An expert guide to the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo

A guide to the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo with racing legend Tetsu Ikuzawa

The Japanese motorsport icon is joined by his fashion designer daughter, Mai, at the spectacular Japanese venue

October 8, 2025 | 3 min read

Tetsu Ikuzawa and Mai Ikuzawa at the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo

Tetsu Ikuzawa’s pro racing career may be over, but it’s impossible to keep the legendary Japanese racing driver away from fast cars and challenging circuits. He and his daughter, designer Mai Ikuzawa, put the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo to the test

Who is Tetsu Ikuzawa?

Now in his eighties, Tetsu Ikuzawa casts his keen mind back to his long competitive motorsport career, driving on the fastest racetracks in the world. He was the first Japanese driver ever to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1977, he won the Fuji Grand Champion Series. But his legendary victory driving the Porsche 906 at the Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway in 1967 was most remarkable of all. You don't forget something like that.

That’s why the racing driver must have been all the more excited when the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo opened its doors in 2021. With its 2.1 km-long (1.3 miles) handling course, it was the perfect new home for this unassuming retired superstar of Japanese motor racing.

Tetsu Ikuzawa with his Porsche 906 #8 car at 1967 Japanese Grand Prix — In May 1967, Tetsu Ikuzawa (pictured sitting on car #8) clocked a 2 min 00.8 second lap record at Fuji Speedway in a Porsche 906 Carrera 6 during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix for sports cars. He would go on to win the race Photo: Porsche/Team Ikuzawa

What is the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo?

The Porsche Experience Center in Tokyo has a lot to offer. The facility extends over 43 hectares near the city of Kisarazu, which is directly connected to Tokyo by a spectacular bridge. Instead of simply landing in the Japanese wilderness like an alien spacecraft, the Porsche Experience Center was carefully embedded into the beautiful Japanese landscape – a typically Japanese approach to integrating architecture into natural surroundings.

Image of Porsche Experience Center Tokyo handling course from above — A view of the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo, showing how the circuit blends harmoniously into the landscape just outside the Japanese capital Photo: Porsche

Who is Mai Ikuzawa?

Tetsu Ikuzawa’s daughter, Mai Ikuzawa, is a designer and lives in Chamonix and London. A car enthusiast herself, Mai’s successful apparel brand – Team Ikuzawa – has a distinct motorsport edge to it.

The choice to meet here at the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo was not a coincidence. Tetsu Ikuzawa wanted to show his daughter the handling course and its special attractions and challenges. Mai travelled to racetracks in Europe with her father from an early age and maintains a special relationship with her speedster father and is keenly able to assess what makes the PEC Tokyo track special every bit as well as he can. Time to get behind the wheel.

Japanese race driver Tetsu Ikuzawa and his daughter, Mai Ikuzawa, sat down and talking at Porsche Experience Center Tokyo — Tetsu has passed on his passion for motorsport and fast cars to his daughter, Mai Photo: Porsche

The inside track on the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo handling circuit

The course winds through the beautiful countryside incorporating famous corners constructed in the style of several of the world’s great racetracks. It means that visitors can take on a curve inspired by the Karussell on the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring and the iconic Corkscrew at Laguna Seca.

The track carefully follows the contours of the landscape in which it is set – elevation changes like you encounter here are rarely seen on most other handling circuits. The lush vegetation surrounding the Karussell corner plays its part in recreating the inimitable look and feel of the Green Hell – albeit a mere 9000 km (5500 miles) from Germany.

Two Porsche Taycan sportscars driving on the racetrack at the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo — Tetsu Ikuzawa takes his daughter on laps of the handling course at PEC Tokyo in a Taycan Photo: Porsche

The PEC Tokyo also has a lot to offer off the track. During our visit, the special Porsche Cayman 718 Tribute to 906 model was in the foyer, its paint finish commemorating that famous Japanese Grand Prix victory by Tetsu in 1967. On the upper floor, Tetsu excitedly got behind the wheel of one of the race simulators for the first time. When it was her turn, Mai proved her prowess by being more than a nose ahead of her father in the simulator, who was open and honest about his preference for real-life driving on the handling course in conversation afterwards.

Japanese race driver Tetsu Ikuzawa on the racing simulator, Mai Ikuzawa behind — Tetsu enjoyed himself behind the wheel of a race simulator for the first time when visiting the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo, but made it clear that there’s no substitute for real-life driving encounters Photo: Porsche

The two of them had time for a relaxed lunch break full of culinary surprises in the 906 restaurant at the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo, with a menu created by Belgian Executive Chef Pascal T Swerts. It’s not the only place to grab some food at the venue, with the 956 Café serving as an ideal pit-stop for a quick caffeine boost, a sandwich or a healthy salad between laps on the handling track. After refuelling, for Tetsu and Mai it was time for another lap. The day was still young.

Watch Tetsu and Mai Ikuzawa at the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo

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Consumption and emission information

911 GT3 RS (WLTP): Fuel consumption combined: 13.2 l/100 km (preliminary value); CO₂ emissions combined: 299 g/km (preliminary value); CO₂ class: G (preliminary value).

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