Yesterday was my first time visiting Sports Land Yamanashi SLY for a Drift Ensemble soukoukai. Without question the coolest track I’ve seen in Japan. Being located in the middle of the forest the feel and outlook is definitely similar to a street and touge layout. Here is a shot of Alexi in his Mark II x

There is something for everyone in Japan. In the heart of Shinsaibashi, Osaka you’ll find a shop by the name of Tsutaya which is an oversized book store that ranges anything and everything. Walking into the shop it didn’t take us very long to locate the automotive section. Picking up the latest Drift Tengoku magazine I happened to find my images in Alexi Smith’s (Nori Yaro) monthly publication. I must admit it was a pretty surreal feeling walking into a Japenese store, picking up a Japanese publication and seeing my name printed under 3 images. Once again, thanks Alexi! Not only does this shop offer unlimited amount of magazines and books but one of the best coffee shops in the world a Starbucks. Don’t feel like going out? Head to one of these stores, pickup your favourite magazine and read over a late`. Just another reason to show how much I love Japan.

So, this year I’m 19 years old which to me feels daunting. Up until now I’ve done some pretty exciting things as a teenager, as most of you know I visited Japan last November. Over the 18 day period the memories will be imprinted in me until the day I pass on. Meeting random Japanese people from Daikoku PA and ending up in their cars smashing up the mountains the night after was truly breathtaking. Visiting dozens of tracks, workshops and shops was overwhelming for all of us, as I still sift through the images I find it hard to believe I was there only a few months ago.

The last week of the trip we were settling in at Nihonmatsu, Fukushima for the G1GP and Autumn Ebisu Drift Matsuri held at Ebisu Circuit. Travelling with 9 drifters from Melbourne, Victoria, 7 had purchased cars to compete in both the Gaijin Drifting competition and the Matsuri. The only 2 people that didn’t purchase cars were myself and Nigel Petrie. As we had 8 long days and nights at Ebisu, Nigel and I thought it would be more than ideal to drive the 167km’s back towards Tokyo to a little town by the name of Utsunomiya which is where the ever so famous Nikko Circuit is located.

On the Sunday night we arrived to Nihonmatsu, everyone except Nigel and I had planned to head to Ebisu to pickup their cars and begin work. However our schedule was a little different, we had planned to attend the JZX day at Nikko the next morning. Driving along the highway keeping our eyes peeled for the exit I noticed the humungous power lines sticking up beneath a number of trees on the opposite side of the highway. We literally screamed our lungs out. After getting f*#%d by the GPS we randomly ended up out the front a small workshop with the characters “IKEYA FORMULA” printed. Our days just kept getting better and better, we must have done a few good-deeds to deserve the things that come in our path. After driving in, parking and being introduced to the President of Ikeya Formula we sat down, had a drink and looked over the Presidents hill-climb 350Z and a few customers cars. Shortly after we were Nikko bound.

As we arrived a little later than expected, we only caught about 3 or so hours of the 1 and 2J’s screaming around the tiny circuit. After the day concluded we met up with Alexi Smith and Manabu Mitsumori once again to tea up a feature on his JZX 100. After shooting the car all I wanted to do was to lock up my camera and make sure nothing could happen to it to loose the data I had stored on that little SanDisk Extreme III 8GB memory card. As I was finished shooting both the JZX and Manabu-san I sat back, had a talk to Nigel and Alexi and watched everyone pack up their belongings and head home for the day. This time of the day is truly spectacular, I say it so often and I’ll say it again, I really wish it lasted longer than it does. The light is even, the air is crisp and the atmosphere is silent, at the specific time at Nikko I honestly couldn’t think of anywhere else I would of rather been.

I’m not sure if these images give the same impression as they do to me but I’ve tried giving you a detailed description to help. As these are some of my favourite images I’ve come across I’d like each and everyone of you to have the access to widescreen, high resolution wallpapers.

First image: 1920×1200. Second image: 1920×1200.

Casey.