Japan's dense, complex and diversified means of transportation, and the transportation and transportation operations of various scenic spots have been very detailed, which can be said to be a country that is quite suitable for self-service travel.However, on islands such as Okinawa with low density of traffic routes, and large areas such as Hokkaido, self-driving by self-driving will be easier and more enjoyable and expand your travel range and interest.
Four steps to prepare for self-driving in Japan
For foreign tourists who come to Japan to travel in large cities, it is best to take public transportation to avoid unfamiliar road conditions, time-consuming parking and traffic jams, and when you want to leave a large city to travel to the countryside or suburbs, you can consider taking JR Going to the local area, the way of renting a car at the station for self-driving is just like the car rental service provided by Taiwan's high-speed rail at various stations, which can take into account the convenience of high-speed rail and the freedom of self-driving.
Based on my self-driving experience in Hokkaido, Japan, the following four preparatory tasks for self-driving in Japan are sorted out for your reference.
Klook.Car rental reservation:Self-driving car rental in Hokkaido (low season)|Self-driving car rental in Hokkaido (peak season)
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Step XNUMX: Apply for a Japanese translation of your driver’s license
When traveling abroad and want to drive on your own, you usually have to apply for an international driver’s license. However, when Taiwanese go to Japan, or when Japanese people come to Taiwan for short-term travel, the situation is relatively simple. There is a better and more convenient way to apply. A translation of the driver’s license is sufficient.
Japan has established cooperative and reciprocal relations with Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Slovenia, Monaco, and Taiwan. Residents of both sides can apply for a driver’s license translation for short-term travel and they can drive in the local area. This is the Japanese translation of Taiwan’s driver’s license or Japan. Taiwanese version of driver's license.
The method of applying for a Japanese translation of a driver's license is very simple. Just bring your driver's license (in principle, the original), your identity certificate, and the application fee, and go to the supervisory agencies in Taiwan or the service centers of the Japan Automobile Federation to apply.
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1. Instructions for application in Taiwan
- Application location: Supervision units across the country (applicable across districts)
- Application method: go in person to apply
- Application documents: original driver's license, original ID card
- Application fee: NT$100 per copy
- Help page:Application description and overview of local supervision offices,Japan Communication Association's website
2. Instructions for application in Japan
- Application location:Service base of Japan Automobile Federation(Each prefecture has a reception desk),Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices and Offices in Japan
- Application method: go to handle the application in person, the client handles the application on your behalf, and mail the application
- Application documents: application form, driver's license (in principle, the original copy, and the photocopy must be in clear font), passport (in principle, it is not necessary, it is better to bring it)
- Application fee: 3,000 yen per copy
- Help page:Introduction page,Overview of service locations and time,Application instructions,Application download
※ The Japanese translation of the driver’s license can be used to drive in Japan within one year of entry.After entering the country and leaving the country, if you re-enter Japan within 1 months, you can drive within Japan within one year from the date of the previous entry.
Just compare the application fees, you will definitely handle the Japanese translation in Taiwan first, and to avoid delaying your itinerary, remember to go to the local supervision office to handle it first!If you have not done so due to time constraints or for some reason, you can go to the Auto Union service locations in each prefecture in Japan to apply.
Finally, when you travel to Japan, you must bring a Taiwanese driver's license and a Japanese translation at the same time!
Step XNUMX: Book a car rental service online
Each car rental company has different service locations, charging standards, number of vehicles and models. You can choose and compare online first.After selecting the car rental company, you can make an appointment directly on the website, log in to the location, date, model, personal basic information and payment information, and wait for the other party to reply whether the car can be provided. If the reply cannot be provided, you have to continue to look for it Family!
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Car rental service directly operated by Japanese car dealers
Japanese car rental companies include car rental companies directly managed by Japanese car dealers, as well as online car rental service companies that specialize in collecting car rental services.Car rental companies directly managed by a large Japanese car manufacturer group, mainly including Toyota Rent-a-Car, Mazda Rent-a-Car, and Nissan Rent-a-Car .
- Toyota Rent-a-Car:https://rent.toyota.co.jp/en/index.html (English website)
- Mazada Car Rental Company: http://www.mazda-rentacar.hk/ (Traditional Chinese website)
- Nissan Car Rental Company:https://nissan-rentacar.com/tc/ (Traditional Chinese website)
Professional car rental company service website
In addition to car rental companies operated by car manufacturers, there are also car rental services that cooperate with travel websites and car rental companies, and there are also online service companies that bring together various car rental services.You can first choose the car rental service that provides a Chinese description webpage. The representative service provider, navigation machine, etc. are more capable of Chinese service, I believe it can lower the threshold for self-driving car rental in Japan.
