Road Trips in Japan

Hokkaido is the best road-trip country in Japan: wide roads, light traffic and towns 100 km apart with nothing but farmland, forest and volcanoes in between. The east is the classic loop. Fly into Kushiro or Memanbetsu, drive north past the crater lakes of Akan-Mashu National Park, where Lake Mashu sits in a caldera often filled with fog and Lake Kussharo has hot sand on its shore, then on to the Shiretoko Peninsula.

Route 334 crosses the peninsula over the Shiretoko Pass at about 740 m, with Mount Rausu above and the disputed Kuril island of Kunashir on the horizon. The pass is closed from early November to late April, and the road beyond the Shiretoko Five Lakes is the end of the line for private cars.

The Venus Line is a 76 km sightseeing road across the grassy plateau of Kirigamine and on to Utsukushigahara, above Lake Suwa and an hour from Matsumoto. It is at its best in July for the day lilies and in October for the gold grass. Further north, Route 292 climbs through the Shiga Highlands to Shibutoge, at 2,172 m the highest point on Japan’s national road network, then drops past the volcanic slopes of Kusatsu-Shirane to the onsen town of Kusatsu. It closes from about mid-November to late April, and sections near the crater can close when volcanic alert levels rise.

Close to Tokyo, a car makes sense once you leave the city. Pick it up in Hakone or Mishima rather than central Tokyo, then circle the Fuji Five Lakes from Lake Kawaguchi and run down the Izu Peninsula’s west coast for views of Mount Fuji across Suruga Bay, inside Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.

In Tohoku, the north of Honshu, drive from Hirosaki or Aomori over the Hakkoda Mountains to Lake Towada, following the Oirase stream for the last stretch. The Hachimantai Aspite Line further south runs through high moorland and opens in April between walls of snow. Tohoku has its own expressway pass.

Kyushu is the most volcanic road trip in Japan. The Yamanami Highway leaves Yufuin, under the twin peaks of Mount Yufu, and crosses the open Kuju highlands to the outer rim of Mount Aso, one of the world’s largest calderas. From Aso, roads drop through pasture and cedar forest to Takachiho Gorge in Miyazaki.

Shikoku is Japan’s quietest main island, and the drive across it is mountain gorges and Pacific coast. The Iya Valley, with its vine bridges, is two hours from Tokushima or Takamatsu; the south coast from Kochi runs to Cape Ashizuri and the Shimanto River; and Matsuyama connects to Honshu by the Nishiseto Expressway over the Shimanami bridges via Imabari and Onomichi.

The San’in coast on the Sea of Japan side links Tottori and its sand dunes, Matsue, Izumo and Iwami Ginzan. The San’in-Setouchi-Shikoku Expressway Pass covers both regions.

On Okinawa Island, a car lets you escape Naha’s traffic. Drive north on Route 58 along the west coast to the Motobu Peninsula for the Churaumi Aquarium and Nakijin Castle, cross the 1,960 m Kouri Bridge to Kouri Island, then continue to Cape Hedo at the northern tip through the Yanbaru forest. Two or three days is enough. On Miyako a car is the only practical way to reach the beaches and the bridges to Irabu and Kurima, and the same goes for Ishigaki.

Most visitors need an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, obtained at home before travel. Licences from Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Monaco, Taiwan, Estonia and Slovenia need an official Japanese translation from the Japan Automobile Federation instead. Our getting around Japan guide has the full detail on the licence rules and rental prices.