When we joined Tokyo’s street racers for a 186mph tunnel run

What used to go on in Japan after dark? Illegal street racing for the most part, though it wasn’t as dodgy as it sounds

As Japan’s automotive industry began to flourish in the 1960s and produce sporty cars, Japanese enthusiasts took to the country’s stunning mountain roads to race one another, often in highly modified machinery – and driving in such a fashion grew in popularity and spread to urban expressways.
Supposedly some street racing clubs had codes intended to protect the public as much as possible, with members haunting the small hours and frowning upon those weaving through traffic. But of course such activity was nevertheless illegal, and an arrest could result in serious prison time and the end of a career. Yet the scene was quick to grow and won a cult following in the West.
Participants weren’t just boy racers in uglified hot hatches but committed enthusiasts who could afford tech-heavy, turbocharged JDM coupés and even European supercars. Among them was the Yoshida ‘B