It’s been a LONG ass time since I’ve attended a motorsport event on this type of caliber. Sure autox was a routine thing for me and it give me my fill for what it was, but I haven’t been around a drift event since back when KRP was open and “DRIFTSESSIONS” were taking place there once upon a time in Hawaii.

There is nothing unlike anything compared to a drift event. Add to fact that is Doridore, where the cars that are drifting (Dori), are all “dressed up” (Dore) and it goes up several notches. This defines exactly the type of style that I personally am into.

Strangely, I never heard of this event until last year after Wekfest Japan 2024 had finished. I saw a lot stories on IG posting this drift event. After doing some research, I learned that the event was still in the Nagoya area. Apparently its been a thing to have the events back to back so I made it a priority to go in 2025.

And here we are!

I whole heartedly encourage anyone interested in that kind of car culture to make this a must attended. Getting there does require a car rental. I recommend those Toyota rental places as they’re all over the place and the process is pretty smooth and straightforward. I also recommend getting the ETC option for auto paying toll roads.

I’ve driven in Japan before in 2022 with FUN2DRIVE, so driving on the “other side” of the car and road wasn’t new to me. What was new was driving alone in a foreign country with no lead car to follow. It’s the city driving with all the stoplights and intersections that worried me the most. Honestly, it’s not that bad. Once you get on the highway it’s pretty cruise.

From Nagoya, theres a Yoro SA (Service Area) rest stop about halfway there and took about 45 minutes. The rest stop is worth it as there are restrooms and places to eat.

There were an array of cars already parked, more than likely attending the show too. I was able to snag a few but resisted the urge to go walking around to find and take more – didn’t think it would be too appropriate to be wandering around randomly and taking pictures.

From Yoro SA, the drive to Mount Okuibuki is another 45 minutes or so. It’s quite a nice drive up the mountain side.

After parking there’s a really nice view of the whole area.

The pit area is where all the cars are prepping. It’s quite a gallery.

As for the event itself, it is quite a rush!

The loud engines, the smoke, and tire debris was so nostalgic! I recommend wearing dark colored clothes as if you’ll be spectating, expect tire debris to get all over your clothes. I even say people wearing goggles to protect their eyes.

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite capture as many action shots as I would have wanted…

If you’re hungry, there are food trucks. I happened to just stock up on stuff at Yoro SA.

Apparently another show “Fenderist” was going on at the same time. There was a showcase of cars in a separate area which we’ll prolly cover at a later time.

ALL the builds were a site for sore eyes – so many cool looking cars. There was so much to look at I had a hard time making up my mind on what to do. I was definitely overwhelmed. Didn’t know if I wanted to take pics or more vids… but at the same time just wanted to enjoy the show as it was without having to do anything.

I was able to put together a vid of the cars staged in the pit area during a break. You can check it out below.

Stay tuned for more in the future! Continuing to try out different things in order to reconnect our car culture, remembering that our car community is much larger than what we might make of it.