Buckle up and check out these photo links for a glimpse into the world of Japanese vanning.
- Satoshi Minakawa: Incredible studio shots by Satoshi Minakawa. (Go to the "Conceptual 02" gallery and scroll to the right. Be patient with the Flash interface -- it's worth the wait.)
- 1.st Air Brush & Body Work: Photos of amazing work by a custom body shop, featuring lots of cartoon and anime-themed airbrush designs. Who says mean machines can't look cute?
- Bizarro's World: IwateBuddy's Flickr photoset of tricked out vans spotted in his neck of the woods. The van on the right (above) sports an airbrush of pop diva Ayumi Hamasaki.
- Blue Style: About 10 more photos of pimped rides showing love for Ayumi. (To view the photos, look for the "Gallery" section in the sidebar and click the 4th link from the bottom.)
- Blue Style blog: A few more good ones. Disney never looked so damn hot!
- Vanning House: Several dozen photos here, including a nice shot of a loungy interior... and a pimpin' Hello Kitty van. (To access the gallery, click on the second link (orange text) from the left.)
- Strange Vehicles: A few more extreme Japanese vans from a variety of sites.
Vanning-Zoku!!!
yay!!
[]this has been going on for yearz
the custom vans in Japan are awesome!!
RF900Flyer
Is this what they call Vanime??
[]hsjak
Wait, i'm just puking on my mouth ,,,,, gross jezzzzzz
[]Garth Johnson
EXTREME! Best thing I've seen in quite a while. Maybe if Americans keep swilling green tea at the rate they are now, we'll come up with something as great.
[]omg no!!!!
oomg these are cool and all but never ever should these things be called awsome or even close too good customizing
[]keanu
wow! I want one!
[]UFO
A little bit weird ...
[]Yancey
Wow, so 10 year olds can own and drive vans in Japan?
[]Chupajapos
NO HAY UN PUTO JAPONÉS QUE ESTÁ MEDIANAMENTE CUERDO. VAYA PANDA DE GILIPOLLAS
[]Dek
WOW! The red one at the top is the best.
[]sal
i hear you but please change the rims... man they are old bro... try incubus Grim 22' 8 bolt right?? the red is realy nice... but air brush a pare of white dice and work a sinister smileeee face on the hood and your good to go.... i have a 2005 chev exprss... work/pimp mo beal..lol puting my rims and tunes in all this week... only thing i have to do is get out the dings on the sides... basturd pricks that park beside me....lol
The Van Guy
[]georgie
22 foot rims? dumbass
[]bigggerrr
inchhhhhhhhhsssssssssssss.
Yours is only 4? :]
[]Another Vanner
You ain't cool unless you got 22 foot rims. Duh!
[]HIRTMAN
U A DUMBASS, dumbass.
[]HIRTMAN
FORD is still better!!!!
[]anastsia
the one that has hello kitty on it is so cute.
[]rey
PINCHES JAPONESES YA NO SABEN NI QUE INVENTAR ESTAN LOCOS ESOS PISADOS
[]whateverman
Hey, cars are silly anyway. May as well "do it up right."
[]Edward
This car is orgasmic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[]Gruntwilligar T. Honkenoffski
I didn't see any vans shaped like a Penguin.
[]Bonnie
What?! No Star Wars Van?! sheesh.
[]HIRTMAN
u a fucking GEEK!!!!
[]yikes
Extremely bad taste. Those vans look ridiculous. I prefer the American custom vans from the 70s...much cooler. Same old story, the Americans invent it first, then comes the rest of the world to copy.
[]IHateYanks
As if the Yanks invented vans first. The 'pick up' (or as it was originally called, the ute) was made in Geelong, Australia and the van came from JAPAN!
The Yanks are the copy cats in the car race. US cars are crap!
[]fuck you
Actually the van was first invented in america. Henry Ford an AMERICAN made the planes for it and never got the chance to proof them but by the time his company was getting better the german V.W.s stole the plans and revolutionized it.
[]Shack
Spellings my brother, u must really go back to school. how do you mange to argue with such poor writting skills. planes are those machines you see in the air taking us from one place to another. Henry ford drew plans. use this as a quize, spot the difference.
[]GMax
Spellings my brother... u is spelled "You" writting should be "writing" and quize should be spelled "quiz". You also forgot to capitalize the first word in all of your sentences and punctuated the second sentence (which was a question) with a period, not a question mark.
