Gunsai, the touge you have seen on screen画面で見てきた峠、群サイGunsai, the touge you have seen on screen
A private, closed mountain pass in Gunma, built for cyclists, discovered by Japan’s car-video world, and now the place we take you for a passenger drift ride from Tokyo.群馬にある、閉鎖された私有の山岳コース。もとは自転車選手のために作られ、日本のカービデオ界に見いだされ、いま私たちが東京から同乗ドリフトにお連れする場所です。A private, closed mountain pass in Gunma, built for cyclists, discovered by Japan’s car-video world, and now the place we take you for a passenger drift ride from Tokyo.
Don’t
Spend hours stuck on a coach in traffic. Or drift on a public road and end up in trouble with the police.
Do
Take the shinkansen in comfort, watch the countryside go by, and let us handle the pickup and the drop-off. Then ride a private, closed mountain pass at the historic Gunsai.
What Gunsai is
Gunsai is the nickname for the Gunma Cycle Sports Center (群馬サイクルスポーツセンター) in Minakami, Gunma. It opened in 1983 to train competitive cyclists and was first run by a foundation with support from Japan’s cycling-race bodies. After money troubles it passed to a private company in 2002, which since then has leaned into motorsport events, according to the Japanese Wikipedia entry.
The main road course is about 6 km. It was laid out as cycling paths and later opened to cars, so it is narrow, with blind crests, tight corners and big changes in height. That is exactly why it feels like a real mountain pass, and why Japanese car media treat it as a “legal touge”, as explained by WEB CARTOP.
As seen on screen
- Hot-Version. Gunsai is best known from the touge showdowns in the Hot-Version video series, part of the Best Motoring family of magazines and DVDs. A 2014 track-day notice describes its Course B as the layout used for Hot-Version’s “Touge Strongest Legend” shoots, and the Initial D wiki credits Best Motoring and Hot-Version videos with making it famous.
- Keiichi Tsuchiya and Nobuteru Taniguchi. The Drift King and the AE86 legend have both driven it for Hot-Version; one streaming listing shows a Gunsai episode, and the Wikipedia entry notes a 2020 AE86 video with the two of them.
- Initial D Arcade Stage Zero. Sega’s arcade game added Gunsai as a playable course through a Hot-Version collaboration, per the Initial D wiki.
- Assetto Corsa and other sims. Fans have rebuilt the course for Assetto Corsa and BeamNG.drive, for example this track mod on OverTake. These are unofficial, fan-made mods.
Why Gunma
Gunma is the heart of Japan’s touge story. Mt Haruna, Mt Akagi and Mt Myogi, the three mountains the Initial D manga drew its fictional passes from, all sit in the prefecture, an hour or so up the line from Tokyo. We are based in Shibukawa, at the foot of Haruna, so we know these roads, and we know which ones you can drive and which you should leave to a closed course.
Watch Gunsai
Muted previews start as each card scrolls into view and load from YouTube, which shares your visit with Google; tap the speaker to turn the sound on. More films on the AE86 page.
Why not drive or take a coach
With no traffic, Tokyo to the Minakami area is roughly an hour and a half by expressway. The trouble is the way home. NEXCO East’s forecasts for busy periods show inbound Kan-Etsu Expressway jams building through the afternoon and evening, with the longest around 40 km starting near Takasaka SA, and the 2026 holiday outlook from JAF Mate again put the worst of it at up to 40 km. Peak-hour returns on those days can run to several hours, so check live expressway forecasts before you decide. The Joetsu Shinkansen to Jōmō-Kōgen takes about an hour whatever the traffic, and we handle the pickup and the drop-off.
Where we differ from the DVDs
New to the car? Read the history of the AE86 Hachi-Roku and see every build compared with the GT-R, Supra and more. The DVDs let you watch. We put you in the passenger seat of a modified AE86 Hachi-Roku beside a professional driver, on the same kind of private course, with the shinkansen to and from Tokyo handled for you. Watch-only tickets are available too, with trackside viewing areas.
Sources and credits
- 群馬サイクルスポーツセンター, Japanese Wikipedia: opening year, ownership, address, course length.
- Gunma Cycle Sports Center, official facility page.
