When I departed on my return trip to Japan this Summer, I did so with the goal of reconnecting with friends and colleagues after the two years of travel restrictions. For 5 straight weeks I travelled around the country by car, train, and plane, all with the simple objective of ‘catching up’.
At the beginning of my road trip to Mie Prefecture, I decided to make a detour down to the Izu Peninsula to visit my good friend Ando. Ando operates Auto Rescue Izu, a wrecker/tow service in Shizuoka. Over the past 2 years he had built a new shop to house and work on his personal cars.
1990’s motoring in Japan, for a few people, has recently increased in popularity, becoming somewhat of an abstract study into a very unique culture. A lot of what we see today, especially in drifting, is an amalgamation of trends and lifestyle cues from that era; things that we aren’t necessarily privy to (unless of course you were a teenager in Tokyo in 1995). Yuji Hasunuma, owner of Pro Shop Wave, was a prominent figure in the peak times of ‘hashiriya‘; a time where the older generation today, was growing up and exploring the world of motorsports. Despite the change in trends, Yuji and his shop is still around today in Kanagawa, and as a ‘tip of the hat’ to the age his generation loved, he began the Bari Dori Heaven events.
This year, the collective minds behind Final Bout set out to unite a country over the sport of drifting; instilling in the nation a certain set of qualities they feel are necessary for the sport to thrive with it’s Japanese roots intact. Each carefully selected location of the Special Stage events provided their own unique characteristics in both venue and demographics that helped define what drifting is in each corner of the nation. Uncovering, and highlighting these places allowed others to experience different parts of the country, both first and second hand, that we wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to. I think this alone is reason enough to undertake a project as massive as Final Bout has been in 2016. This time the crew headed to Canaan Motor Club in central New Hampshire to host the third, and final stage of the trio of special events.
Picking up from where we left off in Portland, coverage in V2 will review the remaining teams that were competing over the weekend. I gotta say though, the first article on Final Bout was so wordy that I really don’t have much to say for the follow up; I kind of broke the dam gates on that one. For those who missed it, to get an overview of the event check out the first article published last week. If you’ve done that already, I won’t put you through it again – so let’s jump right into some photos.
There’s something to be said about those who go out of their way for the preservation of ideas. These people, when sensing a degradation in quality or process, will consciously take on the role of safeguarding origins. There are quite a few of us who, in our day to day, fail to see the importance of upholding certain ideologies. While the majority of us don’t fall into this category, it’s safe to say that those who do, have the ability to carry many. To them the priority lies in guidance. It’s about the teaching and the development of a new generation. A generation that may not be exposed to the superior pedigree of the past, but hold with them a desire for growth. Having spent the lesser side of a week with a few of these individuals, I can tell you it is a rare quality they possess. It is their calling, and they answer to it; and how they’ve answered has ignited a world-wide call to arms.
Car Modify Wonder had several cars on hand to introduce their somewhat new lineup of Glare aero parts, and as usual, they did not disappoint. It’s refreshing to see a truly unique and creative offering, especially for older chassis’. It’s a stark contrast from what we’ve recently been used to seeing; which is more or less a cookie cutter approach to exterior styling (I don’t need to say anymore than that for you to catch my drift). Check out the shots below and let me know what you think.
There’s a tremendous amount of history that kind of flies under the radar when it comes to the roots of the concept of ‘hashiriya’ in Japan. As is the case in most of life, a lot of what we see today is derived from a heavy influence on trends from the past. When the current generation of tuners in Japan were growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, before they were old enough to drive cars, they were introduced into the world of motor sports through motorcycles. To celebrate this derivation of history, Yuji, owner of Pro Shop Wave, assists in putting together the Bari Dori Ten event at Mobara. This year was the 3rd annual event, and the turnout was as good as ever. Sekinei was on hand to handle media for the event, as per Yuji’s request!
When I left off the first post, I had just got done making my rounds in the pit, getting acquainted with a few people, and generally just getting a lay of the land. It was my first time at US Air and really wasn’t familiar with any of the track layout. After Mico introduced me to Nick from Touge Factory, I was able to get a media pass and head out to the infield to start getting some shots of the open practice session that was going on.
Being on an airplane nearly every week for the last year has somewhat numbed me to the miracle of flight. Commercial airlines have figuratively made the world a much smaller, and more obtainable place. The opportunity of creating new relationships and experiences are increased exponentially because of our ability to understand flight. As I travel for work quite frequently, I often have to step back and view the act existentially as to remind myself of what I’ve been able to accomplish with the help of those winged metal tubes. Arriving home Thursday after a 4 day stint in Tucson, Arizona, I had one day to catch up on work, and gather my camera gear, as I had made the decision to make my way Northeast on Friday night.
Mobara invites from Team Yamada. Lots of good street teams out this day.
So, yeah. This will probably go down as the most random post of 2015 NDF, but I figured I’d combine the two as we didn’t spend that much time at either. The same day that HKS held their Premium Day event, our friends at Tension reserved the Fuji drift track and held their own ‘Premium Day’ so to speak. While the guys in Tension are all super nice, they have a somewhat sketchy history, so I’m glad Sekinei is good friends with them. They’ve always support NDF and I couldn’t be more stoked about it.
So during the lunch break on the Speedway side, Sekinei and I meandered over to Fuji’s drift track to say hi and snap some photos.
There’s something to be said about those who go against the grain. Those who have a need to create the outlandish, to disregard outside opinion, and to construct their true vision. They are the ones who will be remembered long after they’re gone, and the ones whose ideas will eventually be cherished. Go Nakamura is one such person, and he happens to be the owner of G-Corporation – and what you see before you is, in fact, his dream Silvia.
It’s safe to say, especially now that it has passed, that Final Bout was one of, if not, the most anticipated event stateside of 2014; not only because of who was attending, but mostly […]
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