Keiichi Tsuchiya

Keiichi Tsuchiya

Keiichi Tsuchiya ( born January 30, 1956) is a professional race car driver. He is also known as the Drift King(Dorikin) for his nontraditional use of drifting in non-drifting racing events and his role in popularizing drifting as a motorsport. He is also known for touge (mountain pass) driving.

The car he drives, a Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno, has become one of the most popular sports cars; the car is also known as "Hachi-Roku" in Japan (hachi-roku meaning "eight six"); his car is also called "The Little Hachi that could." A video known as Pluspy documents Tsuchiya's touge driving with his AE86. He also is a consultant for one of the popular comic books and manga, Initial D, of which the main characterTakumi Fujiwara is a character which describes him.

Tsuchiya started his career through the Fuji Freshman series in 1977. Unlike many drivers who came from wealthy families or motorsport backgrounds, he honed his skills from street racingand became an underground legend.

Racing career National championships .

He would continue to take part in the Japanese Formula Three Championship, Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC), the latter while driving a Nissan Skyline GT-R (previously in the Cosmo Oil Sierra Cosworth) in the Group A championships and later a Honda Civic in the Supertouring car championships. Le Mans 

He went on to score a class win and an 8th place overall at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Honda NSX. In 1999 of the same race, this time in a Toyota GT-One, during the last hour while co-driver Ukyo Katayama was building up pace to the leading BMW V12 LMR he was forced into the grass by a backmarker privateer's BMW LMP, blowing the tire out. They survived the ordeal and went onto score the fastest lap but were forced to settle for second. NASCAR 

He has raced in NASCAR-sanctioned exhibition races at Suzuka Circuit (Suzuka Thunder 100) and at Twin Ring Motegi Superspeedway for the 1998 NASCAR-sanctioned exhibition and 1999 NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series races at the circuit, both named the Coca-Cola 500K.

Drifting career

When Tsuchiya was a freshman in circuit racing, he got his racing license suspended because of the illegal racing he was still doing (cause of the Drift Pluspy video). In the movie seriesShuto Kousoku Trial, he advised street racers to leave the illegal racing scene if they want to become involved with professional racing.

After his retirement

After his retirement, he remained in racing and is now an official Drift Muscle judge after quitting D1 in January 2011 and was Team Director for both GT500 for one year and GT300 Class ofARTA JGTC Team until the team disbanded their GT300 operation at the end of the 2005 season. He owned the aftermarket company Kei Office until he sold the business in mid-2005 to form DG-5. His trademark color is jade green which appears on his overalls and helmet and is the adopted color of the former company. It was also the colour of the D1 Grand Prix Kei Office and DG-5 S15 Silvia of driver and employee Yasuyuki Kazama who also wears a suit similar in pattern.

He also hosts the video magazine "Best Motoring" which features road tests of new Japanese cars including a special section called "Hot Version" which focuses on performance-modified cars. He is a guest presenter in Video Option, a monthly video magazine, similar to Hot Version except regularly covers the D1GP and its sister video magazine Drift Tengoku which deals purely with drifting.

He has been an editorial supervisor on the televised anime Initial D and Wangan Midnight. He appeared in episode 23 of Initial D First Stage as a special guest. He also appeared in the semi biographical film Shuto Kousoku Trial 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 was also featured in the Super GT magazine show in Japan. His life in driving is parallel to that of the Initial D main character, Takumi, as both of them started exploring their local touge while doing regular deliveries for their family businesses. In the Initial D 3rd Stage, the color can also be seen on the overalls and helmet of the sportsbike rider who overtook Takumi as he was en route to an initiation battle with Ryosuke Takahashi. The color of Tomo's racing suit from the Initial D 4th Stage is jade green and has a similar pattern to Tsuchiya's suit. He also made an appearance opposite Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson in a Motorworld in Japan special showing drifting competition in the late 1980s in Japan.

After 1995, he sometimes appeared as a Formula One guest commentator in Japanese Fuji TV.

In 2006, he made a cameo as a fisherman in the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in which he served as a stunt coordinator and stunt man.

