Bunta Fujiwara

Bunta Fujiwara (藤原文太 Fujiwara Bunta) 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 "white ghost of Akina" AE86 Sprinter Trueno 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 best 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 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.