Chrome & Hate (Japan, Tokyo)

This custom engine detail shows the still visible use of the Third Reich insignia , with imperial eagle and Nazi swastika , a symbol banned in several European countries. In the outlaw biker culture of the 60s-70s, some American groups used it as a sign of anti-system provocation , detached (at least in appearance) from its original ideology. Today, these motifs reappear in certain circles of vintage mechanics , sometimes in Japan, in a confusion between provocative aesthetics, diverted historical memory and fascination for the visual power of symbols. This image raises a question: at what point does a fascist emblem cease to be a political sign? And who decides this shift?