Renting a car in Yamanashi

What you have to show at the counter

All of these must be originals. Copies and images on a phone are not accepted.

• A driving qualification valid in Japan: either an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention — issued within the past year and still inside your permitted driving period in Japan — or, for Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and Monaco, your own licence plus an approved Japanese translation.
• Your passport. Both companies ask to see it alongside an International Driving Permit.
• Something that shows your date of entry into Japan, which the company uses to check how long you may drive here. If you used an automated gate and have no entry stamp, ask your rental company before departure how they want this evidenced.
• A credit card in the name of the person who made the booking. Some counters take cash, but conditions vary and extra identification may be required, so a card is the reliable option.

Why we start at Kofu rather than Tokyo

The recommendation on both trips is the same: take the limited express from Shinjuku to Kofu — roughly an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters, depending on which train you catch — and pick the car up in front of the station. It keeps you off the Metropolitan Expressway and central Tokyo traffic on your first day driving on the left.

It also takes the biggest unpredictable variable — congestion between Tokyo and Yamanashi — out of the plan, so the afternoon you scheduled in Yamanashi actually happens. For a group of two to four, hiring in Tokyo can work out cheaper overall; we still recommend Kofu, because the saving comes at the cost of your least confident hours behind the wheel.

Rules visitors get wrong most often

• Japan drives on the left, with the driver on the right. The moment it catches people out is immediately after turning at a junction — check which lane you have ended up in.
• At junctions, traffic going straight on and turning left has priority. If you are turning right, wait in the middle of the junction until oncoming traffic has fully cleared.
• A red inverted triangle marked 止まれ means a complete stop at the line, not a roll-through. It is one of the most heavily enforced rules in Japan. Level crossings also require a stop and a check in both directions unless signals are managing the traffic.
• There is no acceptable amount of alcohol before driving. Not one drink.

Fuel, cash and returning the car

• Cars are returned with a full tank. Fill up near Kofu Station before you drop off, keep the receipt, and hand it to the staff.
• At a staffed pump, ask for regular, full tank. Attendants will do the rest.
• Carry cash. Hottarakashi Onsen states on its own site that it takes cash only, and payment options at small mountain businesses change. Around ¥10,000–20,000 per person covers the gaps comfortably.
• The whole route — Kofu, Yamanashi City, Lake Shibire, Minobu, Lake Motosu and back — runs on national and prefectural roads. You do not need an expressway option unless you plan a detour.

Using an ETC card at a toll gate

The routes on this site work without an expressway. If your own plan uses one — the Chuo Expressway, the Chubu-Odan Expressway or a detour of your own — an ETC card is the easy way through the toll gates.

The three toll gate photographs above are not ours. They are reused under the licences credited beneath each one; every other photograph on this site is our own.

1. Insert the card before you set off
   Push the ETC card fully into the reader, usually by the driver’s feet or in the glovebox. With the engine on you should see a green light and hear a confirmation.
2. Pick the right lane
   Purple or blue ETC専用 lanes and the shared ETC / 一般 lanes both work. The green 一般 lane is for cash and manual payment — stay out of it.
3. Slow to 20 km/h
   Approach the barrier below 20 km/h so the reader has time to talk to the car.
4. Watch the barrier lift
   Confirm with your own eyes that the bar has raised before you drive through.
5. If the barrier does not open
   Do not reverse — cars behind you will not expect it. Stop where you are, put on your hazard lights, and press the intercom at the side of the gate for staff.
6. Settle up at the counter
   Take the card out of the reader when you return the car. Staff read the toll history and charge the actual amount to your card.