NISMO Festival 2015

The sun is shining, it's a crisp eight degrees and a snow-capped Mount Fuji looms large in the background. Such conditions are ripe for blending oxygen and petroleum to create controlled fireballs, and the 35,000 Nissan obsessives lined up at the Fuji Speedway gates know it.

The air is charged with excitement as the Nissan faithful queue up to share in their collective love of all things NISMO and also get up close and personal with Nissan Motorsport celebrities – cars and people.

If it's got wheels, or an engine, or can be bolted to a Nissan in any way, no matter how obscurely, it’s here. Welcome to the Nismo Festival – the happiest place in Japan*.

Since 1997 Nissan pilgrims have been attending Fuji Speedway for the annual event and as a first-time attendee, I'm spellbound. Wandering into the huge Fuji Speedway facility, there are Nissans as far as the eye can see – especially go-fast, tricked-up and modified vehicles, including Silvias, GT-Rs and Z cars of all vintages. They’re all stunning, with an attention-to-detail that astounds.

There's also a smattering of El Grande vans and Micra mini cars with wild, almost comical bodywork modifications, in the carparks and on display. Make no mistake, everyone here has a story to tell, patrons and exhibitors alike.

I amble along behind the pits, browsing between die-cast model Nissan race cars, stained, second-hand (but expensive) helmets and race suits formerly worn by race drivers and aftermarket body kits and engine parts for sale, then hear a soul-stirring engine bark into life.

Peeking timidly around the corner into the pits, the culprit is a bright yellow Nissan R382 race car from 1969. I then realise I can just walk into the pits and take a squiz, up close and personal.

It looks like something out of the Speed Racer cartoon; luscious curves that flow over its wheels and a snarling mid-mounted 6.0-litre V12 exposed behind the driver. Normally you'd need special VIP passes to see such a thing of beauty up close. But like everything else at the NISMO Festival, the 790kg race car pumping out 'over 600hp' is all for the fans.

The public are also allowed access to the main straight and pit lane before the 'finale', the last race of the day between some of Japan's fastest GT 500, GT3 and other assorted race cars. And it turns out the drivers take it rather seriously, eclipsing 300km/h on the main straight.

Like the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, the NISMO Festival is one of only a few, large-scale motoring events that offers virtually unfettered access to the entire track, cars and drivers.

The fact that almost everyone at the NISMO Festival is a Nissan enthusiast is reflected in their dress – except for one brave bloke wearing Toyota garb. There are toddlers running around in tailor-made Nissan race suits, playing with Nissan-branded slot cars, all the way to old timers who clearly haven't lost the passion.

But this isn't just a gathering of Nissan enthusiasts, it's a religious congregation and the rapture is infectious! I'm almost compelled to buy a beautifully-welded HKS exhaust at one of the many makeshift stalls. Then I remember it won’t easily fit my VX Commodore.

I bump into gamer turned racer Wolfgang Reap, the former winner of Nissan GT Academy. He co-drove the Nissan GT-R GT3 race car to victory at this year's Bathurst 12-hour race, and tells me Japanese motor sport aficionados are some of the most adoring he's met.

As some car companies seek to cut back on their motor sport and performance car investment, it's somewhat surprising (and relieving) to see Nissan continue to support such an open and involving high-octane event, year after year.

It's no wonder the NISMO Festival attracts so many people and succeeds in generating so much passion. It's an event for the everyman, not just the well-connected or cashed-up few.

As the sun sets over Mount Fuji and the NISMO Festival for another year, I feel as though I've witnessed something very special. It’s cult-like in some ways (winning race cars are blessed during the event!) but the difference here is you're allowed to leave at the end…

*Disneyland Tokyo was closed