アキヒロ’s Mark II
アキヒロ’s MKII
This summer I embarked on a backpacking trip through Japan to experience the authentic car culture there. During my travels, I met a young Japanese man named アキヒロ (Akihiro) in the small quaint mountain town of Nihonmatsu in the Fukushima Prefecture. While I was exploring this town late at night I happened to see a beautiful Toyota MKII outside a small local restaurant which made my decision of where to eat simple. As I entered the restaurant I was greeted by アキヒロ. Now with my curiosity peaked, I set off to inquire into who was the owner of this car, and to my surprise, アキヒロ proudly claimed it as his own. After I had eaten dinner I inquired more about his car, to find out that he drifts at the world-renowned drift circuits at Ebisu Circuit which happens to be local to Nihonmatsu.
Upon learning this, I began to ask all kinds of questions to learn more about him, his town, and his stunning MKII drift car. He is a very nice young man who also shares the same passion for cars and drifting as I do. I began to show him some of my photography work in hopes he would agree to take me for a drive and let me shoot his car the following. He proved to be very impressed and excited at the idea, so he agreed to the car shoot! We exchanged contact info and I was told he would text me the next day and come pick me up and we could spend the day together and he would show me around Nihonmatsu. As I began the morning the following day, I went for a bowl of curry to start my day off while I waited for a text from アキヒロ. Once in contact, he picked me up and we began our drive through the breathtaking mountains which happened to lead us to his ideal photoshoot spot at a Castle in Nihonmatsu.
After our photoshoot, this was the result of the photos I got:
