Hey folks, let me introduce myself before I begin! My name is Toni Tsuyoshi Arakaki or “Half Breeds” as people may know me by! I am half Japanese and half Filipino, I am currently based at Okinawa, Japan! I am the lone half Jap half Pinoy drifter I have yet to see here at the drift scene in Japan. There are several Fil Ams who competes in their own respective regions in Japan that I know of, I have much respect for all of them since Japan is one tough country to break into regarding Drifting!

I recently competed at the new drifting series in Japan called, “The Drift Muscle” series, created and run by none other than Keichi Tsuchiya and Daijiro Inada, the father’s of drifting as you may say!

There were 5 rounds on its first season, 2011! I entered two rounds, Round 3 at Nikko Circuit (retired due to logistics problems) and Round 4 at Suzuka Twin Circuit (finished 27th).

2011 was a year of trials and learning for me,  it was a very difficult year since trying to progress to the top is not an easy task after all! I don’t have a pit crew or any crew that would help me during events, I am a simple person just trying to achieve his dream who started from the very bottom!

2012 season will be starting in a couple of months Nationally, and in a few weeks locally! I’ll be competing again at the Drift Muscle series and at the local divisional series as well!

I would like to thank my sponsors and friends for helping me all throughout and funding the car’s upgrades for season 2012: ROTA Wheels, 99k-Corp, FederationD, CustomPinoyRides, Pyrotect Helmets, Speed Factory, B&M Okinawa, Team Suicidal, Team Hinga, Michiya Koboribata, and of course AutoIndustriya!

That concludes my first blog post for now, please stay tune as season 2012 is just around the corner, and I promise everyone 2012 will be an exciting year!