If there’s one thing that seems pretty certain about car geeks, and, I think, other, better-adjusted humans in general, it’s that we seem to be condemned to always want what we can’t have. I don’t know why this is, but I’ve seen it in action all the time, and find myself afflicted with this phenomenon as well. That’s part of why I myself drive a Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) car! Because they’re usually forbidden.
And it seems this same, powerful feeling happens to gearheads across the globe, with Japan having a thriving American Domestic Market (USDM) scene as well. In addition to just using US-spec parts on their cars or importing very American cars, Japanese USDM aficionados seem to have started adding an extra special something to their cars to make them even more American: trash.
Yes, that’s right, trash, as in garbage, as in genuine American garbage, the free-est, most liberty-filled garbage there is. I was unaware of this phenomenon until I saw whatever they call tweets now on ex-twitter.
This one, in fact:
わかりにくい仕込みが共感を得られたときの喜びこそが……USDMの醍醐味！ https://t.co/4S7emN386T pic.twitter.com/VVEqlsTWQB
— 高速有鉛StreetVWs（中の人） (@FEN810kHz) November 12, 2024
Translated, that says “The joy of seeing your confusing setup resonate with others is…the best part of USDM!” and I’ll be completely honest with you – this confusing setup absolutely did resonate with me, and I think it’s just incredible. Here’s another tweet with some more pictures of that sweet, sweet American trash:
海上がり再現 pic.twitter.com/QNVwGo48Ig
— Joe (@__jo__jo__jo__) November 12, 2024
What impresses me most is the care taken with the variety and accuracy of the trash; there’s obvious things like fast-food bags and boxes, but there’s also parking ticket stubs and mail and advertising circulars and so many other kinds of random detritus that conspire to clog our car interiors. Let’s just look at a couple samples of what these assemblage artists have done:
This is a very curated assemblage of trash, and it is extremely plausible and, I think, accurate for an American car. It’s not overdone – there was restraint happening here, because, after all, not every car is a rolling dumpster of someone with likely mental health issues – but this feels like a common amount of trash for many Americans. Which is to say, a lot of trash, really.
Look at this one:
The shoes and laundry are a nice touch, because it speaks to an understanding that for many Americans, a car is also a sort of mobile closet and locker. What really amazes me is the effort that has gone into this; remember, this is all in Japan. That Walmart bag and all the boxes inside it and those newspapers all had to come from America. Someone brought it all back to Japan just for this purpose, or, astoundingly, it could have been purchased from someone in America!
I checked Japan eBay to see if I could find any listings for “American Trash” or “American Garbage” or “US rubbish” and all kinds of permutations, but no luck so far. So they must be getting their genuine American trash from other sources?
The USDM scene is much more than trash, of course, and there’s some amazing USDM cars out there in Japan, some of which you can see in this video:
Generally, American cars are not well-suited to the environment of Japan, especially the most quintessentially American of big V8-powered beasts, which tend to be too thirsty and large to make sense in Japan, but dedicated people still bring them over, and I respect that.
There’s also a lot of converting JDM-spec cars to US-spec cars with details about lights and mirrors and trim and badges and all that, just the mirror of what we do in America making our Hondas and Toyotas and Nissans feel JDM-like with whatever parts we can swap. I feel like there should be some sort of swap meet on two container ships that meet halfway in the Pacific every year so Japanese and American gearheads can meet and exchange coveted parts from their respective countries. That would be amazing! How do we set that up?
I think what most fascinates me about this, the use of trash to make an American car feel more “genuine” is how embarrassingly accurate it is. Japan is known for how immaculate they tend to keep their cars – I’ve been to Japan a couple of times, and that fits exactly with what I saw – they keep their cars so very clean and, generally, very uncluttered. American standards are very different, and we are far more likely to have trash swimming around in our cars.
I wonder if trash in a car has become a shorthand for USDM, kind of like how car seat doilies are shorthand for JDM here in America?
I have so many feelings about this; it’s impressive, in a strange way, because I know a lot of care and time and money has been spent to get these inner-car trashscapes just right. And the idea of someone collecting or buying the most mundane sort of trash is baffling and amazing to me. And then, yes, there’s a bit of shame about how painfully right they are about us, and how we keep our cars.
Anyone want to buy my trash? I have top-notch stuff! Buy 12 semi-crushed Diet Coke cans and I’ll throw in a free empty box of bandages and a mailer about a mattress sale!
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As a car-passionate cultural anthropologist and European this is fascinating on so many levels! While the US Americans currently import old JDM kei trucks to expressively explore new levels of recklessness, the japanese build “dioramas” of american car interiors! This appropriation reminds me of building a scale model railroad track with realistic landscape and surroundings more than everything. Given their general cleanliness the curated trash is probably also very clean, turning one man´s worthless garbage into valuable, hard to come by exhibition pieces used to construct a virtual reality inside a vehicle. Do the Japanese owners exhibit the foreign trash with a sense of irony and humor, maybe even giggling about the careless Americans? Or is it maybe a symbol of dedication, taking the worship of US culture to a new level with absolute accuracy, as the Japanese do?
And what does the reflection of their culture and image tell the Americans about how they are seen abroad? Is this a reason for pride or shame? I´d love to know more!
I give the Japanese a l o t of respect for dedication to the bit. Add in some stains on the carpet from various high fructose corn syrups sodas and the ultimate American experience is complete.