In 2014, he announced a joint venture with King of Europe ProSeries in order to create King of Asia ProSeries.

Initial D Irohazaka

Irohazaka (いろは坂) is a pair of winding roads that connect the lower elevations near centralNikko to the higher elevations of the mountainous Okunikko region. "Iroha" are the first three of 48 syllables of the formerly used Japanese alphabet (which is now known as "aiueo"), and "zaka" means "slope" - the Irohazaka Winding Roads were so named because together they consist of 48 hairpin turns.

The two roads were respectively built in 1954 and 1965 as some of Japan's first toll roads, but were later turned toll free. Today, the older road is only open to downward traffic and includes a pit stop from where you can see two waterfalls. The newer road, meanwhile, is only open to upward traffic as far as the Akechidaira Plateau near the top of the road. The plateau offers an observation deck with views over the Irohazaka and the valley below.

Spectacular autumn colors along Irohazaka can usually be enjoyed from late October to early November. Due to the autumnal popularity of Nikko, traffic can get very bad along the Irohazaka, causing delays to both cars and buses. Visitors are advised to avoid weekends and national holidays and to try to go as early as possible.



Each corner has a letter of ancient Japanese alphabet, and you will see it in alphabetical order. The alphabetical order starts from I-ro-ha, while modern alphabet starts from a-i-u. This road used to be for ascetics in the past. Iroha-Zaka ascends more than 1,300 feet (396 m). This road plays a significant role in Japanese history: The route was popular with Buddhist pilgrims on their way to Lake Chuzenji, which is at the top of the forested hill that this road climbs.



"Iroha" are the first three of 48 syllables of the formerly used Japanese alphabet (which is now known as "aiueo"), and "zaka" means "slope" - the Irohazaka Winding Roads were so named because together they consist of 48 hairpin turns. The road's winding design, providing stunning panoramic views, is very curvy and fun for a leisurely ride, so it pays to take it slow. Exercise extreme caution when passing on-coming traffic, over-taking and around corners. Drive with your headlights on at all times as it is easier for oncoming vehicles to see you.



Today, the older road is only open to downward traffic and includes a pit stop from where you can see two waterfalls. The newer road, meanwhile, is only open to upward traffic as far as the Akechidaira Plateau near the top of the road. People started calling the slope Iroha-zaka in the early Showa era. Ancient Japanese alphabet consisted of 48 letters, and the number of curve is 48. Therefore, tourist guides started calling the slope Iroha-zaka. Today, the number of curve is 30 because the road was improved in 1954.The two roads were respectively built in 1954 and 1965 as some of Japan's first toll roads, but were later turned toll free.

Initial D Akina

Mount Haruna is a dormant stratovolcano in Takasaki, Gunma.

Haruna appears under the name Akina. Akina pass, as referred to by the characters, is actually Panorama Highway according to Google Maps.

 Bunta Fujiwara hold the fastest downhill record at Mt.Akina and was the original best driver before his son. It is here that, Takumi Fujiwara delivers tofu everyday to a hotel uphill, using his Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86). It is also where Takumi won his first few races and the home course for the racing team called the Akina SpeedStars which Takumi eventually became a member of.

 Due to his great victories, unbeatable track records and his downhill driving technique using an AE86 against much powerful vehicles, Takumi and the AE86 gain popularities which is referred as 'Akina's 86'. The Akina pass is also famous for its five hairpins turns.

Mount Haruna has many peaks and the tallest one, Mount Kamonga is 1,449 m high. It appeared about 300,000 years ago and the last known eruption was c. 550. The volcano has a summit caldera containing the symmetrical cone of Mount Harunafuji, along with a crater lake,Lake Haruna, along the western side. To the west of the lake is Mount Kamonga, the tallest peak.

The lake and the area to its east, as well as the southern and southwestern slopes, lie within the borders of Takasaki city. The border of Shibukawa city (to the east) nearly approaches Lake Haruna. Both Shintovillage and Yoshioka town are on the southeast slopes of the mountain. The northern and northwestern slopes lie within Higashi Agatsuma town, which also bounds Lake Haruna. The summit lies on the border of Takasaki and Higashi Agatsuma.

