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Final spring we took an unconventional journey to Japan. As a substitute 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 among the highlights in Tokyo, Kanazawa, and Kyoto, however a few of our favourite reminiscences had been spent subsequent to streams, mountains, and seashores throughout rural Japan.
If you happen to’re presently planning a visit to Japan, I wished to share just a few issues I want we had identified earlier than renting an RV in Japan.
Why Would You Lease an RV in Japan?
Japan is thought for having a few of THE greatest public transportation in the whole world. Plus, a lot of the cultural experiences that vacationers search after will be present in Tokyo or Osaka.
However for an genuine Japanese expertise, you’ll be able to hire a motorhome and take a highway journey throughout Japan.
Why would you keep in an RV versus a lodge?
For most individuals, you’re in all probability much better off staying in lodges or Airbnbs in cities. Nonetheless, for us, RVing has all the time been our favourite mode of journey. We will sleep in the identical mattress each evening, camp in nature, and get away from the crowds to discover off the crushed 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 an excellent 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. 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 had 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 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 high 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 an excellent choice for renting a van in Japan, however the vans are possible too small for households.
Who We Rented Our RV From
We rented from an organization referred to 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 search out their location because it’s nestled behind a house items retailer. Like many rental firms, they’ve a large parking zone and ample room for parking motorhomes.
We had been greeted by the supervisor who took us by means 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 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 just about everybody used Google Translate or a translation machine. Even for those who stroll as much as somebody and ask for his or her assist, most individuals wouldn’t be offended for those who 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 selecting up our rental.
If you wish to see our expertise selecting up our RV rental and driving it by means of Tokyo, you’ll be able to 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 facet of the highway and the correct facet of the car, like within the UK or Australia.
I’m all the time a bit nervous in relation to driving in a brand new nation. I shouldn’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 principle highway.
An sudden good thing about our rental was our toll cross. I didn’t realize it on the time, however there are toll roads just about all over the place in Japan. We sometimes would evaluate our routes to go non-toll versus toll, nevertheless it by no means made sense to keep away from tolls.
Our toll cross, referred to as an ETC, made driving by means of the tolls seamless. We’d sluggish, however word cease on the gates and they’d 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 immediately. 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 highway journey, there was sufficient house for the 4 of us.
One wonderful thing about the RV being so small is that you could park wherever 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 parking zone with no drawback.
Not like different RV leases, not the whole lot got here included. For add-on purchases, we rented additional bedding, pots and pans, desk and chairs, and a vast wifi bundle (extremely suggest, labored nice). You’ll have the ability to choose these choices at checkout.
My largest worry about renting an RV in Japan was the toilet.
I couldn’t discover ANY van rental firms in Japan with an actual rest room or cassette rest room on board. Our motorhome rental got here with an “emergency rest room”. I had no thought what constituted an emergency earlier than selecting 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 stated, the toilet state of affairs wasn’t all that dangerous. The toilet seems just like different RV bogs. You’ve got a closed-off door and a proper-looking rest room. However as a substitute of your rest room 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 means 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 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 working bogs. There’s a jug below the sink that you could 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 intently resembled RV parks within the US with particular person campsites.
Do you want reservations?
For 90% of our RV journey plans, we don’t ebook prematurely. We like to see what we discover alongside the way in which. Nonetheless, we had been uncertain of how simple it could be to name campgrounds in Japan with the language barrier. And when researching we seen that just about each campground web site stated reservations are required.
We booked each evening prematurely. 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 electronic mail addresses for any campgrounds the place we wished to remain. This took a big period of time however was effectively value it. Each evening 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 price 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 individual as a substitute. We picked up yen earlier than leaving the States, which I might suggest if doable. Playing cards aren’t steadily accepted throughout the nation.
Professional tip: Print out your entire electronic mail confirmations so you’ll be able to merely hand them to the park upon arrival. These can 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 search 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 very completely different expertise than 95% of the individuals who go to Japan, I might extremely suggest renting an RV.
Our favourite experiences in Japan had been assembly individuals and discovering locations off the crushed path. One evening, we camped at a family-owned restaurant and the proprietor took me out and let me dig up bamboo and taught me to prepare dinner it. One other day we toured a rural inexperienced tea plantation.
When you can have unbelievable experiences in Japanese cities, lots of our favourite reminiscences wouldn’t have occurred had we not gotten off the crushed path.
Questions on planning a Japanese highway journey?
Drop them within the feedback! We’re glad to assist!