Driving outside of Tokyo....

[Krinkov]

Hey all, anyone here ever drove long distances outside of Tokyo? We're heading over to Japan for the first time next week, going to be in Tokyo for a couple days then off to Sapporo. We're supposed to rent a car in Sapporo to head over to Obihiro, but I was considering just renting a car outside of Tokyo and driving it up the 700miles. I love to dirve on trips, I often drive 400+ miles a day for work so long distance is no prob, and Ive driven right hand drive before too. Im told by my firend Im heading over there with who grew up in Tokyo that driving in and around tokyo is a fiasco, especially if your not from there, but is that the way it is all over the country? I know gas is WAY more there but I would have to fork out for 3 round trip tickets from Tokyo to Sapporo anyways, so is driving in general in Japan a big enough pain in the ass that I would just be better off flying up there anyways? Thanks guys!

[Taro Toporific]

.... is driving in general in Japan a big enough pain in the ass that I would just be better off flying up there anyways?

I drive from Tokyo to my rice ranch in Shikoku several times a year for planting and harvest. If I have three people in the car, it's cheap---a fun Road Trip really. The road tolls for that 8 hours drive can cost more than 12,000yen plus 1.5 tanks of gas for 10,000yen. Saaaa, you only live once, so go for it. It won't bankrupt ya.

Crossing the world's longest bridge, the Seto-ohashi, is a real ho0t at dawn New Years Day.

[arnoter]

I have heard that it is very convenient and cheaper to rent cars while going in vacation when you are living in Tokyo (where you don't really need it unless you cant' stand the rush hours in commutation).

What do you guys think about it? Are the price very affordable?

[homesweethome]

The only decent driving that can be done in Japan is Hokkaido. That is why all the folks with cars that they drive 6 times a year go there to speed and crash on the open roads in the far north.

Great scenery!

[AssKissinger]

I think renting a car will be almost impossible unless you have someone who can read, write and speak Japanese fluently.

It's pretty easy to drive up north once you get past Tokyo. I've done a lot of it. You'll have way more convenient access to the coolest spots as well. To tell the truth, once you get north of Sendai you pretty much need a car.

How much time do you have? You might wanna bring a tent.

You also might wanna look at this thread http://fuckedgaijin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4665

BTW, with gas prices what they are iin the States these days I think it's about the same.

[hakuman]

The crappy thing about driving in Japan, is that either you pay a toll, and get to drive on a road that often has noise walls on the side so you cant see anything, or you drive on the free roads, and it takes FOREVER. Just to give an example, It took me 3 1/2 hours to drive about 120 Km last week (sorry, dont know miles). Same drive on the tomei (toll highway) takes 50 minutes.

[cstaylor]

but I was considering just renting a car outside of Tokyo and driving it up the 700miles.

Don't do it. Driving in Japan is boring, although you will get a taste of regional food when stopping along the way for breaks.

I love to dirve on trips, I often drive 400+ miles a day for work so long distance is no prob, and Ive driven right hand drive before too. Im told by my firend Im heading over there with who grew up in Tokyo that driving in and around tokyo is a fiasco, especially if your not from there,

If you have an in-car navigation system, have someone along who can read and comprehend Japanese, and have phone numbers for your destinations, then it's not a problem. Otherwise you're better off taking the train in Tokyo.

I know gas is WAY more there but I would have to fork out for 3 round trip tickets from Tokyo to Sapporo anyways, so is driving in general in Japan a big enough pain in the ass that I would just be better off flying up there anyways? Thanks guys!

Unless you want your vacation photos to be full of road trip shots of mediocre restaurants, I would suggest flying.

I've only been up to Hokkaido once, and found my way to the Kirin Beer-garden up there. All you can eat food along with Kirin's entire beverage line (skip the cola... it's very, very bad), including Hokkaido's famous crab.

[IkemenTommy]

Oh fuck yeah! You mean near Chitose right?

[cstaylor]

You're pressing my memory now... I remember that we went for the yuki matsuri (the ice sculptures... more like ice buildings... amazing stuff), then we went to Otaru and visited some of the historical sites. My sister did some glass blowing in Otaru, and then we went to the beer garden.

It was a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy beer.

[Kush]

Having lived in Hokkaido and driven from Kushiro to Kagoshima and back, I'd say the only real problem would be speed in Honshu--Sure you can take the freeway, but the fees are criminal, and you miss out on a lot of the really interesting things you can only stumble across when you're out in the 'wilds'. I love the smaller roads, and everything is well posted enough that you really have to work to get lost.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, that means driving across the island at a speed of 60 km/h until you can get out into the farming roads. If you have the time, I'd recommend it, but it will eat a lot more time than you are probably planning. Of course, as long as you're driving on an international driver's license, there are few cops that will be bothered to do more than warn you to slow down if they stop you, so you can really haul ass in some of the more empty rural stretches.

Oh, and on the way out to Obihiro, be careful over the passes--trucks still like to overtake around blind corners!

