Driving in Japan has one rule that matters more than everything else combined, and it has to be dealt with before you get on the plane.
Most visitors need an International Driving Permit obtained in their home country. It cannot be issued in Japan, by anyone, under any circumstances. A traveller who lands without one simply cannot drive, and no rental counter will hand over keys.
Once that is sorted, driving in Japan is calm, well-signed and genuinely pleasant — and in some parts of the country it is much better than the train.
The permit rule, in detail
Japan recognises the 1949 Geneva Convention International Driving Permit. If your country is a signatory — which covers the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe — you obtain the permit at home from the designated body, usually an automobile association, and carry it together with your original licence. Neither works alone.
Seven jurisdictions are different because they signed a different convention. Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco, Taiwan and Slovenia use their national licence accompanied by an official Japanese translation, obtainable through JAF or the relevant embassy or consulate. This route is the exception that can be completed after arriving in Japan.
This is the mistake that cannot be fixed
Almost every other travel error in Japan has a workaround. This one does not. Arriving without the correct paperwork means the driving portion of your trip is over before it starts, including any accommodation booked on the assumption of a car. Check your country's route and sort it weeks ahead — permits are cheap and quick, but not instant.
When a car is actually worth it
Japan's rail network is so good that renting a car is usually the wrong choice. The exceptions are specific and worth knowing.
| Where | Car or train? |
|---|---|
| Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Fukuoka | Train. A car is a liability |
| Between major cities | Train. Faster and cheaper than tolls |
| Rural Hokkaido | Car. Sparse services, long distances |
| Noto, Tohoku coast, inland Shikoku | Car. Rail thins out badly |
| Hot-spring and mountain areas | Car, usually |
| Okinawa main island | Car. Limited rail beyond the monorail |
The pattern: a car is for where the timetable stops being useful. In cities it costs more, moves slower and gives you a parking problem.
Renting
The major chains — Toyota, Nippon, Times, Orix and Nissan among them — all take foreign bookings, and English-language reservation sites are standard.
Practical points that catch people out:
- Book ahead in season. Hokkaido in summer and anywhere in autumn colour season sells out.
- Ask for an ETC card when booking. It charges tolls electronically instead of stopping at every barrier.
- Winter means winter tyres. In Hokkaido and northern Honshu these are fitted as standard in season, but confirm it.
- Kei cars are cheaper — the yellow-plate microcars — and fine for two people with light luggage on rural roads.
- English navigation is usually available, and most systems let you enter a destination by phone number, which is easier than typing an address.
Enter destinations by phone number
Japanese addresses are famously hard to enter into a satnav. Almost every Japanese navigation system accepts a telephone number instead, and every hotel, restaurant and attraction publishes one. It is the single most useful trick for driving here.
Tolls, and how to keep them sane
Expressway tolls in Japan are high and distance-based. A long drive can cost more than the equivalent bullet train ticket, which surprises people who assumed driving was the budget option.
Two things reduce it. An ETC card from the rental company means you drive through the barriers and settle at the end rather than queueing to pay. And several operators sell flat-rate expressway passes aimed at foreign visitors, giving unlimited expressway use across a region for a set number of days — genuinely good value for a touring itinerary, and easy to miss because they are only sold to visitors.
Ordinary national roads are toll-free, slower, and often more interesting.
Parking
In central Tokyo or Osaka, assume parking will be expensive and scarce. Street parking barely exists. What you use instead are small automated coin lots, charging by the hour, where a plate rises under the car until you pay.
Outside the big cities the picture flips entirely: supermarkets, restaurants, temples and hotels almost all have free parking, and it is rarely full.
This asymmetry is the practical argument for picking the car up on your way out of the city rather than at the start of the trip.
Rules worth knowing
- Drive on the left, driver on the right.
- Speed limits are lower than most visitors expect and cameras are common.
- The drink-driving limit is effectively zero. Penalties are severe and extend to passengers who knew, and to whoever served the alcohol.
- Level crossings require a full stop, every time, even with clear track.
- Right turns wait for a gap or a dedicated arrow; there is no turn-on-red.
- Hazard lights say thank you — a brief flash after someone lets you merge.
Common mistakes
Assuming the permit can be sorted in Japan. It cannot, for the majority of visitors.
Renting a car for a city trip. Parking will cost more than the car and you will drive less than you think.
Ignoring tolls in the budget. A long expressway run is not the cheap option.
Skipping the ETC card. Paying cash at each barrier is slow and entirely avoidable.
Having one drink at dinner. Treat it as absolute. This is not a country where a small amount is tolerated.
Where to go next
For the places a car genuinely opens up, and how to reach them otherwise, see buses — the rural network is better than most visitors expect. For the alternative on every intercity route, see trains.
More on getting around is collected under transportation.