- WEB CARTOP: what Gunsai is: layout and use.
- Monster International, Yokohama: Gunsai track-day notice (2014): Hot-Version shoots on Course B.
- Initial D Wiki: Gunsai Touge: video and arcade appearances.
- Best Motoring, Wikipedia, and Keiichi Tsuchiya, Wikipedia.
- NEXCO East: Golden Week congestion forecast and JAF Mate: Kan-Etsu inbound jams.
- Assetto World: Gunsai Touge mod listing.
Hot-Version, Best Motoring, Initial D, MF Ghost, Assetto Corsa, BeamNG.drive and the other names above belong to their owners. Tokyo to Touge is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them or by the Gunma Cycle Sports Center. We do not reproduce their images or video; follow the links to see them at the source. Facts above are summarised from the linked pages, which may change.
やめておこう
渋滞のバスで何時間も揺られること。公道でドリフトして警察のお世話になること。
こちらへ
新幹線で快適に移動し、車窓の景色を楽しむ。駅への送迎は私たちにお任せください。そして歴史ある群サイの、私有の閉鎖された峠で同乗ドリフトを。
群サイとは
群サイは、群馬県みなかみ町の群馬サイクルスポーツセンターの愛称です。1983年に競輪選手などの育成を目的に開園し、当初は財団が運営しました。経営難から2002年に民間企業へ譲渡され、以降はモータースポーツのイベントに力を入れています（Wikipedia）。
メインのロードコースは約6km。自転車用の道を車に開放したため道幅は狭く、見えない頂上や急なコーナー、大きな高低差があります。だからこそ本物の峠のようで、WEB CARTOPが「合法峠」として紹介しています。
画面で見た群サイ
- ホットバージョン。ベストモータリングの流れをくむ映像シリーズの峠対決で知られます。2014年の走行会告知には、Bコースがホットバージョンの「峠最強伝説」の撮影で使われたレイアウトとして紹介されています。
- 土屋圭市さんと谷口信輝さん。両名がホットバージョンで走っており、Wikipediaには2020年の二人のAE86動画も記されています。
- 頭文字D Arcade Stage Zero。ホットバージョンとのコラボで、群サイが走行コースとして追加されました（Initial D Wiki）。
- Assetto Corsaなど。ファンが作ったコースMODがあります（例：OverTake）。非公式のMODです。
なぜ群馬か
群馬は日本の峠文化の中心です。『頭文字D』の架空の峠のモデルとされる榛名山・赤城山・妙義山はいずれも群馬にあります。私たちは榛名山のふもと、渋川に拠点を置き、公道では走れない道と、閉鎖コースに任せるべき道を知っています。
群サイを観る
画面に入ると音なしのプレビューがYouTubeから読み込まれ、訪問情報がGoogleに共有されます。スピーカーで音声オン。ほかの映像はAE86のページへ。
車やバスではなく新幹線を選ぶ理由
渋滞がなければ、東京からみなかみ周辺まで高速で約1時間半。問題は帰りです。NEXCO東日本の予測では、混雑期の関越道上り線は午後から夜にかけて渋滞が延び、高坂SA付近から最大約40kmの渋滞も記録されています。JAF Mateの2026年連休予測でも最大40kmとされています。そうした日の夕方のピーク時は帰りに数時間かかることもあるため、出発前に高速道路の渋滞予測をご確認ください。上越新幹線なら渋滞に関係なく上毛高原まで約1時間。駅での送迎は私たちにお任せください。
DVDとの違い
DVDは見るもの。私たちは、プロドライバーが操る改造AE86（ハチロク）の助手席にあなたを乗せます。東京からの新幹線と送迎もお任せください。見学のみのチケットもあります。
出典とクレジット
各名称は各権利者に帰属します。Tokyo to Touge は独立した企画で、これらの権利者および群馬サイクルスポーツセンターとは提携・承認・協賛関係にありません。画像・映像は転載せず、出典先へのリンクでご覧いただけます。（日本語は機械翻訳の下書きです。）
本页暂无中文译本，以下为英文原文。
Don’t
Spend hours stuck on a coach in traffic. Or drift on a public road and end up in trouble with the police.