Mount Haruna, along with Mount Akagi and Mount Myōgi, is one of the "Three Mountains of Jōmō." (Jōmō is an old name for Gunma.)

Initial D

Initial D

Initial D (Japanese: 頭文字D（イニシャル・ディー） Hepburn: Inisharu Dī^?) is a Japanese sports manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Young Magazine from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The story focuses on the world of illegal Japanese street racing, where all the action is concentrated in the mountain passes and rarely in cities or urban areas, and with the drift racing style emphasized in particular. Professional race car driver and pioneer of drifting Keiichi Tsuchiya helped with editorial supervision. The story is centered on the prefecture of Gunma, more specifically on several mountains in the Kantō region and in their surrounding cities and towns. Although some of the names of the locations the characters race in have been fictionalized, all of the locations in the series are based on actual locations in Japan.

Initial D has been adapted into several television anime and original video animations series by OB Studio Comet, Studio Gallop, Pastel, A.C.G.Tand SynergySP. A live action film by Avex and Media Asia was released in 2005 and its sequel, Initial D 2, will be released in 2016. Both the manga and anime series were initially licensed for English-language distribution in North America by Tokyopop (2002–2009),^[1] however, the anime license has since been picked up by Funimation Entertainment, while the manga is no longer available in English

The protagonist, Takumi Fujiwara, is a gas station attendant working with his friend Itsuki to buy a car, which they plan to drift on the twisting roads surrounding nearby Mount Akina. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Takumi moonlights as a tofu delivery driver for his father's store before sunrise each morning, passively building an impressive amount of skill behind the wheel of the family car, an aging Toyota Sprinter Trueno.

Shortly after the story begins, the RedSuns, an amateur racing team from Akagi Prefecture, challenge the local Speedstars team to a set of races on Mount Akina. Dispirited after watching the RedSuns' superior performance during a practice run, the Speedstars expect to lose. Later that night, the RedSuns' #2 driver, heading home after the last practice run, is defeated soundly by a mysterious Sprinter Trueno, despite driving a much more powerful car. An investigation into the identity of the driver leads to Bunta Fujiwara, Takumi's father. The Speedstars beg Bunta to help them defeat the RedSuns, and he initially refuses, later relenting to "maybe" show up at the race. At the same time, Takumi asks Bunta if he can borrow the car for a day to take a trip to the beach with a potential girlfriend, and Bunta seizes the moment by granting permission (plus a full tank of fuel) on the condition that Takumi defeats the RedSuns driver.

On the night of the race, the Trueno does not show up, and the Speedstars enlist a backup driver for the first run. At the last moment before the race starts, the Trueno arrives. Takumi steps out of the car to the bewilderment of the Speedstars, who were expecting Bunta. He easily defeats the RedSuns driver by utilizing a dangerous technique on the mountain road's hairpin corners.

The RedSuns' embarrassing defeat sets up the plot for the rest of the series: drivers from neighboring prefectures come to challenge Takumi and the "Legendary Eight-Six of Akina" and thus prove themselves as racers. Eventually, the plot moves away from Mount Akina as Takumi becomes bored with racing solely on that road. He joins an experimental racing team formed by the disbanded RedSuns and challenges more difficult opponents on their home courses in the pursuit of his dream to be "the fastest driver out there".

• Takumi Fujiwara (藤原 拓海 Fujiwara Takumi^?, "Tak")

The main character of the series, Takumi develops his racing skills to be one of the fastest drivers in Kanto while driving an old Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86. This is due to Takumi's job delivering tofu to Lake Akina every morning for 5 years (since 7th grade). Although Takumi believes this to be just a job, he had actually been manipulated subtly by his father into developing driving skills, without being fully aware of Bunta's intent.

• Bunta Fujiwara (藤原 文太 Fujiwara Bunta^?)

