The speed limits in Japan are between 80 and 100 km/h on expressways, 30 km/h in side streets, 40 km/h in urban areas, and between 50 and 60 km/h elsewhere unless states otherwise.
Although Japan has prided itself as having the most efficient public transportation systems around large metropolitan areas around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, less known sceneries are definitely worth and handy exploring by car. Here is a brief guide aiming at helping you drive comfortably on Japanese roads.
Driving is on the left-hand side of the road in Japan. Even though Japanese drivers are renowned for their respect of the driving rules, you should pay attention to cyclists, some of whom happen to ride on the wrong side of the road.
Speed LimitThe speed limits in Japan are between 80 and 100 km/h on expressways, 30 km/h in side streets, 40 km/h in urban areas, and between 50 and 60 km/h elsewhere unless states otherwise.
Traffic SignsThere are mainly four types of traffic signs in Japan: regulatory signs, warning signs, information and direction signs. For each type, you can find below several signs that you may not familiar with.
A typical Japanese regulatory sign generally features a red circle with a white background and blue pictograms.
 Speed Limit (90 km/h) |  Minimum Speed Limit (50 km/h) |  No Overtaking |  Road Closed to Toll |  Road Closed to Vehicles |  Slow down (In Japanese and English) |
Japanese warning signs feature a diamond shape and yellow background.
 Crossroads |  Bumpy Road |  Wild Animals Crossing (Deer) |  Succession of More Than Two Curves to the Right |  Railroad Crossing Ahead |  Tram Crossing Ahead |
Japanese information signs feature a green background.
 Emergency Telephone |  Rest Area/Parking Fuel Stand, Etc. |
Direction signs in Japan feature a rectangular shape with a blue or green background.
 Expressway Entrance |  Destination & Direction |
To read more about Japanese road signs, here is a more detailed booklet.
Seatbelt LawsDrivers and all the passengers are required by law to wear a seatbelt. Failure to fasten your seatbelt may result in a fine.
Booster Seat LawsChildren under 6 years of age must be seated in child seats.
Parking· Permitted Parking
In Japan, parking cost normally depends on the size of the city and the distance from the city centre. Parking in small towns and cities is usually free.
Paid parking can be expensive in big cities, costing several hundreds of yen per hour. Parking lots in national parks or near tourist attractions sometimes charge a flat fee (typically 200 to 500 yen per use). Urban hotels usually provide parking for their guests at a flat rate (typically 1000 yen per night), while hotels outside the large cities usually offer free parking.
· Forbidden Parking
Please do not park your car indicated with the “No Parking” signs.
Also do not park the rental vehicle in a place only allowed to use by renting on a monthly basis, marked by the “Kanji” of “月極 ” or “月極駐車場”.
In addition, it is against the law to park a vehicle in the following places in Japan:
- In a tunnel
- On, or within five metres of the edge of an intersection
- Within three metres of the automobile entrance of a garage, car-park or similar
- On pedestrian or cycle crossings and railway lines
- Within ten metres of a bus stop or a bus stop sign
- Within five metres of the edge of an area of road works
- Within five metres of a fire hydrant, water tank or other fire safety equipment
Forbidden parking in Japan will lead to a hefty fine.
Fuel PricesThe average gasoline price in Japan in January 2018 was 141.50 Japanese Yen per litre, while the diesel price was 118.40 over the same period of time.
TollMost of the expressways in Japan are toll roads and you must pass through the automatic ETC (Electric Toll Collection) gate or manual gate with ticketing machine. It is highly common to rent an ETC system with the car hire company when taking a self-driving tour in Japan, and it allows you to drive through the ETC gate without stopping. ETC gate feature white “ETC 專用” characters on a purple background.5
(Image from takingflights.com)
(Image from demflyers.com)
Alternative to ETC tolling, you may proceed to the manual gate, which is recognized by the“一般” characters written with a green background. Cash or bank cards can be used to pay the toll fee before entering the road.
DUI LawsThe alcohol limit in Japan is BAC 0.03%. Drink driving above the limit can result in a maximum prison sentence of 3 years or a fine of about $480,000 Japanese Yen.
Traffic FinesSpeed cameras and speed traps are used to monitor driving speed in Japan. Drivers who exceed the speed limits up to 40km/h over can be fined from 9000 Japanese Yen to 35,000 Japanese Yen, and a 50km/h excess or more over will be viewed as criminal infringement and can result in a prison sentence up to 6 months, or up to 100,000 Japanese Yen fine.
