DRIVING in JAPAN | DO’s & DON’Ts

DRIVING in JAPAN | DO’s & DON’Ts

compai. Wait a minute. Is this even legal? [Music] [Applause] [Music] So, in the first video that I made when I was here a year ago, we talked about how to rent a car in Japan. We covered all the basics like what type of driver’s license you need, the rental process, and what size car you should get to fit all your group and all your luggage. In this video, I want to cover five more topics that should definitely be useful to you when exploring this amazing country by car. I mean, look at it. It’s things that I learned on my first trip, and knowing them should make your life on the road a lot easier. So, let’s jump right in. So, when it comes to parking, there are basically three types that are relevant. There are gated lots, there are open lots, and there are what I like to call tower lots. It’s always good to check with your hotel first to see if they have some cheap parking available. Sometimes they also have some kind of flat rate at a nearby parking lot and then they will just validate your ticket for you. If they don’t, just look for the signs that say 24 hours and then give some price like 800 or a,000 yen. So yeah, right now I’m standing in a gated lot, which you know is the same as everywhere in the world. The only difference is that you usually pay on your way out. So right when you exit at the gate, you don’t pay at a ticketing machine beforehand like you might in Europe. So yeah, you can pay by card or cash. But yeah, in case your card doesn’t work, always good to have some cash ready. So this is like an open lot without a gate and you can just go in, find a free spot, you reverse in backwards, which is what they do in Japan and what I think should be the rule everywhere in the world. Anyways, you find a free spot then you just leave it. Now sometimes these kind of lots will have some kind of mechanism that rises up underneath your car so you can’t drive away. This lot doesn’t. But yeah, don’t drive away anyways because there are surveillance cameras and if you go out without paying, they will definitely find you. So yeah, be nice. Yeah, I parked here yesterday. So now just go to the machine and then you can’t read anything. So you press English start payment button number 11. Payment is now complete. Now we’re good to leave. If there’s some kind of mechanism, then it will lower automatically so you can drive out. So, some hotels in the bigger cities have some special kind of parking garage, which is actually pretty cool. You drive your car in and then it just gets lifted up by some elevator up to some higher level and then when it comes back down, when you retrieve your car, it’ll be turned around so you can drive out straight and off you go. Pretty cool. just a bit annoying when you forget something in the car. And yeah, so far I haven’t seen much street parking, so it’s kind of uncommon. The only time I’ve seen it really was in Tokyo. And pro tip, when there’s snow in the forecast, opt for the indoor parking so you don’t have to deal with this. Actually, the indoor parking of the hotel would have been even cheaper. [ __ ] I’m an idiot. [Music] [Applause] As mentioned in the first video, definitely pick the etc option when renting a car. This way, you can go straight through the automated highway tolls without having to stop. And then when you return the car, they’ll read out the card and charge you the precise amount that you owe for all your tolls. Now, what I didn’t mention in the first video is that foreigners can actually get a flat rate on these tolls. the daily rate is just under 2,000 yen and you’ll have to either take it for the whole duration of your rental or not at all. So, you can’t just say that you’re just going to use it for the first week but not for the second one. Now, whether the Hokkaido pass will be worth it for you is a little bit difficult to say. It really depends where you’re going and how much you’re going to be moving around. Looking at the map with all the tall roads, we can see it’s basically between Asai Saporro Otaro and Obihro. But yeah, if you just stay around Furano or maybe between Nco and Rousutsu, then it might not be worth it for you on this trip. I actually didn’t take the pass. Even though I was going around quite a bit and it would have cost me 30,000 yen to take the pass. And yeah, this is the final amount that I will have paid. But, you know, if you just have the car for a week and you do a lot of traveling every day on highways, then yeah, go for it. I’ve put a link to a toll calculator in the description. It’s also important to note that the fees can vary depending on the time of day that you go. At least if you’re using an etc card. If you’re using cash, it will always be the higher price. So yeah, definitely get the etc card even without the Hokkaido pass. In any case, it’s always a good idea to have some cash at hand in your car as some smaller toll roads like the one between Nagano and Hakuba. Don’t take the etc card and yeah, you’ll have to pay them directly. on a railroad crossing ahead. Bonus tip. When you come to a railroad crossing, you are legally obliged to stop. Have a look and you can cross over. Now, we did cover gas stations in the first video, but I want to give you a little update here. So, unless it’s a smaller gas station in the countryside, you usually have the option between selfservice and full service. with full service. Someone will fill up the car for you after you give them cash or your credit card. Let’s do cash this time since card didn’t work last time. And yeah, I totally love the full service ones now because it’s only 3 yen per liter more. So even with a 50 L tank, that would be 150 