Daimon Yayoi dramatically cut her long hair short and surprise-released her new track ‘Circulation’. On Friday, April 3rd, when we caught wind that the artist we wholeheartedly support at this site would be performing in Orange County, I immediately headed out to Southern California’s largest Japanese festival, ‘O.C. Japan Fair/Freedom L.A.’
What is OC Japan Fair/Freedom LA?
This fair is a Japanese cultural festival hosted by Japan Product Promotion, held in Orange County since 2009. Under the theme “The Skills of JAPAN”: Let’s enjoy Japanese food, culture, traditions, and innovation!, the event aims to provide all people living in America with opportunities to experience and understand Japan by seeing and learning about Japanese technology and traditions, as well as experiencing Japan’s food culture, which is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The venue features various events rarely experienced in the US, including cosplay shows, tuna cutting demonstrations, performances by popular Japanese artists and comedians, traditional instrument performances, rickshaw rides, games, and meet-and-greets with kimono models, held from Friday through Sunday.
Freedom LA is described as a full-scale Japanese music festival partnering with the OC Japan Fair. It hosts events featuring artists passionate about Japanese music who are primarily based in Japan and the United States.
※OC Japan Fair (Instagram) / Freedom LA (Instagram)
Watching Yuriyan Retriever’s Show
Arriving at 7 PM, I first watched a one-man show by Yuriyan Retriever (who has relocated to LA), tried a rickshaw ride, ate at food stalls, and then watched a Kawaii Stage talk show where MINMI, Brittany Tokyo, and Yuriyan discussed recent fashion trends.
Afterwards, I moved to the warehouse-like Freedom LA stage and watched the ‘West Coast Fashion Show’ from the front row, where our main attraction Daimon Yayoi would appear as a performer in the latter half.
Freak City LA’s Fashion Show
As a refresher, quoting Cook Oliver’s previous article, this fashion show features a LA-based fashion brand specializing in custom costumes, styling, and creative direction. They gained attention through collaborations with Billie Eilish and have been worn by Nicki Minaj, Doechii, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Rico Nasty, and others. With neon colors and punk spirit as their foundation, they advocate for “clothing for misfits,” and presented their SS’24 collection “THE NEW LA” on the runway in 2024.
The clothing, combined with the stunning beauty of dozens of models on the runway, featured stylish designs that would appeal to our readership—a perfect fusion of hip-hop, punk, goth, and various street tastes. ※ Freak City L.A. (@freakcityla)
Tokyo Gyal Party Dancers
In “tokyo gyal party,” which fuses Tokyo and LA culture, charismatic dancer Sakura da Patra led a sisterly crew of gals performing sexy twerking and booty-shaking dances that captivated hearts of men and women of all ages in the venue.
This OC Japan Fair had three stages, and before her main performance, Daimon actually appeared with the gal dancers on the smallest “Nakamise Stage” to promote her upcoming show.
Daimon Yayoi’s Overwhelming Charisma
Now for the main event—Daimon Yayoi’s performance began after the gal dancers. The venue audience was roughly half American and half Japanese. There were certainly people of various ages and appearances who made you wonder “Do you know Daimon Yayoi?” and families with children, but following the street-style fashion show, many attendees—both Japanese and American—seemed to be dressed in hip-hop and street fashion.
Our Daimon Yayoi, accompanied by two dancers, performed a carefully selected set from her extensive catalog while incorporating English commentary. What particularly stood out was her prowess as a singer and the new territory showcased in her latest track ‘Circulation’. The soft melody, delicate lyrics beginning with “Love is always inside you,” the vocal power that seemed impossible from her small frame, and skillful singing that hit every note precisely—she captivated the audience with her careful delivery.
Of course, her appeal isn’t limited to her rap skills and distinctive, slightly husky voice that sticks in your ears. Coming from a dance background, her overwhelming dance skills and expressive power as she commands the stage are also major strengths. Yes, she is a performer to her very core. One moment she’d sing soulfully, the next she’d showcase powerful, high-difficulty dance moves, consistently captivating the audience throughout.
