Adventures in Japan - The Salaryman's S15

There was an outcry after I posted my first Adventures in Japan - The Daily Drifter S15, so I decided to write another one ASAP! From memory I think this happened the day after the first encounter. Let us begin!

I drove up to North Course as I’ve always wanted to try and drift the long left hander in the rain (without losing my sh*t), I thought trying it in the rain would be better as you generally drift slower and it’s easier to get the car sideways.

When I got to the pits, I emptied my stuff (all I saw in the pits was a bumper from an S15), and got out on to the track. There are slow technical corners around North Course which you can use to practice transitions in the wet, a great starting point for me! I went around the track a few times and didn’t notice anyone else, so I started to get more and more confident and finally went for it…

I was then greeted by this S15 beached on one of the high speed corners of the track, this corner directly follows the corner from the gif! A bit of story on this corner; you’re in 3rd gear going around 100 - 110 KM/H and it’s not uncommon to spin out and go exactly where his car is right now. Luckily as I was still practising I wasn’t going at this speed!

I put on my hazards and jumped out of my car to try and help him (still confused as to how he is on the track with me, we must of been at perfect opposites), he was happy to see me (language barrier also exists here)! I motioned at the car and he jumped in while I pushed; didn’t work. I then grabbed a rock and put it under the wheel; still didn’t work.

Here’s where it gets really cool; he pulled out his phone and called a number…

It turned out that he called Ebisu circuit to come and fetch him out! Feels like he just called the Yakuza! I really want their number on my phone but I can’t speak Japanese yet (not counting the stuff I know from anime; Kawaii). He thanked me for my help and motioned me to follow him - again I ran to my car like a schoolgirl in a Japanese anime when Senpai notices you!

We went for a careful drift session together (more on why later on), not close enough to call it any form of drifting together, but close enough to see the other person ahead. It was so much fun just spinning out together as it looked as if he was new to drifting in the rain too! That’s the beauty of the rain - FREE TYRES!

After a couple of laps he pulled in so I decided to follow him…

We parked up next to each other and it turns out he knows a bit of english! Great (insert ‘Step Brothers did we just become best friends’ gif)! We started talking about drifting and how long we had both been doing it - he was really surprised when I said it was my first time drifting! He was so happy that I came all the way from the UK just to drift in his country!

He wanted to buy me a drink for everything that I helped him with and because I travelled so far, I wanted to buy him a drink and because we both insisted, so we bought each other a drink (awwwww so cute, Sugoi - the other Japanese word I know). If you look closely you can see my Fanta Grape on top of my car (which he bought me), now this is where it all gets really really interesting…

It turns out he is around 50 years old (looks good for his age, right?) and lives in Tokyo (Ebisu Circuit is 3 hours away by car)! That’s the reason this post is titled ‘Salaryman’s S15’ as he works in an office and this S15 is his daily to get to and from work everyday! No-one in his office knows that he drifts! If I remember correctly he came for the whole weekend, he told me his wife always has a go at him for coming down to drift, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to get away from all her nagging, haha, this is my type of guy!

He was just happy that I came over to talk to him and that he had someone to drift with. Like I said in my previous story this is what drifting in Japan is all about, you honestly don’t need to know Japanese, everyone is really nice and if you can drift then it’s a step in the right direction! We went out for a few more drifts after this before we bid goodbye to each other and his long 3 hour drive back to his nagging wife (at least he didn’t use any tires)! See you soon CoolGuy!

I’ll be going back to Japan soon and you’ll be able to follow me on my Snapchat: MilkyDiamonds (for everything to do with Japan) and Car Throttle’s snapchat: carthrottle (for custom drifting content)!

I’ll be doing more additions to the ‘Adventures in Japan’ series whenever I get a chance to!