their exactly that , charms . it originally stemmed from practitioners of the Shinto religion. they are known for attaching charms to nearly everything to help bring good luck ( ie. charms on pots for good food and good digestion , charms on phones for prosperous and good news filled phone conversations etc)… no one really knows when it started but in the drift community took the charms that they would usably hang from their rear view mirror to the tow hook so that some how more luck would be focused on the rear of the car so they wouldn’t have the all to common smashing up of the rear end of the vehicle while drifting . and people started making their own charms / buying plushies and having monks bless them . but much of that got lost in translation when the trend came over here and now most people just put on a cute plushie cause its JDM TYTe . but i sharpie the “good luck” or “safety” kanji on my drift budies … just in case :R
heres a trdional charm :