The car culture exchange between the United States and Japan is pretty well-known at this point. How else could you explain the hillbillies at my high school with Spoon Racing stickers on their non-VTEC Civics? I’m not sure if there’s an exact equivalent across the Pacific, but I think I found something close: A Toyota Land Cruiser Prado rocking the Carolina Squat.
If you don’t know what that is, well, you’re looking at it. When people jack up the front of their trucks sky-high, leaving the rear stock or even lowering it a bit, that’s the Carolina Squat. The trend originated in the states it was named after, though both have officially banned the modification, citing safety concerns. It turned into a whole thing, but by the looks of it, Japan hasn’t come up with any road rules saying drivers can’t do it to their rides.
Now, I don’t want to come across as a complete hater. Just because it’s not my style doesn’t mean people like this guy, who goes by @k150.jst on Instagram, can’t build their trucks how they want to. Still, I was surprised to see someone else share a picture of his rig in the parking lot at last week’s Tokyo Auto Salon.
I was able to find his social channels, where he shares lots of photos of his Prado alongside other lifted and squatted trucks. They look to be a part of the same crew, Lifted Custom Club, which has Toyotas of all kinds—Hiluxes, Tacomas, 4Runners, and other Prados.
I can only read a little bit of Japanese, but Instagram’s built-in translator helped me decipher that the wheels are 24x14s with 35-inch tires wrapped around them. Other obvious mods include some Fabtech steering hardware up front, a fat SPD Creations exhaust tip, and, comically, a hitch-mounted step that scrapes the ground with the rear suspension bottomed out.
Seeing these rigs against some distinctly Japanese backdrops like Hachioji Station in Tokyo is kind of funny, but they certainly don’t look any worse than when a squatted Silverado posts up in front of a Menards.
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