Do
Take the shinkansen in comfort, watch the countryside go by, and let us handle the pickup and the drop-off. Then ride a private, closed mountain pass at the historic Gunsai.
What Gunsai is
Gunsai is the nickname for the Gunma Cycle Sports Center (群馬サイクルスポーツセンター) in Minakami, Gunma. It opened in 1983 to train competitive cyclists and was first run by a foundation with support from Japan’s cycling-race bodies. After money troubles it passed to a private company in 2002, which since then has leaned into motorsport events, according to the Japanese Wikipedia entry.
The main road course is about 6 km. It was laid out as cycling paths and later opened to cars, so it is narrow, with blind crests, tight corners and big changes in height. That is exactly why it feels like a real mountain pass, and why Japanese car media treat it as a “legal touge”, as explained by WEB CARTOP.
As seen on screen
- Hot-Version. Gunsai is best known from the touge showdowns in the Hot-Version video series, part of the Best Motoring family of magazines and DVDs. A 2014 track-day notice describes its Course B as the layout used for Hot-Version’s “Touge Strongest Legend” shoots, and the Initial D wiki credits Best Motoring and Hot-Version videos with making it famous.
- Keiichi Tsuchiya and Nobuteru Taniguchi. The Drift King and the AE86 legend have both driven it for Hot-Version; one streaming listing shows a Gunsai episode, and the Wikipedia entry notes a 2020 AE86 video with the two of them.
- Initial D Arcade Stage Zero. Sega’s arcade game added Gunsai as a playable course through a Hot-Version collaboration, per the Initial D wiki.
- Assetto Corsa and other sims. Fans have rebuilt the course for Assetto Corsa and BeamNG.drive, for example this track mod on OverTake. These are unofficial, fan-made mods.
Why Gunma
Gunma is the heart of Japan’s touge story. Mt Haruna, Mt Akagi and Mt Myogi, the three mountains the Initial D manga drew its fictional passes from, all sit in the prefecture, an hour or so up the line from Tokyo. We are based in Shibukawa, at the foot of Haruna, so we know these roads, and we know which ones you can drive and which you should leave to a closed course.
Watch Gunsai
Muted previews start as each card scrolls into view and load from YouTube, which shares your visit with Google; tap the speaker to turn the sound on. More films on the AE86 page.
Why not drive or take a coach
With no traffic, Tokyo to the Minakami area is roughly an hour and a half by expressway. The trouble is the way home. NEXCO East’s forecasts for busy periods show inbound Kan-Etsu Expressway jams building through the afternoon and evening, with the longest around 40 km starting near Takasaka SA, and the 2026 holiday outlook from JAF Mate again put the worst of it at up to 40 km. Peak-hour returns on those days can run to several hours, so check live expressway forecasts before you decide. The Joetsu Shinkansen to Jōmō-Kōgen takes about an hour whatever the traffic, and we handle the pickup and the drop-off.
Where we differ from the DVDs
New to the car? Read the history of the AE86 Hachi-Roku and see every build compared with the GT-R, Supra and more. The DVDs let you watch. We put you in the passenger seat of a modified AE86 Hachi-Roku beside a professional driver, on the same kind of private course, with the shinkansen to and from Tokyo handled for you. Watch-only tickets are available too, with trackside viewing areas.
Sources and credits
- 群馬サイクルスポーツセンター, Japanese Wikipedia: opening year, ownership, address, course length.
- Gunma Cycle Sports Center, official facility page.
- WEB CARTOP: what Gunsai is: layout and use.
- Monster International, Yokohama: Gunsai track-day notice (2014): Hot-Version shoots on Course B.
- Initial D Wiki: Gunsai Touge: video and arcade appearances.
- Best Motoring, Wikipedia, and Keiichi Tsuchiya, Wikipedia.
- NEXCO East: Golden Week congestion forecast and JAF Mate: Kan-Etsu inbound jams.
- Assetto World: Gunsai Touge mod listing.
Hot-Version, Best Motoring, Initial D, MF Ghost, Assetto Corsa, BeamNG.drive and the other names above belong to their owners. Tokyo to Touge is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them or by the Gunma Cycle Sports Center. We do not reproduce their images or video; follow the links to see them at the source. Facts above are summarised from the linked pages, which may change.