Bunta is the owner of the Fujiwara Tofu Shop and is the father of Takumi. He used to be the No.1 downhill racer in Mt. Akina years ago, but now guides Takumi's racing development. He is the original driver of the mysterious "Ghost of Akina" AE86 Sprinter Trueno that holds the record of the fastest downhill time at Akina. Later in the series, as Takumi used the Trueno more than Bunta, he buys a Subaru Impreza WRX, which Takumi alternates between the Impreza and his Eight-Six for deliveries.

• Ryosuke Takahashi (高橋 涼介 Takahashi Ryōsuke^?, "Ry")

Ryosuke is one of the most skilled drivers in the series as RedSuns/Project D's leader and older brother to Keisuke. He drives a Mazda Savanna RX-7 FC3S. Ryosuke is a very cerebral driver as he pores over technical data and is able to tell what kind of modifications have been made to a car just by hearing it, and what a driver is capable of just by watching the car drift. He is also referred to as "Akagi's White Comet" (赤城の白い彗星 Akagi no Shiroi Suisei^?) in reference to his early racing days.

• Keisuke Takahashi (高橋 啓介 Takahashi Keisuke^?, "K.T.")

Keisuke is the number two driver for the RedSuns and the hillclimb ace for Project D. Keisuke drives a Mazda RX-7 FD3S, and is a skilled driver second only to his brother. Keisuke is a rather hot-headed and does not like losing. He isn't analytical like his older brother, but his ability to think less while he is driving, and to do only what he feels amazes Ryosuke. Because of his initial encounters with Takumi, he is Takumi's main rival.

Manga

• Initial D Manga Japanese Release — 48 Volumes (1995–2013, Vol. 48 released in November 2013)
• Initial D Manga Tokyopop Release — 33 Volumes (2002–2009, expired license)

The first Initial D volume was released in Japan on November 6, 1995 and concluded on July 29, 2013.^[2] The manga has been translated officially into Chinese, French and English over its publication run. As of 2013, 48 volumes have been published.

The manga and anime were originally licensed for English releases in North America by Tokyopop. The company changed the names of the characters in the anime edition, and subsequently changed them in the manga to match. These name changes were to reflect the name changes that Sega implemented into the western releases of the Initial D A Stage video games {see below} due to name length limits. Tokyopop also cut out a character's enjo kōsai relationship with another and edited sex scenes, appearing in volumes 1 and 9 in the original manga. In addition, "street slang" was interlaced in translations (a drift was described as "slammin'", for example).

The manga also had some translation errors. One example was the technical term "Wastegate" (which is a mechanism used to regulate the boost pressure generated by a turbocharger) that was translated as "West Gate". Another was an inaccurate explanation of how an engine's displacement is calculated (the explanation given is how a ship's displacement is calculated, which is totally different). Many of the explanations ofautomotive design and function, as well as the specification sheets of the various cars, were incorrect.

In August 2009, Kodansha announced that they would not be renewing their licensing agreements with Tokyopop, citing "tense relations" between the two companies. This meant that Tokyopop could no longer release new volumes of Kodansha manga properties, nor re-release Kodansha titles that were already printed. Tokyopop ceased the release of Initial D after volume 33, which was released on December 30, 2008. Volume 34 had a scheduled street date of April 7, 2009, but never released. There have been no announcements as to a new distributor in North America for continuing or restarting the manga.

Avex has released the anime in several parts called Stages. One noticeable feature is that it uses Eurobeat music as background music in race scenes.

• Initial D (referred to retroactively by fans as "First Stage") — 26 episodes (1998)
• Initial D Second Stage — 13 episodes (1999)
• Initial D Extra Stage — 2-episode OVA side-story focusing on Impact Blue (2000)
• Initial D Third Stage — a 114-minute movie (2001)
• Initial D Fourth Stage — 24 episodes (2004–2006)
• Initial D Extra Stage 2 — a 50-minute OVA side-story focusing on Mako and Iketani (2008)
• Initial D Fifth Stage — 14 episodes (2012–2013)^[5]
• Initial D: Final Stage — 4 episodes (TV), compilation movie (DVD/Blu-ray) (2014)
• New Initial D the Movie - Legend 1: Awakening — feature movie (2014)
• New Initial D the Movie - Legend 2: Racer — feature movie (2015)
• New Initial D the Movie - Legend 3: Dream — feature movie (2016)

The Battle Stages are Musical Films serving as a compilation of the racing action scenes in the preceding series reanimated and remastered with more advanced CGI and stripped of all but minimal character dialog.

