Road tripping in Japan

[Grant_T]

As I mentioned elsewhere, my brother and I intend to spend a week road tripping in Honshu in June. He wants visit an Up Garage and Ebisu circuit (where he is going to do some drifting) but I wonder if members have any tips for road tripping/driving in Japan? We will hire a car for a week (maybe Tokyo, or somewhere up north like Fukushima) and it would be cool to hit some out of the way scenic spots. The other option are the roads around Hakone and Atami (which I take it were important in the drift scene once upon a time, though we surely will be driving sensibly). The other thing we are concerned with is tolls. How expensive are they and how do they work? How do you pay in a rental?

 

Any comments welcome, particularly nice places to drive in early summer.

[Tony Galiani]

These videos might be worth checking out:

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Cheers,

Tony

[mojo]

I thought rental rates in Japan seemed high. On further inspection you seem to get charged more if you look at websites in English 😞

 

Even so it's still expensive if you can manage the process in Japanese.

[Grant_T]

On 3/18/2023 at 5:19 AM, mojo said:

I thought rental rates in Japan seemed high. On further inspection you seem to get charged more if you look at websites in English 😞

 

Even so it's still expensive if you can manage the process in Japanese.

 

New Zealand is hideously expensive unfortunately. I always laugh when people say that Japan is an expensive place to travel to.

[mojo]

One thing I've wondered about is what is the deal if you rent an electric vehicle. I checked a few websites but they didn't seem to say. You have to bring back a fossil fuel car with a full tank, but is it okay to roll up with 2% battery left?

 

Japan isn't exactly awash with chargers so it's probably going to be difficult to arrive with more than 80% charge, but they should be able to charge it on-site.

 

They also never say what car it is exactly. Most likely a Nissan Leaf, but what size battery?

[maihama eki]

5 hours ago, mojo said:

One thing I've wondered about is what is the deal if you rent an electric vehicle. I checked a few websites but they didn't seem to say. You have to bring back a fossil fuel car with a full tank, but is it okay to roll up with 2% battery left?

 

Japan isn't exactly awash with chargers so it's probably going to be difficult to arrive with more than 80% charge, but they should be able to charge it on-site.

 

They also never say what car it is exactly. Most likely a Nissan Leaf, but what size battery?

Not sure how it is in Japan, but in the U.S. rental car companies have recently added terms for EVs. For example with Avis, a car they rent will have at least a 70% charge when you pick it up. You need to return it with at least 70% to avoid a charging fee. If you return it with more than 10% and less than 70%, they charge you $35. If you return it with less than 10%, it bumps up to $70.

 

This is a little bit of deterrent to renting an EV on a trip. With a conventional vehicle, it takes 5-10 minutes to fill up the tank before you return it. With an EV you probably need to stay in a hotel, or be working at a location that has EV chargers in order to have the car charged before you bring it back. Otherwise, you need to plan on some time to find a supercharger and charge it enough.

 

Or you can just accept the $35 re-charge fee. That's in the ballpark of what it costs to fill up a conventional car for 1/2 or 3/4 of a tank of gas in the U.S.

 

I had a Tesla for a rental in December before they implemented this. I picked it up with a full charge, and I returned it with around a 20% charge, and did not pay anything extra. It was obvious that was not going to last.

[mojo]

That seems like a bit of a rip-off. If you bring the car back in the evening they can charge it overnight for a few bucks.

 

I'm tempted to try it in Japan. I see there are rapid chargers near a lot of places I'd like to visit, although with a decent size battery it will go all day without any issue. The speed limit is 100 so you never get into the range where most EVs are significantly less efficient. I planned a few day trips I'd like to do, and they could all be completed by a Leaf 40 without needing to charge.

 

As you say, for multi-day trips, hotel charging is ideal, but I have no idea how common that is in Japan. Being 100V doesn't help. I guess if they have dedicated chargers they will have 200V service for them, but if it's just a normal outlet you might not be able to get a full charge overnight in some cars. Also need to check what cables are in the car, i.e. does it come with a "granny charger" that plugs into a standard outlet or not.

[Grant_T]

I'm on my way. We hired a Toyota Roomy for a week. 😄 Probably the safe choice given that we are going to drive Hakone Skyline, and my brother likes fast Japanese cars.

[cteno4]

At least easy to toss luggage in and out of! 
 

Enjoy your trip grant! Looking forward to a vicarious experience from you.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[mojo]

On 6/7/2023 at 5:27 AM, Grant_T said:

I'm on my way. We hired a Toyota Roomy for a week. 😄 Probably the safe choice given that we are going to drive Hakone Skyline, and my brother likes fast Japanese cars.

 

How did it go?

[Grant_T]

On 6/30/2023 at 2:36 AM, mojo said:

 

How did it go?

 

The trip was amazing. My brother and I spent a week riding the trains, seeing the sights, and drinking dubious things we found in Family Mart/Lawson. Then my wife joined us in the second week and we picked up our Toyota Roomy from the Toyota hire cat spot in Nihombashi. And then we drove the Hakone Skyline to Kawaguchiko, Nikko, and Fukushima, seeing so many sights along the way. Tolls were expensive, but worth it. And I got unreasonably drunk in Fukushima because the locals were buying me shots of sake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mojo]

Thanks, great photos!

 

Can I ask, how was the parking situation? I'm contemplating renting for a few days or even a week, but parking seems to be a bit of an issue.

 

Also who did you rent from? Thanks.

Edited July 4, 2023 by mojo

[Grant_T]

15 hours ago, mojo said:

 

Can I ask, how was the parking situation? I'm contemplating renting for a few days or even a week, but parking seems to be a bit of an issue.

 

Also who did you rent from? Thanks.

 

The parking was fine, as soon as we got the car we escaped Tokyo and everywhere we went (e.g., restaurants, attractions) without exception had dedicated parking available. I also made sure that the accommodation always had free parking when I booked. We rented the can from a Toyota rentals place at Tokyo station. It's right by the Nihonbashi exit in the basement. They were really good to deal with. As I mentioned the tolls were expensive, but much quicker than driving on non-tolled roads, so we decided to take the hit so we could make the most of our time. The GPS tells you how much you are spending every time you enter and exit the ECT gate. We got a couple of surprises. 😆 Also, the roads in Japan feel really safe (except Hakone Skyline, but that was my brother's fault). I'd absolutely recommend it or do it again.