Daikoku Parking Area is a 24 hour Shuto Expressway rest stop on Daikoku Pier in Yokohama, where the Bayshore Route meets the K5 line, and it is the most famous car spotting lot in Japan. It has also become one of Tokyo's bucket list stops in its own right, the kind of place people go the way they go to the Skytree, whether they care about cars or not; most evenings the majority of what you see is JDM rental cars and guided tour groups doing exactly that, with Skylines, Supras, RX-7s and supercars in the mix and 200 to 400 cars on a Friday or Saturday night from about 5pm.
For the true enthusiast the timing has shifted. The local scene mostly comes out on weekend mornings now, from around 6am on a Sunday, and that is when the more interesting cars turn up and the lot is calm; the tourist show is the evenings and the week. Either way the police can close the entry ramp at any point, when the lot fills or when they decide the night is done, and once closed it stays closed, so arrive early, and do nothing that gives them a reason.
There is no way in on foot: you arrive by car on the expressway from either Bayshore direction, by hiring a JDM rental and driving yourself, or on a licensed guided tour, which is a good way to do it. Be careful of people who approach you around Tokyo offering to take you to the spots: these are generally unlicensed operations, and however exciting the pitch, if something goes wrong on an expressway at night you have no cover. Book through a proper operator, do not get caught up in the hype, and do not get ripped off.
