Initial Dreamers: We rent this Toyota Yaris HEV to drive Mount Akina and Akagi

JMS Side Quest: Rent a car and drive two amazing mountain roads

This job is a dream one for many. You get paid to test and review cars of all shapes and sizes and horsepower ratings. You get to drive long distances, often in other provinces or even in other countries, where the steering will be on the right, not the left. In the last 12 months alone, I drove on an iced-up lake in the Swedish Lapland with Volvo, kicked up dirt in South Africa with Ford Motorsport, and got a chance to go full throttle on the Nurburgring with Hyundai N.

The common denominator there, however, is that the drives were set by a company, not by me. We weren’t really free to explore on our own, to visit places we wanted to see, or drive on roads that we consider… meaningful.

I get it: it sounds strange to say a drive on the Green Hell isn’t meaningful, but sometimes you just want a casual drive where you set the pace, there is no time pressure, and you can just explore at your leisure. And that’s how this little side trip from the Japan Mobility Show came about.

We missed the 7:30AM Asama train LOL

Up bright and early on a Sunday in Tokyo, I made my way to Shimbashi Station. This was an extension of my trip after the Japan Mobility Show with Toyota, and now I was on my own to do a bit of exploring. The destination was Shibukawa Station, about an hour and a half north of Tokyo in a prefecture called Gunma. To automotive and anime fans, that place may be familiar.

I’m headed to the heart of where Initial D was set in.

The Toyota Rentacar at Shibukawa had these diecasts on the table

The Initial D series holds a pretty special place for the car enthusiast in me. As someone who spent several years in Kobe as a young student, I did get a chance to flip through some of the first stories of Initial D manga when it came out in a magazine in 1995. But it was much later, particularly when I was already back in Manila for college, did I get to really enjoy the series when it was adapted into anime. While I do fancy being a Takumi, in real life, I was probably more of an Iketani. Or maybe even an Itsuki. I can’t afford an AE86 in today’s prices.

I’m not alone in this little side trip, though, as I was waiting for the second-quickest driver in our company: Jamil Lacuna. And here he comes, running through Ueno station, albeit not quick enough to make it to the Shinkansen we planned on taking to Shibukawa. Looks like we have to wait a little bit longer for the next one. But that’s the beauty of Japan: you miss one train, just wait for the next. And then check online to complete your connection to your destination.

Finally at Shibukawa

About an hour later, we arrived at Shibukawa. For those who may not have visited smaller towns outside of the major urban cities like Tokyo and Osaka, visiting provincial Japan is completely different. There are no Shibuya crossings as the pedestrian lanes are empty, making us wonder if we should jaywalk the red light. Restaurants open a little bit later than usual, which is why we had to walk quite a bit to the nearest Family Mart for breakfast. Life is just slower here, and that suits me just fine.

More importantly, suburban Japan is where you will find many car enthusiasts. In places like Tokyo, there are trains arriving at any station every minute or less. In places like Shibukawa, trains take a much longer time to arrive. The same goes for the buses. You are at the mercy of the timetables, which is why everyone here tends to drive and take pride in their cars.

Don't forget your IDP

In our case, we’re renting. Right beside the station is a Toyota Rentacar or rentakaa. You’ll find these at many major train stations and at many provincial locations you may want to explore. Booking is really easy: select a location to rent from, select a car, select options like insurance (better to get full) and an ETC (electronic toll collection), and pay. When you arrive, just present your passport and international driving permit (IDP) from the AAP. And then you’re good to go.

Our car for the day was the GR Yaris. In this case, GR doesn’t mean Gazoo Racing; instead, it was Galing Rental. LOL.

FamilyMart for breakfast

The car was also a 5-door and not a 3-door, and it had a 1.5L hybrid power unit. We could have opted for a more powerful Corolla with a 1.8L gasoline engine, but we didn’t want to spend too much on fuel. We also did not opt for ETC because that was the whole point of renting from Shibukawa: we won’t need it because we’re driving local without any expressways. And the total damage on my credit card was about PHP 4500 for one day with the Galing Rental Yaris HEV.