• Initial D Battle Stage — a 50-minute movie (2002)
• Initial D Battle Stage 2 — a 1-hour movie (2007)

In 1998, Initial D was adapted into an animated television series produced by OB Planning and Prime Direction. The first episode premièred onFuji TV on April 8, 1998. The initial series ran for 26 weekly episodes with the finale airing on December 5, 1998.

The second series, named "Second Stage", aired from October 14, 1999 to January 20, 2000 with a one-week break over the New Year period. This was followed by animated feature film in 2001 and an OVA documenting all battles from the previous three stages, with the battles from First Stage being re-animated.

Initial D: Third Stage was a feature film covering the story arcs between the second and fourth stage, released in Japan on January 13, 2001.

In 2004, Initial D: Fourth Stage aired on SkyPerfecTV's pay-per-view service, airing two episodes back-to-back every two months. 24 episodes were made until the final episodes were aired in February 2006.

Following Second Stage in 2000, Initial D: Extra Stage was aired as a spinoff to the original series. This story focused on the all-female Impact Blue team of Usui Pass and their point of view of the recent events of Second Stage and the upcoming Third Stage movie. This was followed byExtra Stage 2 in 2008, which look at the relationship between Impact Blue's Mako Sato and Iketani of the SpeedStars (following on from the original side-story in the manga).

Following 8 years after the release of "Fourth Stage" in 2004, Animax airs "Initial D: Fifth Stage". Animax has aired the series on a pay-per-viewbasis on SKY PerfecTV!'s Perfect Choice Premier 1 channel. The first two episodes aired on November 9, 2012. The rest of the episodes were broadcast two per month till May 10, 2013.

In 2014, "Initial D: Final Stage" became the latest installment in the anime series. Animax has aired its first two episodes on a pay-per-view basis on its own brand new ANIMAX PLUS channel, on May 16, 2014, on its new subscription VOD (Video On Demand) service, which allows subscribers to watch all the latest anime series. Initial D Final Stage will start right after where Fifth Stage left off. There are a total of four episodes that makes up this mini stage.^[7] The final two episodes were broadcast on June 22, 2014.

Since the anime's original run, Japanese musical group m.o.v.e has performed all of the opening and some ending themes of the series. This followed on from the success of one of their first hits, "Around the World", which was used as the first opening of First Stage. Their latest single to be used in the series is called "Outsoar The Rainbow" and it is used as Final Stage's opening.They had another recent unreleased song, "Days". It was played on the finale of "Final Stage".

Like in the manga, Tokyopop change elements of the anime to suit Western audiences. As well as changing the names and used western slang, the company also changed the anime's music from the series' staple eurobeat tracks to originally developed tracks of rap and hip-hop via Stu Levy (DJ Milky), the Tokyopop CEO and an in-house musician.

In 2006, Funimation Entertainment announced that it would be distributing the DVDs of the anime (since Tokyopop's original distributor went bankrupt). This new distribution was marked by slightly revised packaging and two box sets corresponding to the licensed seasons Tokyopop had dubbed, although the DVDs themselves were exactly the same as the original Tokyopop release.

Tokyopop had completed an English dubbed version of Third Stage, and reportedly screened it at the Big Apple Anime Fest on August 29, 2003.They briefly mentioned that their version of Third Stage would retain the original Japanese soundtrack, in contrast to their treatment of the anime series. This version of the film was never released on DVD, nor was it ever mentioned by Tokyopop past the original announcement.