As for you "IHateYanks", your little country (obviously Australia, because mentioning trucks had not a damn thing to do with the topic and you wanted to convince people that your country has somehow been vital to the world) begged for help and got it when the Japanese were were about to steamroll your asses in WWII. We "Yanks" know penis envy when we see it. You are still free to hate us and write all about it on your computer (US invention) which uses AC power (US invention) via the internet (US invention) or drive to the post office in your assembly line constructed car (US invention) or send your half-assed little rants on your mobile or landline based phones (US inventions). That is if you have mobile service out in Cattlefuck. BTW, according to Radio Australia, the "Ute" was invented in the '30s. It was a minor modification of the pickup truck. The guy who invented it by the way, was working for Ford Motor Company. The first factory-assembled pickup debuted in 1925 and was sold for $281 by the Ford Motor Company. If Yanks are so bad, you might want to avoid using these things invented by the US. Television, powered aircraft, submarines, metal ships, the revolver, motorcycle, machine gun, photographic film, skyscrapers, anything made from Aluminum, the escalator, radio (it was not Marconi...look it up), air conditioning, microwave oven, video games, communication satellites, the LED and LED diusplay, laser, videotape, MRI's, GPS, computer mouse, qwerty keyboard, AC electric motors...you get the idea.
cuda426hemi
Your stupid... Get your facts straight before you look like an idiot...
[]cuda426hemi
that post was to the yankhater
[]sotrue
Thats true. We rock! Btw these are so ugly. What a waste of money Japs could really spend this time doing something... But maybe if they did more of this they could stop making imports to bring to gay rice rocket lovers...
[]BeCool
To: yikes, fuck you, cuda426hemi, sotrue
Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, that's all I hear. You guys are dorks! spend hours online taking your aggressions out on people you can't be a man and face, so you do it behind you computer screen. Nothing supports your words or comments except those skinning legs you stand on.
[]jim
yikes is a moron who can't handle japanese innovation.
[]bushido
krass aldda. wirklisch krass
[]yikes_is_an_idiot
yikes, why did you bother to visit this place? To spray racist venom? Luckily, most Americans aren't closed minded like you and think that USA is #1 in everything. These vans are cool, silly and fun to look at. If you can't see that then OK but please STFU!
[]RVZ
To be fair, the vans DO look ridiculous. I mean, mickey mouse?.. a big yellow horse?.. seriously.
And who are you to criticize yikes for expressing his opinion? You're no better than he is.
[]shy
you can't judge this by any standards but japanese standards. and by japanese standards, these are cool as hell.
i was once accosted by a guy in osaka with yak tattoos all up and down his arms. he was wearing a wile e. coyote jump suit.
i shit you not.
[]GMax
I lived in various places on Honshu and Shikoku Japan for several years. I can tell you that most Japanese think these vans are over the top too. I kind of like them myself. It is like seeing the circus. Colorful, unusual and a little over the top, but artistic expression in its purest form. Would I ever do this to my car? Hell no. But let people express their individuality however they want as long as they are not hurting anyone.
[]vanman
as a great Van lover an see those awsom vans
i can only see Keep on Vanning
great job
graetings from the Netherlands )europa
[]doreamon
All this van are awesome. unlike those in my contry. Can't really mod much here in singapore. Great jobs guys
[]ocean
these vans are totally sweet man! the spoilers are massive and the colours are very creative... i reckon u should get some neon paint for them that would make them look seiously sweet!!!
[]ocean
woooooo anime sweet hey u japanese dudes message me back if u now about naruto and if u think my idea is cool! ty
[]ocean
sorry i keep messageing u but i love japanese me and my friend want to learn how to speak japanese we already now a few words...anyway do u want to now about me.... im young im only 9 i have brown hair and greeny marble eyes and i love skateboarding well gotta go c ya1
[]PePee
is that vans or space shuttles? im kind of comfused in this ugliness
[]pedro
hola esta muy buena la camioneta pero che saca el dibujo de mikey que queda orrible chau gracias
[]ocean
what the hell is pedro sayin... space shuttles!!! the vans dont look like space shuttles thay look totally rad!!!
[]Joe blow
If I EVER see one of these on american roads, I will intentionally ram my car into because these are the ugliest and gayest vehicles I have ever seen.
[]Joes right
Yeah so would i... Whoops didn't mean to hit that piece of shit...
[]ocean
shut the fuck up joe blow thay rule!!!!!!!!!
[]alvin
LOL, that's the stuff.
[]ocean
ty alvin at least u know what PIMPED means
[]Sue Donym
If you want to destroy the look of your car it is cheaper to bash it with a sledge hammer, probably look better too.
[]Rick
Umm.... how the f__k do I get one?!!
[]ryukya
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
[]nick
ur things r the wierdest thing ever wat the hell dont u hav any other thing 2 do ur just wasting money
[]nick
just no there not cool
[]t
what???????
