Road trip in Japan

Hello,

Me and my girlfriend want to go to Japan from 05/08/16 untill 23/08/16.
My question : Is it possible to do a road trip in Japan? We always do road trips (did some in USA & EU before). I see alot of stuff about the trains. But i like to drive around when i'm on holiday.
Is there any one with some experience ?

Thanks

Sure no problem, as long as you have can obtain a valid International Drivers Permit you can rent a car and explore the country. Driving is a great way to get out to the lesser visited areas, but keep in mind its not so good if you are mainly sticking to the big cities. In that case you'd probably be better off using trains.

Yes you can.
But, it is difficult if you're in Tokyo or Osaka.
Because of traffic jam.

Parking is also often a problem in the bigger cities, so make sure any accommodation has parking available.

Trains are easier for the general Japan trip; cars are only advised if you want to go somewhere off the beaten track.

Why no problem?
Obon week (mid Aug) is one of heavy traffic jam season by big urban city travelers out and back.
https://youtu.be/MOAFah5Ul2s
https://img1-kakaku.ssl.k-img.com/images/maga/3320/se353_img02.jpg
Just not all area but around major tourist spots also big summer fes with fireworks very crowed.

No problem as in there are no fundamental issues (licensing, car rental) that would make doing a roadtrip impossible. You still have to consider regular travel problems as with any trip (travelling over busy holiday periods, major events, etc.). Obon traffic for example is very easy to deal with. Notice how it is all going one direction. Go the other direction (toward the big cities at the beginning) or don't move around much during that few day period. As a tourist you have flexibility to use to your advantage.

Work out your itinerary first.

Almost everyone wants to spend some time in at least one large city. Many visit both Tokyo and Kyoto, for example, before heading to smaller places.

In cities, there's next to no point in having a car. Public transport is great, cheap, and fast. Parking is expensive, and relatively scarce.

If I was in Tokyo, and wanting to hire a car to get out of town for a few days, I'd even consider finding a car hire office which was on the outskirts of the metropolis and near to a train station so that I could avoid crawling out of the city centre (and paying the expressway tolls).

For one-way trips, especially if you're starting in one prefecture or region and finishing in another, you will almost certainly have to pay a heavy additional fee, so travel between cities is also often best (quickest, cheapest, easiest) by train (or even bus, or plane if the journey is a long one).

Hiring a car for a few days to do a circular route (e.g. from Kyoto, into the countryside, up to Kinosaki and back via Lake Biwa, for instance), can be a great experience and can be relatively cheap. Driving in Japan is fairly easy, and gps generally comes as standard. There's some good car hire info on the main Japan-guide website.

Once you have a rough itinerary/wish list of places, maybe then check out one of the car hire websites and get an idea of the costs and the options...

I've travelled around Shikoku by car, along with a couple of more rural places in Honshu. In general - I find that driving in the more country areas of Japan is an absolute blast - apart from the absolutely slow speed limites.

Japan also has a lot of expressways, which are great but add a large chunk to your costs. I also try and avoid major cities with a car like the plague. The biggest cities I have driven through includes Kanazawa and Takamatsu. Both have reasonably heavy traffic - even at non-peak times.

As such - a good possible mix is to Shinkansen or bus (or money is a problem) between the main cities, but then hire a car in less busy areas. Shikoku is a great place to drive for 1 or 2 weeks.

I went on a trip to Japan with a group of friends and we rented a van. It was the worst idea ever! Driving around in and funding parking in Tokyo was a nightmare (and the cost is insane). We left Tokyo early because we couldn't afford to pay for parking anymore. It wasn't so bad in smaller towns traffic and parking-wise, but there are a lot of toll boths on the highways and we got tired of constantly having to pay just to drive down the road (we're from Alberta and the highways don't have tolls here, so it was a new experience for us).

It's your choice of course, but I'd recommend sticking to the amazing train system!

@Kirjava444 That is why no one here ever recommends using a car in the big cities. Outside of them, a car is often the way to go, as public transportation can be scarce in smaller or less well known areas, and even Japan's lovely trains can be infrequent or inconvenient (or non-existant; many rural areas aren't serviced at all). With a car you can explore easily and be flexible. I've done many a road trip in Japan, and they are always fun and interesting, as long as you stay clear of Tokyo!

And yes, tolls are expensive. That's just the road system here. Notice how nice the roads are though? Your money funds constant and consistent upkeep and fast action when there is a problem. Although I wish they'd bring back some of the discount days and times they had a few years ago, I don't mind paying the tolls for use of the roads. And If the tolls are too expensive, there are always regular roads. You trade time for money, so OP keep that in mind!