‘There is always something happening at Fuji Speedway, always. When I told my wife that we will drop by on Saturday morning coming from Fujiyoshida, she was apprehensive that nothing would be on as I did not check the calendar. But I confidently assured her that something cool would be on, since this was not my first time visiting this legendary race track.

Never in my mind did I expect to bump into JDM racing legends Max Orido and Nobu Taniguchi though. I am here in Japan to celebrate turning 40, and to see your racing idols from BEST Motoring in the last 30 years in front of your eyes and to hear them talk and laugh – was a surreal experience that I will never forget. Not to mention seeing my wife’s face change when she recognised them too after I reminded her was priceless.

We happened to stumble upon the ADVAN Circuit Experience where they were the special guests, along with some other people that we did not recognise. The carpark and pit area hosted an assortment of JDM and Euro track machines from Ferraris to R34 GTRs, to NSXs to gutted-out Type R track specialists, and the sounds down the straight were glorious to behold.

Unfortunately, timing and a sick baby were against us at Fuji Speedway. With less than an hour spent here before we needed to rush to Yokohama to pick up a friend, visit the Gundam Factory exhibition, then run over to the Daikoku car meet to round out the night.

Initially, I was slightly worried about not making the correct turns to Daikoku PA where the world-famous car meet gathers on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, as many people had commented on social media about their GPS taking them outside the carpark or to the wrong place altogether. Alas, the best way to get there is to simply follow a bunch of modified cars on the Expressway, or rather, two American lowriders followed behind me and I knew we were on the right path to car enlightenment.

Despite arriving at only 6PM, the carpark was more than half filled, with 2 Mclarens driven by Mclaren staff arriving, sprinkled with an assortment of 180SXs and Chasers downshifting gears coming off the expressway, to a show-stopping wide body FD RX7 that makes our very own FD at home look like it belongs in primary school.

Daikoku car meet is eclectic and diverse, much like Japan itself – from a 4 door Aston Martin Rapide parked next to a beat-up S13 Silvia, to various generations of Skylines and Lexus sedans and coupes, to American muscle and Chicano culture from locals. This was my first time at Daikoku, and I was personally more impressed with the facilities on offer. From restaurants to convenience stores, excellent restrooms and lounges, this was a full fledged quality rest area catering for truck drivers to passenger vehicles, it’s more than just a parking lot.

At the same time, despite our delight at seeing some individualised cars, we were not as blown away as our American and European tourists that also visit Daikoku on weekends as well. Such is the quality of JDM vehicles in Australia that we have grown up with over the decades, it takes a lot for us to be surprised these days or fall in love with on the spot. But for the average tourist, this is as good as it gets to live out your JDM dreams and fantasies.

Once again, Hudson was getting quite grumpy from being sick, and it was time to head back to Gotemba where we were staying. Our time was cut short at Daikoku after less than an hour, but I am sure more craziness would appear as the night rolled on, with more vehicles entering the carpark as we were exiting.

That was actually not the end of our JDM endeavour after 300km of driving for the day. Upon arriving at our Hotel Route-Inn in Gotemba, we discovered the hotel carpark hosted a Skyline group staying at the hotel, along with random Porsches, Ferrari, and some JDM track cars on flatbed trucks – totally unexpected! The next morning all the way till after midday, the town of Gotemba became a mecca for JDM groups and individuals out for cruises or mountain runs. Seeing packs of Chasers, Skylines or WRXs became a semi-common sight throughout the day for us.

The temptation to head back to Fuji Speedway nearby crossed our minds many times. But when you’re a parent first, a car enthusiast second – it is time to search for playgrounds and parks on the GPS. Until next time!’

– Jackie Tran