Motorcycle shop owner Ko Sawada, 38, gave up his racing career after incurring a spinal cord injury in a 1999 race. But his love of motorcycles continues, and he hopes to revive the popularity of the vehicles.
Sawada runs Motocyclette Sawada with his younger brother, Seiya, 29, selling classic motorcycles. The shop looks almost like a museum, with vintage bikes from Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki to BMW, Ducati and MV Agusta on display. Most were produced between the 1970s and 1990s.
His father, who opened the shop in Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture, in 1982, inspired him to enter a racing school at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, when he was in junior high school.