LA BOMBA TOY DRIVE

Where community and respect shine

To see how big this Japanese Chicano family is, we’re invited to a ‘Toy Drive’ organised by the Japanese chapter of the Old Memories Car Club. It’s a charity cruise (to help wash away the stigma that lowriders are just for gangsters), specifically for ‘Bombs’ – pre-1955 cars loaded with period options that are a nod to the first wave of customs in the Thirties.

The scale of the Japanese lowriding scene really comes into focus when we arrive at the meeting point. More than 80 incredible cars show up and, unlike most Japanese social occasions, there’s no formal bowing or confusing business card rituals – it’s all fist bumps and man hugs. It’s a family affair, too. Wives, girlfriends and mini Chicano children running around and chatting with full-face smiles and boundless respect for each other.

“The public see us as ‘bad boys’,” Old Memories president ‘Masa’ Watanabe, says. “People fear us in the streets, but there’s no violence at all – there’s not even the rivalry between clubs that you get in the USA.” But where the LA scene has its grey area of gang affiliation, arguably so does Nihon’s... even if it’s in the past.

“You see him over there?” Masa says while pointing into the distance. “Bōsōzoku. Him? Bōsōzoku. Him? Bōsōzoku. Me? Bōsōzoku.”

Back in the day, ‘Bōsōzoku’ motorbike and car gangs caused chaos in order to show their unrest for Japanese societal affluence post-WWII. It all sounds rather familiar to the early days of lowriders, doesn’t it? Well, then it’s no coincidence that these ex-Bōsō are now the top brass of Japan’s lowriding scene.

But the sheer amount of effort that’s invested into being just like their LA brethren is, quite frankly, remarkable. The cruise ends with each car club holding a barbecue and having beers. But it’s not Japanese food, rather hamburgers (flipped with chopsticks), guacamole and imported beers drunk from red cups. The imagery couldn’t be more perfect to sum up this incredible fusion car scene.

“PEOPLE FEAR US IN THE STREETS, BUT THERE’S NO VIOLENCE AT ALL”