【コラム】頭文字Dと音楽が交差したスピードの記憶

Column en 80s 90s Car Euro Eurobeat

14 Sep 2025

Explore the cultural trajectory of “Initial D” as it accelerated Eurobeat and spread to the internet and street culture

Text: mmr｜Theme: “After” Eurobeat spreads from Initial D

Eurobeat’s “exit” and “return”

Initial D'' was a definitive work that strongly imprinted Eurobeat on Japanese youth, and at the same time was anoutlet’’ for that music to be recirculated to the Internet generation. In the late 2000s, as Napster and YouTube became popular, anime clippings and fan-edited Eurobeat Drift Compilations'' exploded in popularity.For young people in Europe and America,Initial D’’ became the ``entrance’’ to Eurobeat, and conversely, music imported from Japan returned to the world, creating a double cycle.

From the mountain pass to simulation —— Riders in the digital space

The mountain pass depicted in “Initial D” is a real mountain pass in Gunma, but since the 2000s, Eurobeat has been connected to a gaming culture that can be called a “digital mountain pass.” Eurobeat naturally flowed into arcade games such as Initial D Arcade Stage'' andWangan Midnight,’’ as well as the home game ``Gran Turismo’’ and online racing communities.The high-speed beat is not just background music that moves the car, but a catalyst that enhances the “virtual sense of acceleration” in the digital world.

Acceleration of internet culture and memes

From the late 2000s to the 2010s, Eurobeat was absorbed into Internet meme culture with songs like “Deja Vu” and “Running in the 90s.” Amidst the trend of short-form videos, from YouTube Poop to MAD videos to TikTok, Eurobeat has transformed into a strange entity that is both a gag and a serious one. This sense of speed and humor coexist functions as a ``rhythm of laughter that can be understood intuitively’’ even for a generation that no longer knows Touge or anime.

Inheritance of street culture and “running”

On the other hand, Eurobeat continues to be “street music”.Eurobeat, which is played on the Shuto Expressway late at night, at drift events, and at tuning car meetings, has seeped into the real racing culture through Initial D. Here, it functions not just as background music, but as a symbol to share the spirituality of driving.''In other words, music survives not only as a recreation of the mountain pass, but also as acommunity password.’’

To the generation that inherits the “memory of acceleration”

Today, many of the young people who click on the “Eurobeat – Initial D” playlist on Spotify or Apple Music have not necessarily run on mountain passes. But they’re accelerating in their headphones, drifting in virtual space, laughing on the internet and surrendering their bodies to the same sounds. Eurobeat has become a medium that transcends physical speed and updates the ``memory of acceleration’’ with each generation.

Song title	Artist	Features/Notes
Deja Vu	Dave Rodgers	Representative songs that symbolize Initial D and meme culture
Running in the 90s	Max Coveri	90s feeling re-exploded with internet memes
Night of Fire	Niko	A classic that connects the flip-flop generation and the anime generation
Space Boy	Dave Rodgers	Popular for its fast pace and strong melody
Dancing	Vicky Vale	Used impressively in the early race scene
Beat of the Rising Sun	Dave Rodgers	Exhilaration and dramatic development
No One Sleep in Tokyo	Edo Boys	Tokyo sound image and sense of speed
Speedy Speed Boy	Marko Polo	Title and rhythm that embody the sense of speed
Remember Me	Leslie Parrish	A melodic, emotional and popular song
Back on the Rocks	Mega NRG Man	A classic anthem that excites the racing scene

Genealogy of Eurobeat x runner culture

graph TD A["1970s Disco\nGiorgio Moroder"] --> B["1980s Italo Disco\nDen Harrow / Fancy"] B --> C["Birth of Eurobeat in the late 1980s\nHi-NRG + Italo"] C --> D["1990s Avex Eurobeat\nSuper Eurobeat Series"] D --> E["1998 Initial D Soundtrack\nDave Rodgers, Marko Polo, Max Coveri"] E --> F["Post-2000s Internet Culture\n"Deja Vu" and "Running in the 90s" Memes"] F --> G["Contemporary EDM/Synthwave"] %% Runner Culture Node subgraph car culture X["Toge Runner Culture\nAE86, RX-7, GT-R"] Y["ParaPara Club Culture\nVelfarre, Roppongi"] Z["Modern Drift Scene\nD1 Grand Prix, Game Culture"] end C -.->X D --> Y E --> X E --> Z F --> Z %% Main song node X --> H["Deja Vu\nDave Rodgers"] X --> I["Running in the 90s\nMax Coveri"] Z --> J["Night of Fire\nNiko"]

