What Is D1 NEXT? Japan's Regional Drift Series Explained (2026)

D1 NEXT is the regional, open-entry tier of Japan’s D1 drift ladder: single-day competitions run by local organisers under the D1 banner, one step below D1 Lights and two below the professional D1 Grand Prix. In 2026 there are six series and, as of this update, nine rounds left — the next is Fuji Rd.1 at Fuji Speedway Drift Park (Shizuoka) on Sunday 6 September, and the one we would point a visitor at is Middle West Rd.4 at YZ Circuit East (Gifu) on Sunday 1 November, where admission is ¥1,500. Every date and figure on this page was checked on the official pages on 4 September 2026.

Where D1 NEXT sits: D1 Grand Prix vs D1 Lights vs D1 NEXT

D1 runs three tiers. The names are on every official page; what each means for a visitor is not.

The name is new for 2026. D1’s own report on the Central opener at Nikko Circuit (Tochigi) on 14 March — 58 entries, dry track — describes the old regional rounds, 地方戦 (chihōsen), as refreshed into the “D1 Next Series”. The format underneath is the one you know from D1GP: solo-run qualifying, then a tandem-chase knockout of tsuiso (追走 — chase runs) that the West regulations call the same Best-16 tournament D1GP and D1 Lights use.

It is a real ladder, not a club day. The West regulations state that 16 or more series points earn a D1-A licence, with points from different divisions combinable, and every rulebook we read bars D1 Grand Prix licence holders from entering. The Hokkaido and Niigata series finished in June and July; still running are Central (Nikko and Mobara), Middle West (YZ and Owara, organised by C.O.S. Tokai in Nagoya), the new Fuji series (Wins Again) and West (D-STAGE, out of Ehime).

Which D1 NEXT rounds are left in 2026?

Nine rounds remain after 4 September, each a single Saturday or Sunday. The dates are from the official D1 series table; the money column is from each organiser, which is why it is uneven.

At YZ and Owara the ¥1,500 is charged to everyone on site, participants and licence holders included (参加者・ギャラリー・ライセンス所持者にかかわらず), so a driver’s crew pays per head. At Mobara the ¥19,800 entry includes admission for the driver only; passengers and pit crew pay separately, and a driver who forgets the acceptance letter pays the gate too.

How do you enter D1 NEXT without a competition licence?

The Mobara and West rulebooks spell this out. Three licences are accepted: D1-A, D1-B and a provisional licence. Hold none and the organiser runs a short course after the morning briefing and issues a provisional licence on the spot for ¥2,200, valid that day only. Next time you either apply to the D1 office for a D1-B or pay the ¥2,200 again.

• Fee: ¥19,800 at Mobara, Nikko and Fuji (Mobara and Nikko state it includes tax and insurance); ¥20,000 in cash at the desk on the day in the West.
• Field: 60 cars at Mobara and in the West, 65 at Fuji. The Central opener drew 58 entries and the West opener at Bihoku Highland Circuit (Okayama) drew 54, so these fill.
• Car: four-point harness, fire extinguisher, taped lights, both bumpers, working brake lights and indicators, OEM glass, 105 dB at Mobara. Temporary plates (仮ナンバー) are refused at Mobara and in the West, so a car without shaken arrives on a transporter.
• Process: Mobara: web form from 13 August at 09:00, then the entry sheet by fax or email and a bank transfer within three days, no cancellations. Nikko (FLUKE): prepayment by transfer or PayPay. Fuji: web form, open since 5 August.

The only personal conditions printed are 18 or over with an ordinary driving licence, or under 18 with a guardian. No nationality clause appears in either rulebook, and nothing says a foreign licence is accepted either. That is the honest state of it.

What is different for an overseas spectator?

It is small and close. A D1 NEXT round is one day at a circuit the size of a large car park — YZ East, Mobara’s East course, the Fuji Drift Park pad. You watch from the fence, for ¥1,500 rather than the ¥6,600 to ¥11,000 of a reserved D1GP seat. For the D1GP version of the weekend, read our spectator’s guide to the 2026 D1 Grand Prix.

D1 tells you the date; the organiser tells you everything else. The official series table carries a date and a venue name per round — no gate fee, no timetable, no map — under a line saying dates may change. Each organiser’s page is Japanese only and publishes different things: C.O.S. Tokai posts admission and the entry window, Mobara posts the rulebook and the transfer account, FLUKE posts a form that says non-participants pay admission without saying how much.

The venue’s own calendar may not show the round at all. YZ Circuit’s schedule page does not list 1 November; it links across to C.O.S. Tokai, and its own month grid stops at September. Mobara’s October sheet went up on 27 August, and on 4 September there was still no November sheet, so the 8 November round exists on the series table and nowhere on the circuit’s site. If you are flying in for a specific round, the gate price and the day’s timetable will not be in English and may not be online until the week before.

How to plan a trip around a D1 NEXT round

Pick the venue first, because each is a different trip. YZ Circuit East is a Gifu hill track reached by car from Nagoya; our YZ Circuit East guide covers its slot system and email-only booking for the days around a round. Mobara is the opposite — the closest drift track to Tokyo, 45 minutes by train from Tokyo Station and a city bus to the gate — which makes 8 November the easiest D1 NEXT round to reach without a car. Nikko needs a car from Utsunomiya and normally restricts spectating, so an event day is exactly when to go; our Nikko Circuit guide explains why.

If November is your month anyway, the 1 and 8 November rounds sit inside a fortnight that also holds the Ebisu Autumn Matsuri and the D1GP final; our November 2026 drift trip planner lays those dates out by region. Every D1 NEXT round above is also on our calendar of Japanese drift events, re-checked against the official pages every month — because a regional round is the one Japanese drift date nobody else publishes in English.