Driving in Japan

Old Oct 8th, 2002, 06:49 AM
  #1  
Stephen
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Driving in Japan

Me and my entourage of 8 are interested in traveling Yokohama/Kyoto/Yokohama/Tokyo via 8 passenger Hertz Minivan for a week for a saving of $1500. over taking JR railways. My wife is Japanese and can help with the navagation. Can anyone offer advise on travel time; a Mapquest trip calculator (none found on the web) or any other experience that can help determine if this is a viable travel mode?
 
Old Oct 8th, 2002, 03:35 PM
  #2  
drive
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Driving in Japan is not for the faint at heart. Look at Google and use "driving in Japan" for example to see many discussions on this. I hope you have factored in prohibitive toll fees, high gas prices, and high parking cost in big cities you mentioned, not to mention that car travel is NOT the fastest way to travel betweem cities.
Also the size of car you are interested puts you in a higher liability side in case of accident because of size based liability unlike anything you are used to.
 
Old Oct 8th, 2002, 09:21 PM
  #3  
Marilyn
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Stephen, you are a brave soul. I would be terrified to drive in a country where I couldn't read the road signs. Keep in mind that your reaction time will be considerably slowed by the fact that your wife will have to tell you what signs say before you can respond to them. And, um, don't they drive on the left? Whew. Maybe you're not brave, just insane!

Also, I have been driven around Tokyo a number of times and the traffic can be horrendous -- this includes getting out of town.

If you do actually do this, you've GOT to post back here how it was.
 
Old Oct 9th, 2002, 02:46 AM
  #4  
John
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I would not worry about driving in Japan although you may find driving in the large cities a little testing on your patience when you get lost.

The Japanese are not very aggressive drivers compared to drivers in other parts of Asia and the rest of the world. Yes the signs will be tricky to read but this is a problem in places such as Thailand. Your wife will be able to translate initially but you will soon learn the main ones - she can teach you the really important ones in advance.

Driving on the the side you are not used to is not a problem for most capable people. The steering wheel is on the wrong side and so you will find it very strange to drive on the right.

Although I have never driven in Japan I hjave driven in many other parts of the world and have hitchiked around Japan. If you enjoy a bit of a challenge I think this sounds a great idea - I would love to do it.
 
Old Oct 9th, 2002, 10:54 AM
  #5  
Dwane
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I lived in Tokyo for almost 3 years with a family of 5 and owned a car half of the time.

The train is much more efficient way of travel. It is clean, safe and on time. We only used the car for large grocery shopping, church (when bus routes where not running) and trips outside the city.

The traffic is terrible during peak times. It makes LA / NY traffic look simple. Parking is also a problem finding a place and it is expensive.

The drivers are courteous. You can navigate around the city with signs of mostly roman characters.

I do not know of any time calculators since they would depend on time of day for traffic status.
 
Old Oct 11th, 2002, 06:11 AM
  #6  
Tom
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In Japan, many wives drive their husbands. Maybe your wife can do the driving for you.
 
Old Oct 14th, 2002, 11:24 AM
  #7  
Don
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Be sure to factor tolls into the equation. In and around Tokyo, it seemed that most roads were toll roads. I read that tolls between Tokyo and Kyoto can total more than $400. Have fun!
 
Old Oct 14th, 2002, 07:53 PM
  #8  
geisha
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I live in Yokohama, and I drive, but I would never drive to Kyoto. The driving itself is not difficult, you adapt quickly to being on the other side of the car and road. Road signs on highways are also easy to follow, for example, lots of highways have letter or number names like K3. It's the unpredictable traffic! On a bad day, the trip to Kyoto could take 10 hours or more, vs. 2 hours on the shinkansen. And tolls are SO expensive! I've read they average about $1 U.S. per mile. (Too much hassle for me to figure yen/km, so I trust them.) I know from Yokohama it is about $65 one way to Narita airport, so that seems about right. You may want to rethink your decision. Good luck!
 
Old Nov 30th, 2002, 03:49 AM
  #9  
Ross F. Mitchell
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Hi there, I have lived in Japan for 8 years and have been driving ever since I arrived with company provided transportation. If you are visiting Japan I highly reccommend getting a Japan Rail Pass so that you can sit back and enjoy the view. Traffic congestion is unholy, it takes me an hour and fifteen minutes in the morning to drive 23km.Yes, there are lots of English signs in certain areas but off the beaten path you'll be lucky to find any signs period. Parking is expensive, parking tickets are $200.00 US in Tokyo and the road tolls really add up. Too many friends have missed flights by attempting the drive to Narita only to be held up my road crews planting vines in the expressway medians! Trust me! Take the train!!
 
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