The Real-Life Tokyo Drift – Touge Racing
It’s no secret that drifting in Japan was, and still is, a widely celebrated culture.
Walking down the streets of Tokyo you can’t help but find modified tuner classics such as Nissan Skylines or Honda S2000s, and many of these are not just for show. Alongside the many car meet-ups where drivers pull up with their flashiest whips, many racing events still occur, both legal and illegal; there’s no wonder this still happens though when you have some of the best-suited roads to host them on.
Touge, or Tōge, meaning ‘pass’ in Japanese, is a series of roads that were developed to help traverse the mountains of Japan. Because of this, long and winding roads were built, slowly ascending or descending. Originally made for commercial vehicles and commuters to navigate easier, it wouldn’t be long until the drifters of the 80s and 90s would catch on to this gold mine and start shredding up the tarmac. So, that scene in Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift isn’t actually that unrealistic, as racers used to gather on these streets at night times to compete, cruise, and show off their skills.
Initial D, a Japanese manga based on the drifting icon, Keiichi Tsuchiya's, can be credited as one of the biggest Touge influences. Bringing Touge driving to light in mainstream car culture as the main character could be seen in various uphill and downhill battles in the infamous AE86. This skyrocketed the popularity of the mountains, and through various other popular media, it is not so low-key as the racers would like it to be.
Togue racing on the streets is highly illegal; this doesn’t stop the petrol-heads from turning up to the mountains to glide down them though. Video’s surface online still today of the latest showdown and display of drifting, and to conquer these mountains is no small feat. The skills on display from some of these drivers are crazy, and even though we don’t condone illegal driving, we commend them for keeping the culture alive.
