~Exciting Places to Drive in Japan~
Road Trip Itinerary Ideas in Japan
🚗 with Nissan Rent-a-Car 🚗
Driving in Japan can be scary
especially if you aren't used to driving in other countries
or the left-hand side.
But it really isn't as nerve-racking as it seems.
You get used to it in minutes and pretty soon
you're thinking less about your anxiety
and more about how fun road trips are!
Since coming to Japan we've grown to miss driving on the open roads,
so we find ourselves renting cars and going on drives pretty often.
We know there are many out there that either do or are interested
in doing the same.
Thus we wanted to put together a short list of
ideas of places to road trip in Japan to drive to.
But before we get into the unknown treasures of Japan,
here are a few things to know when renting a car.
📑What to Expect and Places to Go! 📑
(Printable English PDF!)
⊛If booked in advance⊛
🗹Passport
🗹International driver's license
🗹Confirm whether the vehicle is designated
🗹Expressway ETC card loan ↠ ::: Pass through toll gates with ETC :::
⊛Rent on the spot⊛
⊶ Cash and credit cards accepted
You will need an international driver's license!
How to get one
1. Copy of your passport
2. Driver's license
3. One passport-size photo
*More information Here*
– Charging T&C (English) –
* NISSAN Rent a Car Homepage (English) *
CAR RENTAL TIPS HERE!!!
JAPAN ROAD TRIP ITINERARY IDEA 1
Yamagata Prefecture (山形県)
CHERRY PICKING
If you were to ask a Japanese person what Yamagata was famous for, we're sure their first answer would be cherries.
Although there are cherries being produced all over Japan, Yamagata is the most popular in producing around 70%
of the country's production of cherries🍒✨
In Japan, you can go cherry (or other fruit) picking!! Being that there are so many places to pick cherries in Tendo,
you won't have any problem finding a place. We went to Oshokaju (Ohsyo) Orchards and had a really great time!
Japanese cherries taste a bit different than say American dark cherries. Of course, they would, but it never really occurred to us! Due to Yamagata's difference in temperature, the fruits that are grown here are especially sweet and juicy compared to fruit from other prefectures.
Normally the best time to go cherry picking is from the middle-end of May to the end of July! It's around that time you should be able to pick the most famous type of Japanese cherry, the satonishiki! You get 30 minutes to pick cherries, but the nice thing here is that you can also extend it to 60 minutes if desired! Anything big plus is there are many ways to enjoy cherries at the orchard💖🍒
Information about fruit picking
🍒Cherry picking – Mid of May to Early July
🍇Grape picking – Early August to Mid of October
🍑Peach picking – Early August to Early September
🍏Apple picking – Mid of October to End of November
Reminder
1) Make a reservation for fruit picking
Hours: 0900-1700
Calendar info page (JP)
*Oshokaju Orchards (王将果樹園)
1303 Kawarago, Tendo, Yamagata
Google Maps
☎023-657-3211
⏰9:00am~5:00pm
💻Official website (JP)
Tendo Shogi Museum (天童将棋資料館)
Since Tendo has the largest shogi piece production in Japan, we thought we'd go to the shogi museum where you can learn everything about this traditional Japanese chess-like game. Shogi was originally developed and started in India back around B.C. 300. At this museum, we learned about things like how it was introduced to Japan and the world and the manufacture of shogi pieces. You can even decorate your own shogi pieces!! This was, of course, the most fun!
★Tendo Shogi Museum (天童将棋資料館)
1-1-1 Honcho, Tendo City, Yamagata
Google Maps
MAP CODE:62374772*76
📞023-653-1690
⏰9:00am~6:00pm (Closed on 3rd Monday every month, 31 Dec, 01 Jan)
💴300yen (adults), 200yen (students (High school and up)), 100yen (Elementary and Jr. High)
💻Website (JP)
After visiting the Shogi Museum, we went to Tendo Kogen Family Land (天童高原ファミリーランド), where you can make your own buckwheat (soba) noodles and eat them! The buckwheat noodles are actually made with dewakaori buckwheat which is grown at Tendo Kogen. It does smell way better than other buckwheat.
★Tendo Kogen Family Land (天童高原ファミリーランド)
1321 Tamugino, Tendo City, Yamagata
Google Maps
📞023-657-3628
MAP CODE:62 358 339 * 57
📅May to October
💴Prices:
1 to 4 persons – 2,500 yen each (1 teacher)
5 to 8 persons – 2,000 yen each (1 teacher)
9 to 12 persons – 1,500 yen each (1 teacher)
13 – 16 persons – 2,000 yen each (2 teachers)
Plus 500 yen if you want to eat the noodles there after class
💻Homepage (JP)
*NISSAN Rent A Car – Yamagata Airport Outlet
Address: 3008 Kashiwabara-Shinrin, Hanyu, Higashine, Yamagata
Google Maps
☎0237-47-2311
⏰8:30am~6:30pm
Nissan Yamagata Airport Info (ENG)
💻NISSAN Rent A Car – Reservation Page (ENG)
JAPAN ROAD TRIP ITINERARY IDEA 2
Kanazawa (in Ishikawa Prefecture)
(石川県の金沢)
Chirihama Beach Driveway is the only beach in Japan where you can drive your car. The beach stretches out to almost 5 miles (8km) and is along the Sea of Japan. Access and dring along the beach is totally free, making this a prime spot for parking your car and having a beach BBQs while enjoying the water.
