Sorry for our absence, had a few problems with the site builder, now it's good to go.
Team Hinga started long before we gave it a name. Many of us used to slide our cars as early as the early 90′s. Then around 2000 while hanging out at D’s Garage, FatDaddys shop, we were joking on all of the "team names" the locals and other Americans had and came up with. They had cool sounding names, boasting of speed, style, or anything that sounded clever. So we called ourselves "Team Hinga" as a joke. "Hinga"- a word play on the Okinawan Native Language of Uchinaguchi. It means a dirty or filthy person. A vagrant or bum. We got our name by literally rolling out covered in dirt and filth from working on our cars at FatDaddys shop and drifting in our junkyard dog cars. Chris made up a bunch of stickers in the sheet metal shop at his work and we put them on our cars. Everyday after work we would head over to FatDaddys shop and would paint car, do bodywork, fix cars, work on our own cars until around 10pm, then we would roll to Aja, Awase, Enobi, Royal Garden, Torii Flightline, pretty much anywhere there wasn’t much traffic and we could get away with playing for awhile before the cops showed up. Known for our resilience and family ethics as a crew. We live eat and breathe more like a family unit rather then a car crew. We have had a site since around 2000, but it was accidentally erased, now trying to build it back up with pictures from the past and current pictures. We have Chapters in Okinawa, California, Arizona, and the East Coast, so we have ALOT of stuff for the site, so stay tuned. Also our brother Skrappy is headed to Australia to start Team Hinga Australia, more to come soon. Thank you
Team Hinga Okinawa : Where it all started
Okinawa is where we started, but as our brothers left Okinawa, some decided to settle down and get out of the car scene, but then some others decided to open their own Team Hinga chapters in the United States. We have chapters in Okinawa, California, Arizona, and in the last couple of years we welcomed Florida and the East Coast Hingas. Left to right cars: Bush, Nick, Ed McNair, FatDaddy, Chris, Miyu, Booney, Ox, Bull, Keitai
Some of the original crew
From left to right: Bush, Jerry, Ox, Collin, Bananaboy, Perry, Blossom, FatDaddy, Chris, Dennis, Ben, and Cornell
Bush in his original "Monster" R32
Magazine clipping from Quick Magazine. Calling us Drift Freaks. Left to right(top): Perry, Miyu, FatDaddy, Dennis, Cornell, James(Rose), Mizuki Rose, Bananaboys ex mother in law and exwife. (Bottom) Chris, Blossom, Akane, Keitai, Jerry, and Bananaboy
Auto Shop Turbo drift comp - circa 2002
Our guys circled in red
Top Ten:
FatDaddy placed third, Chris placed 8th in this comp. Notice both of them are wearing scooter helmets, hahaha
FatDaddy placed third, Chris placed 8th in this comp. Notice both of them are wearing scooter helmets, hahaha
86 Night Meet (August 6th) in Mihama, Okinawa
Chris in NOFX shirt with his Levin coupe. FatDaddys Levin at the bottom with Ox next to it.
Drift Tengoku Magazine
Drift Tengoku Magazine
The big Aja bust in May 2004
Taken from Stars and Stripes newspaper(good for a laugh):
URASOE, Okinawa — Some people call it “skid racing”; others refer to it as
“sideways racing.” The most popular term is “drifting.”
Military police on Okinawa, however, call it reckless driving and have
cracked down on the illegal street sport. A recent Marine Provost Marshal’s
Office undercover operation resulted in tickets and impounding of some of the
island’s flashiest cars.
But a recent visit to a seemingly deserted commercial district in the port
area behind Camp Kinser demonstrated it has not died.
No other Americans were at the midnight gathering, but Japanese devotees of
drifting continued tearing around corners, slipping perpendicular to the forward
spin of the squealing tires in a controlled fishtail that seemed to balance on
the verge of crash-and-burn. U.S. military police say they will continue to crack down on status of forces
agreement personnel who take part.
“It’s illegal to do on public roadways,” said a Marine master sergeant in
charge of the undercover operation. He asked not to be identified because the
investigation continues. “Basically, it’s pushing a vehicle past its normal
limits at a high rate of speed and taking corners sideways. It’s meant to show a
driver’s skill at keeping his vehicle under control.”
He said the Japanese sport quickly is becoming popular in the United States.
And, although it’s become a legitimate competition at some racetracks, many
speed sliders prefer public roads.
“Part of it is the thrill of almost crashing and burning,” the master
sergeant said. “Frankly, with spectators standing on the sidewalks and cars
parked nearby, I am surprised no one’s been killed.”
He said during a recent sting, undercover Marines videotaped cars owned by
servicemembers and Defense Department civilians; later, they identified the
drivers and registered owners, issued tickets and impounded the cars.
Under driving rules established for Marine bases on Okinawa, first-time
offenders found guilty of reckless driving face license suspensions of up to six
months. A second offense rates a year’s revocation — and after a second offense,
all active-duty Marines face forfeiture of driving privileges for the remainder
of their time on Okinawa.
Accidents common
The master sergeant said his team spent five nights observing the drifting in
Irijima, an industrial park in the city of Urasoe. Drivers race from 11 p.m. to
4:30 a.m. or so “any night of the week, rain or shine,” he said. Lookouts at key
intersections use cell phones and flashing car headlights to warn if Okinawa
police approach. They also signal when crashes occur.
And crashes are common. One drifting club’s Web page features pictures of
cars wrecked on the course. The club’s motto: “Life is boring. Go thru it
sideways!”
Accidents are how the Marine MPs caught on to the sport, the master sergeant
said: “We found ourselves investigating accident complaints where the damage to
the cars just didn’t match the stories being told.” Car owners, to claim
insurance for drifting damage, reported their cars were involved in hit-and-run
parking-lot mishaps.
“The most popular cars are Nissan Skylines and Toyota Supras — lightweight
sports cars with manual transmissions,” the master sergeant said. “On the
busiest night we were out, there was a good-sized crowd, maybe a third of them
Americans — 16 vehicles with Y-plates and 73 spectators.”
Most apparently got the message that the MPs were on their case. On a recent
Sunday, not a Y-plated car or American was to be found at the high-speed skids
that showered spectators with atomized rubber. A few cars twirled out of
control, coming to a stop just inches from parked cars.
They recovered and quickly sped back on the course.
But not for long. About 15 minutes into the action, headlights blinked from a
lookout up the street and a cell phone rang. Suddenly, spectators scurried into
a half-dozen cars parked near the main intersection and drove into the
night.
A minute later, an Okinawa police patrol car, red lights flashing, slowly
rolled down the street.
“Catching them in the act is very difficult,” said Yoshikazu Tamaki, deputy
chief at the Traffic Enforcement Division of the Okinawa Prefectural Police.
“Most of the time, by the time we get there we find only skid marks.”
Without evidence that the drifting exposed others to danger, prosecution is
difficult, Tamaki said; usually, drifters caught at the scene are ticketed for
other offenses, such as loud mufflers.
Okinawa police are planning to videotape any drifting they see, to use as
court evidence of unsafe driving. They also have posted signs announcing the
area closed to public traffic from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and plan to place non-slip
strips on the road.
“Fortunately, there has been no fatal or serious accident related to drifting
in the area,” Tamaki said. “However, an accident that did not involve an injury
occurred about 5 a.m. on Feb. 21, when a car driven by a U.S. servicemember hit
a wall.”
The car was totaled, he said.
“When we were down there,” the Marine master sergeant said, “we witnessed a
lot of teenagers hanging out, a lot of underage drinking. ... If we stopped some
of the SOFA people from being involved, I look at it like we saved some
lives.”
Origins in Japan
Drifting, which originated decades ago at Japanese racetracks, quickly is
catching on among Americans, popularized in part by Japanese comic books and
video games.
Kawan Pressey, 20, a military dependent and mechanic, said he’s watched
street drifting since his family came to Okinawa about a year ago. “I don’t
watch drifting anymore because my friends have lost cars to the military
police,” he said.
Pressey said most of the drifters he knew were dependent children of
servicemembers. All have stopped their participation, since even spectators have
lost their cars, he said. “I’ve heard only the Japanese are still drifting.”
“The attraction is the adrenaline rush,” said Lt. Col. Denis P. Delaney,
deputy commander, 18th Mission Support Group, Kadena Air Base, noting the
illegal drifting rallies sometimes attract up to 500 people. Delaney is charged
with enforcing the base driving policy imposed by Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Remington,
base commander.
“Gen. Remington ... wants Kadena to be safe — and drifting is not safe,”
Delaney said.
The popular activity even has made its way into the high schools, he said.
“We had one high-schooler who was drifting his vehicle on base and turned his
car over on its side,” Delaney said. “And we had 10th-graders drifting on the
golf course, wrecking golf carts.”
He said six juveniles who sneaked onto Kadena’s Banyan Tree Golf Course late
at night destroyed 10 golf carts. They lost base privileges and each have to
make about $1,250 restitution, Delaney said.
The lieutenant colonel, who runs the Kadena Disciplinary Action Program, said
Marines are a bit tougher on drifting drivers. The penalty for an airman or Air
Force dependent found guilty of reckless driving is suspension of a license for
30 days.
Delaney said he’d like the Kadena policy to be just as tough.
No drifting has been reported on Marine bases on Okinawa but Delaney said
three areas on Kadena Air Base known to be used for drifting now are being
watched closely.
— Chiyomi Sumida and Mark Rankin contributed to this report-
http://www.stripes.com/news/mps-cracking-down-on-skid-racing-on-public-roads-1.19531
URASOE, Okinawa — Some people call it “skid racing”; others refer to it as
“sideways racing.” The most popular term is “drifting.”
Military police on Okinawa, however, call it reckless driving and have
cracked down on the illegal street sport. A recent Marine Provost Marshal’s
Office undercover operation resulted in tickets and impounding of some of the
island’s flashiest cars.
But a recent visit to a seemingly deserted commercial district in the port
area behind Camp Kinser demonstrated it has not died.
No other Americans were at the midnight gathering, but Japanese devotees of
drifting continued tearing around corners, slipping perpendicular to the forward
spin of the squealing tires in a controlled fishtail that seemed to balance on
the verge of crash-and-burn. U.S. military police say they will continue to crack down on status of forces
agreement personnel who take part.
“It’s illegal to do on public roadways,” said a Marine master sergeant in
charge of the undercover operation. He asked not to be identified because the
investigation continues. “Basically, it’s pushing a vehicle past its normal
limits at a high rate of speed and taking corners sideways. It’s meant to show a
driver’s skill at keeping his vehicle under control.”
He said the Japanese sport quickly is becoming popular in the United States.
And, although it’s become a legitimate competition at some racetracks, many
speed sliders prefer public roads.
“Part of it is the thrill of almost crashing and burning,” the master
sergeant said. “Frankly, with spectators standing on the sidewalks and cars
parked nearby, I am surprised no one’s been killed.”
He said during a recent sting, undercover Marines videotaped cars owned by
servicemembers and Defense Department civilians; later, they identified the
drivers and registered owners, issued tickets and impounded the cars.
Under driving rules established for Marine bases on Okinawa, first-time
offenders found guilty of reckless driving face license suspensions of up to six
months. A second offense rates a year’s revocation — and after a second offense,
all active-duty Marines face forfeiture of driving privileges for the remainder
of their time on Okinawa.
Accidents common
The master sergeant said his team spent five nights observing the drifting in
Irijima, an industrial park in the city of Urasoe. Drivers race from 11 p.m. to
4:30 a.m. or so “any night of the week, rain or shine,” he said. Lookouts at key
intersections use cell phones and flashing car headlights to warn if Okinawa
police approach. They also signal when crashes occur.
And crashes are common. One drifting club’s Web page features pictures of
cars wrecked on the course. The club’s motto: “Life is boring. Go thru it
sideways!”
Accidents are how the Marine MPs caught on to the sport, the master sergeant
said: “We found ourselves investigating accident complaints where the damage to
the cars just didn’t match the stories being told.” Car owners, to claim
insurance for drifting damage, reported their cars were involved in hit-and-run
parking-lot mishaps.
“The most popular cars are Nissan Skylines and Toyota Supras — lightweight
sports cars with manual transmissions,” the master sergeant said. “On the
busiest night we were out, there was a good-sized crowd, maybe a third of them
Americans — 16 vehicles with Y-plates and 73 spectators.”
Most apparently got the message that the MPs were on their case. On a recent
Sunday, not a Y-plated car or American was to be found at the high-speed skids
that showered spectators with atomized rubber. A few cars twirled out of
control, coming to a stop just inches from parked cars.
They recovered and quickly sped back on the course.
But not for long. About 15 minutes into the action, headlights blinked from a
lookout up the street and a cell phone rang. Suddenly, spectators scurried into
a half-dozen cars parked near the main intersection and drove into the
night.
A minute later, an Okinawa police patrol car, red lights flashing, slowly
rolled down the street.
“Catching them in the act is very difficult,” said Yoshikazu Tamaki, deputy
chief at the Traffic Enforcement Division of the Okinawa Prefectural Police.
“Most of the time, by the time we get there we find only skid marks.”
Without evidence that the drifting exposed others to danger, prosecution is
difficult, Tamaki said; usually, drifters caught at the scene are ticketed for
other offenses, such as loud mufflers.
Okinawa police are planning to videotape any drifting they see, to use as
court evidence of unsafe driving. They also have posted signs announcing the
area closed to public traffic from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and plan to place non-slip
strips on the road.
“Fortunately, there has been no fatal or serious accident related to drifting
in the area,” Tamaki said. “However, an accident that did not involve an injury
occurred about 5 a.m. on Feb. 21, when a car driven by a U.S. servicemember hit
a wall.”
The car was totaled, he said.
“When we were down there,” the Marine master sergeant said, “we witnessed a
lot of teenagers hanging out, a lot of underage drinking. ... If we stopped some
of the SOFA people from being involved, I look at it like we saved some
lives.”
Origins in Japan
Drifting, which originated decades ago at Japanese racetracks, quickly is
catching on among Americans, popularized in part by Japanese comic books and
video games.
Kawan Pressey, 20, a military dependent and mechanic, said he’s watched
street drifting since his family came to Okinawa about a year ago. “I don’t
watch drifting anymore because my friends have lost cars to the military
police,” he said.
Pressey said most of the drifters he knew were dependent children of
servicemembers. All have stopped their participation, since even spectators have
lost their cars, he said. “I’ve heard only the Japanese are still drifting.”
“The attraction is the adrenaline rush,” said Lt. Col. Denis P. Delaney,
deputy commander, 18th Mission Support Group, Kadena Air Base, noting the
illegal drifting rallies sometimes attract up to 500 people. Delaney is charged
with enforcing the base driving policy imposed by Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Remington,
base commander.
“Gen. Remington ... wants Kadena to be safe — and drifting is not safe,”
Delaney said.
The popular activity even has made its way into the high schools, he said.
“We had one high-schooler who was drifting his vehicle on base and turned his
car over on its side,” Delaney said. “And we had 10th-graders drifting on the
golf course, wrecking golf carts.”
He said six juveniles who sneaked onto Kadena’s Banyan Tree Golf Course late
at night destroyed 10 golf carts. They lost base privileges and each have to
make about $1,250 restitution, Delaney said.
The lieutenant colonel, who runs the Kadena Disciplinary Action Program, said
Marines are a bit tougher on drifting drivers. The penalty for an airman or Air
Force dependent found guilty of reckless driving is suspension of a license for
30 days.
Delaney said he’d like the Kadena policy to be just as tough.
No drifting has been reported on Marine bases on Okinawa but Delaney said
three areas on Kadena Air Base known to be used for drifting now are being
watched closely.
— Chiyomi Sumida and Mark Rankin contributed to this report-
http://www.stripes.com/news/mps-cracking-down-on-skid-racing-on-public-roads-1.19531
Team Hinga = Family & Loyalty, that is what we are all about
And raising hell behind the wheel