Car ferry - any experience?

Hi, to everybody, from 12th of August to 3rd of September I rented a Camper Van. Taking and drop-off will be Tokyo. After researching a lot I would like mainly travel in Shikoku and maybe Kyushu. To avoid a lot of driving, thinking about taking one direction a car ferry from either f.e. Tokyo to Tokushima oder back from somewhere f.e. Kitakyushu to Tokyo. I�Lve found Ferry lines and timetables, but couldn't figure out, whether these are car ferries and have not found a booking page in English. Can anyone help? Thanks you very much.

No experience in car ferries, but maybe this is the webpage you are looking for?
https://www.otf.jp/fee
Around 37,000 yens one way for the car + a supplement for a private room.

There's much less information on the English page (at least they have the timetables), but you should be able to make a reservation with the help of Google translate.
https://www.otf.jp/english-page/

Oops, I looked at the rates for Tokyo-Tokushima but... That was for a standard vehicle. A campervan of 6~7meters would cost 53,900 yens.

Thanks a lot. Will Check the site. I�eve booked a small Camper. Length is 5 meters.

You would be better off booking a van much closer. Tokyo pickup/return make no sense if you wanna do Shikoku and Kyushu. Kobe? Fukuoka?

Van on a ferry is 2x cost of shinkansen ticket to Okayama. And about 10x slower or more.

Have you considered booking a camper van in Shikoku? Or maybe Osaka?

I am also overall wondering if campervan will be cost effective with all the road toll and the costs for the ferry. a normal car (rented in Shikoku and separately in Kyushu) plus hotel might be cheaper.

I have used car ferries a number of times. And what I have learned is that they are very expensive if you bring a car. Often it is cheaper to rent a separate car on each side of a ferry trip than brining the car onto a ferry. So, I would generally avoid bringning a car onto a car ferry unless it is your only option (e.g. you want to bring your car to Sado or Hokkaido). As for online reservations in English, it depends on the company. Some have them, but many have Japanese only.

Specifically for your trip, if you plan to explore just Shikoku, then I recommend renting your camper in Shikoku, Okayama or Osaka. If you plan to explore Shikoku AND Kyushu, then I recommend a pick-up location somewhere between Hiroshima and Oita (with a ferry ride between Yawatahama and Usuki):
https://www.uwajimaunyu.co.jp/english/

Hello, thank you for your feedback. As my travel dates, at least the start falls in the O-Bon week, and I am also very busy due to the German school vacations, it was important for me to book in January. Renting a small camper (I'm traveling with my son) greatly reduced the choice. I couldn't find a suitable provider directly on Shikoku. Unfortunately, dropping off at another location is also very expensive. From everything I've read so far, traveling in a camper gives me a lot of flexibility and saves me from having to constantly search for (or precisely plan) accommodation. But, I admit, it would be more comfortable to travel longer distances by train and book a car on the spot on a daily basis. But in addition it would have ended up much more expensive. With a camper, the journey is the reward 😉.