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We list the best Japanese aftermarket tuners for Nissan Skyline owners that crave the real taste of authentic JDM performance tuning.

The ‘90s, which gave us some of the most reliable JDMs, was the golden era for the Japanese aftermarket performance industry. That's because most popular Japanese tuning shops were established between the late ‘70s and early '90s. Early on, they tuned and developed JDMs for big horsepower to be the first to hit 186 mph – considered the magic number in Japan in the 90s. This helped push iconic Japanese engines to unimagined heights. The 186-mph trial runs, organized by the Option Magazine, was held at the long-gone Yatabe high-speed oval track, while street racers competed in illegal late-night runs on the Wangan (freeway).

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Later, drag strip monsters and extreme time attack machines became the focus, which saw more effort put into aero, balance, handling, and weight. The tuning craze only slowed in the ‘00s with the onset of professional drifting in the country. By then, top tuning garages had built insane performance (demo) cars for testing parts cars and advertising their work, which would get popularized by the Option Magazine and Auto Salon – a Japanese SEMA-like show. One of the favorite cars for tuners was the Nissan Skyline GT-R. Nicknamed the “Godzilla” because of its country of origin and monstrous power, its 2nd-gen models, the R32, R33, and R34, released around the time, were developed to insane levels. If you’re looking for the recipe, these are the 10 Japanese tuning garages that build the sickest Nissan Skylines.

Bee*R is one of those Japanese garages that is renowned for one thing - badass Skylines. Imai Kyonori founded the Bee*R tuning/racing business in 1990, just as the Skyline R32 GT-R sensation began to take off. Bee*R’s most iconic build is the 324R Skyline GT-R, made to launch its famous R32-based body kit that gave the car an R34-styled front end.

Other striking creations include the Bee*R Skyline R33, a 400 hp road legal circuit car, and the yellow-painted 2012 Bee*R D1GP BNR34 Skyline GT-R - a 500hp drift car styled with a complete URAS GT aero kit.

Started by the late Hideki Tanabe, PowerHouse Amuse offers one of the most comprehensive tuning programs and parts for JDMs - from GT-Rs to Supras, Chasers to S2000s, and Fairlady Zs. Its long history of tuning the GT-R began with the RB26DETT, which can develop over 1,000hp. The Amuse Carbon R BNR34, a 2425-lbs time-attack weapon powered by a 592hp engine, was featured in Gran Turismo 4 to 6.

Skylines aside, the Amuse R35 GT-R Phantom was one of the first tuner R35s to break the 600hp barrier in 2008. Because of the quality of its work, the Amuse garage in Kisarazu, Chiba, is always filled with demo and customer cars.

Founded by Michiro Niikura, a former Bridgestone employee, Mine's started exclusively as a motorsport tuning shop. It has grown to be a world-recognized garage, with its cars appearing in the Gran Turismo franchise. Mine's does not just concentrate on making big power; it is renowned for modifying JDMs to improve the driving experience.

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A lot of attention is given to acceleration, braking, and handling, where carbon fiber components are employed for weight reduction. Mine's purposefully downplays aesthetics, turning its Skylines into sleeper cars. Check out the sickest cars tuned by Mine's.

Self-taught mechanic Kobayashi-san founded MCR after borrowing a tiny hangar to work on his first Skyline powered by an RB26 engine. Soon, friends were requesting him to tune their cars. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, MCR is one of the top names building Skylines and race engines for high-speed racing on the Wangan (freeway). Most of its projects are based on the R34 GT-R. The best get painted Red. The car above is the MCR BNR34 which makes a cool 650hp and 520 lb.-ft of torque. The tuning garage also works on R35 GT-Rs with all the contemporary conveniences that wealthy customers prefer.

Matsumoto-san is the founder of M-speed, another Japanese tuning garage/aftermarket parts manufacturer that will tune any Nissan Skyline GT-R to make crazy horsepower. The garage’s most famous vehicle, the Monster Patrol Skyline BNR34 GT-R, is a time attack champion that was created for the famed Tsukuba circuit.

