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Final spring we took an unconventional journey to Japan. As an alternative of the normal few days in Tokyo and different massive cities, we opted to hire an RV in Japan and spend two weeks exploring backroads and small cities. We nonetheless loved a few of the highlights in Tokyo, Kanazawa, and Kyoto, however a few of our favourite reminiscences have been spent subsequent to streams, mountains, and seashores throughout rural Japan.
If you happen to’re at present planning a visit to Japan, I wished to share just a few issues I want we had recognized earlier than renting an RV in Japan.
Why Would You Lease an RV in Japan?
Japan is understood for having a few of THE greatest public transportation in your entire world. Plus, a lot of the cultural experiences that vacationers search after could be present in Tokyo or Osaka.
However for an genuine Japanese expertise, you’ll be able to hire a motorhome and take a street journey throughout Japan.
Why would you keep in an RV versus a lodge?
For most individuals, you’re most likely much better off staying in motels or Airbnbs in cities. Nonetheless, for us, RVing has all the time been our favourite mode of journey. We are able to sleep in the identical mattress each night time, camp in nature, and get away from the crowds to discover off the overwhelmed path.
If you happen to’re somebody who likes to discover smaller cities and nature, renting an RV in Japan (or a van) may very well be an important choice.
Particularly if you wish to get up with views like this.
Or drink espresso with views like this.
The place to Discover RV Rental Firms in Japan
There are a number of firms to select from when renting a camper in Japan. A lot of them supply vans, however there are additionally a number of who supply motorhomes too. We visited throughout peak season and rented our RV comparatively late, so many have been booked up.
Under are two RV rental firms in Japan that I researched earlier than discovering our chosen rental supplier. Each had nice evaluations, however no availability throughout cherry blossom season after we visited.
This was the primary firm I reached out to whereas researching. They confirmed up first in Google and had a number of totally different vans and a few motorhomes to select from. Sadly, they didn’t have availability for our dates. They appear to be a great choice for vacationers based mostly on the variety of constructive Google evaluations they’ve on their web page.
This firm builds out and rents its vans. Their evaluations are prime notch and the inside design of their vans is gorgeous. If you happen to’re visiting Japan as a pair or solo traveler, they may very well be an important choice for renting a van in Japan, however the vans are probably too small for households.
Who We Rented Our RV From
We rented from an organization known as El Monte RV. They’ve a handful of pickup places round Tokyo to select from. We picked up ours from the Funabashi department.
By the way in which, if this RV firm sounds acquainted and also you’re based mostly within the US, it’s as a result of El Monte is a well-liked RV rental firm within the States. We reached out to the US firm to ask if there was an affiliation. Seems, it’s the similar firm!
The pickup course of was comparatively simple. It took us a few minutes to seek out their location because it’s nestled behind a house items retailer. Like many rental firms, they’ve an enormous parking zone and ample room for parking motorhomes.
We have been greeted by the supervisor who took us by way of a tour of the RV and talked with us about toll passes, GPS, and every other questions we had.
I used to be very nervous about not talking Japanese on this journey and dealing with communication. Everybody warned us that nobody in Japan speaks English. What we encountered throughout our time in Japan was that just about everybody used Google Translate or a translation machine. Even when you stroll as much as somebody and ask for his or her assist, most individuals wouldn’t be offended when you had your Google translate app out and able to use. The truth is, they may have theirs out earlier than you!
We had no translation points whereas choosing up our rental.
If you wish to see our expertise choosing up our RV rental and driving it by way of Tokyo, you’ll be able to watch the video under.
What It’s Like Driving an RV in Japan
The roads in Japan are spectacular. They’re clear, the signage is unbelievable, and Japanese drivers are the friendliest I’ve ever encountered in any nation. They do drive on the left aspect of the street and the precise aspect of the automobile, like within the UK or Australia.
I’m all the time a bit of nervous in the case of driving in a brand new nation. I mustn’t have been involved in Japan. Even once I by chance exited the freeway in downtown Tokyo, I used to be in a position to navigate again onto the primary street.
An surprising advantage of our rental was our toll go. I didn’t understand it on the time, however there are toll roads just about in every single place in Japan. We often would evaluate our routes to go non-toll versus toll, however it by no means made sense to keep away from tolls.
