Travel Driving in Japan

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danno

Registered

1 May 2015

13

2

• 31 May 2015

• #1

How difficult is it for non-Japanese speakers to rent a car and drive in Japan, rural areas, not the big cities? My wife is a descendant of Japanese who immigrated to Canada more than 100 years ago. We want to rent a car at Toba Station, Mie, and drive to the farming district where her grandfather was born, near Taki-gun. We have no family connections in the area but would like to explore and try to find the ancestral farm and perhaps meet any distant relatives that may still live in the area. We hope to check at the local town office to see what records they may have. I realize this may be a long shot as neither of us can speak or read Japanese. Even just to see the local area would mean a lot to my wife. I would be interested in any thoughts or suggestions. (We do have an address from when her grandfather joined the military in 1904.)

 

Glenski

Just me

Twenty-year veteran

20 Aug 2003

4,910

416

• 31 May 2015

• #2

Renting a car is not so hard.
Driving effortlessly depends. Assuming you're Canadian, you are used to driving on the opposite side of the road than in Japan. That's the first thing to overcome, including being able to shift gears with your other hand.

Second, it all depends on how much Japanese is on the road signs. The more rural you get, the less likely there will be English. Can't say what the situation is with rental car navigation systems and English.

Taki is about 60 km from Toba, so figure at least an hour just to get there. (Google Maps will show the way.) But you can get there in less time than that for only 700 yen each if you take trains. See Hyperdia.com for how.

How are you going to locate the city office, let alone search records, if you can't read Japanese? And 1904 is quite a long time ago, so do you have any idea whether any relatives, let alone the farm, are even still there?

 

Last edited: 31 May 2015

D

danno

Registered

1 May 2015

13

2

• 31 May 2015

• Thread starter
• #3

I have located the Taki town office on Google Maps. From the address we have, I know the farm was located in a rural community called Yubu, and I have also found it on Google Maps which has many place names in both Japanese and English. So I am confident I can find these places, although if the car rental has an English GPS, it will be much easier. I am worried about the tolls on the Ise Expressway especially on the freeway exits. I read that some toll exits only accept the electronic reader and not cash payment.

We considered the train, the closest stations to Yubu are Oka and Sana. But when we exit the train, I am doubtful these small towns will have taxis and I don't really want to explore the entire area on foot!

 

Glenski

Just me

Twenty-year veteran

20 Aug 2003

4,910

416

• 4 Jun 2015

• #4

Electronic? Do you mean ETC? Mike Cash drives truck for a living here, so he can answer better, but I can't imagine a toll not taking cash. Perhaps what you read was merely a caution not to get into the wrong toll lane. Pretty hard to do, so don't worry.

 

D

danno

Registered

1 May 2015

13

2

• 4 Jun 2015

• Thread starter
• #5

I read a post on tripadvisor that some exits only accept ETC ...

 

Glenski

Just me

Twenty-year veteran

20 Aug 2003

4,910

416

• 5 Jun 2015

• #6

Here?
Driving in Japan...a firsthand experience - Japan Forum - TripAdvisor
The writer says smaller exits, and that he took them by mistake. And a couple of posts later someone wrote: Learn to read the signs and you should be able to tell which exits are ETC only.

Does this help?
ETC portal site

 

D

danno

Registered

1 May 2015

13

2

• 5 Jun 2015

• Thread starter
• #7

Yes, thanks!

 

Majestic

先輩

Ten-year veteran

12 Oct 2013

4,071

5,023

• 5 Jun 2015

• #8

Just checking cause I was curious, but some rental places provide cars equipped with ETC (including the card). The one below only has this service available in a few locations. Other companies might have more options.
Optional Equipment/Items | NIPPON RENT-A-CAR

 

think_too_mut

Chairman of the bored

11 Sep 2003

78

5

• 10 Jun 2015

• #9

Glenski said:

Here?
... And a couple of posts later someone wrote: Learn to read the signs and you should be able to tell which exits are ETC only.

Click to expand...

"Smart Exits", which are smaller exits, have no human crew and accept only ETC, they also operate until 10pm. Hard to encounter them unless one really wants. I went to Toba several times, can't remember any "Smart Exit", in fact, to get there it is the same highway as to Ise Jingu, most important temple in Japan, could be 10 lanes taking cash, ETC and even "right hand drive" toll boths.
Driving in Japan for a Canadian, I can hardly imagine shifting gears by left hand: still have to see a single car with manual transmission.

 

D

danno

Registered

1 May 2015

13

2

• 11 Jun 2015

• Thread starter
• #10

Thanks everyone!