Did you think The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was a bit over the top? It’s easy to assume that both the cars and racing are just too wild to be true. Drifting in Japan is not fiction, though.
Do you think of The Fast and the Furious when you hear the term “drifting� Most people probably know the term from the third movie in the franchise. Tokyo Drift had everything the other two movies had but much more of it: crazier cars, wilder races, and more dangerous antagonists.
The two previous movies focused on drag racing (racing in a straight line) and circuit races (racing through a course). Tokyo Drift introduced a new type of racing: the titular drifting. Protagonist Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), who was used to American circuit racing, struggled through his first drift race and totally ruined that beautiful Nissan Silvia he was driving. The Mona Lisa – as Twinkie (Bow Wow) calls it – really was a sight to behold.
Sean wasn’t able to make the turns like D.K. (“drift kingâ€) did, and lost spectacularly. Drifting is when you lose traction on purpose while making a turn and then slide through the turn before powering on to the next one. One mistake can have you crashing into the wall, the other racers, or even send you tumbling down the mountainside.
Tokyo Drift didn’t create drifting, though. In fact, drifting has been around since the 70s. It’s originally from Japan and there actually is a racer known as the “drift kingâ€. This is the story of drift racing.
The Father of Drifting
Kunimitsu Takahashi is known as the “father of drifting†and pioneered the techniques in the 1970s. He was fed up with the bias ply racing tires at the time, according to Drivetribe. Such tires have less grip than modern tires. To overcome this, he slided though corners at high speed and powered out of them.
His technique made Takahashi faster than everyone else, which gave him many wins. Although this earned him the title “the father of driftingâ€, Takahashi wasn’t the one who would become the “drift kingâ€. This title was given to someone inspired by Takahashi, a younger racer by the name of Keiichi Tsuchiya.
The Drift King
Tsuchiya and other street racers (known as hashiriya) took the style to the mountains. Similarly to the mountain races in Tokyo Drift, it was all about mastering the serpentine twists and turns and getting to the bottom first – without wrecking your car in the process, of course. Drifting was born.
Tsuchiya didn’t have enough money for formal training but he drove a lot, making deliveries for his family’s metal business. This gave him practice while doing deliveries. Tsuchiya had to perfect his drifting skills in order to make the slide so smooth that the goods in the back wouldn’t bang together.
When night came, he drove races against people from all over Japan. He soon earned a formidable reputation and eventually became known as the Drift King (ドリã‚ン, Dorikin). These races were dangerous, though.
– People died on the mountain passes, Tsuchiya has said to The Japan Times.
Tsuchiya filmed a video called “Pluspyâ€, where he drifted down the mountain. It was very popular among racing fans. The popular manga Initial D was inspired by life. In other words, Tsuchiya was highly instrumental in popularizing drifting.Â
Drifting Today
Nowadays, drifting has moved from the streets back to the track and has become a popular sport. In 2000, the first professional series in the sport, D1GP, was established. Its creators were the Drift King himself and Daijiro Inada, the creator of the racing magazine Option. Their goal is to become as big as Formula One.
The hashiriya are still at it, though. The mountains are still the playground of young racers trying to master the serpentines. A feature in Highsnobiety chronicles a night with these street racers. Albo, an interviewee in the feature, compares drifting to juggling glass:
– You put so much work into your car and you almost crash it every night…To find out the limit, you have to go over the limit. You only know where it is when you’re peeling the car off the barrier.
Cars used in drift races have to be tuned especially for that purpose. They aren’t cheap, and many drifters spend a lot on car financing. However, according to the drifters themselves, the costs are worth it. Some seek out drifting for the thrill, some for the mastery of a skill – others for both.
There are many drifting events across Japan. If you visit the country on vacation, you could for instance check out the yearly Tokyo Drift event in Odaiba in Tokyo. The Odaiba area of Tokyo is an island made of reclaimed land. Here you can get to see drift races up close and experience the sport´s rich history for yourself.
Feature photo by Ralph Blvmberg
