This was one of those events that I totally did not anticipate attending while I was in Japan a few months ago. I usually try to keep my trips pretty spontaneous so on certain days, we’ll randomly go to a car event that we just heard about the day before. Sometimes they’re a couple hours away so it probably isn’t ideal to plan so late but that’s just how things go. I heard about the DoriDore event last year while I was in Japan because our friend Yayo was hired on to be one of their official event models. I didn’t know too much about it before since it was still relatively new, but the concept of it sounded really cool. DoriDore is essentially a drift and dress-up event for enthusiasts who love the “Shakotan” style of Japanese car builds. Shakotan, for those unfamiliar, basically means an extremely-lowered car aka a car that is ‘slammed’. This event is catered to those who enjoy the Shakotan-style specifically and want to take their cars drifting while hovering ever so slightly above the tarmac. Most of the time, the cars competing aren’t dedicated drift cars. A bulk of them are show cars and that’s kinda what makes this event so fun. For once, the cars drifting actually look good, lol. Style is the number 1 driving force. It allows for these show cars to go out there and slide around without prejudice. There’s no pro driver on their ass trying to get them to go faster and these guys just get to move around at their own pace…

I’m pretty comfortable in saying that style is one of the most important factors for me when doing anything automotive-related. It honestly might be the ultimate factor because style, after all, is everything. DoriDore is a dream come true. I became interested in it after I started seeing photos of their inaugural event on my Instagram feed last year. There were cars at DoriDore that I recognized as show cars from other events like Wekfest and Stancenation Japan. And they weren’t just parked. They were being thrashed on and everyone just looked like they were having a fun time. Good vibes and great-looking cars, what’s not to love about this?…

My only regret about going to DoriDore was that I didn’t have enough time to see and capture everything I wanted. I could have literally spent the entire day there until it ended but we had to leave early. After Wekfest Japan, we had already made plans to go to an annual S2000 meet near Nagoya. We didn’t really want to miss either event so we decided to go to both. I was actually surprised by how much I shot when I got back to look at the photos. This set feels like it could have been from an entire afternoon but I think we were only there for two hours max. Everything about this event just felt so refreshing and different. I guess we’ll just have to go back again in 2024 and spend all day there…

Here’s what I was able to gather while I was there, enjoy…

Yuya Nozaki’s 180SX with what looks to be Origin Fujin front with GP Sports sides sliding alongside Naoya Yamadoi and his BN Sports S14…

Nozaki’s 180SX is easily identifiable not only because of the aggressive fender and bodywork, but also because of the custom rear-quarter glass. The shape of the glass gives the RPS13 a resemblance to the older S30s. I wonder where the glass comes from. It looks too round to be factory S30 but could possibly be an OEM S15 rear-quarter glass flipped upside down?…

Taisei Chihara black JZX100 Chaser hammered on 17-inch SSR Agle Minerva wheels with an OEM Series II front lip and what looks like Vertex sides…

Kentaro Yamamoto’s 2JZ-GTE powered widebody JZS171 Crown Athlete…

Tsubasa Shirai’s Nismo Z-Tune styled ER34 Skyline GT sedan built by Okubo Factory. The rear quarters have been widened to give it more of a GTR appearance and the whole build is actually a pretty interesting one which I get into some detail further down in this post…

Masaru Ishikawa is known for his incredibly detailed custom Nissan builds but he does occasionally hop into this AE86 missile and goes drifting with his fellow Corolla friends…

Ryota Nishi’s LOVCA Oil-themed PS13 coupe wearing a bright N-Style livery and Super Made Mighty Boy aero…

Love it when they do the vinyl livery over the taillights. Also cool that Nishi’s S13 drifts on Volk Racing GT7 wheels…

I see this ER34 Skyline GT at a bunch of different events I attend while I’m over in Japan but can never figure out who the owner is. It has aftermarket rear quarter panels to give it a more GTR-like appearance but most of the exterior pieces are still very much factory GT-T. The widened rear and modified front arches allow the owner to stuff these aggressive Pandem 6666 wheels under…

The engine bay has been cleaned up but the factory RB25 remains. The main alteration comes from the addition of six individual trumpets and throttles to replace the factory intake manifold…

Taka’s monochromatic R32 Skyline GTR on Nismo LMGT4 wheels with N1 side skirts, N1 front lip, and ABFlug carbon lip extension…

Ok, so more info on Shirai’s ER34 Skyline. He originally had another Skyline GT sedan build but the car was lost in a house fire. Everything burned down. A new chassis was sourced and stripped bare before being completely rebuilt from the ground-up. The chassis started out as a yellow GT-model but now resembles a re-imagined Nismo Z-Tune in sedan-form. There’s quite a bit of custom fabrication throughout the car and within the interior. There’s a whole YouTube video covering the entire build from the start…

The sedan retains the factory RB25 engine but has been upgraded with a GReddy intake manifold, T04S turbocharger, and a Quaife sequential transmission…

Here’s the video that details the entire build from the start by Okubo Factory…

Pretty sick right?…

I loved the entire vibe of this event. So many bad ass drift cars in one place and everyone just having a good time on a surprisingly warm day…