★Chirihama Beach Driveway (千里浜なぎさドライブウェイ Chiri Hama Nagisa Driveway)
Chiri-Hama Machi, Hakui District, Ishikawa Prefecture, 925 0054
Google Maps
📞0767-22-1118
Map Code: 135182759*02
Known as one of the 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan, Kenrokuen has a wide variety of trees, flowers, and plants (cherry blossom, autumn trees, plum blossoms, etc) giving this park many looks every season regardless spring, summer, fall, or winter. Which is something rare at many gardens.
Kinrokuen was first opened to the public on May 7, 1874. It was in 1922, it was named as one of the National Site of Scenic Beauty, and in 1985 it was selected as the most honorable rank equivalent to a National Treasure.
The garden is also the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle, which means you can also go to Kanazawa Castle within minutes! There is a pass which allows you to visit both Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen for 500 yen, so we recommend you getting that if you'd like to check out both!
Free admission for an early visit is available.
Please check out the date and time here.
★Kenroku Garden (兼六園)
1 Kenrokumachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture
Google Maps
📞076-234-3800
Map Code: 41 529 085 * 12
⏰:
07:00 – 18:00 (March 1 to October 15)
08:00 – 17:00 (October 16 to 28 February)
💴Admission: 310 yen for adults, 100 yen for children
💻Official homepage (ENG)
Gold leaf is essential for Japanese traditional crafts. Crafts that use this technique are mostly made in the cultural city of Kanazawa in the Hokuriku region. Which is why it's known by the name of "Kanazawa leaf". You can buy Kanazawa leaf products in Tokyo but if you're actually in Kanazawa, why not take a gold leaf bath!?!
This special rice bowl has appeared on TV and in many magazines in Japan. It's a big rice bow that contains sweet shrimp, salmon roe, minced tuna with leaks, Japanese yellowtail (amberjack), salmon, squid, octopus, crab, sea urchin, and mackerel!
Woh!!
All of the seafood is caught from a nearby peninsula, enforcing its "freshness" appeal. If you wanna try the limited menu, it's best to make a reservation in advance!
★Sawanoya (澤ノ屋)
Address: 3-2-21 Higashiyama, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Google Maps
📞076-255-0009
Map Code: 41560334*82
⏰9:00am~5:00pm
*NISSAN Rent A Car
Komatsu Airport Outlet
164-1 Ha, Ukiyanagimachi, Komatsu, Ishikawa 923-0993 Japan
Google Maps
☎0761-24-4123
⏰8:30am~7:00pm
💻NISSAN Rent A Car – Reservation Page (ENG)
JAPAN ROAD TRIP ITINERARY IDEA 3
Yamanashi Prefecture
Camping at Lake Shoji! Lake Shoji is the smallest one among the Five Lakes, but it also has the most beautiful scenery!! If luck is on your side, the weather will be nice and you'll be able to see Mount Fuji from the front! So this is where we decided to camp💖🗻 There's a camping site, Shojiko Camping Cottage, that allows you to camp in the area for between 800yen~1000yen/person (which is roughly $7~$9). You can even rent a tent here if you don't have one of your own!
ALSO! Glamping has started making its way to Japan, so for you glamping lovers you can also do that here at Lake Shoji🌟
★Shojiko Camping Cottage (精進湖キャンピングコテージ)
495 Shoji, Fujikawaguchiko, Minamitsuru, Yamanashi Prefecture 401-0336
Google Maps
📧Email: mail@shojiko.jp
📞0555-87-2005
⏰Information desk hours: Weekdays 9:00am〜9:00pm
💻Shojiko Camping Cottage homepage (JP)
🌟Glamping info (JP)
all around Tokyo,
so there's no need to go to a specific one
just whatever is most convenient!
For foreign tourists,
there are services such as language support
so a language barrier doesn't need to be a concern.
JAPAN ROAD TRIP ITINERARY IDEA 4
Nagano Prefecture (長野県)
This shrine has, quite literally, a legendary history. The name comes from a door thrown halfway across the country of Japan in a Shinto legend, which supposedly landed where the shrine now stands! The story is all about Shinto's most divine figure, Amaterasu, and you can read more about it here. Because of this amazing history, we knew we had to go take a look. It turns out that the shrine is also surrounded by amazing cedar trees that are a little reminiscent of California redwoods. The paths let you wander through the trees, and admire them as they stretch way into the sky.
★Togakushi Shrine (戸隠神社)
3506 Togakushi, Nagano-shi, Nagano Prefecture
Google Maps
📞026-254-2001
Official Homepage
These hot springs are supposed to be great for circulation and supple skin, and are especially good for fighting aging. So of course we wanted to visit and soak in the waters! All our aches, pains, and bruises were washed away in the steaming bath of natural spring water.
★Obinata Hot Spring (おびなたの湯)
9346-1 Happo, Hakuba, Kitaazumi-gun, Nagano
Google Maps
☎0261-72-3745
⏰Summer 9:00am~6:00pm, Winter 10:00~5:00
💴Admission: Adults 600 yen, Children 300 yen
💻Official Website
While we loved the legendary history of Togakushi Shrine, we also wanted to see a little bit of Nagano's more recent history, so we headed over to Naraijuku! This little town was a stop on the historic Nakasendo road, which ran between the major cities of Kyoto and Edo (now Tokyo). That meant that it was visited by important figures in Japan's history for hundreds of years, and you can still feel the history there! The town's streets are still lined with old wooden buildings, the picture of quaint traditional Japan, making it lots of fun to just take a stroll and admire the surroundings.
*NISSAN Rent A Car
Nagano Station Outlet
69-8 Nagano Station Redevelopment Zone 2, Nagano, Nagano 380-0927 Japan
Google Maps
☎026-268-1123
⏰8:00am~0:00pm
💻NISSAN Rent A Car – Reservation Page (ENG)
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