Who We Are

We have been involved in the export of used cars from Japan since 1998. We are Licenced Used Car dealers and are members of the Ashiya Chamber of Commerce.

Simon Burger - General Manager

My first interest in cars came at the same age as a lot of guys - early teenager, dying to get a license and get free from public transport and the parents. Then, once I had a car, it was saving money for extractors, camshafts, bigger carbs or anything that would give a little more horsepower and improve performance. When we couldn't buy, we talked, talked and talked cars and equipment. I grew up with my brothers' Ford XY Falcon, Holden Torana XU1 and a race-tuned Mini Cooper. These were the cars in Australia at the time, but the fight is universal: trying to get as much as possible out of what is available at your price.

This was the 80s, and apart from the RX7, nobody put perform­ance and Japanese cars together. We drooled over the latest offerings out of Europe: The Ferraris, Porsches, Alfas, Sierra Cosworths, Peugeot 205s, and Walkinshaw Jaguars. Things changed a little in 1989. Nissan re-introduced the Skyline GTR and suddenly Japan was a performance car producer. Then with the release of the Lexus, their luxury cars set a new standard for the rest of the world. The Japanese just knew more about getting you more for your money than anybody else did.

In 1990 I came to Japan, basically with my hands in my pockets and no particular plan. One thing led to another so that I now speak the language, and more importantly for this business, I can read it too. I’ve been exporting cars for the last 8 years. When I have time to think about it, I realize I’m still in the same warm place: talking about cars, and fighting the same same fight: the most for your money. I couldn’t be happier and in general my customers feel the same way.

When I started out I went to one or two auctions a day. I read the lists, studied the check sheets and looked over the cars; made phone calls and went over specs with my clients. That was the way of the world until auctions went internet and we set this site up. Then people had access to pictures and details on over 150,000 vehicles a week. It was grand until less scrupulous brokers and sellers turned it into a junk mail circuit. So now, at JAA, we are back to people. Here at the office you'll find people who have spent a lot of their life looking at cars. More than that, we're people who have learned how to bid, psyched out the tricks the sellers use to get more for the cars that are worth less, know which cars NOT to buy and know the ins and outs of reading a check sheet.

Once at an auction, I overheard an '81 Corvette being described as turbocharged with 650hp. It actually had a Holly 650 carb with turbo scoops in the bonnet. The guy could read Japanese, he just didn't know cars.
We do, so give us a call

Dominic Stewart – Sales & Buying

Dom is a Viking originally from Scotland. He and Simon first met within weeks of arriving in Japan back in 1990. They have been firm friends ever since. Dom’s more of a two wheel man than four, owning an Aprilia 1000 and racing quite successfully at Suzuka despite his 90kg frame. He has pit crewed for a major team in the Suzuka International 8 hour Endurance and will be racing this year in the Suzuka 4 hour Endurance. We hope he doesn’t come off as he also knows a fair bit about cars as well as been fluent in Japanese.

Kimiko Burger – Office Manager

Kimiko is our office manager. She looks after the shipping schedules, car registrations, export certificates, translations etc. that get your cars on the ships. As well as that she looks after our accounts, bills and all that boring tedious stuff that keeps us in business! She speaks fluent English having lived in Australia and the the UK for brief periods of study.

Shinsuke Yonezawa – Website Programming

Shinsuke is the young whizz kid in the team. He looks after the website programming and administration site. He graduated from Kobe University in Computer Science and is currently studying part time for his masters while working with us.

Takaba-san

Takaba-san is the manager of our main affiliated workshop. He’s been a qualified mechanic for almost 20 years. He receives the cars at the service centre from auction, checks them against the auction sheet for discrepancies and takes them for a drive to check the engine and transmission. He tops up oil, water and brake fluid to make sure the car can be safely shipped to you.