Kozo Hoshino

Kōzō Hoshino (星野 好造 Hoshino Kōzō), affectionately called Ko-chan (好ちゃん Kō-chan), is one of the top two racers in Purple Shadow and also part of a two-man team of middle-aged racers, along with Toshiya Joshima.

He is known by the name of "God Foot" due to his extraordinary acceleration control and his ability to drift the BNR34 with the ATTESA E-TS 4WD system activated, which is considered almost impossible. He shouts exclamations, kiais, and grunts during a race in order to keep himself from over concentrating. If he becomes silent and concentrates too hard, he will drive without braking, which would cause him to crash. He races Keisuke Takahashi in a full lap (combination of uphill and downhill) battle, demonstrating his sense of fairness, as the FD3S would have no chance against the GT-R Nür uphill. He prefers the GT-R over other cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis, saying he could easily afford them, but could care less.

He has owned a total of 4 GT-Rs: an R32, an R33 in which he was disappointed with, another R32, and finally the R34 in which he uses in the race against Project D. He displays incredible control of his accelerator and brake pedals, but his heavier car is chased down by Keisuke's lighter FD3S in the first run although it barely wins the first run. The second run displays Hoshino's cunning as he overtakes Keisuke on the uphill/downhill pylon, though his heavier GT-R begins losing traction. Keisuke's doggedness inspires Hoshino to initiate a drift battle which makes his tires suffer even more. Near the goal line Hoshino drifts too far because of his tires, allowing Keisuke to attempt to pass him on the outside. Although Hoshino's weaker tires made him bump Keisuke slightly, the FD pulled out in front and finished the second round in the lead. Hoshino conceded the match as his traction was now not enough to win another run.

After his race with Keisuke, he offers to introduce him to his professional racing contacts. Keisuke refuses the offer, as he has unfinished business he wishes to take care of first (beating Takumi Fujiwara). Although he lost, his time attack record still remains unbeaten, even by Keisuke no matter how hard he tried, due the the fact that the R34 that Kōzō used had over ¥3,500,000 (about $34,138 USD) invested in it.

His last name may be a nod to Kazuyoshi Hoshino, a professional race driver known for driving Skylines and other Nissans in several major Japanese circuits, and also Impul Corporation's founder. Unlike Atsuro Kawai, he doesn't drive Nissan Skyline 2.5GT-T Turbo Coupe (ER34), the FR (front engine rear wheel drive) equivalent of the GT-R.

Hoshino is the reason why the Skyline R33 is hated.