Car Meets

Three weeks in Japan: NSX Day at Suzuka, R's Meeting and B2B at Fuji, Daikoku and Umihotaru nights, and my first drive in a Civic Type R FD2.

Planning a car trip to Japan? Tokyo Auto Salon, Nostalgic 2Days, Osaka Auto Messe, FuelFest Japan, R's Meeting, NSX Day and the weekly spots, by month.

Daikoku PA is car only, has no schedule and can be closed by police on busy nights. How to get there, when to go, etiquette, and where to head if the entrance is shut.

When the police shut down Daikoku PA, the midnight JDM run doesn't end. It just moves to the water. This video follows the scramble out of Daikoku and the convoy to the Umihotaru PA car meet.

Nothing beats a summer midnight run to Daikoku PA. This video covers everything from the expressway cruise and ramp entrance to the wild builds waiting inside.

What is Daikoku PA like on a Monday night? I wasn't expecting much, but the lot was packed with an incredible mix of JDM cars and a huge Itasha gathering.

I took a late-night walk through America-mura (Ame-mura) in Osaka, where spontaneous street meets pop up around Triangle Park in the middle of the city's neon nightlife district.

This is the daytime side of the world-famous Daikoku PA, the ultimate Japanese cars and coffee. A Sunday morning walkthrough brought out an ultra-wide RWB Porsche 911, a roll-caged race-build R35 GT-R and a heavily customized yellow NSX.

Akihabara UDX's underground parking garage is the capital of Japan's Itasha scene. On a Saturday night, floors B2F and B3F turn into a subterranean gallery where hardcore JDM builds collide with anime culture.

I headed to Izumiotsu Phoenix in Osaka for CARMEET PHOENIX. The static show was incredible, but the real action was out on the gymkhana course, with race-built DC2 Integras, drifting ND Miatas, S660s and a GR Yaris.

This was the busiest night I have ever seen at Daikoku Parking Area: a sea of R34 Skyline GT-Rs in Midnight Purple and Bayside Blue, wide-body R35s, a Hakosuka GT-R and a VeilSide Fortune RX-7, until the police stepped in and began clearing the lot.

Sunday mornings at Daikoku Parking Area are something special, and this one was all about Skylines. I set out to capture every Skyline and GT-R that showed up, from R32 to R35.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to spend a full Saturday evening at the world's most famous parking area, this is it. I arrived at Daikoku PA around 4:30 PM [00:30] to capture the transition from the golden hour to the neon-lit night scene. I decided to do something a little different this time: a full walkthrough of the aisles to see exactly how the vibe shifts as the "legends" start to roll in. The Golden Hour Arrivals Early on, the lot was relatively quiet, but ther

Some nights at Daikoku Parking Area feel like a dream garage come to life. This night meet brought out Skyline GT-Rs, VeilSide and RE Amemiya RX-7s, a rare NSX Type S and plenty more 90s legends.

MegaShow Japan at Funabashi Racecourse was packed with incredible builds, but the Skylines and GT-Rs deserved a video of their own. From R32 to R35, this event had some of the cleanest and rarest Skyline builds I've seen.

One of the most essential stops for any enthusiast in Tokyo is Super Autobacs. It’s more than just a parts store; it’s a hub where the culture literally rolls through the parking lot. I started my evening doing some "eye shopping" and by 8:00 PM, the lot began to transform.

If you’ve only seen Daikoku Parking Area at night, you’re only seeing half the story. I finally made it out for a Sunday morning meet, and the vibe is legendary. It’s less about the flashing LEDs and neon, and more about the rare, the classic, and the meticulously maintained "daily drivers" of the Japanese car world.

If the Megashow at Funabashi was the main event, then what happened afterward was the secret after-party. On the same night in January, I left the organized chaos of the racecourse and headed into the heart of the city for an "underground" meet at Aomi PA.

If you want to understand the heartbeat of Japanese car culture, you have to leave the bright lights of the city and head to the fringes. Back in January, during the whirlwind of Tokyo Auto Salon week, I made the trek out to Funabashi Racecourse for Megashow. While the Auto Salon is about the polished, corporate side of the industry, Megashow is about the streets. It’s loud, it’s crowded, and it’s unapologetically JDM. More Than Just a Meet Walking into the racecourse, I quic

While everyone else was packed inside Makuhari Messe, I skipped the final day of Tokyo Auto Salon and headed straight to the source: Daikoku Parking Area. If you want to see what Japanese car culture looks like on the street, this is the real Auto Salon.