Our toll go, known as an ETC, made driving by way of the tolls seamless. We might sluggish, however observe cease on the gates and they might mechanically raise. Our ETC would say what number of yen we have been charged at that toll gate. On the finish of the journey, El Monte calculated the toll invoice and we paid them straight. For 2 weeks, it was about $250 USD for all tolls.
What to Count on from an RV Rental in Japan
As you’ll be able to think about, most of the motorhomes are very small. Our motorhome was 16 ft lengthy. For reference, that is smaller than an American minivan (which is about 17 ft).
Nonetheless, for a two-week street journey, there was sufficient house for the 4 of us.
One wonderful thing about the RV being so small is that you could park anyplace a traditional automobile can park. We drove into the previous metropolis of Kanazawa and have been in a position to park in a downtown metropolis parking zone with no downside.
Not like different RV leases, not every thing got here included. For add-on purchases, we rented further bedding, pots and pans, desk and chairs, and an infinite wifi package deal (extremely suggest, labored nice). You’ll be capable of choose these choices at checkout.
My largest concern about renting an RV in Japan was the lavatory.
I couldn’t discover ANY van rental firms in Japan with an actual bathroom or cassette bathroom on board. Our motorhome rental got here with an “emergency bathroom”. I had no thought what constituted an emergency earlier than choosing up this RV. We’ve got a four-year-old and a two-year-old. We’re perpetually in a state of emergency rest room conditions.
That being stated, the lavatory scenario wasn’t all that unhealthy. The toilet appears to be like much like different RV loos. You may have a closed-off door and a proper-looking bathroom. However as a substitute of your bathroom being hooked to a black tank, it simply has a sack/bag in it.
You replenish the bag after which dump it within the rubbish.
Did I really feel bizarre strolling by way of campsites with a bag of my pee in it? Sure.
Was it the worst factor on this planet? No.
If you wish to see a full tour of our motorhome, you’ll be able to watch our video under.
What Japanese Campgrounds Are Like
Japanese campgrounds are totally different.
A number of of those we encountered have been massive fields versus particular person campsites. There aren’t any dump stations since autos don’t have operating bathrooms. There’s a jug beneath the sink that you could empty and refill at campsites.
Most individuals have been in tents. We noticed a handful of vans and even fewer motorhomes like ours. As our journey progressed, we did discover campgrounds that extra carefully resembled RV parks within the US with particular person campsites.
Do you want reservations?
For 90% of our RV journey plans, we don’t e book upfront. We like to see what we discover alongside the way in which. Nonetheless, we have been not sure of how simple it might be to name campgrounds in Japan with the language barrier. And when researching we observed that just about each campground web site stated reservations are required.
We booked each night time upfront. It was comparatively simple as most campgrounds have some type of on-line reserving or reservation inquiry type. Some campgrounds do say to name, which was subsequent to unattainable to do from the States. We searched and located e mail addresses for any campgrounds the place we wished to remain. This took a big period of time however was nicely price it. Each night time of our journey was deliberate and coordinated. We did cancel our final campground reservation so we may return to Tokyo early and take the youngsters to Disney Sea. They have been the one campground that was paid upfront and we noticed a portion of our charge refunded.
Whereas we made reservations, only a few campgrounds requested us to pay on-line or reserve with a card forward of time. Most accepted yen in particular person as a substitute. We picked up yen earlier than leaving the States, which I might suggest if potential. Playing cards aren’t often accepted throughout the nation.
Professional tip: Print out all your e mail confirmations so you’ll be able to merely hand them to the park upon arrival. These shall be in Japanese, so we wrote the date and Google Maps title on the highest of every sheet. This made it simpler for us to seek out our campsites each afternoon and made check-in even simpler.
Ought to You Lease an RV In Japan?
If you wish to have a really totally different expertise than 95% of the individuals who go to Japan, I might extremely suggest renting an RV.
Our favourite experiences in Japan have been assembly individuals and discovering locations off the overwhelmed path. One night time, we camped at a family-owned restaurant and the proprietor took me out and let me dig up bamboo and taught me to cook dinner it. One other day we toured a rural inexperienced tea plantation.
When you can have unbelievable experiences in Japanese cities, a lot of our favourite reminiscences wouldn’t have occurred had we not gotten off the overwhelmed path.
Questions on planning a Japanese street journey?
Drop them within the feedback! We’re completely happy to assist!
