Stay at Otaru for 5 days

We are from Taiwan and plan to stay at Hokkaido for 5 days as a so call ''DIY'' travel.
My wife and my 2 children (age 3Yrs, 1.5 Yrs) will be the member in this trip.
We prefer to stay at Otaru for 5 days as to enjoy a quiet snowing harbor city, and
take it as a hub to visit neighbor cities by train, bus or car(we prefer to travel by car).
As need to take care of my wife and 2 children while traveling in Japan.
(We have never been to Japan and can not read, speak Japanese.)
I would like to check something before flying to HOKKAIDO.
(Background: My wife and I have been to Singaporo, Vancouver for ''DIY'' travel before, and
I have been to China, U.S.A alone for business travel.)

I would appreciate any advice on the following issues.
a), Will it be a problem in communciation with other in English?
b), Is it safe if we rent a car at the Chitose International Air Port and drive all the way to Otaru?
c), Which car rent company is providing a good service?
c), Can we buy a pre-paid cell phone card (for 3G cell phone) at Airport or some local convenience store?
d), As to stay at Otaru for 5 days, so which hotel in Otaru can speak English in communication?
e), Is it a good idea for staying at Otaru for 5 days?

Thanks for your commects.

Cooper Chiu

Will it be a problem in communciation with other in English?

Many people in Japan are not comfortable with communicating in English. But unless you have some complicated requests, it is usually easy to get things across even if the other person's English and your Japanese is bad.

Is it safe if we rent a car at the Chitose International Air Port and drive all the way to Otaru?

Driving on the left needs time to get used to. But if you are very careful, it should be no problem. Additionally, there is a chance of snow on the roads. Be very careful about that. Otaru can easily be reached by expressway from Shin-Chitose Airport in about one hour. Expressway tolls are about 2000 yen one way.

Which car rent company is providing a good service?

Service is generally good in Japan. I always use Toyota Rentacar because of the good service, but they don't have an English website:
http://rent.toyota.co.jp/top.asp

For low rates and an English reservation interface, I recommend the following service:
http://www.japan-guide.com/ad/coocom2.html

Is it a good idea for staying at Otaru for 5 days?

It depends on where you want to go.

Otaru is a relatively good base to visit Sapporo (by train or car), Niseko and some other ski resorts in the area (by car). But other destinations are probably easier accessible from Sapporo. 5 days is a long time.

I think you should consider staying in two or three cities rather than in just one base city. Since you have a car, you can use it to store your luggage during daytime.

i think u should NOT spend 5 days in otaru. coz it is a small town. I think u should spend more time in hakodate, which is my favorate city in hokkaido.
BTW, sapporo and otaru are very small.

Otaru is a small city, but Sapporo is a very large city with over a million inhabitants.

Sapporo-population 1.88 Million
Hakodate-population 293,000

Otaru-population 141,000

First of all,
Thans for your kindly response, thank you!!

We took days in thinking of your suggestion and collecting info for new schudule.
The itinerary we are thinking now is as following.
Day1: landing New Chitose Air port, rent a car(Toyota) and drive all the way to Otaru("Etchuya-Ryokan hotel")
Day2: Enjoy this quiet snowing harbor city, stay at Otary all day long.
Day3: Drive to(by National Route 5) Yoichi for short visit and drive all the way to Niseko, stay at Niseko(any suggestion for a hotel?)
Day4: enjoy snow field of Niseko, Mt. Yotei and drive all the way to Lake Toyo(take route 32) and stay at Horobetsu over night.
Day5: Visit "Nixe Aquarium" and "bear mountain, and Lake Shikotsu and drive all the way to Sapporo
Day6: Enjoy Sapporo morning and go to New Chitose Air Port, take off at 3:30 to Taiwan.

May I ask some question again? thanks!!
I would appreciate any advice on the following issues!!
a), The National Route 5, and route 32 condition is ok for me to drive from Yoichi to Nesiko during winter time?
(I will rent a Toyota, Land Cruiser)
b), Please advise me if above plan is not practicable.
c), What fast you can drive(speed in km) in Expressway, Nation route, state route based on your experience in eary January?
d), Can it possible, for day 4 plan, after Mt Yotei, can it possible for me to drive all the way to Hakodate(any suggestion for a hotel?)
then, day 5 will be, visiting Hakodate and drive to Sapporo.

Thanks for your commects.

Cooper Chiu

That is quite a drastic change to your previous plan! But I think it is an improvement. It is quite busy, though. Almost too busy, maybe.

stay at Horobetsu over night

Do you mean Noboribetsu?

The National Route 5, and route 32 condition is ok for me to drive from Yoichi to Nesiko during winter time?

Yes, the road is open around the year. I did it last year (a winter with little snow) and the entire road was free of snow. But I think two years ago (a winter with lots of snow), most of the road was snow covered. So, there is a risk of snow covered roads. Be careful about that.

Please advise me if above plan is not practicable.

As mentioned above, the itinerary looks quite busy. It is quite a lot of driving plus you intend to see quite a few places along the way. The route itself looks nice and practicable, but I would be prepared to maybe not have enough time to see all the spots along the way.

What fast you can drive(speed in km) in Expressway, Nation route, state route based on your experience in eary January?

There is a big difference between snow covered road and snow free road. You should be driving slower when the road is covered by snow. Even if it is not snow covered, you have to be careful, of course.

The speed limit is 80-100 km/h on expressways. 30-60 km/h on other roads, but if the roads are free of snow, many drivers drive about 10 to 20 km/h above the speed limit.

Can it possible, for day 4 plan, after Mt Yotei, can it possible for me to drive all the way to Hakodate(any suggestion for a hotel?)
then, day 5 will be, visiting Hakodate and drive to Sapporo.

Hakodate is far away. I definitely don't recommend it, since your plan is already quite busy.

Dear Uji

I was out for 2 days for business trip,
I should say ''thank you'' to you 2 days beofe.
But anyway, thanks!!, thank you for your kindly response.!!

finally!! had got the ticket!!
My family will be in Sapporo for this coming New Year!!
My wife wants to see Otaru.
My 2 kids want to see pigeon, bear....etc and sled/ski!
My self, want to see the Mt. Yutei.

All of us are going to Japan to enjoy the snow season in Hokkaido.
We are very interesting in Japan culture,
Hope, we will see what we are thinking to.

Again,
Thank you Uji, you are so kindly!!
Thank you!!

Best regards

Cooper Chiu

I hope you will enjoy your trip!