During his time at Toyota, Naruse became known by the nickname "Meister",[4] and colleagues at Ferrari called him the "man who knows all the world's roads.

[4] Naruse joined Toyota Motor Corporation in 1963 as a certified auto mechanic, and was initially assigned to the company's Vehicle Evaluation and Engineering Division as a temporary employee.

[4] His final development project was the Lexus LFA supercar, which he test-drove extensively, and headed its participation in the 24 Hours Nürburgring from 2008 to 2010.

[6] Naruse had suggested the LFA enter the race to obtain feedback for fine-tuning the vehicle for production.

Although nearly 70 years old, he remained active in test driving, and also tackled hillside roads on weekends in Japan.

[4] He remained aware of the risks and rewards, stating that: When we raced the LFA in Nardo, Italy, I thought I might not return to Japan alive.

[11] The LFA veered into oncoming traffic, colliding head-on[12] with a BMW 3 series on the L94 road[13] at Boos, near the Nürburgring.