It’s a Thursday night in Japan, and my good friend @sotobo_oldschool tells me he’s arranged a small meet with some of his close friends: Team Poison, a famous drift team predominantly from Chiba, known for their matching purple cars. The team is led by @tsuba_s13, who drives a purple C33 powered by an SR20 (which was actually a cover car for Drift Tengoku magazine!). I’d met Tsuba before, but it was great to see him again thanks to @sotobo_oldschool.
We headed to K’s Denki with some of the crew to hang out and wait for the others to arrive. Rugged up and stocked up on hot cans of MAX COFFEE, I thought I was ready for whatever temperature the night had in store. As everyone started arriving, the temperature dropped to 3 degrees. My partner Steph tried to hang out as long as possible but eventually ended up back in the car with the heater on full blast. Despite the cold, it was so good to be with everyone that I had to stick around.
Car after car rolled in—FC RX-7s, Type X 180SXs, Civics, and more. That night, I met a longtime internet friend named Hideto , who was kind enough to take us to his house, just five minutes away, to show me his JZX110 Mark II. It wasn’t running at the time, and it was pitch black, but I still managed to snap a few photos. Hideto and I share a love for Yokohama Advan wheels, so he also showed me his collection. I’m sure we’ve bid against each other on Yahoo Auctions at some point—haha!
Back at the car park, more and more cars kept rolling in. Everyone braved the cold to hang out and chat. It was amazing to see how many people knew about the Garage Sokudo SK15SPL and appreciated the details—a huge compliment coming from car enthusiasts in Japan.
Meeting Team Poison and their friends was an absolute pleasure. It’s surreal how we connect on social media, reply to each other’s stories in broken English or Japanese (or just emojis), and eventually end up forming genuine friendships. I can’t wait until the next time we see each other!
Garage Sokudo 
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