Quick picks
You can drive in Japan
An ordinary rental car
The way I went in July 2026. You need a 1949 Geneva permit and your passport. Ask for an ETC card for the expressway tolls.
Nobody in your group drives
A driver by the hour
One Tokyo service lists ¥16,000 for 2 hours or ¥23,000 for 3, tolls included, up to 9 people. Confirm Daikoku when you book; it is outside Tokyo.
See NearMe's night charter (no commission)
You want it planned for you
A Daikoku tour after all
Shared JDM-car tours start at about ¥20,000 per person, with a guide who knows the closures.
Checked on 28 October 2026. None of the links in these picks earn me a commission.
On this page
The short version
Daikoku Parking Area is a rest stop inside an expressway junction in Yokohama. You can only get in by car, from the expressway: there is no train, no bus and no footpath. Without a tour, that leaves three ways:
- Drive a rental car. Cheapest for a group, if someone has a permit that is valid in Japan.
- A taxi that waits for you. It works only if the same taxi brings you back.
- A driver by the hour. A private van with a driver, booked for 2 to 4 hours.
- Tokyo StationMost tours pick you up in central Tokyo or meet you there.
- Daikoku PA, 26 kmA rest area on the Shuto Expressway in Yokohama. You can only get in by car, from the expressway.
- Umihotaru, 26 kmA rest area on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, on the Aqua-Line expressway. Some tours list it as their stop when Daikoku is closed or late at night.
Distances are in a straight line from Tokyo Station, calculated from OpenStreetMap locations. Roads are longer.
How I went
I live in Japan and drive a JZX100. I have been to Daikoku at night twice, both times without a tour:
- 13 July 2025, a Sunday, around 11 pm, in my own car. The lot was closed.
- 16 to 17 July 2026, a Thursday, around midnight, in an ordinary rental car while travelling in Tokyo. The lot was open and a fair number of modified cars were there.
Two nights are not a pattern, but they show both outcomes. Whatever way you choose, plan for a closed lot.
Rent a car and drive
What you need
- A permit that is valid in Japan. Your home licence plus an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention. Licences from a few countries, such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan, use an official Japanese translation instead (Tokyo Metropolitan Police, PDF).
- Your passport, with an entry stamp. Times Car Rental checks your date of entry, because a foreign permit is valid in Japan for one year from arrival. If you come in through the automated gates, it asks you to get a stamp from the immigration staff, or it cannot rent you a car (Times Car Rental).
- An ETC card, if you can get one. Times says all its cars have an ETC reader and that some of its rental stations rent out ETC cards (Times Car Rental FAQ). Ask for one when you book.
Tolls
Daikoku is on the Shuto Expressway (Shutoko), where tolls depend on distance. From 1 October 2026, the toll for an ordinary car paying by ETC is ¥300 to ¥2,130, up from ¥300 to ¥1,950, according to Shutoko's announcement of 31 July 2026 as summarized by Vegcale (in Japanese). Cars without ETC have been charged the highest toll possible from the entrance they used (Wikipedia), so an ETC card can save money as well as time. For the exact amount, use the toll search on the Shutoko website.
On the night
- Set the navigation to 大黒PA (Daikoku PA). It sits where the Bayshore Route meets the Daikoku Route (Wikipedia). You enter the expressway in Tokyo and do not leave it until you are back.
- If the PA is closed, keep driving. Do not stop on the shoulder to wait. On my closed night in 2025, many cars seemed to head on to Umihotaru, another rest area on the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line; that is my impression, not something I confirmed. Umihotaru is on a separate toll road, so it costs extra.
- Park, look, leave. Do not rev, burn out or race. The PA's operator has said long stays and bad manners are part of the problem (Kanagawa Shimbun, in Japanese).
If you want the car to be the point of the night, a few companies rent JDM cars for a Daikoku run behind a lead car; see Daikoku in a JDM car.
Take a taxi, and keep it
A taxi can drive you into the PA, because it enters from the expressway like any other car. The problem is the way back: nobody can come and pick you up inside, and you cannot walk out. In January 2024, the Kanagawa Shimbun reported a rise in tourists who arrived by taxi and were left with no way home (Kanagawa Shimbun, in Japanese).
So the only safe taxi plan is a round trip: the same taxi takes you there, waits, and brings you back. The meter keeps running while it waits: the Tokyo Taxi Association lists ¥100 for every 1 minute 35 seconds when the car is stopped or slower than 10 km/h, and a 20% late-night surcharge from 10 pm to 5 am, for a standard taxi from the 23 wards (Tokyo Taxi Association). That is roughly ¥1,900 for half an hour of waiting before the surcharge, by my own arithmetic. One tour operator puts a taxi from central Tokyo at about ¥7,000 to ¥11,000 each way and says many drivers do not want to wait at a rest area late at night (Daikoku Tour). That is a tour seller's claim, so treat it as a rough guide.
Agree on the plan before you get in. You can show the driver this:
大黒パーキングエリアまで行って、そこで30分ほど待ってから、ここまで戻ってください。往復でおいくらくらいですか?
