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Final spring we took an unconventional journey to Japan. As a substitute of the standard few days in Tokyo and different massive cities, we opted to lease 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 recollections had been spent subsequent to streams, mountains, and seashores throughout rural Japan.
If you happen to’re presently planning a visit to Japan, I needed to share a couple of issues I want we had identified earlier than renting an RV in Japan.
Why Would You Hire an RV in Japan?
Japan is understood for having a few of THE finest public transportation in the complete 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 may lease a motorhome and take a highway journey throughout Japan.
Why would you keep in an RV versus a resort?
For most individuals, you’re most likely much better off staying in lodges or Airbnbs in cities. Nonetheless, for us, RVing has at all times been our favourite mode of journey. We will 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) might be a fantastic 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 Corporations in Japan
There are a number of firms to select from when renting a camper in Japan. Lots 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 had been booked up.
Beneath 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 once we visited.
This was the primary firm I reached out to whereas researching. They confirmed up first in Google and had a number of completely different vans and a few motorhomes to select from. Sadly, they didn’t have availability for our dates. They appear to be choice for vacationers based mostly on the variety of optimistic 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 might be a fantastic choice for renting a van in Japan, however the vans are doubtless 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 identical 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 a large car parking zone and ample room for parking motorhomes.
We had been greeted by the supervisor who took us via a tour of the RV and talked with us about toll passes, GPS, and some other questions we had.
I used to be very fearful 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 nearly everybody used Google Translate or a translation gadget. Even if you happen to stroll as much as somebody and ask for his or her assist, most individuals wouldn’t be offended if you happen to had your Google translate app out and able to use. In truth, 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 via Tokyo, you may watch the video beneath.
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 highway and the best aspect of the car, like within the UK or Australia.
I’m at all times just a little nervous in the case of driving in a brand new nation. I mustn’t have been involved in Japan. Even after I unintentionally exited the freeway in downtown Tokyo, I used to be in a position to navigate again onto the primary highway.
An sudden good thing about our rental was our toll move. I didn’t understand it on the time, however there are toll roads just about all over the 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 move, known as an ETC, made driving via the tolls seamless. We might gradual, however notice cease on the gates and they might routinely carry. Our ETC would say what number of yen we had 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 may 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 highway journey, there was sufficient house for the 4 of us.
One beauty of the RV being so small is that you may park anyplace a standard automotive can park. We drove into the outdated metropolis of Kanazawa and had been in a position to park in a downtown metropolis car parking zone with no downside.
In contrast to different RV leases, not every thing got here included. For add-on purchases, we rented additional bedding, pots and pans, desk and chairs, and a vast wifi bundle (extremely advocate, labored nice). You’ll be capable to choose these choices at checkout.
My greatest 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 lavatory conditions.
That being mentioned, the lavatory state of affairs wasn’t all that unhealthy. The toilet appears to be like just like different RV bogs. You may have a closed-off door and a proper-looking bathroom. However as an alternative of your bathroom being hooked to a black tank, it simply has a sack/bag in it.
You refill the bag after which dump it within the rubbish.
Did I really feel bizarre strolling via campsites with a bag of my pee in it? Sure.
Was it the worst factor on the earth? No.
If you wish to see a full tour of our motorhome, you may watch our video beneath.
What Japanese Campgrounds Are Like
Japanese campgrounds are completely different.
A number of of those we encountered had been giant fields versus particular person campsites. There are not any dump stations since autos don’t have operating bogs. There’s a jug beneath the sink that you may empty and refill at campsites.
Most individuals had 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 prematurely. We like to see what we discover alongside the way in which. Nonetheless, we had been not sure of how straightforward it could be to name campgrounds in Japan with the language barrier. And when researching we observed that nearly each campground web site mentioned reservations are required.
We booked each night time prematurely. It was comparatively straightforward as most campgrounds have some type of on-line reserving or reservation inquiry kind. Some campgrounds do say to name, which was subsequent to unimaginable to do from the States. We searched and located e mail addresses for any campgrounds the place we needed to remain. This took a big period of time however was effectively price it. Each night time of our journey was deliberate and coordinated. We did cancel our final campground reservation so we might return to Tokyo early and take the youngsters to Disney Sea. They had been the one campground that was paid prematurely and we noticed a portion of our payment 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 an alternative. We picked up yen earlier than leaving the States, which I might advocate if attainable. Playing cards are usually not often accepted throughout the nation.
Professional tip: Print out your whole e mail confirmations so you may merely hand them to the park upon arrival. These will likely be in Japanese, so we wrote the date and Google Maps identify 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 Hire an RV In Japan?
If you wish to have a very completely different expertise than 95% of the individuals who go to Japan, I might extremely advocate renting an RV.
Our favourite experiences in Japan had 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 recollections wouldn’t have occurred had we not gotten off the overwhelmed path.
Questions on planning a Japanese highway journey?
Drop them within the feedback! We’re comfortable to assist!