Even though I really like Japan and plan to be here for the remaining of my life, I’m well aware of how different Japanese culture is from mine. The incontrovertible fact that it’s so different means it’s virtually unattainable to assimilate here fully.
That is just not to say that it’s a nasty thing. What it does mean, though, is people may find it difficult to be a component of a community, and being a component of a community is vitally necessary for humans. In case you take into consideration life milestones, they’re generally celebrated along with your community, each family and friends.
Certainly one of our goals for Fuji Select is to develop into this community for its members – to be there to rejoice the best of the highs, and offer support and guidance in the course of the lows.
In today’s age, where it appears like everyone is simply searching for themselves, and communities created for enthusiasts such as you and me continually fall by the wayside to corporations, Fuji Select is picking up the mantle. It’s for this reason devotion to the community that I felt the necessity to share their story.
The Vision
Fuji Select is the vision of I, my wife, and my two best friends, trying to put a reputation to our automobile shenanigans, and ever ever-growing enthusiasts community.
We spent countless hours driving the local touges at night across the foot of Mt.Fuji, thus the brand name. From there, we began to pay attention our efforts on becoming something more like a automobile/driving/lifestyle brand. As I discussed earlier, certainly one of our goals is to deal with the community.
The opposite aim is to present enthusiasts, particularly underrepresented communities, a possibility to drive heading in the right direction.
In fact, anyone is welcome to hitch Fuji Select in the event that they love driving and are decent human beings. As an African American living in Japan, I feel I actually have an added responsibility to be sure that people of color, women, and other minorities get a possibility like I actually have. This includes Japanese people as well.
Having spent over a decade of my life in Japan, I feel this in my core. You said that anyone is welcome to hitch so long as they love driving and are a good human being. Does Fuji Select care about what kind of driving you like? What if I need to hitch and love drifting?
We do have members who love to slip and concentrate their driving around drifting, nevertheless, I’d say the overwhelming majority of our members are grip drivers. Open wheel driving, time attack, and driving within the mountains.
Looking To The Future
This leads nicely to our “big, hairy, audacious goal” of sooner or later becoming a totally fledged racing team that supports the enthusiast community.
I need us to compete in events and different race series across Japan, similar to Super FJ, GR86 one make, and Tsukuba Time Attack, to call a couple of.
We now have members who’re incredibly knowledgeable and experienced in various areas of motorsports. Members who deal with ECU tuning. Members who deal with suspension tuning. Members who design, and members who turn wrenches.
Nik Romano, who’s the founder and CEO of Fast Sideways, a driving school based in California that teaches their students absolute vehicle control at the bounds heading in the right direction. Nik can also be a component of the Fuji Select community.
I truthfully would like to have the chance for our members to take part in every series in Japan.
Do you think that you’re near your goal?
Not exactly, thought if we were already there it wouldn’t be a giant, hairy, audacious goal. By way of track day opportunities, Fuji Select currently hosts a track day event every quarter. We do assist other events, similar to Growing Up Tani of Final Konnexion’s 407 Grip/Drift Matsuri coming June 4th.
We wish to get to some extent where we will host an event every month.
It’s In The Family
This might appear to be a little bit of a detour, Brandon, but how did you get into cars in the primary place? What made you develop into the automotive enthusiast that you just are today?
My grandfather worked at General Motors for 30 years and always had something fast and loud around. It shouldn’t be an excessive amount of of a surprise that my father loves cars as well.
Like a lot of Spiderhunters’ readers, I grew up playing games similar to Need For Speed, Grand Turismo, Initial D, and Tokyo Xtream Racer.
Thus, growing up around cars, witnessing the way it brought people of various backgrounds together to develop into lifelong friends, and this tuning culture from games and magazines meant I used to be destined to live in Japan and be involved within the automobile culture in some form.
How did you compromise on the GR86?
I’ve owned roughly 20 cars to this point, starting from GT-Rs to FD2s. The GR86 has suited my needs and driving style the most effective. I can attack a technical track, cruise around without it being uncomfortable, and it’s fun within the mountains.
A Miata would check these boxes as well and is a unbelievable platform. I, nevertheless, have a small child, thus the small backseat within the GR86 is ideal!
Ah! Having two little ones of my very own who love riding in Project Rough, I get that having a back seat is a requirement. Thanks for taking the time to spend time with us and share more about Fuji Select. Hopefully, next time I can get Project Rough out heading in the right direction at the following event!
No problem, Ron. Yes, we might like to have you ever running at our next event! They’ll reach me at @saunders_racing.
The Cutting Room Floor
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