Making 740PS (730 hp) when it was revealed (2007), it became the fastest GT-R in the world. Its insane styling and low stance make it look like it's from a video game.

If you have followed the JDM tuner-verse for the last few decades, you know Blitz, based in Tokyo. Back in 1999, Blitz planned to make the brand-new (R34) platform Skyline GT-R faster than anything else on the famous autobahn freeway (Germany). The target was 216mph (349kph). While they didn't manage it, the street-legal 850-hp R348 Skyline hit 213 mph - insane for a street car in 1999.

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The Blitz Skyline drift car, a modified R34 GT-R sedan, generates an astounding 444 horsepower from its RB25 engine. Today, Blitz continues to be one of Japan's top tuners and manufacturers of aftermarket components, thanks to their wealth of experience and expertise in getting the big power out of popular Japanese motors.

JUN Automaker, a Japan-based garage that comprises a bodywork and tuning arm, was founded by Junichi Tanaka in 1980. Its 1200-hp capable Nissan Z32 clocked 262 mph (421kph) in 1991 at the Bonneville Speed Trials becoming the first Japanese "domestic" car to hit 249 mph and the world's fastest Nissan 300ZX. The E/BMS class, 262 mph record has never been broken.

The celebrated garage has also been exceptional at tuning Nissan Skylines. JUN's most recognizable car is the 1993 SuperLemon RII GT-R R33 1000 hp, capable of 0-60 mph in 2.8s and 234 mph. They've also made custom R35 GT-Rs that include the street-legal 1,000 hp JUN Akira GT-R with scissor doors, and another called the 420 GT-R, pumping out an outrageous 1,510 hp.

Established as Yokomaku Racing in 1985, VeilSide is legendary in the Japanese car tuning scene. Founder Hironao Yokomaku initially focused on performance tuning, then got into the fancy uniquely-styled body kits craze of the '90s that blew his garage to fame. VeilSide has built and modified countless high-horsepower jaw-dropping JDM legends - the shop was behind Han's Mazda RX-7 and Morimoto's Nissan 350Z used in Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift.

One epic VeilSide Skyline that's still imprinted in most JDM lovers' brains is the R-1 Street DRAG (top picture). Based on a 1989 GT-R, it made a mind-melting 1400 hp and 851 lb.-ft of torque back in 1999 and could reach 215mph. Then there's also the high-tune 1995 Veilside Combat Evolution based on the R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R.

Founded in a shed on a dairy farm at the foot of Mt. Fuji in 1973, HKS is the tuning garage that pioneered the Japanese aftermarket performance industry. It has brought out the true potential of the Nissan Skyline GT-R over the years working on customers' cars and building its show cars. Today, HKS probably has the largest selection of parts for the RB26 engine and mods for the 2nd-gen Skyline GT-Rs (R32/R33/R34).

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Most famous HKS Skylines are the DRAG R32 GT-R that made 1,300hp in the '90s, the HKS Driving Performer R34 GT-R (641 hp), and the iconic 600-hp Zero-R Skyline R32 GT-R. The latter is considered the holy grail of all Skylines by many JDM enthusiasts; even the Sultan of Brunei snapped up one.

Many old-school JDM fans' favorite Japanese tuner and parts manufacturer is Top Secret which still makes badass 1,000hp JDM cars. Founded in 1991 by the legendary "Smokey" Nagata, who got the nickname for his propensity for burnouts, the shop has built some insanely fast and powerful Nissan Skylines GT-R for competitions and private individuals.

In the early days, its cars were used to partake in illegal high-speed runs, road racing, and drifting. Some of the best include the 1200-hp R33 GT-R (The DRAG R II), the Skyline VR32 GT-R that packs a 750-hp R35 drivetrain, and the gold Nissan R32 GT-R (650-hp) shown above. The signature gold paint scheme in the cars above is a recognizable feature of Top Secret's best cars.

Dennis Kariuki is a tech enthusiast who writes for Hotcars.com. Previously, he wrote for the.car .He likes covering the marriage between technology and cars. Besides that, he is big f1 fan. After working tirelessly through the week, you can be sure that on Sundays he is most likely enjoying and following motorsports events.