It was at this shop that they also began to produce their own custom creations like a ‘76 Chevy El Camino that they named “Nice Dreams.” It featured hydraulic suspension, custom paint, and interior and was Junichi’s first lowrider.

By the early 90’s Junichi’s interest had shifted to street rods that were similar to the ones designed by Boyd Coddington. It was at this time that he bought a 1954 Chevy Sedan which, according to him, was his first American classic car.

He customized in what he referred to as “high-tech style.” He competed with it at a Mooneyes Yokohama show and won Best of Show with it. The Best of Show award was accompanied with a free set of Boyd’s billet wheels that he would later install in the El Camino and later keep after selling it. That set of prize wheels is still on display at the current shop.

By the mid 90s, Junichi’s trips to California were becoming a regular occurrence so he could buy product for the shop, but of course he also had to attend some car shows during his visits. One car show that really caught his attention was the West Coast Cruising Nationals or Paso Robles as it is locally referred to.

It was at Paso that he began a love affair with Kustoms. Upon his return from one of those trips he decided to sell his ‘54 Chevy so he could buy a Westergard inspired 1935 Plymouth. While the ‘35 had already been customized in the US he later found that it was done very poorly so he began the tedious process of repairing all the problems that he came across. It was because of those troubles that he named the car “Desperad.”

By 2001, the economy in Japan began to slow down and it hurt business so they had to move for a second time, but this time to a smaller space. Interestingly enough it was at this location that Paradise Road started to become famous over seas prompting famous Americans to stop by and visit.

Car culture icons like Ed Roth and Jesse James as well rock stars like James Hatfield were just some of the shop’s eager and foreign celebrity visitors. The popularity of Paradise Road and Junichi increased due, in part, to a famous 1930 Ford Model A sedan that he named RODriguez.

It was a 60s style “show rod” that caught the attention of Americans after he shipped the car to California so he could enter the Grand National Roadster Show in 2005. He also took it to Paso Robles and shortly after he sold the car to it’s current owner, Chuck Schauwecker from Carson, California.

In 2006 he began the build of the Galaxian, the 1927 Ford roadster that we took a cruise in upon our arrival at Junichi’s shop. He had also continued in the footsteps of RODriguez and built a followup 60s show rod but this time with more lowrider influences. We could go on about all that he did with it but we’ll save it for a full feature here on Rod Authority.

In 2012 Paradise Road moved to its current location. Nowadays, Junichi and his crew enjoy a larger facility with plenty of room for cars and all the cool stuff that their cliental are looking for.

True Muscle Heads–The Brothers Of Wheels Unlimited

Tuesday morning came too soon, especially since our sleep had been interrupted the night before due to a false fire alarm. It caused a temporary evacuation of the hotel at 3:00 a.m. but we still managed to make it to our next stop which was in Kiyosu, Japan where we paid a visit to Wheels Unlimited.

Owners and brothers Kyohei and Yoshiki welcomed us and were eager to give us a tour. They showed us some custom cars and trucks they had at their shop and of course their large stock of custom wheels. Wheels Unlimited has been in business for over 18 years and specialize in hard to find vintage wheels.

At an early age both brothers developed a passion for American muscle cars so naturally their first builds where of that era. At age 17 Kyohei bought a 1970 Mustang that he built for speed and performance. As the years went by they both continued to build different cars and made regular trips to California so they could buy all the accessories they needed including custom wheels and tires that they would ship back home.

Most of their builds were done period correct to whatever style they chose so they always needed older wheels that weren’t readily available in the few custom shops established in Japan. It was those builds that drove them to open up their own wheel shop in 1995. Their goal was to carry vintage wheels that were not available anywhere else in Japan. 

Once the brothers acquired the building which they still presently reside in they began to fill it up with as many vintage wheels as they could find. They began stocking wheels like Halibrand, Ansen, Fenton, American Racing, and Cragar just to name a few. They also began to search for classic tires. As the years went by they also began to carry new wheels. They began to develop a reputation for carrying some of the rarest wheels in all of Japan.

Cliental became very diverse with customers looking for wheels suited for hot rod, muscle car, lowrider, and kustom applications. They too had developed some new interests when it came to their personal cars and they knew they wanted a Kustom next so they decided to contact Gene Winfield to build them one of their very own. Their first meeting was just one of many as Gene would go on to build the brothers several more cars!

Yuichi Matsuoka’s Kustom Shop, Fellows

We said our goodbyes to the Wheels unlimited crew and then headed over to Anjo, Japan to visit Yuichi Matsuoka’s shop, Fellows. Yuichi is known for building some awesome Kustoms as well as other custom domestics of varying aesthetics.

Yuichi is a member of the well-respected club named Strongers that is known for having in their corral some of Japan’s most beautiful Kustoms. He along with his club had a strong showing at the Mooneye’s show. Rod Authority was fortunate enough to see a few of the cars that he has worked on and some projects that are currently in the works.

We would have loved to spend more time looking at all the cool cars, the vintage American memorabilia, and also the large collection of Hawaiian tiki mugs, but we had to head out to Nagoya.

A Fitting Close To An Unforgettable Trip–Nagoya Kustom And Hot Rod Cruise Night

The last event we were going to participate in was a cruise night organized by all the locals from Nagoya. It was great seeing so many locals driving their custom creations and trucks up and down the boulevard–it was reminiscent of days long gone.

The crew from Starlite along with the Local Hero team met up with us that night and they too were in awe of all the cool rides the Japanese brought out.

Apparently, when word got out that Rod Authority and Starlite were going to be there, they felt that they needed to welcome us all by showing us their cool rides. It was truly an honor and an unforgettable experience. This was a fitting close to a great trip that we will not forget anytime soon.

Rod Authority would like to thank all those that helped us out through the days we spent in Japan including: The Local Hero crew for helping us organize the shop tours, Numata for driving us around and being a great guide, and finally all the shops for taking time from their busy schedules to show Rod Authority what not so many ever get the opportunity to see.

Be sure to check out the full experience through Rod Authority’s exclusive gallery below: