日本カー・オブ・ザ・イヤー
(nicknamed ) is a retired professional Japanese racing driver who was a factory driver for Nissan. After his retirement from racing, he became motor journalist and also worked as an advisor and test driver for various automotive manufacturers and tyre manufacturers. He was one of the regular presenters of the Best Motoring automotive video journal series, as well as being a judge on "Car of the Year Japan". He has three sons: Haruki, Tsubasa and Takuya who are also racing drivers.