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Japan 4Wheeling - Wheeling The Oriental WayJapanese Dirt, Rock, Mud, and templesOsaka, Japan From the February, 2009 issue of 4Wheel & Off-Road By Rick Péwé Photography by Dan Ward, Rick Péwé
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Who'd-a-thunk we'd ever go to Japan for a wheeling story? OK, did any of you even know there is wheeling in Japan? And then do you really care? Well, the answer to some of these questions was posed to us by the folks at Nitto Tire, strangely enough headquartered in Japan. Since they wanted us to see their new testing facility and get the lowdown on how they test tires, we said sure-as long as we test them out in the dirt, not just on a dyno. Next thing we know, we're crammed in the back of a 747 sleeping our way to the island hierarchy for a few days of mud, rocks, dirt, and driving on the wrong side of the road.  Did you know it's possible...  Did you know it's possible to drive without lockers or a flexy suspension? Heck, that's half the fun! This little Amigo could just hook up and go. Just remember which side of the rig you're driving from!  New or old, the Nara Trial...  New or old, the Nara Trial Mountain boys do it all. This rig is awaiting modification when its turn comes in the shop. We'd even love to get this Land Cruiser variant back to the states, even if it does have the steering wheel on the wrong side.  We even got to test mud running,...  We even got to test mud running, but try as the tires did, they couldn't bite what wasn't there. We'd recommend some taller tires with the same tread, as this hole beached our rides and left us hanging. We flew in and stayed in Osaka, which is way south of Tokyo, but close to the tire testing facility. Since trains are the main source of easy transportation, we rode the rails to the Nitto Tire Itami Tech Center where we couldn't take photos, being full of hush-hush top secret stuff. But hey, at least we know of some of the stuff coming down the pike in a few months, and might even be able to give you an exclusive. But being more interested in real-world testing, we again hit the rails and traveled to the Nara Trial Mountain 4x4 testing facility in the tall pines. Wait, tall pines in Japan? Yup, and better yet, this is a private park formed out of the owner's own forest, where they do logging year-round! Naozumi Tsuda and Masa Tsuda started wheeling as young 'uns here, and finally took over the family tree farm, where they included rockcrawling on imported boulders and a concrete course, as well as steep hills, mud, and a variety of dirt and forest trails. They compete and host the JRCA rockcrawling competition (www.rockcrawling.jp) and do many cool mods right at their shop (www.tsudaracing.com), including a Lexus tube buggy, as well as real 4x4 trail vehicles. After showing the locals how it's done (and vice versa), we retreated to the city, saw the temples, shopped for junk, and wished we were still wheeling. Maybe next time we'll take our own 4x4?  Real-world testing is done...  Real-world testing is done at the Nara Trial Mountain off-road park, about an hour north of the Tech Center. While not an official Nitto test facility, the owners are in tight with Nitto and help develop tire tread, carcass, and durometer specs in a real-world environment. This freshly built Lexus-powered buggy runs some super-secret competition treads we hope to test in the future.  Our favorite wheeling rig...  Our favorite wheeling rig of the day was hands-down the Mitsubishi Jeep. Yup, a CJ-3B unlike those over here, and this was packed with solid Toyota axles running ARBs, and a super-quiet Lexus V-8. I felt quite at home for some reason, and had fun in the rocks.  Our first stop was the Nitto...  Our first stop was the Nitto Tire Itami Tech Center where Nitto engineers run around testing tires and having fun. We'd show you photos, but they wouldn't like that too much. We did notice this segmented mold used for making Nitto tires, and wondered what our magazine was doing there.  Yep, our mag is everywhere,...  Yep, our mag is everywhere, as evidenced by Tim Coltey, our Nitto tour guide for the duration.  We don't know how those Japanese...  We don't know how those Japanese do it, but it seemed like everyone in the country was enjoying the latest issue of 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine.
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