Personally, I’ve always been a big fan of S14.5 builds so it was a pleasant surprise to see Bayashiko’s S15-face Silvia. I thought the front was Vertex Ridge at first but it might actually be Rodextyle. You just never know sometimes because the aero for the S15 looks so similar from different companies and often they’ve been repaired/modified so they look one-off…

Looks like some extensive body work on this S14.5 particularly with the radiused front fenders and rear quarters. Crazy to think that he actually drifts on these huge SSR Werfen GT-03 wheels. I think they might be 19-inch considering the tire stretch and small sidewalls…

If you’ve been following the Japanese custom car community over the past few years, you’ve undoubtedly encountered this Hagarin Garage S13 Silvia at one point with the Decepticon Barricade police car livery from the Transformers series. It was actually out on the course throughout the day drifting alongside other cars with the police lights on and everything…

Garage Active had a booth display at Doridore and had both their Active SS 33GTR and full carbon fiber-body 32GTR on display…

They’re actually pretty far away from the Fukuoka prefecture but I think they stuck around after Wekfest Japan to attend this event before making the nearly 10-hour drive back…

Akihiko Hirashima from Garage D-Friends’ BN Sports Type 3 180SX on 2-piece Work Meister S1R wheels…

Some wrinkle red treatment on the SR20DET inside Hirashima’s white engine bay. Can’t tell what turbo and manifold is on the SR from this angle but the intake manifold looks to be a GReddy one…

Naoya Yamadoi’s Kouki S14 is one of my favorite S-Chassis builds in Japan currently. I love that he is able to keep this build so clean that he can compete at Wekfest Japan and a few days later drive the hell out of it at a drift event like Doridore…

Yasuto Yamagata’s Sawagani Racing 180SX. He’s got a pretty cool story too as he’s a diehard RPS13 guy that has owned a couple of these cars but at one point actually stopped drifting because of health concerns. This 180SX is actually his third chassis and is one he’s planning on passing on to his son even though he doesn’t really have any interest in drifting, lol…

You can see his story here:

Love the Nismo LMGT4 wheels on his 180SX but honestly the Blitz Technospeed Z1 wheels gave it a really unique look…

Yuki Motono’s JZX100 Mark II and Taisei Chihara’s JZX100 Chaser. Not many people know this but I absolutely adore the JZX100 platform(s) so I was in heaven at Doridore…

Tomoya Ide incredibly interesting R32.4 Skyline sedan with a Nismo Z-Tune front-end conversion and widened R32 rear quarter panels. It will definitely make you look twice since it practically looks like two different cars front and back. Imagine driving and seeing this thing in the rearview mirror, then he pulls-up next to you at a stop light and you’re just like “what the fuck is happening here?” but in the coolest way possible, haha…

BN Sports Type 2 Toyota Mark II with some additional bolt-on over fenders to allow for some wider wheels/tires. The interior was gutted with a roll cage and two mismatched Bride seats. Engine set-up looked to be a 1JZ-GTE with a bigger turbo and a wastegate dump that exits out of the front driver’s side fender…

Yamanaka’s JZX100 Chaser with some subtle fender work to give it some width, running a set of BBS LM wheels and factory optional aero…

Setsuna Yuki-themed S15 Silvia wearing Car Modify Wonder aero…

Ikami’s Itasha Freja Wion-themed 180SX with Origin Lab Aggressive aero and usually a complete set of white Volk TE37…

One car that I would never expect to see at a drift event was this BMW E31 8-series but I guess you just never know what you’ll find in Japan. And no, it wasn’t just a spectator or display car. Masahiro Ito, the owner, was driving the shit out of this thing. I didn’t get any photos of the engine bay but if I remember correctly, there is an BMW S38 engine swap inside from the E34 M5 chassis. I don’t know if that’s a common swap or not for these cars because I literally see maybe one of these 8-series coupes per year. They’re just not very common in the USA…

Ito’s 850 is even more rare with a custom-made front bumper, custom vented hood, a carbon fiber roof skin, Recaro seats, and 18-inch Enkei RS05RR wheels. You’re probably wondering why he ditched the V12 in favor of the 6-speed S38. Well, that’s easy, weight-saving and the fact that he already had an extra S38 laying around…

Ryota Makino’s timeless 180SX Type-X on bronze Volk Racing TE37 with a very rare Garage-S vented hood and Itai-inspired Honda CBR Hurricane mirrors…

Ryota Nishi’s S13 is just too eye-catching so I had to get more photos of it when it was parked in the paddock area. The livery was glowing under that bright sun and with the Origin Lab Type 2 hood propped-up, we could finally see what was going on underneath…

As you’d expect, the engine bay is just as wild and colorful as the exterior. Inside this bright green bay was an SR20DET with a valve cover painted to resemble the popular Japanese carbonated drink, Mitsuya Cider. If you haven’t had it, it’s a must-try because its goddamn delicious. I can only assume that Nishi is a fan as well…

