The Expressway Car Meet: A Tokyo Night Among the JDM Cars
The short answer. The Daikoku Parking Area is a rest area inside the Shuto expressway network in Yokohama, where car owners gather on many nights to show their cars. You cannot walk or take a train there: you need a car. The Tokyo Night JDM car tours drive you out and back. The police can close it without notice, and nobody can promise which cars you will see.
Why you need a car to get there
The meet takes place in a parking area built for drivers on the expressway, reached only from the expressway ramps. There is no footpath in and no station nearby. That is why every car-meet evening is a drive: you ride with someone who has a car and knows the roads. JDM, the word you see on every listing, means Japanese domestic market, the performance cars built for Japan's own roads.
The drive is part of the evening. You go out along the lit expressways, often past the bay bridges, and on some drives you stop at a big car store on the way. How the drives to the meet compare with each other is on the JDM car tours page.
What happens at the meet
You get about an hour there on most drives, and about two hours on the private GT-R evening. You walk among the parked cars, take photographs and talk to the owners who are willing. One traveller wrote that at the meet you walk around on your own, and would have liked more about the cars. Another said that even on a Monday night, the stops were full of cars.
Take a camera or a phone with a good night mode. The parking area sits under curving ramps, and the lights give you a backdrop you will not find anywhere else in the city. Be polite: the cars belong to people who drove them there, and not every owner wants a crowd.
When it is closed
The meet is not an event. It is a public parking area, and the police or the local authorities sometimes close it without advance notice. If that happens on your night, the drive changes its route and visits other car spots instead. Go knowing that nobody can promise the meet is open, or which cars, or how many, will be there.
Weather is less of a worry than you might think. One operator runs in light or moderate rain, and another does not cancel for rain at all, so if you want to cancel, you do it yourself at least 24 hours ahead. What else can change on the night is on what to expect after dark.
Where each drive starts
Most drives meet in Shibuya or Harajuku at a set hour. One picks you up at your hotel, and the private GT-R evening sets its pickup after you book.
| The evening | Starts from | Start time | At the meet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel pickup, evening or midnight | Your hotel, central Tokyo | At booking | About an hour |
| Fleet sports car, 7pm or midnight | Sakuragaoka, Shibuya | 7:00pm or 11:30pm | About an hour |
| Car-culture host | Dogenzaka, Shibuya | 7:00pm | About an hour |
| Sports car or van | Harajuku bus stop | 8:00pm | About an hour |
| Car-culture photography | Koen-dori, Shibuya | 8:30pm | About an hour |
| Private GT-R for two | Set after booking | At booking | About two hours |
The Shibuya starts are a few minutes from the station; each is on the meeting-point map. If you would rather not find a kerb at night, the car-meet drive with hotel pickup comes to you.
What the drives promise, and what they leave out
- No drifting and no racing. The listings exclude both as illegal, and the drives are not about speed.
- You do not drive. You ride as a passenger the whole evening.
- No promise of a car. The model, the colour and your seat depend on the night, and a larger party can be split across more than one car.
- No deck tickets. Several drives stop at Tokyo Tower for photographs; entry is not in the fare.
- Food and drink are extra. Bring a card or cash for the car store stop.
The evening run or the midnight run
Some drives offer a later start. The drive from Sakuragaoka has a midnight run that starts at 11:30pm and lasts about four hours, and one traveller recommended it. The hotel-pickup drive also has a midnight run, which skips Shibuya and stops at Umihotaru, the rest area in the middle of Tokyo Bay, or at Kisarazu.
The earlier runs add the lit city on the way back: Tokyo Tower, Rainbow Bridge and Shibuya. The later ones stay out on the night-time expressways. Either way, a drive that ends after midnight needs a plan for getting home, because the trains stop. Read getting back after the last train before you choose.
What to bring on the night
- Your passport. The hotel-pickup drive asks for it, and it is your ID if anyone asks.
- A warm layer. You stand in an open parking area for an hour, often after 9pm. The average low is 9°C (48°F) in November and 1°C (34°F) in January.
- A charged phone or camera. Night mode helps under the ramps, and you will want photographs of the cars.
- A little cash and a card. Food and drinks are not in the fares, so pay your own way at the stops.
- Patience. Every night is different, and the route can change with the police, the traffic or the weather.
Plan for three to four and a half hours from start to finish, depending on the drive. That is a whole evening, so eat before you go.
Who the meet suits
Car fans, obviously. But travellers who are not car people also enjoy it as a way to see the city from a sports car at night. Children are welcome on the Sakuragaoka drive, and another operator offers a booster seat. For a car of your own, the private GT-R evening is for up to two people, for $1,007.56 per group (up to 2); the operator asks you to check dates within four weeks with them first.
Drives out to the car meet
Fast and Furious : Tokyo Drift Experience & Daikoku Car Meet
Three and a half hours from your hotel in an enthusiast's own Japanese sports car, out to the expressway car meet and back. Police can close the meet without notice; bring your passport.
From $103 per person
Check Availability
Tokyo JDM Experience: Daikoku PA & Fast & Furious Night Drive
Four hours from a Shibuya kerb at 7:00pm, or the 11:30pm midnight run, in a sports car from the operator's fleet. Children are welcome, and the evening ends at the scramble.
From $146 per person
Check Availability
Tokyo Ultimate Daikoku & JDM Experience (R35 GTR Private Tour)
Four and a half hours in a tuned GT-R for your party of up to two, with about two hours at the car meet. Dates within four weeks must be checked with the operator first.
From $1,007 per group (up to 2)
Check AvailabilityNext: Choose a start you can reach, or a hotel pickup, then book the run that fits the rest of your night. Every fare sits side by side on Tokyo Night Tours.