Parking in the prohibitive areas will usually cause a fine from 10,000 to 20,000 Japanese Yen.
Q1.What is an insurance excess？
Q2. How can I add an addtional driver?
Q3.What if I want to pick up or drop off my rental car out of office hours?
Q4. Can I take the hired car to another country or cross border?
Q5. Can I pick up my car at one location and return it at different location?
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February 7, 2023
Destination: Ishigaki
reliable. reasonable price
View moreJanuary 13, 2023
Destination: Naha
Staff is so helpful, and respond very fast
View moreDecember 27, 2022
Destination: Fukuoka
not bad actually.
View moreDecember 22, 2022
Destination: Sapporo
The staff couldn’t speak or understand English but they could use google translate.
View moreDecember 20, 2022
Destination: Sapporo
have to contact them to pick up at bus stop 98 and smooth registration process. Staffs are nice and quick to load the bag into the car .
View moreDecember 13, 2022
Destination: Osaka
Arriving at the airport to look for the counter was a little difficult. There was no Europcar sign but rather Times so we were going back and forth looking for the counter. It’d be worthwhile having a number to text vs call if we were running late.
View moreDecember 8, 2022
Destination: Kyoto
They offerred Toyota Raize to us, which was a very nice car!
View moreOctober 13, 2022
Destination: Osaka
Command of English can be improved.
View moreJuly 27, 2022
Destination: Hiroshima
Outstanding customer service! I look forward to their services in the future.
View moreMay 24, 2022
Destination: Kunisaki
Give the customer what they book and stop being deceptive.
View moreMay 10, 2022
Destination: Fukuoka
Great car, very clean and paperwork was in English which was good. Counter service staff should be able to speak some English. This was not the case and made the collection process quite stressful.
View moreApril 13, 2021
Destination: Sapporo
全体的に待ち時間も少なく手続きもスムーズでしたので快適な旅となりました。 ありがとうございます。
View moreMarch 13, 2021
Destination: Naha
すごく良心的な会社ですので今回もリピートしました。スタッフがとても親切です。もちろん車の状態も凄く良いです。
View moreAugust 7, 2020
Destination: Naha
Gostei muito, bom atendimento.
View moreJuly 30, 2020
Destination: Yakushima
カウンターの方が非常にいい人だった。
View moreJuly 29, 2020
Destination: Naha
予定予約をしていた車を借りられず、当日車を変更して欲しいとの事…それもスポーツカーらしき物、値段はそのままで良い、返却時のガソリン満タンもしなくて良いのでチェンジしてもらえないかと…断れきれなく了解したものの、やはり車高は低く乗りにくい。 車内は狭過ぎるし運転もしにくい。如何なものかと？
View moreMarch 4, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
Very smooth rental service and good English speaking staff. While the pick-up location is about 5min drive away from the airport, then rental company is very responsive on LINE and provides very clear information where they come pick you up at the airport and without much waiting.
View moreFebruary 24, 2020
Destination: Naha
Service of counter staff were very good both at pick-up and drop-off. Car in good condition and we love it. However, there was some disappoint which we were so surprise about the staff at the airport... It was the time when we went to wrong drop-off location,as GPS guided us to the airport (where the shuttle bus picked us up to get the rental car). We saw one man with Times sign, he was SLEEPING while waiting for arrival passenger. We didn't want to wake him up but we had to and yes, he DIDN'T WANT TO ANSWER ANY QUESTION. We asked him where we can drop the car off and what he answered us was just pointed his finger to the door, DIDN'T EVEN OPEN HIS EYES. Luckily, we found the place in the next 5 minutes.
View moreFebruary 23, 2020
Destination: Naha
No additional insurance offer. Smooth pick-up and drop-off process. Free shuttle bus to airport.
View moreFebruary 20, 2020
Destination: Nagano
There’s seems some problem on the brakes
View moreFebruary 20, 2020
Destination: Tokyo
Good service. They didn’t have the car type we booked so they upgraded a bigger car for us.
View moreFebruary 19, 2020
Destination: Naha
รถสภาพใหม่
View moreFebruary 19, 2020
Destination: Naha
Even we have the full insurance coverage bought along with the booking, we have to pay the claim for the damage on the front wind shield glass. It was damage was caused by an unknown foreign object hitting on the top right corner of the front glass wind shield. The vehicle was a bit "old", with a lot of minor scratches all over the car body when we did the pick-up inspection.