As the performance neared its end, the audience—including myself—was excitedly anticipating what she would bring for the final song. Her choice was none other than ‘Back It Up’, famous for that “yattattara ee yan♪” phrase. She powerfully sang and danced through the finale in true Daimon fashion, heating up the venue so intensely you could almost see steam rising.
Daimon Yayoi’s US Success Continues…
In our previous interview, Daimon had announced she would release songs in spring and summer.
True to her word, she released ‘Circulation’ and, though her participation was sudden, descended upon Southern California’s largest Japanese festival. Witnessing her live performance for the first time, this writer was completely captivated by her charisma and presence—small in stature yet eclipsing the other dancers and performers. Indeed, she seems born to captivate audiences, born to be a star.
What’s next—the summer release? Her increasingly serious activities in the U.S. scene are highly anticipated.
HIPHOPCs View—Year Two in LA: Yayoi Daimon Enters Her “Win on the Ground” Phase
What we should read from correspondent Sei’s report isn’t simply the fact that “Yayoi Daimon appeared at a Japanese festival.” This OC Japan Fair/Freedom LA performance occupies a distinct position in her career strategy since establishing her LA base in 2024.
First, consider the setlist construction. The singer-songwriter delicacy of opening with ‘Circulation’s’ “Love is always inside you,” contrasted with the assertive rapper Yayoi Daimon strength symbolized by the finale’s ‘Back It Up.’ Reconciling these two sides within the same stage, the same 30-minute set, itself speaks to her current positioning. The intensity of 4SHOOTERS ONLY sharing stages with Ice Spice and Sexyy Red, and the soft new territory presented in ‘Circulation’—performers who can maintain both without compromise and connect them live across Japanese and American street contexts are rare.
Second, the significance of Daimon appearing after Freak City LA’s show. A Japanese artist connecting into the atmosphere created by the LA-based streetwear brand worn by Billie Eilish, Doechii, and Rico Nasty. This wasn’t a “Japanese artist performing in LA” framework, but rather Yayoi Daimon being positioned within LA’s street culture context itself. The on-site description of half the audience being American with prominent streetwear fashion serves as corroborating evidence that this contextual connection functioned.
Third, the approach of promoting on the Nakamise stage before the main stage, warming up the venue with Tokyo Gyal Party’s dancers before the main performance—this is the maneuvering of a performer honed in LA’s underground. Starting from Osaka’s underground dance scene, she’s using the same muscles to penetrate the LA scene. In this sense, tonight’s stage demonstrates that her 2024 base relocation wasn’t mere “overseas expansion,” but a shift into a phase of bodily immersing herself in the local scene.
Without waiting for the summer release, Yayoi Daimon in 2026 is going for the win in LA.
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Writer—Sei
One of HIPHOPCs’ lead writers. A journalist who spearheads HIPHOPCs’ DJ/producer coverage, having conducted numerous exclusive interviews connecting Japanese and American hip-hop scenes with legends.
His work includes the exclusive two-part interview with dj honda, the Japanese hip-hop giant who traveled from Hokkaido to New York to stand alongside Mos Def, Common, Fat Joe, De La Soul, Gang Starr and others, as well as exclusive two-part interviews with DJ2high, the West Coast legend Japanese producer known as the Japanese DJ closest to Snoop Dogg. He has drawn out firsthand testimonies from Japanese players spanning from the golden age of 90s NY hip-hop to the present. He’s one of the few interviewers capable of speaking directly with the protagonists of Japanese hip-hop’s overseas expansion history—a rarity even in English-language media.
For this field report, tracking the movements of Yayoi Daimon as she enters her second year LA-based and begins seriously penetrating the American scene, he embedded front-row at Southern California’s largest Japanese festival, documenting the night of her ‘Circulation’ debut performance. From past to present, correspondent Sei continues recording for HIPHOPCs those moments when Japanese artists cross the ocean.
