Kalle Rovanpera’s Battles Drift Icon Initial D On Japan’s Most Challenging Road

2-time World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä celebrates his passion for Japanese culture by battling local car culture icons through a series of challenges to face his idol – Initial D – on a winding mountain road in Japan.

The Finnish rally protégé took on Mount Iwaki in Aomori Prefecture, navigating the challenging corners between the base to the summit.

During his climb in the home of drifting, Rovanperä met & challenged Japan’s top racers, leading drift race drivers, supercar teams and his cultural idol – Fujiwara Takumi from manga Initial D at the top of the mountain. Here’s all you need to know:

- The interest in Japanese culture for Kalle has brought him to Japan first via WRC and in 2023, he took part in two rounds of Japanese drifting championship, winning his debut race.

- The project took place on Mount Iwaki in Aomori Prefecture, which has 69 corners from the base to the summit and has never been drifted before.

- Initial D is a manga that was serialized weekly in Japan from 1995 to 2013, focusing on races limited to mountain passes on public roads and formed large part of drifting culture across the world.

- Continuing his pursuit of diverse motorsports experience, Kalle Rovanperä took 2024 off in his consistent appearance in WRC to combine a series of drifting competitions, Porsche Carrera Cup as well as recent Formula 1 test before going to Japan for the Initial D project.

- Kalle admits he was greatly influenced by the famous manga throughout his youth as well as further on in his career. After a stage in the 2020 WRC Rally Japan, he commented “I was bringing tofu like they do in Initial D.”

- “Drifting on a mountain road like this has been a dream of mine for quite a while. And being able to do it here in Japan with these amazing landscapes is amazing. I have liked it a lot,” commented Kalle Rovanperä.

- The release comes at a time when Initial D celebrates its 30th anniversary. The series revolves around Fujiwara Takumi, whose father runs a tofu shop. Before Fujiwara reaches the age of driving, his former rally driver father asks him to help deliver tofu by car, where he discovers his talent and ends up racing.

- Kalle’s father was also a former rally driver, competing in the WRC from the 1993 to 2006 seasons. Under his father’s expert guidance, Kalle mastered drifting by the age of eight.

- “I like the style of the series and I know that diverse drifting cultures across the globe has been inspired by the series,” shares Kalle. “Planning this whole project with Initial D made it possible to have a solid foundation for the project. I’ve had a lot of fun making this movie and I’m 100% sure it will turn out really cool.”

- In the release video, the driver of the iconic Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 from Initial D has been digitally altered using AI technology to appear as Takumi Fujiwara.

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