It's not often before coming out and making one of these videos that I need to check that I've got health insurance, but today I might just need it. (Sub to Oroka Baka on Youtube. Credit: Captions) This is Ebisu circuit, the largest drifting racetrack in all of Japan High up in the mountains of Fukushima [Music] If I was ever looking to commit a heist, this would be the place I'd come head hunting for a getaway driver Ebisu circuit is where the best drivers from across Japan descend for a daredevil Adrenaline rush that makes a mockery of even the most extreme roller coasters. Today, we've traveled here into the mountains two hours north of Tokyo to try to understand why drifting has become a national obsession To hear from the drivers consumed by it and to experience it for the first time ourselves Complete disregard for health and safety just standing here I feel like I need insurance let alone being in the car So they come up this straight 165 kilometers an hour and drift round the corner What scares me the most is there this barrier that I'm standing behind look down here a car has actually bumped into this So it's not the most reassuring place to stand. I can smell the burning tires as the cars drift past I can smell the burning tires as the cars drift past. Drifting's always had something of a bad-boy image in Japan given it has its roots in illegal street-racing but the story of drifting didn't start entirely on the streets in the 1970s a professional motorcyclist and car racing driver Kunimitsu Takahashi turned the poor grip of his tires to his advantage by coaxing his Nissan Skyline into a slide before the apex of a corner and powering out on the straight with a high exit speed Mastering the technique gave him the edge over his rivals who are unable to match the speed when turning the corners Leading to repeated victories in the All Japan Touring Championship, but while Kunimitsu Takahashi is referred to as the father of drifting he's not the king that title goes to Keiichi Tsuchiya who's literally known as "Dorikin", The Drift King the legendary figure who really put drifting on the map Keiichi started out on mountain roads as a street racer known as hashiriya in Japanese was inspired by Takashi's drift technique Which gave him the edge while racing up on the mountain passes. Before professional races were typically from wealthy backgrounds and learned on racing circuits But Keiichi was from a more humble background and learn to race on the streets before going on to compete professionally It was this background that was instrumental in encouraging younger drivers from working-class backgrounds to get up into the mountains and hone their skills like their idol in the 90s Keiichi's legends played a role in inspiring a hugely popular manga comic series called Initial D which he himself worked on as an editorial supervisor Initial D helped bring drift into the mainstream within Japan and led to a new generation of films that brought the drifting subculture to a global audience but even if you've never heard of any of these things, hopefully You know about drifting from Mario Kart where everybody knows drifting is the secret to successfully winning any race As luck would have it the day were filming we run into Alexi Smith an Australian drift fanatic who runs one of the most popular drifting channels in the world, "Noriyaro". If anybody can explain the appeal behind drifting it's him Drifting is... When you are doing everything you're not supposed to be doing. You know when you watch a Motorsports show and you see the introduction of the show and they show a bunch of little highlights and clips What do they show you? Crashes and cars sliding around and it's big and smokey Drifting is that. It's a highlight reel all the time. Imagine all of a sudden, you know, whatever hobby you have You were told that hey, if you go to this weird place in the other side of the world You can do that hobby all day as much as you like. With absolutely freedom Right. That's the appeal Many drivers buy their cars at Ebisu racetrack where they can keep it in storage and finally sell it back or what's left of it At the end of it all Adam from Sydney is on holiday in Japan for two weeks one week spent sightseeing and the other drifting How long have you had this car now adam? Three years now. And today it meet it's demise? Yeah, just driving too hard, I guess We're in tears. So what are you gonna do with it now? I've sold it actually back to power vehicles now It's a pretty cool concept though, right the idea that you come here You can buy a car, store it here then when you come back you can use it and then destroy it Yeah, is it is this bit here like burnt or something? Yeah, that's from the first fire. The first fire. So dealing this is an expensive hobby You don't you don't go into drifting to be rich when you consider a set of tires is about $200 or so and you can go through two sets a day so what kind of career do you have to fund something like this? Yeah, working IT. IT. You heard that ladies and gentlemen. IT. Work hard behind the computer then come out to Japan apply it all on lovely cars. Up in smoke. Up in smoke literally, yeah So for a beginner and there's probably people watching this that might just want to come up and drive don't have any Qualifications myself included. What are the rules? What do you need before you can come up here actually start racing and drifting around the track. Absolutely nothing You don't need these licenses or anything like that All you do is like nothing you need a car and you pay the entry fee and be over 16 What are we waiting for? I tick all of the boxes. Although I know I would kill lots of people Look what I recommend you do first is maybe not go driving first. Maybe go for a passenger ride first I have a friend that you need to ride with So Alexi's friend is gonna drive me around the track He's secretly loving this, look at the little smile on his face all part of his plan to get me killed. Let's see He's the boss of a former Tokyo Street drifting team called side attack. Rii-chan! Probably the most fun I've ever had in my life looked fun! such a good driver it felt unreal It felt like I was in a VR headset or something Because the helmet can be completely sealed in I couldn't really hear much apart from the screeching of the car. It's just that feeling of having cars near like next to you. Yeah, they look like they're about to crash. Some of them did crash, there was smoke coming out. It was just insane It really was I'm gonna give up YouTube This is the day I give up each even become a drift driver drift racer cuz I want to be able to do that just Takahashi-san's level of control and intuition. Driving 160 km/h while sandwiched between half a dozen cars it really is incredible I have a lot of respect for it and I'm also quite envious because I wish. wish I could do it as well Next up it was Ryotaro (Risottaro)'s turn to be thrown around like a dog toy and this time we'd be passengers of what might be the world's most extreme taxi ride? How do you feel? Excited! Look at this, it looks like a real taxi. And the lights on the top, they say Team Orange. That's his team there. It's Team Orange He's like a professional D1 drift one driver and they actually he drove around the world doing drift Are we ready? Yea. Yes let's do it! It's intense, it's scary, but it's still not as scary as Ryotaro's (Rissotaro's) driving. Nah! I'm save driver I have never experienced anything like this We just finished driving the drifting and look at the tire what's happening here, it's actually This is a official evidence of how fast and how crazy He drives on this mountain road Today it rained this morning so he didn't use it, but on a sunny day tires burn a lot faster so what they do is, this little tank right here. Water tank and There's a switch in the front you turn on and what they do is it will actually spray the tires to cool the tires down incredible, isn't it? You know what? I'm a little bit disappointed in myself today many of my friends actually do drifting over the years They've invited me to come along and join in. I've always been very dismissive and very narrow-minded I just sort of say, Ugh, drifting isn't that just going round the corner really fast? But whether you're sandwiched between two other going a hundred miles per hour pressed into the back of the seat, hoping the car won't Lose control as smoke billows in through the window for the smoldering tyres (tires) below. It's hard to deny that drifting Is one of the most exhilarating experiences You can have I can see now why people obsess over it so damn much. I can see why people love it Ebisu circuit is one hell of a place. There's nowhere else quite like it in all of North Japan is also no accommodation so if you do plan to visit There's some fantastic hot springs around the area that do speak English and even allow tattoos You can find a list of options as well as where to find Ebisu circuit in the description box below Drifting one word. How do you summarize your experience today? Gravity gravity. That's what I had. That's what I felt, G's, right And a huge thanks to Alexi who by just sheer luck was here today He is one of the number one channels on drifting in Japan I mean, we've just come here as beginners But he knows pretty much everything going so check his channel out if you want to know more, but for now many Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time to do it all over again Now we have to enjoy the real horror Ryotaro's Drive home. (Sub to Oroka Baka on Youtube. Credit: Captions)
Would have loved to see Chris try and drift
Chris-sama, please tell us the name of the intro music.