Looking Back: 2012 Summer Drift Matsuri at Ebisu Circuit

If drifting had a holy place, Ebisu Circuit could be that place. If it had a holy day, it would be the drift matsuri held there three times a year. My pilgrimage and awakening as a drift photographer would be Ebisu’s 2012 Summer drift matsuri. It was a journey involving half a dozen trains, hitch hiking through rural Japan and randomly connecting with a pair of drifters I had previously, but unknowingly, drifted with halfway around the world.

That intro was a bit dramatic, but that’s because this event was really that good. While I still didn’t know what I was doing when it came to shooting photos of cars and drifting, I attribute my love for shooting these kind of photos to this drift matsuri.

Ebisu Circuit is a cluster of race tracks located in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture. Its courses, which range from skid pads and touge style tracks to full on race tracks, are home to car, motorcycle and even bicycle races throughout the year.

Once every Spring, Summer and Fall, its courses open up for 36 hours of nonstop drifting. These drift festivals or “matsuri” draw fans and drivers from all around the world for what can only be described as the “heaven” of drifting. Anyone can attend and anyone can drift. The most novice of drifters can slide alongside the most skilled pros. Although, honing your skills to at least an intermediate level will allow you to make the most of what Ebisu’s technical and high speed courses have to offer. Be warned though, attending one of these events will ruin any future drift event you will ever attend. I guess that’s the sacrifice required for this experience.

In the Summer of 2012, my journey began in the city of Toyohashi which is about 1.5hrs southeast of Nagoya and nowhere near Ebisu Circuit. I was living there at the time and didn’t have a car to make the 7.5 hour drive. Shelling out ¥20,000 (~US$200) for a bullet train ticket each way wasn’t exactly something I wanted to do. So, I opted for a much cheaper rail pass with numerous connections between local train lines over the course of several hours during the hottest and most humid time of the year. After a full day of playing sit-stand-sweat-connect-repeat, I arrived in Nihonmatsu which is about 10KM from the track.

Still not having a car and no longer having the option of a train, I scribbled “エビス” (e-bi-su) on a piece of paper and began the 10KM walk. After 5KM of walking and a short period of rain to temporarily cool the heat, I managed to hitch a ride with a guy towing an A31 Cefiro.

After parting ways with Mr.A31 at the base of the Touge Course, I made my way up to where I had seen number of other foreigners as we drove in. As I approached gaijin-HQ near the Power Vehicles garage, I was immediately drawn to what can only be described as the perfect example of a drift matsuri “missile” car. It was an A31 Cefiro with heavy rear-end damage, missing body panels and a front-mount intercooler reconfigured as a top-mount on its perfectly healthy RB20.

A missile car is basically a throwaway car driven in situations where lots of contact with walls or other cars is expected. This could be when learning new driving techniques, going all out just for fun, or simply to scrape doors with other missiles without worrying about banging up the driver’s main, nicer drift car.

The owners of the Cefiro, Paul and Alan, where making repairs and were happy to introduce themselves after I commented on their finely engineered intercooler setup. They seemed like a couple of decent dudes.
Paul and Alan:

After chatting for a few minutes, we realized just how small this planet of ours is. We were all from the east coast of the United States. They had both drifted in the North Carolina area which is where I was from. While in NC, Alan had drifted his Mustang alongside a green, KA24DET powered S13 that read “Ministry of Drift” on the side. Paul had once told the driver of that green S13 that his motor was spewing oil everywhere after its drain plug had fallen out. My drift car back in NC just happened to be a green, KA24DET powered S13 that read “Ministry of Drift” on the side. Yep, we had come into contact and even drifted together a few years before, on the other side of the planet, but didn’t know each other. The fact that these two were the first people I encountered, among all the people at Ebisu Circuit that day, still blows my mind.

For the rest of my time at Ebisu, I tagged along with Paul and Alan. Feeling sorry for the fact that I had been living in Japan for 6 months at the time and still hadn’t driven anything, they let me take the Cefiro for a few laps. It was nothing spectacular, but that short time behind the wheel fulfilled a goal I had which was to simply drift at Ebisu. My head was in the clouds.

Up until that trip, I had never shot photos of moving objects, much less drifting. Since I didn’t have my own car, I spent most of my time shooting pics, adjusting camera settings and shooting more pics. Suddenly, being just a spectator became much more enjoyable as shooting photos served to dull the restlessness of being around drifting while not being able to drift myself.

If you ever have the chance to attend a drift matsuri at Ebisu, you should definitely take it. The flight can be expensive, depending on where you’re from, and you might spend a decent amount securing a car to slide and tires to kill, but the experience is something that will never leave you. The drifting community is one big, international family and nowhere is that more evident than at a drift matsuri here at Ebisu.