The last 5 years of Truck Masters have been brought to you firsthand by the Mini Truckin' staff, showing some of the sickest customs worldwide. But as it came time to hit the 18th Annual Truck Masters Final in Tokyo, it was looking like we wouldn't be able to make it.
However, after a few phone calls and emails we were ecstatic to hear that we were in fact able to make our yearly trip to Japan! This year there was no shortage of some of the cleanest minitrucks around, and even though things have slowed down for everyone, there were still a ton of new up and coming builds.
The roll-in line starts early...
The roll-in line starts early at dawn as everyone is excited to see what the day will hold.
Misano and his wife next to...
Misano and his wife next to his killer 620, featured in this very issue.
The ALL BODY-DROPPED row cruised...
The ALL BODY-DROPPED row cruised in and lined up to all park next to each other.
"Frank" the Vice President...
"Frank" the Vice President of Severed Ties Japan, took home Best Minitruck and the Mini Truckin' award for his insanely detailed Hardbody.
This year the Blue Panic crew featured a special ALL NISSAN 720 row for all the 720s to park together and also an ALL BODY-DROPPED row. The show continues to be heavily geared toward the minitruck crowd and as such, the turnout is amazing. There was no weather trouble to contend with this year, which really helped bring out the best trucks and people from all over the island. There were the usual charity auctions, raffle, bikini contest, BMX attractions, and both spectators and show entrants alike enjoyed all of the activities. We appreciate all of the help and support from our friends overseas as they give us the chance to bring our readers the best trucks from all over the world year after year - others may try and follow, but we have been there since the beginning! For more information visit Blue Panic on the web at Bluepanic.jp or check out our exclusive extended coverage at Minitruckinweb.com.
Nissan 720 Row
The ALL 720 row was a huge hit as all the Nissan 720 fans got to park and show together with everything from old-school to lowrider, to new-school customs.
Show Lowdown
Name: Truck Masters Japan Tour Final
Location: Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan
Date: November 15th
Total vehicles in Attendance: 692
Spectator Attendance: More than 3,000
Fast 411:
• 18th year since the first Truck Masters
• Show tours all over Japan then comes back to Tokyo for the Final Round
• About 500 trucks in show, while the other 190 are compacts and SUVs
• The only trophies awarded are the highly sought-after "Best Of" awards given out from magazines and special guests
Events:
• Raffles, auction for charity, BMX ride show, bikini contest
• More than 35 vendor booths and swap meet
Special Thanks:
Everyone who's involved, everyone who comes out and supports the shows, and all the amazing shops, trucks, and people from Japan!
Contact for future events:
Visit Blue Panic at Bluepanic.jp.
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Recently featured, this excited...
Recently featured, this excited truck owner bought over 25 copies of the magazine from his local newsstand in Japan, pretty cool!