Drift Trip to Japan in November 2026: Every Big Date, Planned

November 2026 has 12 drift competitions and a matsuri on the TSUISO calendar, out of 78 dated drift events in Japan that month. The two that decide most trips share a weekend: the D1 Grand Prix final at Odaiba, Tokyo, and the Ebisu Autumn Drift Matsuri in Fukushima, both on 14–15 November. Sunday 1 November is the busiest single day, with four competitions in four regions. We re-checked the big dates on the official pages on 19 October 2026; the grassroots days come from our calendar data, verified 1 to 6 October.

Most of the drift-trip enquiries we get for autumn ask the same question in different words: which dates actually matter? Below is the answer, laid out by region so you can drop it onto a route. The full list, including every grassroots day, lives in our event calendar.

One thing to understand about a Japanese drift calendar: the big series fix their dates a year out, but the small organiser days. The ones where you see locals running door to door for ¥10,000 — are published two to four weeks ahead. Mobara posted its November sheet on 1 October, and Nikko’s November organiser days are now on our calendar too. The competition dates below are firm; the grassroots days around them are listed, and a few more may still appear before the month starts.

The day everything happens at once: Sunday 1 November

Four competitions, four regions, one Sunday. You cannot do two of them.

Near Nagoya — D1 NEXT Middle West Rd.4, YZ Circuit East (Gifu). D1 NEXT is D1’s regional pro-am ladder, and the Middle West series is run by C.O.S. Tokai at YZ. Spectator admission is ¥1,500 (¥1,000 for YZ and Owara members, free for junior-high age and under), charged to everyone on site, competitors included. It is a full day of judged runs on a track where you can stand close enough to hear the clutch kicks. Rd.5 of the same series comes back to YZ on 13 December if your dates slip.

North of Tokyo — FDJ3 Rd.6, Tsukuruma Circuit Nasu (Tochigi). The series final of Formula Drift Japan’s grassroots tier, and an unusual competition date at a small circuit that otherwise runs turn-up-and-drive sport running. As of 19 October 2026 the official FDJ3 round page still shows the ticket and programme lines as “Soon”; the circuit is about two hours north of Tokyo by car.

Fukushima — Ebisu Drift Series Rd.3, Nishi course. EDS200 and EDS280 classes run on the 1st with a practice day on 31 October; the Challenge class, which needs no competition licence, follows on Tuesday 3 November with practice on the 2nd. The driver entry window is 4–16 October and the field is capped at 70 cars. As a spectator you simply turn up, but note that EDS is a Nishi-course event, not the whole-mountain free-for-all a matsuri is.

Near Osaka: Kansai All-Star Drift GP, Meihan Sportsland (Nara). The 27th running of Kansai’s grassroots championship, on the C course. The field is the drivers who won the seven prefectural qualifiers, so there is no open entry, but watching costs ¥1,500 at the Meihan entrance. Dates, access and the day’s schedule are in our Kansai All Stars 2026 guide. That makes four corners of Japanese drifting all lit on one date. Choose by where you already are.

The matsuri weekend: 14–15 November

The Ebisu Autumn Drift Matsuri runs Saturday 14 to Sunday 15 November with every course open — Higashi, Nishi, School, Kita, Touge, Kuru Kuru and Slide Park. For drivers the date that matters is earlier: the advance application window runs 11 to 23 October and is open now. Miss it and you can still drive, but you pay the ¥25,000 on-the-day rate instead of ¥20,000 and cannot book a pit. A regular driving licence is enough; no competition licence is needed.

Spectators need nothing in advance. As of 19 October the official page still publishes its ¥2,500 spectator fee for the spring and summer rounds only and flags that autumn admission may change, so treat the autumn price as TBC. On 13 October the circuit posted temporary bus timetables for the autumn matsuri in English and Japanese. If you have never been, our first-timer’s guide to the matsuri covers what actually happens on the mountain and how the English paperwork reads.

The same weekend is the D1 Grand Prix finale, Rd.9 & 10, billed as 2026 TOKYO DRIFT and held on a temporary course in Odaiba, Tokyo. D1 announced the venue on 13 September. Seats start at ¥11,000 a day (S seat, advance), each day needs its own ticket on Lawson Ticket L-code 38020, and the general and overseas sale opens at 10:00 JST on Tuesday 20 October; if advance tickets sell out there is no same-day sale. Odaiba is reachable from central Tokyo by train and Ebisu is a day’s travel north, so this is a genuine choice between the two. Seat tiers and access are in our D1GP Odaiba 2026 tickets guide.

Around Tokyo through the month

• Sunday 8 November — D1 NEXT Central Rd.5, Mobara Twin Circuit (Chiba), on the reverse layout. Mobara is the one drift circuit you can reach from Tokyo by train, which makes this the easiest competition to add to a Tokyo stay. Mobara’s own November sheet, posted on 1 October, lists the round.
• Tuesday 10 November — Kanto All-Star Drift GP repechage round, Nikko Circuit (Tochigi). Run by FLUKE as a weekday eight-heat track day with the lucky-loser round bolted on. The regional qualifiers themselves finished on 14 August, and the final is planned for late January 2027 at a venue not yet announced. A weekday, which usually means a quieter paddock and easier conversations.
• Saturday 21 November — Nikko Drift Victory 2026 Rd.3, the season finale at Nikko, capped at 60 cars, and on the same day D1 NEXT Fuji Rd.2 at Fuji Speedway Drift Park. The newest drift venue in Japan and the closest one to Tokyo, under the mountain. Entry for competitors opens about a month out; spectator details for the Fuji round were not published in early September.

West and south

• Sunday 29 November — Japan Drift Champions Rd.3, Bihoku Highland Circuit (Okayama). JDC is a three-round series that runs entirely at Bihoku, so this is the championship decider, on the B course. Spectators pay ¥500. Driver entry runs from 29 September to 11:00 on 17 November.
• Sunday 29 November — WAKO’S Kyushu Drift League, Autopolis Lakeside course (Oita). U30 and team classes, all day. If you are already building a Kyushu leg, this is the drift date at the end of it.
• Friday 23 – Sunday 25 October — D1 Grand Prix Rd.7 & 8, Autopolis (Oita). Just before the month starts: Friday is practice, the competition runs Saturday and Sunday. Day tickets are ¥5,500 in advance or ¥7,500 at the gate, and gates open at 7:00. Prices, timetable and the drive up are in our D1GP Autopolis 2026 tickets guide.

Building a route around it

Two patterns work. Tokyo-based, one week: arrive by Saturday 7, D1 NEXT at Mobara on Sunday 8, grassroots days at Nikko or Mobara midweek, then either the D1 finale at Odaiba or the Ebisu matsuri on the 14th–15th. Nagoya–Kansai, one week: D1 NEXT at YZ on Sunday 1 November, Meihan organiser days midweek, Suzuka Twin or Motorland Mikawa if you want seat time, and the Bihoku JDC final on the 29th only if you are staying the month.

Whichever you pick, the order of operations is the same: fix the competition weekend first, then let the grassroots days fall in around it. Our calendar is updated as they appear, and each entry shows the date it was last checked against the official page.

What changes on 1 December

November is the last month of the normal season. Ebisu moves to its winter tariff on 1 December (cheaper passes, shorter days), and several grassroots organisers run their year-end days in late November and December before the tracks quieten. If you are choosing between late November and early December, late November gives you more running and more people in the paddock.