With the Motul Grand Prix of Japan just days away, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) had a surprise in store for one lucky Japanese fan named Kohji, who had taken the time to send him an inspiring fan letter for luck ahead of Round 15 of the 2017 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship. With only a small polaroid of the number 26 fan as reference, Pedrosa set off on foot around the spectacular Japanese capital in search of Kohji, to thank him personally for the letter with a difference.
His first stop was the beautiful Konno Hachimangu Shrine in Shibuya, dedicated to the war god Hachiman, where the Spaniard took a moment to appreciate the Shinto spirits and meditated with his Samurai spirit in mind in the vibrantly coloured red and orange complex. Next, Pedrosa set off for Minato-Ku, where Honda had a fan day organised at their headquarters alongside teammate Marc Marquez and Moto2™ rider Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia). There, the three-time World Champion scanned the crowd of cheering fans and noticed Kohji a few rows from the front. So, once his time on stage was finished, he went down to meet the excited young fan.
After getting to know Kohji, the 'Baby Samurai' presented him with passes for the Japanese GP to thank him for his support, and decided to show Kohji around his favourite parts of the city such as the famous Shibuya Crossing. After exploring the streets of Tokyo together, it then time for the two to go their separate ways - until they meet again at the Twin Ring Motegi.