- Nippon car rental services:http://www.nipponrentacar.co.jp/english/index.html (English website)
- Lotte Travel Car Rental Service:http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/cars/ (Japanese page)
- JALAN car rental service:http://www.jalan.net/rentacar/ (Japanese page)
- ToCoo Car Rental Service:http://www2.tocoo.jp/jp (Japanese page)
- ORIX car rental service:http://car.orix.co.jp/ (Japanese page)
- OTS car rental service (Hokkaido, Okinawa):http://www.otsinternational.jp/otsrentacar/cn/ (Traditional Chinese website)
- ABC Rent a Car Service (Okinawa):http://www.abc-car.net/ch/ (Traditional Chinese website)
You can refer to and compare the above online car rental services.Among them, the Japanese roaming website and Toyota's online car rental service are particularly recommended. The recommendation is not that Toyota has more vehicles or good services, because the service scope of its Chinese webpage is limited to Hokkaido.The point of recommended reference is that the Japanese roaming website provides a wealth of Japanese self-driving reference information in Chinese, which can be used as a guide for Japanese self-driving tours.
- Japan Roaming Car Rental Service (Toyota):http://www.e-japannavi.com/trans/toyota_rent-a-lease/index.shtml (Traditional Chinese website)
- Toyota Rent a Car (Hokkaido area):http://www.toyotarentacar.net/chinese/ (Traditional Chinese website)
Step 3: Collect scenic spot navigation information
After getting the Japanese translation of the driver's license and booking the car online, the next step is to collect the phone number or MapCode of each scenic spot according to the itinerary and scenic spots you have planned, so that you can input the navigation information into the navigation machine when traveling.
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How to search navigation data
The navigation system and information in Japan are quite detailed and rich. The navigation machine can generally enter information such as keywords, addresses, phone numbers or MapCode to search for the location of scenic spots and continue navigation.Those who are not familiar with Japanese, of course, have to choose the two information "Phone" or "MapCode" that can be input by numbers.
If it is an attraction such as a restaurant, exhibition hall, or amusement park, I believe it will be very easy to find the information on the phone on the Internet.However, if you are arranging scenic spots such as Hokkaido ╳╳noki or ○○no hill, you should not expect to have a phone next to the tree. At this time, you have to search for MapCode information online!
Navigation data service website
We recommend the Japanese Mapion map service website here. You can simply query the MapCode of your planned attractions from the website. You can use keywords to directly search for the attractions, and then you can get MapCode information from it. Although the interface is Japanese, I believe you can use it. You can easily get started after the second time.
- Mapion:https://www.mapion.co.jp/
In addition, you can also search online travel websites, blogs, etc. across Japan to see if anyone has sorted out traffic information for scenic spots. For example, the following "Hokkaido Weekly" blog is well organized and highly recommended.
- Hokkaido one week, visit れたい観光地：http://www12.plala.or.jp/k-hirao/kankou/index.html
Step 4: Understand the common sense of driving in Japan
The first step in self-driving in Japan is to get used to the right-hand driving mode.Constitutional monarchies such as Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, India, New Zealand and Australia that were colonized or influenced by the United Kingdom all use right-hand driving. Therefore, Taiwanese people must first get used to the right-hand driving vehicles and driving habits when they go to Japan.
Secondly, it is recommended that everyone should first understand the Japanese driving rules, fueling methods, navigation use, etiquette, etiquette and emergency handling knowledge, in order to make the self-driving journey smooth, and will not panic when encountering emergencies.
For information on driving and self-driving in Chinese, in addition to the previously suggested Japanese roaming travel website, the Hokkaido Development Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan also specially launched a traditional Chinese version of the "Complete Handbook for Driving Tour of Hokkaido by Driving", which you can download or even print. Reference, it can be regarded as a very detailed and useful reference manual, even if you are not going to Hokkaido, a lot of information is quite useful.
- Japan Roaming Car Rental Information Homepage:http://www.e-japannavi.com/trans/rent_a_car/index.shtml
- Touring Hokkaido by car to master the complete manual for driving:File download link,Download instructions page
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