8.29.2026
Welcome Daydream Japan! The past 3 days we’ve had the pleasure of 3 distinct events: an invitational day for our local neighbors, a party for our friends and family, and of course the public Grand Opening event yesterday. We want to thank our team here for the sleepless nights and countless hours they’ve been putting into the final push of this project, we couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome. In a way, this shop is more Daydream than Daydream. It truly reflects the evolution of our vision.
This space is the culmination of three years of laying a slow and gradual foundation forged by experiences that have fundamentally influenced Daydream. We started by shifting our clothing production from LA to Japan which is unparalleled in the world of craftsmanship, textiles, and fashion. This is when we felt Daydream really grew into its identity as a brand vs a shop. It was a way to round out the vision for Daydream, we love vintage and if we are going to produce anything it needs to be as good or better than the vintage version, this is a cornerstone of Daydream that you can see in our taste in surfboards, wetsuits, and apparel.
We’ve had the fortune to visit Japan 8 times now and I feel like we are only scratching the surface with regard to learning about Japanese culture. In Tokushima, a wise friend Leki told us that to understand Japanese culture we need to experience all the different areas of Japan. We’ve seen many different places but have a lot more exploration ahead of us. Surf culture in Japan has a rich history and identity and learning how another California brand fits into that landscape seems confounding. But since we opened Daydream almost 10 years ago, this transpacific connection has been undeniable. I was shocked with how many customers from Japan came to our shop in Newport Beach when we opened. They were some of my favorite customers because even through the language barrier I felt their sincerity and passion for the same recreation of surfing that shapes our lives. This has naturally grown over almost a decade now and the hundreds of relationships that we’ve made with our friends in Japan has culminated into the opening of our second business in the quiet town of Chigasaki that looks and feels a lot like Newport.
Just as the symbolic succession with our opening days, we want to pay our respects to our neighbors, welcome all the friends from Daydream’s community in Japan, then hold space to continue developing new relationships with folks we have yet to meet. The Grand Opening is just the beginning yet a reflection of the last 10 years of Daydream’s slow growth with Japan and the last three years of a more focused connection. We are incredibly grateful for our team and for our community and look forward to reciprocating the stoke that has enveloped us over the last decade.
One of my favorite Japanese words is omotenashi, a spirit of wholehearted hospitality offered without expectation of anything in return. Looking back, we experienced this long before we knew the word for it. Now it’s our turn to practice omotenashi. The Grand Opening is only the beginning. We hope this shop can return some of the generosity Japan has shown us for nearly a decade.
Enjoy some photos from opening weekend-