Jamil did a great job pre-plotting our route on Google. We made our way east from Shibukawa and started on the route for Mount Akagi. For Initial D fans, this is the “home course” of the RedSuns; the group led by two RX-7 enthusiasts that would eventually try to challenge the mysterious panda Trueno of Akina.

Jamil and I have had some significant time familiarizing ourselves with the course. Much in the same way that you would familiarize yourself with the corners of the Nurburgring on Gran Turismo before going on the real thing, we can still recall all the runs we did on the Initial D arcade game at Timezone back home. It’s no simulator, but on the uphill course that I was driving on, it was just as I had remembered it.

The Yaris HEV had plenty of torque for the drive

Personally, Akagi was my preferred course, and driving the real thing is so much fun. The corners just flowed so well, as you can really find a nice driving rhythm here. The sides of the road, however, were quite overgrown with bushes, and there were also lots of leaves on the gutters because it was already fall, as shown by the beautiful gold, brown, and red of the trees all around. Akagi-yama means red castle, after all.

The Yaris was fun. No, it’s not a fire-breathing AWD GR that we can scandi flick around (not that we would attempt it), but the lightweight front wheel drive hybrid “GR” had all the torque I need for the uphill. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to do any “gutter techniques” as the guardrails protruding from the fringes of the road will prevent that. The Japanese equivalent of the DPWH also placed a series of gentle speed bumps on what would have been the braking zones for some of the fast sequential corners.

Yes, the government spoiled the fun, but that didn’t seem to stop some from trying to drift the corners. We can tell by the tire marks on the corner entry. Perhaps more telling were the scars on some of the guardrails for drivers who had the ambition but lacked the adhesion.

Neat cars at the top of Mt. Akagi

We arrived at the tourist information center at the top of Akagi-yama, and immediately found several neat sports cars parked, undoubtedly doing exactly what we were: enjoying the pilgrimage as fellow Initial D otaku. We took our photos at the top, and bought the usual souvenirs (ref magnet, for me), but couldn’t really find anything proper to eat. No restaurants or cafes were open, even at the cable car station a kilometer or so from the tourist center. Maybe the other mountain we were going to would have something better, so Jamil buckled up and proceeded to take his turn behind the wheel.

Watching Jamil drive the downhill of Akagi, I can see in his eyes and his smile what this moment meant to him. He’s driving the course from memory, enjoying the flow and the sights before him. We first encountered this kid about 14 years ago when he visited the AutoIndustriya booth at one of the events, and he wanted to have a go at our Gran Turismo racing rig. Actually, he almost won it. He even went so far as to qualify for GT Academy in the UK, but got knocked out early on. He may not be the racing star that he had dreamt of, but he is fast becoming a rising star in the motoring press. And Gazoo Racing PH gave him that chance too in the recent Vios Cup season.

Jamil going Akagi DH Dry

I was having a proud mentor moment and was about to relax while he managed the driving. And then he turned at an intersection and forgot to keep left, and almost counterflowed. Japan does have the steering wheel on the right while you drive on the left side of the road, and it can catch out even the most experienced of us. Thankfully, there was no oncoming traffic and we were able to return to the correct side, though I can see the judgment through the helmet of a sport bike rider waiting at the intersection, whom we missed by about maybe 3 meters. “Baka gaijin,” the rider must have thought.

On to Mt. Haruna (Akina)

After a lot of laughs, we made our way to Akina. Interestingly enough, Akina isn’t the real name of the mountain; in real life, Akina is Mount Haruna. I’m not too sure why Initial D creator Shuichi Shigeno bothered changing the name of Haruna to Akina but retained the real names for Akagi and Myogi, but I’m sure the passionate fans would have found that. It doesn’t really matter now, though, as Jamil was eager to redeem his lost honor on the uphill of Mt Haruna.

The problem, however, was traffic. Lots of it.