More big BN aero on the X100 Mark II…

I really can’t think of any other event where cars like this, which could double as show cars, would be willing to go and thrash on their shit at this ride height. It’s kind of amazing…

Mitsuru Haruguchi, creator of the famed 326power, came out to play in his S15 Silvia along with his friend Keita Yoshida who had an Zenki S14 with matching aero, paint, and wheels…

If the name Mitsuru Haruguchi sounds familiar, that’s because he’s a former D1 Grand Prix driver who also competed in Formula Drift in the USA…

Another rarity at Doridore was seeing a car drifting on rare TRD Tosco wheels…

Speaking of rare, there aren’t too many times I can recall seeing a ER/HR34 Skyline that I thoroughly enjoy. They just look a little odd because we are so used to seeing 34GTRs with the wider body and the different hood and bumper. Many try to have their sedans remade to resemble the GTR with the replacement rear quarter panels but you don’t see many that look good with the stock narrower body. The above being the exception. That Skyline GT above looks VERY good. It still has the stock body lines, the factory optional Altia front bumper, and a full 326power Type 2 Universal Lip Kit on the bottom of the car. It has so much presence. I’m sure it helps that the car is a bright gloss black but what makes it look so good is the ride height and how it tucks those SSR Professor SPX wheels. And guess what? SPX wheels don’t even look that good! Lol. The combination of all the above just works. This sedan looks fantastic….

Hayato Tsuchiura’s F&F-inspired ER34 Skyline GT with C-West aero, URAS front fenders, East Bear mirrors, Work Meister S1 wheels in the rear, and Weber Sports Zenith 5Line wheels up front…

Leina from SBCorporation’s 180SX Type-X looks straight out of a 2000s-era Drift Tengoku magazine. The graphics lay-out, the wheel selection, the aero, the aura of it all just makes the car look frozen in time…

Kitamori’s Kouki S14 Silvia representing REBLISH wearing full D-Max Type 3 aero and BN Sports 30mm front fenders with Work VS-XX wheels…

One of my favorites from DoriDore was the Takahashi Racing JZS161 Aristo with its custom BMW 4-Series M Sport front bumper. I love how the inner headlights have been removed and are now basically used as air ducts. You can see glimpses of the intercooler piping through the openings and all….

Keita Yoshida’s 326power Silvia from Ultra Groover in action…

Naoya Yamadoi’s Silvia wasn’t far behind…

The BN Sports aero in its natural habitat hovering millimeters above the ground…

Yuki Yumura’s 1JZ-GTE powered 17Crown on T-Demand suspension and Work Wheels…

Some more of Yamadoi’s Kouki S14 just because it was my favorite car there…

Tried to thread the needle and get a shot of it drifting with two cars in the foreground but missed completely. Still made for a cool shot though…

Be prepared to see more of Yuki Ohta’s JZX100 Mark II at the end because it’s another favorite of mine that I couldn’t stop getting photos of…

Masaru Ishikawa shredding in his missile while his GoPro was hanging on for dear life…

This Toyota GX71 Cresta Super Lucent sedan features a 2.4-liter stroked 1G-GTE engine with an HKS GT2835R turbo. The outside is mostly stock body but with an retrofitted front lip from a different car and vents have been added to the front fenders which tuck the tires on the 15×9 -13 Hayashi Street wheels…

I swear this is the last shot of Yamadoi’s BN S14…

Tett_a7’s JZX100 Chaser sliding by with its Traum Ares front and rear bumpers…

Yuki Ohta’s custom green JZX100 Mark II is perfect example of why this platform can look so amazing with just suspension and wheels. Though its a big family sedan, it looks so sleek and aggressive just running OEM factory aero. The only addition to the exterior other than the new paint are a set of Ganador mirrors, BBS RS wheels up front and a pair of SSR Professor SP1 in the rear. It’s so simple but looks so so good…

Just in case you didn’t believe me when I told you that the S38-swapped BMW 8-series was there actually drifting…

It definitely didn’t look like the most nimble car out there or remotely the easiest to drift but Ito did his thing. This angle you can see how that custom front lip and bumper looks and how well it flows with the bodylines of the E31…

The “CSL” badge on the back is a inspired by the E46 M3 CSL and its weight-saving composite roof. Since Ito was able to take out so much weight after doing the engine swap and making his own carbon roof, he self-proclaimed this 8-series as the “836CSL”…

It’s nice to see some finer examples of Z33s that pop-up in Japan especially when they are used as competition vehicles there. Koki Hibino’s Fairlady Z was nice and simple, wearing complete Nismo aero, a Nismo side stripe, and Volk TE37V Mark II with some drift spares in the back…

Ridealongs were more than welcome at DoriDore and people did not hesitate to hop into the Okubo Factory-built R34 Skyline…

And we come to the conclusion of the 2023 DoriDore event with one more shot of Kentaro Yamamoto’s Crown Athlete and massive OZ Futura wheels…

Here’s the vlog episode covering this event in case you missed it before…

Still much more to come in terms of content. Next update will probably be stuff from Wekfest Seattle so stay tuned for that one! Thanks for looking!!…