Drifting in Niigata
Yes: drift running you can buy
Yes: drift running you can buy. Nihonkai Maze Circuit: No licence and no reservation for the three-hour session — but mixed drift-and-grip running is weekdays only; weekends are grip, with 25-minute drift slots booked by phone. Ring before you travel.
Where you can drift in Niigata
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FREE-RUN (DRIFT ON WEEKDAYS)
No licence and no reservation for the three-hour session — but mixed drift-and-grip running is weekdays only; weekends are grip, with 25-minute drift slots booked by phone. Ring before you travel.
3-hour session ¥9,500 weekday / ¥11,500 weekend + entry ¥1,500–2,000
Foreigners TBC · Rental No · English No
Without your own car
Nothing in Niigata. The neighbouring prefectures listed below have venues that do, and every operator in Japan that puts a visitor in a drift car is on our rental directory.
Every operator in Japan compared: prices, licence rules, English booking, crash liability →
Coming up in Niigata
Confirmed dates from our drift calendar, each checked against the organiser’s own page.
- Mon 26 October 2026 Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run (AM) · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
- Tue 27 October 2026 Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run (AM) · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
- Wed 28 October 2026 Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run (AM) · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
- Thu 29 October 2026 Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run (AM) · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
- Fri 30 October 2026 Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run (AM) · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
- Sun 1 November 2026 Maze no Hi 3 — Yashio Factory Track Day with a Drift Tsuiso Contest · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
- Tue 24 November 2026 Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
- Wed 25 November 2026 Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run · Drift track day · Nihonkai Maze Circuit
Getting there
- Nihonkai Maze Circuit: At 610 Mase, Nishikan Ward, Niigata City, on the Sea of Japan coast. Reachable without a car on a weekday: West Kanko Bus runs the Maze line from Maki Stn on the JR Echigo Line via Iwamuro to Mase, 15.9 km, fares ¥160–620, and under the timetable in force from 1 Apr 2026 the 07:32 from Maki arrives 08:15, in time for the 09:00 start, with returns from Mase at 13:25, 14:52 and 17:13. At weekends and public holidays every bus in both directions is reservation-only (three each way), booked on a separate line that answers 09:00–17:00 weekdays only and closes the day before travel — a Monday seat has to be requested by the preceding Friday. A minshuku one minute from the gate does ¥4,000 room-only
Read before you go
Want to be on one of these days rather than read about it?
We book the slot or the organiser day, do the paperwork in Japanese, sort a car if you need one, and send someone who has driven the track. Send us your dates.
Questions visitors ask
Can you drift in Niigata?
Yes: drift running you can buy. Nihonkai Maze Circuit: No licence and no reservation for the three-hour session — but mixed drift-and-grip running is weekdays only; weekends are grip, with 25-minute drift slots booked by phone. Ring before you travel.
Can you drift in Niigata without your own car?
Nothing in Niigata. The neighbouring prefectures listed below have venues that do, and every operator in Japan that puts a visitor in a drift car is on our rental directory.
When is the next drift event in Niigata?
Maze Kansha Day Drift & Grip Free-Run (AM) at Nihonkai Maze Circuit, Mon 26 October 2026, on our confirmed calendar, with 7 more dated after it.
Neighbouring prefectures with a drift venue: Toyama · Gunma · Fukushima
Every prefecture with a drift venue · every drift track in Japan · the event calendar · drift car rental