Drift Events Near Tokyo on 17–18 October: Nikko and Fuji (2026)

Yes. D1 NEXT Series Central Rd.4 runs at Nikko Circuit (Tochigi) on Saturday 17 October 2026, and Formula Drift Japan 3 (FDJ3) Rd.5 runs at Fuji Speedway Drift Park (Shizuoka) on Sunday 18 October 2026. Entering D1 NEXT costs ¥19,800 plus ¥2,200 for a provisional licence, while the spectator price at both venues is not officially stated as of 6 October 2026. Fuji has a weekend bus to the gate; Nikko, in practice, does not.

That puts two different drift series on consecutive days within reach of Tokyo. D1 NEXT is the open-entry regional tier of the D1 Grand Prix, and FDJ3 is the entry series of Formula Drift Japan. Both finish with tsuiso (追走, the lead-and-chase tandem battles), which is what you came for.

What runs on each day, and where?

We checked on the official pages on 6 October 2026: Nikko Circuit’s October calendar, FLUKE’s entry, ticket and event pages, the Formula Drift Japan event page, and Fuji Speedway’s fee and access pages.

Two things trip people up. First, Nikko Circuit is not in Nikko town. It sits on the edge of Utsunomiya, about two hours from Tokyo by car via Utsunomiya IC and Route 293. Second, Fuji Speedway Drift Park is not the Grand Prix circuit. It is a separate drift pad inside the Fuji Speedway complex, renamed from the Multi-Purpose Driving Course on 1 April 2026, so older Japanese pages still use the old name.

Nikko also restricts general spectating on ordinary running days. A competition day like this one is the reliable way to watch there. Our Nikko Circuit guide explains why.

How much does it cost to watch or to drive?

Fuji Speedway’s own fee page lists ¥1,200 for adults, ¥900 for high-school age and free for junior-high age and under. It also says race and event days are priced on each event’s own page, which for FDJ3 Rd.5 is still blank. So treat the Rd.1 figures as a budget, not a promise. What happened at that round is in our FDJ3 Rd.1 Fuji report.

The provisional licence is what makes D1 NEXT open to drivers with no competition licence. How the six regional series fit together is in our D1 NEXT Series explainer.

Can you get to Nikko and Fuji without a car?

This is where the weekend gets hard.

Saturday, Nikko Circuit. The circuit’s official map page is a list of driving turns from Utsunomiya IC on the Tohoku Expressway: left after the toll gate, right onto Route 293, under the expressway twice. It names no station and no bus. The address is 984 Takamatsu-cho, Utsunomiya. Getting there for an 08:30 start without a car is not something the official pages help with.

Sunday, Fuji Speedway Drift Park. Fuji’s access page says weekend route buses run from Gotemba Station and Suruga-Oyama Station. Fujikyu Mobility’s timetable (revised 7 April 2025) shows these services on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays:

Suruga-Oyama is the station that works in both directions. The catch is the start time: FDJ3 has not published its programme, so whether the 8:47 arrival beats the first run is unknown until it does.

Both days in a row. Nikko is north of Tokyo; Fuji is south-west. Doing both means leaving Utsunomiya after a 16:30 finish on Saturday, crossing the Tokyo area, and being at a small station near Mt Fuji for an 8:35 bus on Sunday. Without a car, Saturday’s leg to the Nikko gate has no published public option at all.

What should you plan around?

Bring cash. FDJ3 collected its Drift Park fee in cash at Rd.1, and FLUKE does not print how Nikko’s admission is paid. October mornings in Utsunomiya and at the foot of Mt Fuji are cool, so pack a warm layer for both starts.

Both rounds sit on the TSUISO event calendar, and each has its own page: D1 NEXT Central Rd.4 at Nikko and FDJ3 Rd.5 at Fuji. If you want to drive the Fuji pad yourself on another visit, our Fuji Speedway Drift Park guide covers the licence and day tickets.