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Admittedly, I’ve been putting this on the back burner for a while. With plenty of work to get through, tonnes of stories to clear, and multiple Cars & Kopi(Coffee) meets ongoing, I never felt I could give this piece the attention it truly deserved. And that hesitation mattered, because this was one of the most memorable drives I’ve ever had. Believe me, I’ve been on quite a few. This drive, though never really intending to be so, came to represent a series of personal milestones. Having already covered the Hakone Turnpike and its surrounding mountain roads on previous outings with both the M2 and the M3 Touring, it was time to look further afield and discover more of what Japan’s beautiful roads have to offer. And I had just the right material to reference: the little-known series Initial D. Jokes aside, while many like-minded enthusiasts were drawn into the world of automotive otaku culture through the adventures of Takumi Fujiwara and his panda AE86, it never truly appealed to me, until now. While the antics of Takumi and his friends existed in the imagination of Shuichi Shigeno, the locations where rivalries in the series were settled are very much real. With that in mind, I settled in and binge-watched the first two seasons of the anime, otherwise known as “stages” in Initial D speak. It may have taken me decades, but I’m happy to report that it is thoroughly enjoyable and brought back vivid memories of visiting Japan in the late ’90s, when Japanese sports car culture was arguably at its absolute peak. Enjoying the anime was, of course, just part of the research process. With the mountain roads based on real-life locations, it was also time to plan my drive to visit the now-legendary roads of Initial D. Keys in hand, I left the bustle of Tokyo behind and headed north. My first stop: Mt. Haruna, better known to fans as Mt. Akina, Takumi Fujiwara’s legendary stomping grounds. A short drive later, I found myself at Mt. Akagi, the domain of the Akagi RedSuns. To close out the day, I carved my way toward Nikko and the twisting turns of the Irohazaka, the proving ground of Team Emperor and the stage for Kai Kogashiwa’s infamous MR2 jump. Google Maps might have plotted the journey at just under eight hours, but my experience told a different story. With lunch breaks, refreshments, repeated runs for photos and videos, and the occasional pause to drink in the scenery, the drive stretched closer to 10 or 11 hours. Every stop was part of the adventure, each turn steeped in the history of the roads that had inspired generations of enthusiasts. The car for the job? A gorgeous San Remo matt green G29 Z4 M40i, courtesy of BMW Japan's press fleet. Having had the privilege of driving and sampling almost all of the latest machines from Munich over the years as a hobbyist writer, the Z4 was, for me, the car that first kick-started my journey into automotive journalism with the marque. While it might have taken place almost 18 years ago, I still remember that car with fond and vivid memories. No less memorable was the fact that it was an M Roadster variant, with its S54 engine snarling and screaming right behind your ears with the roof down. It was, and still is, one of the most exhilarating drives I’ve ever had. A drive so enjoyable I emptied two full tanks of fuel over a weekend. Interestingly, having sampled multiple variants of the Z4’s second generation over the years, the final iteration of BMW’s roadster had eluded me, due to both scheduling and availability issues. Seven years after its launch, and sadly a year before the model’s decommissioning, it was finally time for me to have a go. With some beautiful ribbons of tarmac ahead, I truly couldn’t think of a better way to fall in love with driving all over again. With a full day of driving ahead, it made plenty of sense to set off bright and early; this is Tokyo, after all. After a relatively mundane and uneventful series of highways and byways, my next stop beckoned, Mt Haruna. Nestled in Gunma Prefecture, Mt. Haruna rises to 1,449 meters and is crowned by the serene Haruna Lake, a crater lake formed within the caldera of an ancient volcano. The area has long been a destination for nature lovers and hikers, offering well-marked trails that range from gentle strolls to challenging ascents, each framed by lush forests and seasonal blooms. At the summit sits Haruna Shrine, a centuries-old Shinto site offering panoramic views of the mountains and Kanto plains. On this crisp morning, though, none of that was the focus. What mattered were the mountain’s twisting roads. Tight hairpins, flowing sweepers, and steep gradients. The legendary roads upon which the iconic panda AE86 danced with perfect finesse. The only difference today was the mighty bellow of the B58's 382 horses over the Toyota's screaming 4AGE. As the beautiful Z4 powered up the steep inclines and sharp corners, it showed little hesitation, slightly pushing its tail out while remaining steadfastly poised, its perfectly specced Michelins gripping tightly as it charged through each directional change with the B58 howling away, joyfully soaking up the roads and daring you to bury the throttle even deeper. Haruna’s roads are tight, narrow, and intensely technical, defined by relentless hairpins and rapid elevation changes, but such a joy it was to drive that at the end of the hill climb, I turned around, went back down and did it all over again. That said, the view across Haruna Lake at the summit was reason enough to slow things down for a moment. A little further down was a lay-by that I'm sure fans of the show would most certainly recognise. Where everything began. There were Initial D references throughout the area for fans to spot. While I would have loved to hang around to spot more Initial D references and take in the sights around Haruna Lake, it was time to charge toward Mt. Akagi. But not without stopping for a spot of lunch at a random, yet rather fantastic udon restaurant. It was seriously good. With lunch settled, it was time to continue towards Mt Akagi, a short 40 kilometres away from Mt Haruna. While Mt. Haruna and Mt. Akagi sit relatively close to one another, their roads could not feel more different, each shaped by the character of the mountain it climbs. Mt. Haruna is tight and technical, its roads sometimes closing in around you, demanding focus at every turn. Mt. Akagi, by contrast, opens itself up. The road feels broader and more expansive, with longer sweepers, wider lanes, and higher average speeds, offering fewer back-to-back hairpins and far more room to breathe. Rising almost 400 metres higher than Haruna at its peak, Mt. Akagi’s more gradual elevation changes encourage a smoother, flowing rhythm, one that feels perfectly suited to big turbocharged power. This time, not from an FC or FD, but a BMW Z4. And if the view of Haruna Lake was lovely, Lake Onuma at the summit of Mt. Akagi is simply breathtaking. Framed by dense forest and open sky, its still waters feel worlds away from the pace of the drive leading up, a place that invites you to pause, step out of the car, and take it all in. Steeped in local folklore and closely associated with Akagi Shrine, I'm sure it is also familiar ground to fans of Initial D as the backdrop to the Akagi RedSuns’ territory. The calm, mirror-like water at the summit feels worlds away from the intensity of the racing battles that made these roads legendary in pop culture, yet seeing it in person makes the anime’s reverence for the mountain suddenly tangible. With more than half the day behind me, it was time to leave my reflections behind and head toward the final 峠 of the drive: Irohazaka. Little did I know just how epic the roads ahead would turn out to be. Nikko awaits.