Road Trips in Japan

In the US I used to take road trips with my friends all the time.
I want to do a road trip in Japan, but the tolls are so expensive compared to the US.
Can anyone recommend a scenic road trip that avoids tolls?
Preferably in the Hokuriku area, but anywhere is fine!
I bookmarked a bunch of road trip websites for the US, Canada, etc.
Haven't found one for Japan though.

Your query is a bit vague (where would be your starting point, when are you planning on doing it?), but you might find some ideas in my blog on my 46,000km driving trip round Japan (afraid you'll need to scroll through it, as its now getting a bit long!):
https://myjapantravels.wordpress.com/

Select "avoid tolls" on Google Maps. There's plenty of slower speed roads

Sorry, on re-reading, I saw you did mention Hokuriku...Noto-hanto is great, as is the Itoigawa National Geological Park (although the town itself is not especially interesting). If you head further south towards Hakuba, you get some lovely views of the mountains, or head east to the area around Mt Myoko and/or Naena Falls. The general area around Nozawa onsen is very pretty too...quite frankly, this is such a lovely part of Japan (especially the inland bits), that almost any road you take will give you a nice drive...

Any trip you can do on the expressway you can do without tolls on regular roads, it's just that the expressway can save a lot of time. For road tripping, you often want the scenic route anyway. So as a previous poster said, just select your to and from destinations on google maps then choose "avoid tolls" and you'll get the route that takes regular roads.

As to where to go, there are a ton of really nice drives. I've done road trips through Nagano and Niigata, through the Noto Peninsula as recommended above (and it's definitely a great choice!), through Gifu which was also fun. I've never been to Fukui, but have heard great things about it.

If you are renting a car, most of them have GPS, just select your destination, and select toll free roads.

There are a lot of great options for road trips in Japan, depending on how much time you have. One great route that is almost entirely toll-free would be Izumo Shrine in Shimane to Amanohashidate in northern Kyoto, following the East Japan Sea coast through Matsue, Sakaiminato, Tottori sand dunes, Tajima Daibutsu, and Kinosaki onsen, doable in 2-4 days depending on how much driving you want to do in a day. Shikoku is also great for road trips.

Most of the roads in the countryside are scenic and jam-free as opposed to expressways where you often have walls and can't slow down to enjoy the scenery. Try anywhere outside shutoken (Greater Tokyo). You'll love it. And if you're renting a car, rent local and ask the local dealer for nice roads.

You can also ask motorbike riders for more information, because those are the people who truly enjoy long road trips in Japan.

That would be an adventure for sure to go for a road trip using a motorcycle. Any idea where to rent big displacement motorcycle at Japan?

Hope anyone could share a lead where to rent one.

Googling seems to get lots of answers....even one which is a thread on this forum.....

You have a good point, Winston. The problem is even though I translate it I still can't really understand the info of Japanese site.

Which would be a problem indeed, if the first search result doesn't take you to a website which is entirely in English....

Very true enough Winter!

OK came across with this motorcycle rental site. I believe they also sell parts and accessories originally from Japan and US (http://4wheelonline.com/). Any thoughts or experience with their service?

https://www.rental819.com/english/