I’d only just arrived in Japan, and the very next morning I was up at 3am, heading out from Ota City in Kawasaki to meet my friend Daikichi in Saitama. The plan was simple, make our way to Nikko Circuit for the Winds Auto Drift Day.
If you’re not familiar, Winds Auto is a shop in Saitama run by Obata-san and his wife Hiromi-san. Both are legends, with roots deep in D1GP through the 2000s. A few times a year, they host these drift days, gathering a mix of old friends and the new generation.
Daikichi and I drove up to Nikko in his dad’s Z33, a 3UP spec build which was standard power output but original coilovers and arms. His S14 was out of commission with a blown motor, but he still wanted some seat time. I’ve only ever known Nikko Circuit full of cars, packed pits, and nothing but noise. Seeing it completely empty that early in the morning, dead quiet with the sun just starting to rise behind the trees… there’s something surreal about that.
Cars started trickling in, each one picking their spot in the pits. We were set up with the 3UP crew and a few familiar faces, old friends and former D1GP drivers, a lot of them the same guys I used to watch on Video Option back in the day. Now here we all were, hanging out, eating cup noodles and curry rice between sessions. Wild.
The driving was solid all day and near to no spectators made it amazing to shoot photos. I finally got to meet Yubo, a former WELD D1GP driver and long-time Instagram friend. That was a cool moment.
Massive thanks to Obata-san and Hiromi-san for the warm hospitality. I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking.
Garage Sokudo 
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