Kaido Racers at Daikoku PA.

Despite the unexpected twists and turns, this weekend was better than I had expected.

I’ve always been the type to try and meticulously plan ahead, creating detailed itineraries for my entire day. However, since I’ve been in Japan, I’ve had to adapt to the reality that things rarely go according to plan. This weekend, my plans centred around a car meet at a beach, but unfortunately, it never took place. In Japan, car meets are frequently cancelled due to inclement weather or police involvement, so I’ve learned to be more flexible and go with the flow.

Although I had been to Nikko Circuit a couple of times before, I had never really explored the surrounding areas. So, I decided to rent a car for the weekend and visit Nikko. Since I had a car at my disposal, I thought I might as well do some sightseeing since my only scheduled plans were for Sunday. Since I was already in the area, I contacted my friend Mr. Tomoya Suzuki to see if he was going to the track that weekend and luckily for me, he was! Although the weather was too cloudy for sightseeing, I had a fantastic time at the track reconnecting with my friends during the drift event.

Sunday morning was a bit of a gamble, but luck was on my side once again. I knew there was a cruise scheduled to Daikoku PA in the morning, but with heavy rain, I assumed no one would be going out. However, since I had the car rental until the end of the day and had nothing better to do, I decided to take a chance. To my surprise, when I arrived, I spotted one friend’s car and learned that everyone else was just about to arrive as well. Although it wasn’t a large gathering, I had the opportunity to meet many friendly individuals and admire a variety of cool cars.

Overall, while it wasn’t the wild and extravagant weekend I had initially hoped for, it was definitely more enjoyable than spending my time at home reading textbooks, which is what I usually do on weekends.