View moreFebruary 18, 2020
Destination: Naha
Fast procedure and no queue
View moreFebruary 18, 2020
Destination: Osaka
For this branch, the staff advise us to buy more insurance. When I told him that I paid basically insurance (included CDW) from the application already, he said it’s from the application (not from Nippon rent a car). The basic cost around ¥1,500/day, but I denied to pay more. He warned us, if something happened just a little bit destroyed. The dealer will charge us at least ¥150,000, luckily we drive safely along the trip. When we drop the car on the last day, the old staff urged us for the nearest gas station’s receipt before returning. But I told him that the receipt I put it at the hotel and I didn’t fill the petrol from here, so I showed him that the fuel scale is full and a little bit over scale too. Finally he is okay for that, but it takes time for a while.
View moreFebruary 18, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
Car Rental Hokkaido were excellent - very professional and thorough. Also friendly, warm and welcoming. I’d use them again.
View moreFebruary 17, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
The people where super efficient and friendly. I will definitely recommend them to others and will use them again
View moreFebruary 16, 2020
Destination: Kawasaki
We have rented from Europcar in Japan quite a few times and always have fantastic service.
View moreFebruary 16, 2020
Destination: Naha
Cheap and good
View moreFebruary 15, 2020
Destination: Naha
A nice company
View moreFebruary 15, 2020
Destination: Naha
Easy and fast pick up. Multi language staffs available for customers from different country. Received message in advance on pick up notice. However, there r 2 things I haven’t experienced with other rental company before. First, I have been asked to return the car in sharp( I set my return time at 9:00am). Any delay will cause voided on the insurance. When I ask to extend my return time to 10am for flexibility, I have been told to charge 1100yens for the insurance. I can’t believe a car insurance is counted by hour not by day. Second, the fuel policy is full to full but I have also been asked to provide receipt for proof. These r the strange policies I have never been experienced
View moreFebruary 11, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
Staff very helpful and give excellent service both during picking up and drop off time
View moreFebruary 10, 2020
Destination: Tokyo
I have to wait for a long time to get a car because there is one staff at counter service. The car exceeded my expectations, a lot of space for luggage and save oil.
View moreFebruary 10, 2020
Destination: Chuo-ku
It was a smooth reservation and the process of picking up car n returning was simply awesome.
View moreFebruary 7, 2020
Destination: Osaka
Overall car rental experience with Nissan was great, the car was in great condition, the hotline was helpful and car return process was easy.
View moreFebruary 6, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
Great ecperience with easy and smooth procedures
View moreFebruary 6, 2020
Destination: Tokyo
Snow Tire needed to be added seperately in Nissan counter Compare to Japan Local Website, eg: Tocoo Car, They have included the package of Snow Tire and additional Wifi Egg for User
View moreFebruary 5, 2020
Destination: Osaka
Space are just OK. Overall good.
View moreFebruary 3, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
Atencion excelente y un trato muy bueno y amable
View moreJanuary 31, 2020
Destination: Naha
Times is doing a good job in arranging the pick up and registration everything in order, staff also give very good and tiny service for local traffic attention and the car details. Times rental also provide good useful information from the local interest / map code and car return information. Really good rental car experience.
View moreJanuary 26, 2020
Destination: Naha
This is very good company. There is a very nice Taiwanese lady to help us
View moreJanuary 22, 2020
Destination: Fukuoka
Good location and service.
View moreJanuary 22, 2020
Destination: Naha
Nil
View moreJanuary 16, 2020
Destination: Tokyo
The car we hired was clean and in good condition. They did not have a E Toll pass so we had to have cash on hand to go through tolls. We requested snow tires which were fitted but didn’t give us a window scraper so we had to buy one. No other complaints
View moreJanuary 16, 2020
Destination: Naha
很好 在到達沖繩機場 租車公司的穿梭巴士不在國際線出口等待 需要徒步走到國內線出口10號位置才有穿梭巴士到租車公司 Check in的時間 都很快十分鐘內完成 車輛非常完美 在還車的時間也非常快也有穿梭巴士接送來往機場
View moreJanuary 13, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
Speedy collection of car and very polite staff.
View moreJanuary 9, 2020
Destination: Sapporo
Good service, so convenient!
View moreJanuary 8, 2020
Destination: Kyoto Minami-Ku
Very nice experience with Nissan
View moreJanuary 7, 2020
Destination: Osaka
The only feedback is that the staff did not recommend us to use ETC pass for tolls payment
View moreJanuary 6, 2020
Destination: Naha
Though a bit far away from the airport, they offered free shuttle service. So far so good.
View more