【Initial D Pilgrimage】The hidden spot before the abandoned road "Shiona Road," exploring the home course of the Tochigi area team, Toudou School

Towards the sacred place of Initial D located in Tochigi, "Shiona Road." Although it has been decided to abandon the road due to the flow of time, the areas that appear in the work seem to still be passable. Driving a Jimny towards the battle ground of the strong team "Toudou School."

The Shiowana Road, which was frozen during the bubble economy period and finally decided to be abandoned this year

is officially named "General Prefectural Road Nakashiohara-Iwamuro-Nasu Line." It was planned as a mountainous skyline with a total length of 51 km, connecting Nasu Shiobara Iwamuro and Nasu Yumoto, and the construction began after the concept was announced in 1962.

Although a pilot road was opened in 1971, the project was frozen in 1982 due to cost-effectiveness and environmental conservation concerns, and in February 2026, it was finally decided to abandon approximately 39 km of the whole route. Fortunately, the area depicted in the work is still passable, so I tried heading towards the pilgrimage site of "Initial D."

In the work, "Tōdō Juku," which uses Shiowana Road as its home course, is the opponent in the second away battle of Project D. It is a strong team born from a driving technique training classroom opened by the president of a tuning shop.

This is a personally very favorite episode, and the atmosphere exuded by Takumi's opponent "Daiaki NInomiya," who drives a Civic Type R, is captivating. First, let's head to the parking lot of the accommodation, which has become the pit at the foot of the mountain.

This sign near here also appears in the anime. Ahead, there is a sign indicating a roadblock. Well then, let's go up.

Overwhelmed by the height difference in the hairpin turns.

The decisive point for the downhill is the 4th hairpin just after the ascent, but the most iconic is this 2nd hairpin curve with its elevation changes. There's a line in the work that says, "It's an amazing course with elevation changes," and this point reflects that sentiment perfectly.

The impression is somewhat reminiscent of the hairpin curves of "Irohazaka," but a major difference is the absence of other cars.

Next to the hairpin curve, there's a sign for "Koshimachi," indicating the name of this point. If you look closely, there's red writing that says "Oni," but I wonder if this is a sticker someone put up. Upon researching, I found that in the images of a blog published in 2005, this text was not present.

The large curve above Koshimachi has a similar atmosphere. You can see mountains in the distance, and it feels like the elevation is increasing rapidly. When actually driving, although the dialogue in the work suggested a rough surface, it surprisingly has a clean impression.

However, as there is a warning sign for falling rocks, traces of such occurrences can also be observed. Since the road was constructed by cutting through steep slopes, caution is necessary for these natural collapses.

Arriving at the roadblock gate at the end point, beyond that...

Arrived at the dead-end road closure gate. It seems there is an entrance to a hiking course nearby, but beyond the gate is an area where even pedestrians are prohibited from entering.

The middle section of the Shiona Road beyond this point has reportedly completed vegetation recovery work. Just peeking through the gap in the gate, I can imagine the sight of various structures being weathered and disappearing into nature. While there is no doubt that the scenery dominated by nature is beautiful, the views in the mountains mixed with artificial structures evoke a sense of time passing and somehow create a nostalgic feeling.

I'm glad I visited the Shiona Road before its abandonment.

When I heard the news about its closure, I thought I would never be able to visit the Shiona Road again, but fortunately, the area featured in the work was not closed, allowing me to drive through it. When I think I can go anytime, I've learned that there are places that become "inaccessible forever." Moving forward, I want to stay on the lookout and visit attractive spots.

Interview and text by Kazuma Tanaka.

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