Bunta Fujiwara

Bunta Fujiwara is the owner of a tofu shop in Akina, and the father of Takumi. He used to be the No.1 downhill racer in Mt. Akina years ago, but he no longer races, preferring to guide Takumi’s racing development. He is the original driver of the mysterious AE86 that holds the record of the fastest downhill time at Akina. Bunta has a unique way of training his son to drive; every morning when Takumi delivers tofu, Bunta gives Takumi a cup of water. The cup of water is placed in the drink holder; Takumi must not spill even a drop of it while he is driving. This is ostensibly to prevent breaking the tofu in the boot, but it forces Takumi to drive very smoothly. As for Bunta, he is still considered the fastest downhill racer in Akina. We see proof of this early in the series as he pushes the Trueno with Yuuichi in the passenger seat lighting a cigarette while drifting around a corner.

Later in the series, Takumi used the Trueno more than Bunta, so he gave the car to Takumi. While test driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STI Type R Version V on Akina, Bunta defeated his son, inducing a 4WD complex in Takumi. Bunta decided to buy the car, but hid this fact from Takumi for some time (Fourth Stage, 14th episode). After revealing that he was the driver, he then told Takumi he was to alternate between the Impreza and his Eight-Six for deliveries - another strategy to improve Takumi as a driver, showing him the potential of modern cars, and the characteristics of 4WD. While this shows his training strategy, we still see that Bunta is, once again, proven to be the most formidable opponent in Akina.

(Trivia: There is a lot of confusion about Bunta’s car. It is a Subaru Impreza WRX STi Type R version 5. Many confuse his car with the legendary Subaru Impreza 22B. This is because Bunta’s Impreza is not wearing the stock Version 5 front bumper, but rather an “aftermarket” STi Sport Bumper which looks identical in almost every way to the 22B stock front bumper.)