[]Allison
Wow those cars are really awsome! Are they even real? Well... i want one if they were in america! Maybe i should just go to japan and buy one...lol!!!
~Allison~ X3
[]Chuxx0r
Holy. Farting. Sheep.
I want one. Something not over the top, but with some of those styling cues.
Obviously, aerodynamics is no longer the goal with the extreme mods as compared to the more sane ones.
[]dazzer
f+*king hell thay dont have pinp up cars in japan
[]Yoda @ teamdriveby.com
Ha Ha nice words from most which is great!!!
I fell in love with these vans a few years ago and so I had one shipped over to me in the UK in 2005.
Best show car I've owned yet and it just spreads love wherever it goes.
I really hope Japanese vanning takes off over here and around the world. We set up a new website in the hope Japanese, UK and alll other Vanners could meet at http://www.vanning-zoku.com
[]G-Unit
Sweet Ride
[]Alvaro Mendez ,Colombia
Pues estos Japoneses no estan locos, son bunisimos y los españoletes no son sino unos jilipollas.
[]aceman
wow you guys rely know how to make custom vans
[]omar
ps nadamas keria decirles k esas kamionetas estan kon madres
[]corcoran
this is a sweet van
[]willem
Vet leipe cars voor de lol
[]perryman333
thats the ugliest thing ive ever seen! i want one!
[]gabby
Sweet vans
[]Neil Duckett
Did someone say a little over the top?!
[]primero
Nadie me entedera jajaja
[]primero
Perdon (jajaja), quise decir... Nadie me entendera jajajaja
[]primero
con respecto al msm del colombiano... estoy contigo. pero existen amigos de todo el mundo. debemos buscar vien jajajajaja
[]azn_bby510
Omfg! These vans look cool! but when i was looking for images of vans? I was trying to find the shoes type haha =)
[]gothkid
my fav is the blue at the top with all the speakers^_^
[]Ladi_hoodstar
oy these vans are to much seriously because who wants a ugly van thata looks like that japenese people take it to higher levels.
[]pi11p3540
Road art knows know boundaries. Crazy mods and a NOS fed engine for added fun.
[]lok
holy.. it is soooo awesome and cool !
[]nick
pimpin pics
[]nick
nice paint job can you paint j. simpson on mine?!
[]byrnie
those vans are so cool, what models are they?
[]me
i dunno but they look cheap and just shit mate!! getta life!
[]the secret
I got a spam e- mail today with the subject line of:
[]jamie
"i think the vans r off the hock when i am older i whant 1!!!!!
my bro's and i are going to save up for one!!!!"
p.s they are off the hock
[]fabian
esos carros son espectaculares hojala yo tubiera uno de esos
[]itijhtnvbv
good cars
[]itsmE
Wow!
May I have one?
[]Ben
wow those r awesome
[]jenn
Let me pick up my mouth
[]cristina
aaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeesssssssssoooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
[]halfsquat
awsome vans gimi i wanty now.
me and me mate ganna pimp some vans.
then we gonna win and be like yooooo foool look at my ride ye.
then u wont get to see it hahaha.
wat van should i used "NO SHUT DONT TELL ME".
[]i love ellie :) and you dont shes mine keep away.
deni
ajib kece amat mobilnya
[]michael
can i haue my van like that
[]david
eta bien culera a y ridicula por ciertoes un a mamada de camioneta que no tenias nada que hacer puto pues se ve que no verdad puto
[]the dRe
Awesome... completely original, even if a WAY over-the-top look... at least they're different... and thats gotta be a TON of hours into each one.
[]boogii
stupid
[]shun
hey sal, trying to act as a hot shot are you well i have something to tell you you suck man!!!!!!!! and hey the vans are...well....um.....FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great coustmising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[]Matt
It amazes me how comments on a certain subject always end up in hatred and evilness. And we wonder why the world is in such a state that it is today.
[]Terrible
Whoever modifies their van like this is stupid. I'm not going to say they look disgusting (they do), because that is a matter of taste and I'm sure some 10-year-olds might think this is cool.
What I'm going to say is that claiming these mods are bad is not just a matter of opinion. It's a measurable fact! The extremely disfigured exterior negatively affects the aerodynamics. There are lots of bits pointing out (especially the big thing at the top) that creates some massive drag (drag is bad). It also creates some downforce (probably incidentally), but the shape is not even near the optimal and you don't need downforce on a van at all. They have huge boxes attached to the bottom in the rear, but no diffusers.
These boxes on the bottom in the front and rear that extend the length of the van not only negatively affect aerodynamics, they also hinder maneuverability.
And if the Japanese traffic laws make any sense, these vans are probably not read legal.
[]