Japan Guide
Getting around
By car
While it would be foolhardy to rent a car to get around Japan's big cities, driving is often the best way to tour the country's less populated and off-the-beaten-track areas. Japanese roads are of a very high standard, with the vast majority of signs on main routes being in rōmaji as well as Japanese script. Although you'll have to pay tolls to travel on the expressways (reckon on around ¥30 per kilometre), many other perfectly good roads are free and petrol is generally cheaper than in Europe, averaging around ¥100 a litre.
Rates, which vary little between companies and usually include unlimited mileage, start from around ¥6500 for the first 24 hours for the smallest type of car (a subcompact Minica, seating four people), plus ¥1000 insurance. During the peak seasons of Golden Week, Obon and New Year, rates for all cars tend to increase.
Since you're unlikely to want to drive in any of the cities, the best rental deals are often through Eki Rent-a-Car, which give's a discounted rate by combining the rental with a train ticket to the most convenient station for the area you wish to explore. Eki- Rent-a-Car's offices are close to stations, as are often those of other major car rental firms. With any rental company, it's also worth thinking about making a return trip, since one-way charges are high.
To rent a car you must have an international driver's licence based on the 1949 Geneva Convention (some international licences such as those issued in France, Germany and Switizerland are not valid), as well as your national licence. Officially, if you have a French, German or Swiss licence (regular or international) you are supposed to get an official Japanese translation of the licence – contact your local Japanese embassy for further info.