Forza Horizon 6 map reveals real-world circuits and Initial D touge routes

Playground Games has revealed the full map of Forza Horizon 6‘s take on Japan, and fans have noticed several sections of the road layout that bear striking resemblances to real-world Japanese racetracks and mountain passes.

The developer previously said it had been “inspired by” Japanese mountain roads like Mount Haruna, made famous by the touge road-racing scene and the media this subculture inspired, such as the Initial D manga, anime, and video games. It turns out that it wasn’t kidding.

The section of Mount Haruna road that Initial D fans know as Mount Akina, home of Takuma Fujiwara and the Akina Speed Stars, is replicated almost exactly. Its long, snaking descent broken up by abrupt hairpins is unmistakable.

The infamous seven contiguous hairpins of the Hakone Nanamagari route, said to be the origin point of the drifting subculture and also featured in Initial D, can be spotted in the map’s southwestern corner.

Fans of Japanese circuit racing aren’t left out either. A small track nestled just to the south of a large empty region of the map (probably the Estate, an area where players will be able to create their own road layouts and even build a town) resembles the shorter version of Tsukuba Circuit, a mainstay of the Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo series.

Meanwhile, in the north of the map, there’s a track with a long straight, a high-speed curve, and a tighter infield section that looks a bit like the classic Gran Turismo course High Speed Ring — itself based on the superfast 1980s layout of the Fuji International Speedway.

These racetracks will potentially work with a new feature for Forza Horizon 6: time trial circuits where players can lap and set times during open-world free-roam, without jumping into an event.

Check out the full Forza Horizon 6 map below. The game launches on May 19 for Windows PC and Xbox Series X, with a PlayStation 5 version to follow later.