Driving in Japan - Rent a Car

**jut703** · March 12th, 2020 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by victorevolution

As far as I know, the japan does not honor any international driver's license.

japan has the strictest driving exams in the world, they are super strict.

for you to drive in japan you need to be a resident and most of all pass the japanese driver's license exams.

as for the speed limit- they'll send the bill to your home.

Was able to drive in Japan recently. See above posts.

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**dongotskills** · March 12th, 2020 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by jut703

Parang maraming hindi sumusunod sa speed limits lol. Highway speed limit was 100, I was following it, then dami nagoovertake. Eventually I followed suit. At one point, was chasing an M5 on the expressway to Hakone, sagad na 180 yung speedometer so I dont know what speed we were doing probably 200+.

Used Google Maps while I was there. Most signs have English naman. One thing to watch out though is if you're driving in Tokyo, there are parts where you'll be inside tunnels na multi direction (think Ayala Underpass pero maraming liko) so you'll lose GPS signal so you better know where you're going.

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Thank you sir. 100kph would be the safe speed. Hehe. Thanks sa mga tips sir.

**Jun aka Pekto** · March 13th, 2020 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by victorevolution

As far as I know, the japan does not honor any international driver's license.

japan has the strictest driving exams in the world, they are super strict.

for you to drive in japan you need to be a resident and most of all pass the japanese driver's license exams.

as for the speed limit- they'll send the bill to your home.

The rental company I used honored my green (US) International driver's license (together with my passport and US driver's license) when I was there.

I'm not sure if it has any bearing. But, the rental company I used was at Misawa and it has many US servicemen as clients, both for rentals and car sales.

**dongotskills** · March 13th, 2020 12:50 AM

Originally Posted by Jun aka Pekto

The rental company I used honored my green (US) International driver's license (together with my passport and US driver's license) when I was there.

I'm not sure if it has any bearing. But, the rental company I used was at Misawa and it has many US servicemen as clients, both for rentals and car sales.

Sir what rental company do you recommend in Japan?

**Jun aka Pekto** · March 13th, 2020 12:56 AM

Originally Posted by dongotskills

Does Waze or Google Maps work perfectly in Japan? I really don't want to rely on the in-car navigation that came with the car since it may be outdated. Also, is it hard to read the road signs in Japan? That is the one I'm worried

I haven't been to Japan recently. The Nissan Cube I rented (back in 2008) had a built-in GPS/navigation system. It had a female Japanese voice that drove me nuts because I couldn't understand what it was saying. It may have had an English language setting. But, all the printed manuals were in Japanese.

Both of my visits were at the Aomori-Lake Towada-Misawa-Hachinohe area. Some signs have English. But, I still got lost a number of times. That's how I found Lake Towada. I arrived there completely by accident. He He.

Oh. Be very careful about not mistaking diesel for gasoline. I made that mistake. Pretty expensive mistake.

**Jun aka Pekto** · March 13th, 2020 01:27 AM

Originally Posted by dongotskills

Sir what rental company do you recommend in Japan?

I'm not sure about a specific company. But, they should be similar enough. There are the nationwide/international car rentals. There are also the mom and mop shops that both sell used cars and rent cars. I went with the latter.

With a group like yours, you're probably better off with a well-known nationwide company.