Hmmm...never thought of this idea before until I met this bunch of crazy friends. With the existence of shinkansen (Japen bullet train) and various types of public transport, it seems like you are able to travel to anywhere in Japan with ease. However, all of us know that Japan Rail Pass is extremely expensive and thus we tried to explore other possible options. Driving seems like a potential solution as we have quite a number of drivers in our group. In fact, all of us hold a valid driving licence but of course, some people like me are inexperienced drivers and should totally skip the driving duty. So what do you need to know about driving in Japan?
Driving Licence
International driving permit (IDP) is needed to drive in Japan. It should be obtained at the home country prior to the trip.
Car Rental
We rented two cars from Orix. The website claims that the company has English-speaking staffs, but trust me, it was a lie. We had problems communicating with the staffs, especially when we tried to explain the air-con issues. The built-in GPS was in Japanese language as well, even though we tried to set the language preference as English or Chinese. It was rather disappointing because the car rental fares of Orix was slightly more expensive compared to other car rental companies which do not have an English website. The good thing about Orix was the online booking was effortless.
Toll Fares
ETC is something like our Autopass or Touch & Go. We heard that you will be entitled to certain discounts by paying via ETC card. Check here for the discounts available. We failed to rent an ETC card because a local bank account was required. It is important to distinguish between card rental and card reader rental. Not all car rental companies provide card rental service. I am not sure how much less to pay if we manage to get the card, but one thing to bear in mind, toll fares in Japan are costly, especially for long journey. We ended paying more toll fares as compared to the car rental fees!
Parking
Expensive!!! We just tried driving few more rounds to ensure that we got the cheapest rate. Some car parks allow overnight parking at a standard rate of 1000 yen or so, which is much cheaper than hourly rate.
GPS
We couldn't rely on the built-in GPS because none of us could read Japanese. The problem was Google map didn't seem to work very accurately in Japan. We got lost multiple times using Google map and ended up going back to the local GPS in the car.
Driving Licence
International driving permit (IDP) is needed to drive in Japan. It should be obtained at the home country prior to the trip.
Car Rental
We rented two cars from Orix. The website claims that the company has English-speaking staffs, but trust me, it was a lie. We had problems communicating with the staffs, especially when we tried to explain the air-con issues. The built-in GPS was in Japanese language as well, even though we tried to set the language preference as English or Chinese. It was rather disappointing because the car rental fares of Orix was slightly more expensive compared to other car rental companies which do not have an English website. The good thing about Orix was the online booking was effortless.
Toll Fares
ETC is something like our Autopass or Touch & Go. We heard that you will be entitled to certain discounts by paying via ETC card. Check here for the discounts available. We failed to rent an ETC card because a local bank account was required. It is important to distinguish between card rental and card reader rental. Not all car rental companies provide card rental service. I am not sure how much less to pay if we manage to get the card, but one thing to bear in mind, toll fares in Japan are costly, especially for long journey. We ended paying more toll fares as compared to the car rental fees!
Parking
Expensive!!! We just tried driving few more rounds to ensure that we got the cheapest rate. Some car parks allow overnight parking at a standard rate of 1000 yen or so, which is much cheaper than hourly rate.
GPS
We couldn't rely on the built-in GPS because none of us could read Japanese. The problem was Google map didn't seem to work very accurately in Japan. We got lost multiple times using Google map and ended up going back to the local GPS in the car.
Say hello to our car!
Was it cost-effective to rent a car? I wouldn't know. Probably because our planning was not well enough, we ended paying a lot than expected, especially the toll fees since we were not able to rent an ETC card. Another problem was fatigue, as only the two drivers possessed IDP and the long drives actually burned them out. Our itinerary was also too packed and they did not sufficient time to rest, in which I felt really sorry for them.
Not recommend driving if you just want to travel around the city and places nearby, definitely not worth it. However, if you want to go exotic places without joining a tour group, driving is certainly the way to go. Some tips for you:
1. At least 2 drivers available for one vehicle. Taking turns to drive makes the journey less exhausting and allows enough rest for the poor drivers.
2. There is no way to avoid toll fares if you are driving between cities/towns. It's either saving your money or saving your time, you can't have the best from the both world.
3. Check everything carefully at the car rental centre before departure. Kindly ask the staff to get you a car with English GPS.
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