"Please take us to Daikoku Parking Area, wait there about 30 minutes, then bring us back here. About how much is the round trip?"
If the driver says no to waiting, take that as your answer and choose another way.
Hire a driver by the hour
A charter is a taxi booked by time instead of distance. You agree the hours and the stops in advance, so the way back is settled before you leave.
One example is NearMe's night-view charter from central Tokyo. It lists ¥16,000 for 2 hours, ¥23,000 for 3 hours and ¥30,000 for 4 hours, including expressway tolls and parking, in a minivan or large wagon for up to 9 people. You can add stops on the booking form. The listed service area is Tokyo's 23 wards, and Daikoku is in Yokohama, so confirm Daikoku when you book. Cancellation is free up to 3 days before (NearMe, checked 28 October 2026; no commission).
The driver is a professional driver, not a car-culture guide, and the car is a van rather than a JDM car. For a group of four or more, the price per person can come in below a shared tour.
The options side by side
| Rental car | Taxi, round trip | Driver by the hour | Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Who drives | You | A taxi driver | A hired driver | A local enthusiast or guide |
Cost basis | Rental + tolls + fuel | Meter, both ways and waiting | Per hour, per vehicle | Mostly per person |
Example price | Depends on the car | About ¥7,000 to ¥11,000 each way (a tour seller's estimate) | ¥16,000 for 2 hours, ¥23,000 for 3 (NearMe) | From about ¥20,000 per person |
Way back | Your own car | Only if the driver agrees to wait | Booked in advance | Included |
If the PA is closed | Drive on somewhere else | Back to the start | Change the stops with the driver | Depends on the tour |
Needs a permit | Yes | No | No | No |
Prices checked on 28 October 2026. Tour prices are from my Daikoku tour comparison.
When a tour is the better choice
- Nobody in your group can drive in Japan, and you are only one or two people. A shared tour seat (about ¥20,000) costs about the same as a round-trip taxi or a 2-hour charter, and comes with a guide and a plan for closures.
- You want to ride in a JDM car, not a rental or a van. See Daikoku in a JDM car.
- You want someone who knows the closures and where the cars go when Daikoku is shut.
What not to do
- Do not walk in. Pedestrians are not allowed on the expressway. The PA's operator told the Kanagawa Shimbun it saw about ten people a month climbing the fence (Kanagawa Shimbun, in Japanese).
- Do not take a one-way taxi. See above.
- Do not wait on the expressway shoulder for the lot to open.
FAQ
Can I get to Daikoku PA by train?
No. There is no train or bus to the PA, and pedestrians are not allowed in (Japan Travel, Wikipedia). You need a car, a taxi that waits, a hired driver, or a tour.
Can I use Uber or a taxi app to get back?
Do not count on it. A car would have to enter the expressway to reach you, and the Kanagawa Shimbun has reported tourists left without a way home after arriving by taxi. Keep the car that brought you, or book a round trip in advance.
What time does the lot close?
There is no published timetable for the night closures. The Kanagawa Shimbun described police and the PA's operator announcing a closure at about 9 pm on a Friday in late December 2023. One tour operator says it arrives before 8 pm to beat closures (Wangun OG). On my visits, the lot was closed on a Sunday around 11 pm and open on a Thursday around midnight.
How much are the tolls?
Tolls on the Shuto Expressway depend on distance. From 1 October 2026, an ordinary car paying by ETC pays ¥300 to ¥2,130 per trip, according to Shutoko's announcement as reported by Vegcale. Use the toll search on the Shutoko website for your route.
Sources: my own visits (July 2025 and July 2026), the Tokyo Metropolitan Police guide to driving permits, the Tokyo Taxi Association, Times Car Rental, Vegcale's summary of Shutoko's July 2026 toll announcement, Wikipedia, the Kanagawa Shimbun (7 January 2024), Daikoku Tour, NearMe and Wangun OG, all linked above and checked on 28 October 2026.
More guides
Keep reading
- Before You Book a Drift Ride, Lesson or Daikoku Tour: 8 ChecksEight things to check on any car experience listing in Japan, with real examples of how prices, refunds and pickups differ between tours and sellers.
- Daikoku PA for Visitors: Car Meet Nights, Closures and ToursHow to see the Daikoku car meet legally, what it looked like on the nights I went, why it closes, and which tours drift (none of them).
- How to Get to Ebisu Circuit's Drift Taxi from Tokyo (Without a Tour)Train route, real costs and booking steps for riding a pro drift car at Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima, plus when a Tokyo tour is worth it.
- Daikoku in a JDM Car: Pick the Car, or Drive It YourselfWhich Daikoku tours let you choose a GT-R, R34, Chaser or Silvia, what that costs, and the few ways a visitor can drive a JDM car there themselves.
- Self-Drive Drift Lessons near Tokyo, ComparedWhere you hold the wheel yourself: prices, cars, age limits, pickup and cancellation terms for drift lessons near Tokyo, booked direct or through Viator.
- Tokyo Drift Tours: Which Ones Actually Drift? (And Which Don't)Four real drift experiences near Tokyo, numbered and compared: ride or drive, pickup, group size, price and refunds, on Viator or booked direct.