Custom Scenes The calendar is stacked with bicycle exhibitions around the world — but none quite like Yokohama’s Hot Rod Custom Show. Commonly known as ‘Mooneyes’ (named after the company that organizes it), this is a performance as unique as the custom Japanese scene itself.
Held at the Pacifico Yokohama exhibition center, Mooneyes has the only difference that the event only takes place for one day. This is a bit crazy, when you consider the large amount of custom motorcycles and hot rods on display, as well as the vendors’ booths that stretch out at each end of the venue. However, Mooneyes is a place not to be missed.
Our pair of close friends and talented photographers, Marc Holstein and Christine Gabler, are huge fans of the show—and Japanese culture in general. They attended the first Mooneyes in 2019 and have planned to return next year. But then the pandemic hit and the global lockdown left them stranded at home in Germany.
By December of last year, things were mostly back to normal, and another pilgrimage to the Mooneyes was available for Marc and Christine. Since we couldn’t get there on our own, we contacted them to report it.
“After Japan reopened its borders, it became clear that we had to go meet friends and family and start working on personal projects again,” Marc said. “We tried to combine everything with a tour of one of the best custom shows in the world.”
“The Mooneyes performance was impressive, to say the least. As usual, it’s perfectly organized—and the level of custom builds is simply astounding.”
Since this was the exhibition’s 30th anniversary, the builders in attendance put in their best efforts. The show’s frequent guest, Winston Yeh of rudimentary crafts [above], attended again. Even though he lives in Taiwan, he keeps a close eye on the Japanese scene.
“They never copy others and they don’t care about the trends of the world,” he said. “They all try to develop their own signature style, so there is never a need to compare prices or compete with each other. If customers like your style, they will come to you, simple and easy to understand.”
“You can see that the cafe racers are not the main focus of the show,” added Marc. “But there are definitely some good examples to look at.”
“However, the chopper the builds are simply excellent—and for someone with a completely different background in motorcycles, I must say I did love some of the mods on display. The level of detail, the paint job, the perfection… it’s hard to describe in words.”
We profiled the bike that won the ‘Best Detailed Work’ award at this HRCS edition; a beautiful landscape Harley Dyna by Takuya Aikawa at Sureshot. And tomorrow, we’ll have an exclusive on the ‘Best in Show’ winner; a shovel-minded shovel from the custom scene of uncompromising Japan, Custom construction Zon [above].
Check back later this month, when we roll out the latest build from cherry company builder, Kaichiroh Kurosu. It’s based on a BMW HP2 Sport—and like everything Kurosu-san touches, it’s out of this world.
We asked Winston and Marc to list their personal favorites from the show. Winston told us: “I’m deciding between Sureshot’s new bike, Custom Works Zon’s all-aluminum bike, and Humongous Custom Cycles’ shovel-head bike — it’s a great fit for my tastes. I.
“A few that I would like to mention are Custom Works Zon, Hide Motorcycle and Hammers Cycle with their beautiful fingertip beach racer. Winston from Rough Crafts also brought his custom Royal Enfield to the show.”
Flipping through pictures of Marc and Christine made us go back to Mooneyes. The visual overload of imaginative mediums, all crammed into a chaotic day, contrasts with Japan’s clearly polite culture; it’s something to look at.
And then there are the people themselves. Most of Japan’s top builders are simultaneously the most talented and humblest people you’ll ever meet. It’s almost as if they didn’t realize how much they blew the minds of the rest of the world with the level of creativity and ingenuity they created; For them, it’s business as usual.
All of this to say, if you’ve never been to Mooneyes, add it to your bucket list now. You won’t be disappointed.
Pictures of, and with special thanks to, Marc Holstein And Christine Gabler
