Kilometers 2-4 contain Akina's signature challenge: five sharp hairpins descending in rapid succession with minimal straight sections between them. These aren't gentle sweepers. These are real hairpins — 180-degree reversals requiring full commitment to entry speed, late apex technique, and absolute trust in your line because there's zero runoff. Guard rails on both sides. Drop-offs on the outside. Get the first one wrong, and the mistake compounds through all five.

Why they're difficult: It's not the individual corners — it's the transition speed. You exit Hairpin 1, have maybe 50 meters to re-position, then immediately set up for Hairpin 2. No time to think. No time to adjust if you're offline. The rhythm demands you commit to a line through all five as a single sequence, not five separate corners. Brake too early: you lose flow. Brake too late: you're in the guardrail. Get it right: you exit Hairpin 5 with momentum carrying into the straight, and you understand why Takumi was unbeatable here.

The gutter technique: Takumi's famous move wasn't fiction. The inside concrete drainage gutters through these hairpins are real, and skilled drivers do use them to tighten radius and maintain speed. But it's high-risk. Hit the gutter wrong angle or wrong speed, and you're launching the car or shredding a tire. It works — but only if you've practiced it hundreds of times. Tourists shouldn't attempt it. Locals know when conditions allow it.

Surface transitions: Akina's asphalt isn't uniform. Sections repaved in different years mean grip levels change mid-corner. Turn 7's entry is smooth. Its exit is coarse aggregate with more bite. You learn this through repetition, not instruction. First-time drivers brake early everywhere. Regulars know exactly which corners tolerate aggression and which punish it.

Blind entries: At least eight major corners have zero forward visibility at turn-in. You're committing to a line based on memory, not sight. This is where home-course advantage becomes massive. Takumi knew every blind entry by the tree shapes, by the road camber, by the way headlights reflected off guardrails. Visitors arrive at these corners doing 60 kph. Locals enter at 90 kph because they know what's beyond the apex.

Elevation drop: 780 meters of descent concentrated into 8.2 km. That's steep enough that brake fade becomes real if you're aggressive. Boiling brake fluid. Glazed pads. Overheated rotors. Akina teaches you thermal management or punishes you for ignoring it. This is why Takumi's AE86 ran racing brake fluid and why visiting race cars with street pads sometimes don't finish the descent cleanly.