At the New York Anime Festival 2009, Funimation Entertainment announced that it would be re-releasing and re-dubbing Initial D: First Stage, Second Stage, Extra Stage, Third Stage, and Fourth Stage. Their release included a brand new English dub and retained the original music from the Japanese in an uncut format. Funimation released the series out of order, with the Third and Fourth Stages releasing before the First and Second Stages.^[11] Funimation has not specified whether or not they will dub and release Extra Stage 2 (the first Extra Stage was included in the Second Stage box set) or either of the Battle Stages, nor have they made a decision about 5th Stage and Final Stage.

In July 2013 it was announced that another feature film titled New Initial D the Movie and a last anime series, Initial D Final Stage, will be produced.The movie is a retelling of the early Stages with a wholly new voice cast and will be separated into three parts, with the first part released on August 23, 2014.

Numerous arcade and other platforms video games have been released (note: The U.S. versions of the arcade titles are called simply "Initial D"). In the loading section after you pick the rival, you could see pictures from the Initial D manga. In Ver. 3, it basically has a picture of Natsuki Mogi in a bikini, this is cut in the U.S. version.

• Initial D Arcade Stage / Initial D (2002 — Arcade (NAOMI 2))
• Initial D Arcade Stage Ver.2 / Initial D Ver.2 (2003 — Arcade (NAOMI 2))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 3 / Initial D Version 3 (2004 — Arcade (NAOMI 2))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 4 / Initial D 4 (2006 — Arcade (Lindbergh))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Limited (2007 — Arcade (Lindbergh))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Kai (2008 — Arcade (Lindbergh))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 5 (2009 — Arcade (Lindbergh))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 6 AA (2011 — Arcade (RingEdge))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 7 AAX (2012 — Arcade (RingEdge))
• Initial D Arcade Stage 8 ∞ (Infinity) (2014 — Arcade (Unknown, possibly Sega Nu))
• Initial D (1999 — Sega Saturn)
• Initial D (1999 — PS1)
• Initial D Gaiden (1998 — Game Boy)
• Initial D: Ryosuke Takahashi's Fastest Typing-theory (2001 — PS2)
• Initial D Another Stage (2002 — GBA)
• Initial D Collectible Card Game (2003 — Collectible Card Game)
• Initial D: Special Stage (2003 — PS2)
• Initial D Mountain Vengeance (2004 — PC) (not classified as a real Initial D game)
• Initial D: Street Stage (2006 — PSP)
• Initial D Extreme Stage (2008 — PS3)
• Initial D RPG (Sony Ericsson mobile phone)
• Initial D: Perfect Shift Online (2014 - Nintendo 3DS eShop) (Free-to-Play)

A live-action movie based on Initial D was released on June 23, 2005 in Asia. The movie was jointly produced by Japan's Avex Inc. and Hong Kong's Media Asia Group. It was directed byAndrew Lau and Alan Mak, whose credits include the 2002 Hong Kong blockbuster Infernal Affairs. The adaptation featured Taiwanese singer Jay Chou as Takumi Fujiwara and Hong Kong stars Edison Chen as Ryosuke Takahashi and Shawn Yue as Takeshi Nakazato. Despite many changes to the original story, the movie was met with critical acclaim and was nominated for multiple awards, including Best Picture, at the Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse Awards, winning many of them.

A sequel has been in discussion since the following year after the movie has debuted. However, a concrete conclusion could not be reached due to several obstacles which includes the storyline, filming locations, casts, and safety reasons. As of March 2015, director and producer, Andrew Lau, has once again reconfirmed in an exclusive interview that a sequel will surely follow but is tight-lipped on the release date. Jay Chou and Edison Chen will reprise their roles in the sequel.

Legend....The King of Drift Car....

LEGEND...

The AE86 generation of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Toyota Sprinter Trueno is a small, lightweight coupe or hatchback introduced by Toyota in 1983 as part of the fifth generation Toyota Corolla lineup. For the purpose of brevity, the insider-chassis code of "AE86" depicts the 1600 cc RWD model from the range.



