RWB's New Year's Celebration Is Proof Japanese Car Culture Is on Another Level

Prior to my trip to Tokyo to watch Nissan unveil the 2024 GT-R at the Tokyo Auto Salon, I had never been to Japan before. From everything I’ve seen online for the past 20-plus years, the locals take car culture seriously. It became abundantly clear just how much passion Tokyo has for cars and the culture after attending Rauh-Welt Begriff’s New Year’s celebration smack-dab in the middle of a bustling cityscape.

Rauh-Welt Begriff, better known as simply RWB, is a Porsche tuner shop in the Chiba prefecture, just outside of Tokyo. The name translates to Rough World Concept in German, a nod to the German cars that Akira Nakai, the company's founder, has modified throughout the years.

If you're into cars and spend time on the internet, you likely already know of RWB. It builds the most Instagram-friendly cars in existence, cutting up Porsche 911 fenders to create the most over-the-top, outrageously widened show cars. While not everyone is a fan of the shocking modifications, it’s impossible to miss one drive by thanks to their whole-lane-wide track width and gigantic “RWB” stickers plastered on the rear.

As demand grows for high-end customization shops, RWB has gained a serious following. So Nakai decided to put on an event on the heels of the Auto Salon that would bring together customers and fans in a uniquely Japanese way.

I only learned of this event, held far outside downtown Tokyo the night before the Auto Salon was to begin, from a friend I made on my trip to see the new Nissan GT-R: Khyzyl Saleem. He's the genius responsible for designing Travis Pastrana's "Family Huckster," and designs his own wide-body kits using 3D rendering.

From the moments right before we arrived, we were wondering exactly where this meet would actually take place. The only location we were given was a temple with a small garden out front, smack-dab in the middle of a crowded, tight urban environment. There was no underground parking lot, no wide streets, nothing.

It all became clear once we arrived. The meet was going to take place in the garden. The event had already started when we walked into the garden, RWB-modified Porsches scattered throughout the gravel patches that made up the small area in front of the temple. There were roughly seven RWB cars staged alongside a shrine and a stage, each more ridiculous-looking than the next. After a few minutes more Porsches started to arrive, filling the already tiny space to the brim.

Interestingly, Nakai has a close relationship with the custodian of the shrine, according to Speedhunters, which is what made this meet possible. Seeing such a prominent car figure with such close ties to the community is a fascinating sight. Could you imagine Singer tearing up the grass in New York City’s Washington Square Park late at night for a New Year’s celebration? There’s no way officials in America would let that slide.