Chasing Touge Roads in Japan — S2000, GR Yaris, and Daikoku PA

Cars · October 9, 2023

I've wanted to do this trip for years, and it finally happened: a few days driving Japan's mountain roads, the same roads that quietly shaped a huge chunk of car culture worldwide.

A Nissan Showroom in Tokyo

Before heading out to the mountains, I stopped by a Nissan dealership in Tokyo and got to see the GT-R up close. It's one thing to see photos of it online, but standing next to it in person — even parked quietly in a showroom — it's obvious why it's such an icon.

A blue Nissan GT-R on display inside a Nissan dealership in Tokyo — The GT-R, on display at a Nissan dealership in Tokyo.

Touge in an S2000

First stop was the touge — the mountain pass roads that Initial D made famous long before most of us had ever heard the word "drift." I rented a Honda S2000 from Omoshiro Car Rental, and it turned out to be the perfect car for it: light, revvy, rear-wheel drive, and happiest right at the top of its rev range.

A silver Honda S2000 parked in a parking spot, rented for the trip — The rental S2000 from Omoshiro Car Rental — small, light, and exactly what you want for the touge.

The roads themselves are everything you'd hope for — tight hairpins, elevation changes, blind crests, and a steady stream of other enthusiasts doing exactly what I was doing. It's clear this isn't just a tourist thing; locals genuinely drive these roads for fun, and you can feel decades of car culture baked into every corner.

Naturally, I had to swing by the Initial D store while I was in the area. Unfortunately it was closed when I got there — a little anticlimactic, but honestly kind of fitting. Some pilgrimages end with a locked door, and you just laugh it off and keep driving.

Mount Hinohara in a GR Yaris

A different day, a completely different car: I picked up a GR Yaris and headed out to Mount Hinohara. If the S2000 was about high revs and old-school RWD balance, the GR Yaris was the opposite end of the spectrum — turbocharged, all-wheel drive, and absurdly composed for something that small.

Hinohara's roads are narrower and a bit more technical, with tighter sightlines and a more "real mountain" feel than some of the more touristy touge. The GR Yaris just shrugged it all off. It's wild how different two "fun" cars can feel while both being completely right for the road they're on.

The turbocharged GR engine bay of the GR Yaris — The GR Yaris's turbocharged engine — small car, serious hardware.

Partway up the mountain, I came across a small pull-in by a lake where a handful of locals had parked up — a slammed VW, a Silvia, and a widebody hatchback, all sitting against a backdrop of autumn trees. No event, no announcement, just people who'd stopped because the spot was too good to pass up. That's the touge culture in a nutshell.

Three modified cars — a VW, a Nissan Silvia, and a black hatchback — parked by a lake with autumn trees on Mount Hinohara — An impromptu meet-up on Mount Hinohara.

A Shop That Only Sells RX-8s

Somewhere along the way I came across Garage-R, a shop whose entire lot was just Mazda RX-8s — a whole row of them, every color, lined up like it was the most normal thing in the world. For a car that's become genuinely hard to find in good condition elsewhere, seeing this many in one place was a little surreal.

A row of Mazda RX-8s for sale at Garage-R — Garage-R's lineup — a whole lot of nothing but RX-8s.

Daikoku Parking Area

No trip like this would be complete without ending up at Daikoku Parking Area — the legendary service station meet spot that anyone into Japanese car culture will recognize immediately. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it lived up to the reputation: a rotating lineup of incredible cars, owners happy to chat, and that unmistakable energy of people who just love showing up with something interesting.

I ended up talking with a few people there for way longer than planned — exactly the kind of unplanned highlight that makes a trip memorable.

A nighttime car meet at Daikoku Parking Area, with rows of modified cars and highway overpasses lit up in the background — Daikoku PA at night — the highway overpasses, the lineup, the whole scene.

Overall, an incredible few days: two very different cars, some classic touge driving, a locked door at the Initial D store, and a night among great people and great cars at Daikoku.