yen. So a dollar. They usually wipe your windshield as well. And there are three words that are useful to know. Man which means full tank. Genkin which means cash and or credit card. Oh, now he’s even refilling my empty uh wiper water tank. Nice. Amazing. So, yeah, full service all the way. Okay, so now let’s do a selfservice one. We do have an English menu here, which is good. Otherwise, you’ll have to use Google Translate on your phone. Now, let’s do the cash, which is full tank this time. Okay, always match the color. So, I put in 10,000 yen, which is definitely too much for this small tank. Sometimes the pump might give you the money directly, but sometimes not. You might receive like a receipt with a QR code. Then, you go to a separate machine that reads the QR code and spits out the money. Yeah. So, this one actually gave me change right where I put the money in. So, nothing to do here. But yeah, if you don’t get changed, there’s usually another automat that will do that for you. [Music] And one more pro tip, sometimes in winter you can’t really see the stop line. So, there’ll be a sign on the left with a line where you have to stop. [Music] Now, let’s get to the spicy topics. First up, speeding. A concept completely unfamiliar to any German BMW driver. [Music] [Music] Of course, going over the speed limit is against the law. So, everything I’m about to tell you is not legal advice, but merely an observation. A lot of what I’m about to tell you is based on a Wikipedia article which I’ll link below. Now, there are speed cameras in Japan, but they’re actually kind of rare and they only go off if you’re at least 30 over on regular roads or even 40 over on highways because by law only crimes are allowed to be photographed, not infractions. Now, there can be mobile radar traps and unmarked police cars as well, but I’d say as long as you’re not more than 14 kph over the limit, you’re probably good. As out of 1.2 million issued tickets in all of Japan, only 199 were given to speeds of up to 14 kph. So, yeah, if you’re 10 over, you probably don’t need to stress. And yeah, overall I think it’s just best to go with the flow here at 60 and the truck and the other cars in front of me are doing around 75. But again, not legal advice coming from a German BMW driver. And to give you even more unsolicited, not legal advice, let’s talk about drinking and driving. I know you might think, who the [ __ ] am I to talk? Since I pretty much glorify beer in all my videos, but I have to say I found it a little bit weird how other bloggers and YouTubers approach this topic, saying the BAC or blood alcohol content is zero when it’s actually 0.03%. However, if you’re over that limit, the punishment can be immense. Thousands of dollars in fines and even jail time. So given all that, it does make sense to treat the limit as practically zero as a single drink could push you over the threshold. Moreover, if you do get caught, it’s not just you in trouble, but also your passengers as they share the responsibility of the driver staying sober. And if you do have an accident, you’re definitely in trouble with any amount of alcohol in your blood. So while the legal BAC may be 0.03%, the practical and cultural one is a flat zero. I also read somewhere that the police might even do checks in the morning in some business areas to catch salary men who have been drinking on a little bender the night before. So yeah, don’t drive hung over either. Currently, Japan is on a spree to eradicate all drunk driving. At least that’s what it says on the Hokkaido Police website. Yeah, that’s their actual website. I’ll leave a link below. I do have a little bit of good news though, as it’s not illegal for the passengers to consume alcoholic beverages like beer. If you’re from Europe, this may not surprise you, but if you’re from the US or Canada, you’re probably accustomed to some kind of open container law that prohibits any kind of alcoholic drink in the vehicle. Oh, could I have a zip, please? Actually, you can because this is Asari Zero with 0.00% 00% alcohol. Not just 0%, 0.00%. So, yeah. Go for it. Cheers. How is it? Pretty good, actually. Not bad. Yeah. So, good option if you’re the driver, right? I just returned my car at Times Car Rental. So, now we can definitely have a beer here in Zaporo in a snowstorm at the ice festival. [Music] Now, for the next couple weeks, I’ll actually be taking the train. So, let me know in the comments if you want to find out more about that. Thank you for watching. Until next time, compai. [Applause] [Music]

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Gas
✦ https://www.realestate-tokyo.com/living-in-tokyo/driving/gas-stations/
ETC
✦ https://en.driveplaza.com/drawari/hokkaido_expass/
✦ https://carrental.jpn.com/en/hep/
✦ https://niconicorentacar.jp/driving-in-japan/hokkaido-expressway-pass/
✦ https://www.timescar-rental.com/en/japan/etc_service.html
Speeding
✦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_Japan
Alcohol
✦ https://www.pastemagazine.com/drink/alcohol/japan-drinking-culture-laws-differences-to-us-open-containers#:~:text=Perhaps most astoundingly, though, drinking,is legal under Japanese law.
✦ https://englishlawyersjapan.com/what-is-the-legal-limit-for-drunk-driving-in-japan-and-what-happens-if-i-drive-under-the-influence/
✦ https://www.police.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/info/koutuu/iken-box/konzetu/sake-konzetu.html
✦ https://www.nibn.go.jp/eiken/kenkounippon21/kenkounippon21/download_files/other/document_en_06.pdf

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:49 Parking
03:25 Hokkaido Pass
05:13 Railway Crossing
05:24 Gas Station
07:38 Traffic Lights
07:55 Speeding
09:27 Alcohol
11:35 Outro