Photography by Adam Zillin
Star Road鈥檚 Master of the Fairlady Z
It鈥檚 3 a.m., and like every other time when we call each other at ungodly hours of the morning, answers the phone. 鈥�Hey Adam, you still up, too? What鈥檚 up?鈥� he says to me in his broken English. I鈥檓 still trying to teach him.
鈥�Ohayo, Inoue-san. I鈥檝e got a deadline with my editor at 伊人直播 - we鈥檙e looking to put you on the cover this time. Can we work something out next week?鈥� Without skipping a beat, Inoue tells me he鈥檒l have a fleet of cars assembled for the shoot, and all I have to do is polish and assemble my camera gear and head on over.
So I do, battling the soup that is the Tokyo highway network along the way, heading from west to east on a solid 90-minute drive. 鈥�You鈥檙e late鈥�鈥� Inoue says with a wry grin, as I pull into the driveway and hop out. 鈥�I鈥檓 not late!鈥�, I shoot back with a slightly incredulous laugh. 鈥�I called you an hour ago to tell you I was held up in traffic, you oaf!鈥�
And so it goes. We鈥檙e constantly trading barbs like this whenever we see each other, and when you鈥檙e 鈥�besties" with a guy like 鈥檚 boss, Shoji Inoue, you always know the time you spend working with him will never be wasted. You鈥檙e absolutely guaranteed to have a rollicking good laugh, and this day was no exception.
It鈥檚 fair to say that Japanese people are, by and large, very reserved, cautiously guarded on a social level, meticulous to a fault, and bound by long standing traditions. I would like to think I鈥檝e learned a thing or two about that after 13 years of living and working among them in mutual observation and interaction. These cultural boundaries don鈥檛 necessarily always apply to a guy like Shoji Inoue though, who, like other tuning luminaries such as Akira Nakai of RWB and Kei Miura of , cut a gritty, earthy, color-imbued kaleidoscope figure in a world of black and grey suits. Get them drinking and absolutely anything can (and does) happen. I鈥檝e lost chunks of my entire week recovering after a night on the town with these guys.
The other truths are that Inoue is the physical personification of everything important at Star Road. He鈥檚 outlandish with his work, poignant on his views, traditional to a fault, and an absolute perfectionist with everything he creates. If you, like many others besides, have had the chance to see his cars up close and marvel at the attention to detail; to see the absolute mastery with which they are created, then you and I have some stories to trade.
This isn鈥檛 a guy who gets his rocks off on Instagram follower numbers or slow motion panning shots of his cars passing by, weeds blowing in the wind, playing to crappy hip hop music in the background. He actually cares about the people who follow him and responds to each and every single person. Even though his English language skills leave much to be desired, the very fact he makes the effort is both a celebration of his character, as well as being proof that he isn鈥檛 a paper celebrity in a world of faux-tuners who just pose with cars others build for them. That鈥檚 really what endeared me to the guy.
Unannounced, a young man appears from the street, dressed in a Star Road tee-shirt and sporting a sizeable backpack. He has this look of a young, wide-eyed traveler; sure enough, it turns out the young man was visiting from France and had walked to the shop with a simple map in hand, just looking for the opportunity to see one of his heroes up close. I was amazed, as I still get lost finding Star Road with a GPS signal. But what timing! Inoue and I didn鈥檛 speak any French, the French lad didn鈥檛 speak a lick of English or Japanese and yet, regardless of the three-way language barrier, we still managed to have a great time because the cars were all that mattered to us in that moment. That鈥檚 just what it鈥檚 like at Star Road.
Situated in a quiet residential area on the outskirts of Koiwa, Tokyo, the pleasant and picturesque locale lends nothing in appearance to the mechanical and engineering masterpieces within the garage. Inoue鈥檚 location is one that specializes in classics; particularly of Nissan heritage, with connections in the industry that run as wide and deep as Japan lives and breathes.
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