-Kush

[IkemenTommy]

People speed like Dale Earnhardt up in Hokkaido even in the thick snow. They think they are the best drivers in Japan and that's a scary thought. I've been up to Kushiro before. F*ck, there was absolutely nothing there and I thought I was going to go crazy staying for a week. Definitely flying distance and not for driving.

[Krinkov]

Thanks all,
Looks like we are goingto fly to Sapporo then rent a car from there to Obihiro. Yes Im going with my friend from Tokyo so she will yell at me if theres something on a sign that will keep up going the right direction or keep us from getting killed. We are heading up to see the WRC, sounds like all the rooms within 2 hours of Obihiro are booked though, so I just might need that tent:(

[cstaylor]

Make sure you rent a car with in-car navigation. I doubt it costs anything more, and it will certainly pay for itself the first time you need to go somewhere.

[IkemenTommy]

Thanks all,
Looks like we are goingto fly to Sapporo then rent a car from there to Obihiro. Yes Im going with my friend from Tokyo so she will yell at me if theres something on a sign that will keep up going the right direction or keep us from getting killed. We are heading up to see the WRC, sounds like all the rooms within 2 hours of Obihiro are booked though, so I just might need that tent:(

I highly doubt the WRC comes in manual shift though. Driving an automatic takes half of the fun away.

[Taro Toporific]

Make sure you rent a car with in-car navigation. I doubt it costs anything more....

Nissan Rentals can come with free GPS navigation in engrish, but you have to arrange ahead of time (hot new models have no engrish mode and in the future no Japanese Nissans will have it).

[cstaylor]

Well, he'll have a card-carrying member of the Wa with him, so she can be in charge of navigation.

[Greji]

I highly doubt the WRC comes in manual shift though. Driving an automatic takes half of the fun away.

WRC as in World Rally Championship. I don't know how to drive that!

[IkemenTommy]

I thought he was talking about subaru impreza.

[Krinkov]

I thought he was talking about subaru impreza.

heh, yeah thats what I drive over here, I WISH I could drive my car once I got there!

Hey, does anyone know a good travel agency in Japan online or I can call that speaks English? I cant reserve hotel rooms in Hokkaido through any travel agencies over here that Ive been able to find, they all say I have to use somewhere in Japan to reserve rooms in Hokkaido. Its pretty hard to find a room up there right now and I dont think my friends going to go for sleeping in a tent!:(

Thanks for all you help!

[IkemenTommy]

Try these guys online.. http://jp.hotels.com/hotel-htdocs/jp_en/index.htm
I never used them before though.

If you can read some Japanese, then you can try out http://www.mytrip.net.
Good luck

[Adhesive]

My father-in-law just drove from miyazaki to Osaka, about the same distance...or less actually...and it took him 24 hours!!! I'm not sure about the driving conditions from Tokyo to Sapporo, but plan on a decent chunk of time in the car...and like others have mentioned' tolls galore, and expensive gas. Plan on spending about the same amount of more as you would either flying or taking the train.

[Krinkov]

thanks to everyone who replied to my post about driving up to Hokkaido and talked me off that ledge

I ended up flying from Tokyo to Sapporo and renting a car there, driving was great except for the 70-80km speed limit on the expressway! Good thing nobody really pays attention to it, except alot of the big trucks and busses. Made for some pretty hairy-chested passing maneuvers over the mountain, think I was just trying to get as much time back on the right side of the road as I possible.

Sapporo was a blast, very few foreigners there and I was treated very well Looks like I'll be moving out your way next summer, so you'll probably see me posting more around here mor easking dumb questions. Gotta try to learn some Japanese now, So far the only Japanese I know would only come in handy if I someday met a gentleman whos last name happened to be 'Roboto' and I needed to thank him for something.

The World Rally was awesome, dunno if there are any other car people around here, but there are some really amazing cars you can only get in Japan that drive me crazy, like this R32 Skyline GTR, theres one company here in the states that imports these, after they get them federalized they ask $50-60k for them. Used! This one was on a lot for 650K yen, while I was taking this pic the guy came out and said it had been there for a while and he would let it go for 550K, I had that look on my face the rest of the day.

see you guys soon!

[FG Lurker]

You have to be very careful buying used cars in Japan, especially outside of the big carmaker used dealerships. Rolling back odometers is just the beginning!

There are no laws here about disclosing previous accident damage, and there are a lot of total write-off cars being resold. You can even find instances of two different cars stitched together! No shit -- they will take the front of one car that got rear-ended, and the back of a car that had frontal damage and weld em together. You can sometimes find this by checking the car's VIN numbers -- the number in the back of the car should match the number in the engine compartment. These do not always match, I'm not kidding!

(One should also be very careful buying cars through the used-car export system here too. A lot of the exporters roll back the odometers before the car leaves Japan. The overseas dealer that buys the car knows it has had its odometer rolled back, but of course the customer (aka sucker) buying the car from the overseas dealer doesn't.)