Extra realism setting: Traffic

As fate would have it, the roads leading up to the start of the Akina/Haruna toge (mountain pass) were jammed with lots of holiday seekers, as we are in the midst of a Japanese long weekend for Culture Day. And so everyone was going to the shrine at the base of Haruna, as well as the lake at the top of Haruna. Oh no.

Most of the way up, we were just following traffic. I mean, it was flowing, but not at the pace we imagined. This is the true realism setting in the games we played, but it is what it is. Like Akagi, Haruna’s famous 5 sequential hairpins (even though the fifth is a further way down the road) have had speed-limiting bumps on the braking zones. Most of the gutters for the “gutter technique” can be done, but the bushes on the edges of the road will scratch up the side of the black “GR” Yaris. And if you’ve ever owned a black car, you will know that scratches really do stand out.

Perfect timing: AE86 Panda Levin!

Eventually, traffic cleared up, and Jamil was able to have a bit of fun with the Yaris (and stay on the correct side of the road). And just as soon as we started, we arrived at the top of the mountain, where the start line for the downhill would be. Just apt, however, is the fact that a tuned black and white AE86 was right there doing the same thing. The driver stopped on the inside of the guardrail, taking photos of his car on hallowed Initial D ground. Sure, it was a Levin, but it didn’t matter. Keiichi Tsuchiya, the drifter who consulted on the series himself, drove an AE86 "Panda" Levin.

Just as we arrived at the parking lot, we were surprised when a squad of tuned Japanese cars arrived. The timing couldn’t have been better. There was a beautiful GC8 Subaru Impreza coupe in WR blue with gold wheels. Right beside it was a more modern Toyota GR86 with a widebody kit as well as a stock-looking FD RX-7. In front was a Lancer Evo VI (or V, because it was hard to tell given the mods), flanked by a Honda CR-Z, a Toyota 86 (pre-GR), and a Mazda MX-5 NB (I think). FYI. There was even a fresh 911 Targa as well.

We caught a random car meet

The collection of cars was indicative of how special the place was to enthusiasts. And you would think that these would all be guys gathering for a drive, but the Miata and 86 were driven by ladies who were also out enjoying the drive. It almost makes me envious of the other guys from our JMS trip who rented sports cars and drove on the Hakone pass, but I can’t complain. This was a pretty special drive because it was not about corporate marketing, but rather just two guys going out in a car, enjoying the pilgrimage.

After taking another set of pictures on the manhole cover with Initial D on it and wishing I had an AutoIndustriya sticker on hand to leave on the bulletin board signpost there, it was time to go down and return the car. The course was there in front of me, as I braked and turned in, imagining I was a teenager again, inserting a token or tapping that Powercard to start a game. The traffic appeared again, so we detoured, and boy, I’m glad we did, as the road we ended up on was definitely more Best MOTORing than Initial D, but there was no traffic, so I gunned that throttle and had a blast.

At the Initial D manhole

The best part? We returned the Yaris HEV with a full tank after only consuming 2.85 liters of gas. Impressive for a 100 km overall drive up and down two mountains and with lots of traffic. We’ll be back, but maybe next time I'll book a true GR Yaris well in advance.

No, this Yaris does not have the performance or presence we would want; it belonged here, too, because so long as you have enthusiasts behind the wheel appreciating the drive, it almost doesn’t matter what they drive. It could be a Hiace, and we still would have fun. Actually, a Hiace on Haruna touge with a manual would be a riot to drive.

A drive for the bucket list

We all need a reset once in a while; a chance to shake away the pressure of work, the stress from the responsibilities of adult life, and the negativity and haters that permeate the circles you revolve in. For some, it’s going to the beach. For me, it’s this: going back to a country I grew up in, driving a car without an agenda, rediscovering one of the core memories that -in a way- fueled my passion for cars and driving. 

After one counterflow (Jamil) and 4 accidental taps of the wiper instead of turn signals (me), it’s time to get back to work.