The expression "freaky" can be used to define something good or something bad. The 2008 Fukuoka Auto Salon seemed to inspire both types of freakiness from attendees of the automotive aftermarket showcase.

Fukuoka Auto Salon is one of two little brothers to the world famous Tokyo Auto Salon, the other being the event in Sapporo. While FAS is physically a much smaller show than TAS, it is also 10 times freakier than what the well-behaved folks in Tokyo put on. Even the weather was freaky; it started to snow for the '08 edition in this normally warm southern Japan district.

It wasn't all bad news. The food was freakishly good. If you ever make it to Fukuoka, you have to try the Tonkotsu-style ramen. Don't tell my wife, but the diet went out the door on this trip.

FAS '08 was set up on Softbank's Fukuoka Hawk's professional baseball diamond. Cars were displayed on the very Astroturf professional baseball players use to scratch their junk.

What's that saying? A picture is worth a thousand words? The only thing I could add to this photo is admitting that when I took it, I nearly yakked on the back of my camera. (What's a matter, Scott? Not secure with your manhood? - Ed.)

The great part of venturing away from the norm is discovering new and talented tuners from other parts of Japan. Here is a good freaky example from FAS. Avanty is a Mazda/rotary engine tuner from the Kyushu area, and on display they had three really crazy rotaries.

At these shows there is a mix of undiscovered talent grouped in with the mainstream talent. Here is a perfect example: Silvia tuning gods Yoshio Factory displaying their latest D1 GP pro drift car in Fukuoka.

You might remember an insane Silvia pick-up truck conversion from last year's Tokyo Auto Salon. That car was built by Dear Motorsports in Kyushu. Dear offered up a completely unique Nissan Stagia wagon for display at FAS.

Here is the president of DAD/Garson using a freakishly-large tripod at FAS. In the past we have seen photographers using stepladders - could this be the next trend for photographers at next year's shows? Watch out, campaign girls; there's going to be sukebe (loosely translated as "pervert") shoots coming from above!

Many booths at FAS had authentic-ish urban dance and rap performances. The Vlene booth pulled local Fukuoka street talent to display their skills. Here is a photo of Nokaz (left) and Kensuke from the hip-hop act Ternival Sense.

This is the freakiest parking job I saw at the show. A couple of attendees decided to leave their cars right in front of the escalators to the main entrance. The owner of the black car even left its windows down with an unleashed German Shepard inside the car for security. Unfortunately, the cops didn't find this parking job, or the dog, very amusing.

Images For more pictures, visit the Fukuoka Auto Salon 2008 Gallery.