After reading Initial D, two Japanese men try to drift but fail and get arrested 

According to a report by TBS News Dig, on July 3 Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested two men for violating the traffic law by attempting to drift on a public road. They were apparently inspired by the Initial D manga. 

The footage above shows the events that led to the arrest – the two men, one in each car, attempt to drift on a public road at night, resulting in dangerous skidding and spinning of the vehicles. The white car can be seen failing to brake and crashing into the guardrail of the road. 

The two men, aged 20 and 21 years old respectively, are apparently cousins, and when questioned about the crime upon being arrested stated that they had “read Initial D and wanted to try out drifting for real.” Initial D is a cult street racing manga which was published from 1995 to 2013. It depicts the world of “hashiriya,” Japanese street racers who race and drift on mountain passes. 
 
Users mostly criticized the two men for attempting such a dangerous stunt in public rather than on a circuit and for using a well-loved piece of fiction as an excuse for a criminal offense. Many also couldn’t resist poking fun at the unimpressive drifting skills they demonstrated and entertaining the thought of the two men blasting Eurobeat in their cars.

But what seems to have left the biggest impression on people was the power and influence Initial D has even after 30 years have passed. Though it was written to depict the already existing world of street racing in Japan, the manga also had a profound effect on street racing and car lovers, such as contributing to the skyrocketing of certain car models’ values. And apparently, the manga still gives new generations the itch to experience the thrill of drifting. 

Although the two offenders took their fascination with the story of Initial D too far into the real world, street racing on mountain passes and drifting are in fact still very much a part of reality in Japan.

While such activity has significantly decreased after peaking between the 80s and early 2000s (Source: CarMe), illegal street racing is still an active topic in Japan, as can be concluded from this article from May this year, which reports on frequent street racer and spectator gatherings in Yatomi City in Japan, which is known as the “sacred spot” of hashiriya and dorifutozoku (drifters). The phenomenon is widespread enough for the country to make efforts to build roads in a way that discourages drifting, installing spikes, poles and similar.