Since I was young, I have been an avid fan of Initial D. I swear I have watched all the series, including the live-action, at least ten times or more. Since I was working in Japan, I had to go to the touge (mountain pass) that appeared in the series.
The gist of Initial D is a high school kid (Fujiwara Takumi) accidentally overtook a street racer while delivering tofu, and the street racer community started to challenge him. There are six anime seasons (the third season is a movie), three reboot movies, and a live-action Hong Kong movie. The anime is interesting because the show began in 1995, and each season shows CGI’s improvement and advancement, which is pretty cool.
We planned the road trip as the following:
According to a friend’s parent, we should first go to Toshogu shrine in Nikko since it is one of the most popular places in Tochigi. Well, when we got there, it was closed.
Next, we head to Irohazaka, which appeared in Initial D Stage 3. Our protagonist was caught entirely off guard in the show when his opponent decided to “jump” at Corner 33 for an overtake. Of course, I took a video of the infamous touge pass.
The weather prediction varied between each of us. My phone said it would snow heavily, while my friend’s phone stated that the weather would be clear. Snow started falling when we got to the ropeway at the mid-point of the mountain. While it made beautiful scenery, driving on a snowy road was dangerous.
However dangerous it may be, going to the top of the mountain was worth it. Lake Chuzenji was gorgeous; it looked like a drawing. We had hot coffee and snacks as lunch since nothing opened that day. Furthermore, there were only a few tourists besides me and one other group.
Now, for the fun part – the downhill. The downhill was extremely steep, and I was being extra careful. I fought against my intrusive thoughts of speeding and making the “jump” the whole time. Thankfully, nothing horrible happened.
I made a video regarding the downhill. I have footage of Irohazaka uphill, but I need to work on it. I promise I will make a video of it soon.