- Dai Yoshihara hosted a pop-up JDM celebration at Bowls in Los Angeles, California called the Little Tokyo Skyline Meeting.
- Taking place on March 2nd, also known as “3/2 Day”, the event invited local Nissan Skyline GT-R owners to park on Little Tokyo’s 1st Street for a Saturday night car meet.
- Dai Yoshihara’s 750hp R33 Skyline GT-R built in collaboration with GReddy, Toprank Importers, and Turn 14 Distribution was highlighted inside Bowls retail store.
- A limited number of new “DAI33”-inspired merchandise items were sold including Kaidohouse diecast toys and a Bowls-exclusive GReddy collaboration t-shirt.
- Despite a rare rainstorm in Southern California, hundreds of enthusiasts gathered for the inaugural Little Tokyo Skyline Meeting.
CELEBRATE JDM CULTURE
Certain days throughout the calendar year give us a silly reason to celebrate JDM car culture; the three biggest being July 7th aka “7’s Day” for RX-7 fans, August 6th aka “8/6 Day for AE86 Corolla followers, and March 2, 3, or 4th depending on what generation of Skyline GT-R you fancied the most. Last year, Bowls hosted its inaugural “Little Tokyo Rotary Meeting” on 7’s Day inside its retail location in downtown Los Angeles, and to kick off their first event of 2024, Bowls hosted their version of “3/3 Day” with its first-ever “Little Tokyo Skyline Meeting”.
TIGHT SQUEEZE
While Dai Yoshihara’s 1996 Nissan Skyline GT-R GT-R has toured at events across the country after its 2022 SEMA Show debut, there are still a lot of JDM fans out there who haven’t been able to appreciate its beauty. So, with the car just sitting at GReddy and waiting for the next event, it only made sense for Bowls to feature the 750hp GT-R as their next showroom vehicle… But would it fit?
Inserting Dai’s R33 inside Bowls was no small task as it required the shop doors to be unhooked, the EVS Tuning mirrors removed, and the custom-made Titan 7s swapped out for the narrow stock wheels and tires. After a night’s worth of finessing, the result was the perfect centerpiece for the Little Tokyo Skyline Meeting.
BLOCK WAS HOT
A rare rainstorm brought out some anxiety as Southern California car enthusiasts tend to hide inside at the sight of a few raindrops. We couldn’t have been more wrong as the city block of LA’s Japantown looked like a JDM block party. Some of the favorite visitors included Louis Yo’s white R33, Rodney’s R34 sedan and Corey Sander’s R33, which was featured at our Grid Icons GT-R celebration last year.
The number of cool cars became more plentiful as the night went on, some even resulting in double-parking on 1st Street. Now in any other city, this typically wouldn’t fly; however, the kind hearts of the Los Angeles Police Department allowed us to bend the parking laws as long as we weren’t blocking traffic or acting a fool.
HANGING WITH DAI
Badass cars were undoubtedly a big draw, but what the Little Tokyo Skyline Meeting really accomplished was bringing the community together in a casual way outside of your typical car show or car meet. With Dai as the host, he hung out with fans all night chatting it up and making new friends. For those who wanted to remember the night further, Dai sold a limited number of Kaidohouse toys and Bowls-exclusive GReddy collab tees, while posing for hundreds of photos.
Dai has an insanely busy schedule this year with his new endeavor into the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge road racing series, but it’s chill and welcoming events like the Little Tokyo Skyline Meeting that demonstrate his enthusiasm for car culture and appreciation for his fans.
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