Eurobeat basic pattern (around 150 BPM)

Kick : █▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄ Snare : ▄▄▄▄██▄▄▄▄ HiHat : -x-x-x-x-x- Bass : ▂▄▆█▇▆▄▂ Synth : ░░██░░██░░██░░

Initial D’s iconic track “Deja Vu” style

Kick : █▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█ Snare : ▄▄▄▄██▄▄▄▄██▄▄ HiHat: -x-xx-x-xx-x-xx- Bass: ▂▄▆█▇█▇█▆▄▂ Synth: ░█░░█░░██░░█░ Vocal: ♪～～～ "Deja Vu" ♪～～～

Deja Vu (Dave Rodgers)

Kick : ▮---▮---▮---▮--- Snare : ----▭-------▭--- HiHat : ˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑ Bass: █ █ ██ █ █ ██ Synth: ░█░░██░░█░░██░░ Car sound: ▒▒▒▒▒▒→ AE86 gear change

Running in the 90s (Max Coveri)

Kick : ▮---▮---▮---▮--- Snare : ----▭-------▭--- HiHat : ˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑ Bass: ███ ███ ███ ███ Synth: ░█░░██░░█░░██░░ Car sound: ▒▒▒▒▒▒→ RX-7 drift sound

Night of Fire (Niko)

Kick : ▮---▮---▮---▮--- Snare : ----▭-------▭--- HiHat : ˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑˑ Bass: █ █ █ ███ █ █ █ Synth: ░█░░██░░█░░██░░ Car sound: ▒▒▒▒▒▒→ GT-R acceleration sound

Equipment chronology (Eurobeat production)

Age	Equipment	Role
1980s	Roland TR-808 / TR-909	Kick, Snare, HiHat
1980s	Yamaha DX7, Roland JX-3P	Synth serif melody
1980s	E-mu SP-12 / SP-1200	Sampling, rhythm pattern
1990s	Akai MPC60/3000	Drum Programming
1990s	Roland TR-909	Driving aid
2000s	DAW (Cubase, Pro Tools)	Digital editing/mixing
2010s	FL Studio, Ableton Live	Trap/EDM approach
2020s	Soft-synth (Serum, Massive)	Modern Lead Bass

Era background summary table

Era	Musical characteristics	Related artists	Relationship with Initial D
1970s	Disco, the early days of synth bass	Giorgio Moroder	The prototype of high-speed beats
1980s	Italo Disco, Hi-NRG	Den Harrow, Fancy	Origin of Eurobeat
1990s	Avex Eurobeat golden age	Dave Rodgers, Max Coveri	Initial D soundtrack
2000s	Internet spread, parapara culture	Niko, Domino	Combining with game and anime culture
2010s	Meme, revival	Internet memes (Deja Vu)	Worldwide refocus
2020s	EDM / Synthwave fusion	Current DJs, Producers	Toward a new sound

Waveform image (synchronization with running)

AE86 Drift × Eurobeat

Engine : ▂▄▆█▇▆▄▂▄▆█▇▆▄▂ Kick : █▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█ Snare : ▄▄▄▄██▄▄▄▄██▄▄ HiHat: -x-x-x-x-x-x-x- Synth: ░█░░██░░█░░██░░ Drift : ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ → (slip sound)

Cultural contact points summary table

Area	Representative elements	Connection with Eurobeat
Toge Runner Culture	AE86, RX-7, GT-R	Synchronized with the driving scene in “Initial D”
Club culture	Parapara, Velfarre	Directly connected to Avex Eurobeat
Internet Culture	Deja Vu Memes	Re-explosion on YouTube/TikTok
Game culture	Initial D Arcade Stage, Gran Turismo	Eurobeat becomes standard BGM
Drift competition	D1 Grand Prix, Formula Drift	Rider culture becomes international, coexisting with EDM in BGM

Conclusion —— Music that keeps running

Even now, nearly 20 years after “Initial D” ended, Eurobeat continues unabated. It is music that travels through mountain passes, music that travels through the internet, and music that accelerates memory and the body.

After all, Eurobeat is not just a genre name. “A device for storing speed itself as music” I think it is functioning as a.

Every time you press the play button, that curve is waiting for you.

🔗 [Column] Cultural relationship between Initial D and Eurobeat

🔗 [Column] Beyond Drift: Eurobeat/EDM and the future tense of “memory of speed”

🔗 [Column] Eurobeat and Japan: Why are they linked together?