Illegal Rides and Street Drifting in Japan: What JDM Fans Should Avoid

Quick answers

• Is it legal to pay someone to drive me to Daikoku in their own car? No. Carrying passengers for money in a private car without a permit is illegal in Japan. The law punishes the driver or operator, but you may be questioned by police and may not be covered by any insurance if there is an accident.
• Can I ride along with someone who drifts on public roads? You should not. Street drifting is a crime for the driver, and as a passenger you can be held and questioned at the scene.
• Can I watch street drifting at Daikoku? Watching alone is not a fined offence, but in Kanagawa's designated zones, which include Daikoku Pier, cheering on drivers and ignoring a police order to stop can be fined up to ¥50,000.
• Where can I drift legally? Only on a closed circuit: book a passenger ride or a lesson. See which Tokyo drift tours actually drift.

Paid rides in private cars are illegal

In Japan, running a passenger transport business needs a permit from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and a privately registered car may not be used to carry people for money. An unlicensed paid ride is called a shiro-taku ("white taxi", after the colour of private number plates).

• The law: the Road Transport Act requires a permit to run a passenger transport business (Article 4) and bans paid transport in private cars (Article 78). Running an unlicensed business can mean up to 3 years in prison, a fine of up to ¥3 million, or both (Article 96); using a private car for paid transport, up to 1 year, a fine of up to ¥1.5 million, or both (Article 97) (Road Transport Act on e-Gov, in Japanese).
• Who is punished: the Act penalises the person who runs the service or offers the car, not the passenger. That does not make it safe for you.
• What it means for you: the transport ministry's English flyer for visitors warns: "If you use an unlicensed taxi, you may be questioned by the police!" and "If you happen to be injured while you are in an unlicensed taxi, you may not be protected by any insurance coverage!" (MLIT Hokkaido, September 2024, PDF). A joint police and ministry flyer compares passenger cover of ¥80 million or more per passenger in a licensed taxi with none in a shiro-taku (Hokkaido Police, PDF, in Japanese).

Red flags

From what I see as a local car enthusiast, these are the offers to walk away from:

• Someone at Daikoku or on the street asks if you want a ride, and how much you would pay. That is an illegal paid ride, every time.
• A message on Instagram or TikTok offering to take you to the car meet in their own car for cash. A real company has a website, a business address, terms and cancellation rules.
• "Pay me and I'll drift with you in the passenger seat." See the next section.

If you are not sure whether a tour is run properly, ask the company how the ride is licensed and insured before you pay. A real business can answer that.

Street drifting is a crime

• For the driver: two or more drivers who together create a serious traffic danger commit kyōdō kiken kōi (dangerous joint driving), punishable by up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to ¥500,000 (Road Traffic Act, Articles 68 and 117-3, e-Gov, in Japanese). Police do make arrests: in May 2025, police in Tsurumi, Yokohama, made arrests on suspicion of this offence at Daikoku Pier (Chiba TV, in Japanese), and in March 2026 police arrested five people over street drifting at Ōi Pier in Tokyo, where two spectators were hit and broke their legs (Kuruma News, in Japanese).
• For a passenger: the law has no separate offence for riding along, and I found no reported case of a drift passenger being charged. But you are in the car when police stop it, you can be held and questioned, and if the car crashes you are the one with no protection. It is not worth it.
• For spectators near Daikoku: Kanagawa's ordinance against reckless driving gangs covers sliding a car on public roads. In designated zones, which include the roads around Daikoku Pier and anything within 30 metres of them, cheering, clapping or waving at drivers is banned, and someone who ignores a police order to stop can be fined up to ¥50,000. Simply standing and watching is not itself fined (Kanagawa Prefectural Police: the ordinance and the designated zones, in Japanese).

My own rule is simpler: do not get in, and do not go to watch. The two spectators hit at Ōi Pier were not charged with anything, and they still ended up in hospital.

Daikoku: closures and timing

These are my rules of thumb as a local, not official facts:

• Weekend nights and the night before a holiday, from about 9 pm, are when the most cars gather, and for that reason also when the parking area is most likely to be closed. You can pay a lot for a night out and see nothing.
• A weekday daytime visit avoids most closures, but there may be hardly any JDM cars. Fine if you just want to say you have been to Daikoku; otherwise it is luck.
• Ask your tour what happens if Daikoku is closed. When it closes, cars often move to Umihotaru, the rest area in the middle of Tokyo Bay. Ask whether the tour goes there instead, and whether you get anything back if it does not.

Check the visitor reports before you go, and add yours afterwards: it takes a few seconds and helps the next visitor.

The legal ways to do it

• To ride in a drifting car: a closed circuit is the only legal option. Most tracks are well outside Tokyo; Minami Chiba Circuit, used by most drift tours, is about 1.5 hours from central Tokyo. Going on your own takes careful planning, so a tour with hotel pickup is usually the easier choice. See which Tokyo drift tours actually drift and self-drive drift lessons.
• To see Daikoku in a JDM car: book a tour run by a business, with set times and terms. See Daikoku in a JDM car and the Daikoku tours compared.
• By taxi: possible, but ask the taxi company first whether it will wait at Daikoku and bring you back, and for how long. The meter keeps running while you look around. A tour that includes time at the car meet is often simpler. See Daikoku without a tour.
• By rental car, if you have a valid permit: this is a good option. I live far from Daikoku, too far to keep driving my own Chaser there, so for my July 2026 visit I rented a car. You have to plan around the return time, but you can take things at your own pace. My one-box van cost about ¥15,000 for a day; prices change with the day and the car. See Rent a JDM car in Japan for permits.

What to bring to a track day

From my own track days at Japanese circuits:

• Long sleeves, long trousers and closed shoes are a must.
• A helmet is often available to borrow, but ask first.
• Gloves are needed at many places if you drive. There is usually no special standard, so ordinary driving or work gloves are fine.
• On a tour, ask the company what you need to bring. Rules differ by circuit and by company.

FAQ

Sources: the Road Transport Act and Road Traffic Act on e-Gov, the transport ministry's (MLIT Hokkaido) visitor flyer, the Hokkaido Police and MLIT flyer, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police pages on its reckless-driving ordinance and designated zones, Chiba TV (May 2025) and Kuruma News (March 2026), all checked on 4 November 2026. Daikoku timing, rental cost and track-day tips are from my own experience.