While other fifth-generation Corollas shifted to the FF (front-engine, front-wheel-drive) layout, the Corolla Levin AE86 retained the FR (front-engine, rear-wheel-drive) configuration, and its responsive driving performance won it the support of FR enthusiasts everywhere. The engine was upgraded from the 2T-GEU to the more powerful 4A-GEU, and high-grade models came equipped with electric windows and power-assisted steering. As the Corolla Levin also moved to the FF layout with the unveiling of the sixth-generation Corolla, the AE86 model became the last Levin with the FR configuration, and it is affectionately remembered as "the 86" by die-hard fans to this day.



The One and only..That spurs it all..

Initial D (Japanese: 頭文字D（イニシャル・ディー） Hepburn: Inisharu Dī^?) is a Japanese sports manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Young Magazine from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The story focuses on the world of illegal Japanese street racing, where all the action is concentrated in the mountain passes and rarely in cities or urban areas, and with the drift racing style emphasized in particular. Professional race car driver and pioneer of drifting Keiichi Tsuchiya helped with editorial supervision. The story is centered on the prefecture of Gunma, more specifically on several mountains in the Kantō region and in their surrounding cities and towns. Although some of the names of the locations the characters race in have been fictionalized, all of the locations in the series are based on actual locations in Japan.


AE86 revolutionary

Keiichi Tsuchiya (土屋 圭市 Tsuchiya Keiichi^?, born January 30, 1956) is a professional race car driver. He is also known as the Drift King(ドリキン Dorikin^?) for his nontraditional use of drifting in non-drifting racing events and his role in popularizing drifting as a motorsport. He is also known for touge (mountain pass) driving.

The car he drives, a Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno, has become one of the most popular sports cars; the car is also known as "Hachi-Roku" in Japan (hachi-roku meaning "eight six"); his car is also called "The Little Hachi that could." A video known as Pluspy documents Tsuchiya's touge driving with his AE86. He also is a consultant for one of the popular comic books and manga, Initial D, of which the main characterTakumi Fujiwara is a character which describes him.

AE86 Specs

Car	Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-V AE86 Super Street Version
Year	1986
Body Color	Super White II (Body) and TRD 3000GT Supra Gray (Engine Bay)
Underbody and Engine	Tec-Art's Full Complete Engine Blacktop 20v 7A-GE (7A Bottom, 5-Valve 4AG Head), Tec-Art and Tomei Pon-Cam (264/264 IN/EX 9mm Lift), TEC ART Type R Dual-Type Radiator, TEC ART Oil Cooler with Fan, Impulse 5 Valve Sink Kit, Nismo and TRD Metal Con Rods, Carbon Fiber Clutch for TEC ART 7AG, K1 Planning and Fujitsubo Twin Tip Exhaust Type N1, AE111 Genuine Catalyser, TEC Art Modified 3.5th TRD Crossed 5 w/ 4.778 (5.125 for Touge), TRD Short-Shifter Kit, TRD 2-way LSD, Tec-Art Header, & MOTEC ECU (TEC-ART SETTING)
Custom Parts	TRD FRP Hatch with integrated TRD N2 Spoiler (1-piece), GT-APEX Headlamp Adjuster, No Power Steering or Air Conditioning, GT-V/Power Steering knuckles, GT-APEX Tilt Steering column, GT-APEX Dash and Power Mirrors, GT-Apex Windshield Adjuster, TRD Leather-wrapped Shift Knob, Non-Amber Clear Front Signal Lights, Zenki Front Lip with Special Bumper Lip Bracket, TRD Reclining Sports Bucket Seats, Sabelt Harness, Defi Gauges, TRD Carbon Fiber Hood, Raybrig Multi Reflector Light Kit, Nardi TRD 3 Spoke Steering Wheel, Shitsua Gas Lid, Autobacs ARTA Karo Floor Mats, TEC-ART Suspension Kit, Revolver AE86 Traction Bracket, Front MZ20 Brakes, Tec-Arts Rear Brake Kit.
Tire and Rim Size	Front and Rear 195/50R15 GoodYear RS Sport with Modex Dori Dori Mesh wheels(7j/off-2/15inches)