Hokkaido Driving in Winter | Japan Rental Car Selection

Today we'll talk about driving around Hokkaido in winter and rental car selections in Japan from some car rental companies.
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[@Aiken47]

A touring hint for all people used to driving on the righthand side of the road: Above the speedo or on the steering wheel put a note ‘

[@vantruongsinh]

I am coming to Hokkaido soon and this is really helpful :)

[@todrogers1321]

Best video I have seen on your channel in a year I love this I love the new animation intro to! JOHN IS BACK YAY!

[@CerberusTenshi]

Winter tyres are devided in studded and studless winter tyres. Studded winter tyres are more for Scandinavia and maybe high mountain peaks, as they damage the road surface. Most countries are only allowing studless winter tyres. Manufacturers produce various types of those as well, depending on what conditions they put the focus. Cold and dry, cold and wet, little snow, lots of snow, compacted snow or ice.

[@dherbman]

Thankyou for making and sharing, im planning Hokkaido in january of 2024 for probably 4 weeks...been following you some time already, you gave my son and myself inspiration for our trip to Japan in 2019 :)

[@VplanetV]

Hi, did you end up going to Hokkaido in Jan? Could you share what the weather and driving conditions were like? Thx

[@jarihult]

Interesting stream about car rental 👍!!!Thank you for sharing !!!

[@benjild1]

Toyota Rent-a-car are great. We rented a car from them in 2019 when we were in Hokkaido. When Hokkaido had that Expressway pass you could buy that essentially was a prepaid toll card greatly discounted for tourists, on one occasion it didn’t work but Toyota rent-a-car reimbursed us for the toll we had to pay. Great service from them.

[@ChaiLatte13]

When my brother and his partner went to Japan several years ago, they did end up renting a car and driving around! I couldn't do it...I know I'd mess up.

[@Bob_just_Bob]

I’ve had the pleasure of driving rental cars in snow storms both in Hokkaido and around Nagano as we’ve gone skiing in Japan once or twice (or thrice) a year every year for about 10 years pre-pandemic. Hope we can resume soon. I’m well accustomed to driving on either side of the road as I lived/worked in a left driving country for many many years. Actually lived in a right side driving country while working in a left side driving country and would cross the border daily switching sides every time. Renting cars in Japan has never been a problem for me. Rented from several different agents. I’m an American resident of China Love traveling in Japan.

[@cdplaygame1992]

Don't know how you do the 2 face with just 1camera on you but when you show the driving makes sense.

[@pliedtka]

Now I know why Bridgestone Blizzak, Toyo, Yokohama, Dunlop makes such good winter tires. Basically the same winter conditions in Canada, Eastern North USA.

[@NancyGrant17]

Hokido looks like driving in Canada. ❄️

[@hawaiiopihi]

Orix is also a good option and supports English drivers (most of the time )

[@cambridgemart2075]

The Toyota GT86 is also sold as the Subaru BRZ; it's a Toyota body design with Subaru drivetrain (2WD only unfortunately).

[@pliedtka]

Decent cars

[@REVIEWSONTHERUN]

Very interesting! Wonderful video. Thank you for sharing it. ✌️

[@IolaLin]

I rented through Toyota as well a few years ago we rented a van and an SUV for us and extended family. Also reserved a carseat online, no problem. Confirmed everything through email on top of the booking before heading over just to make sure. Drove around central Japan for a week and it was a smooth/great experience. They did check international driver's license when we picked up the car for everyone we said would potentially drive. GPS was super easy to use because all you had to do was enter the phone number, don't have to worry about typing in names. :D The only "problem" I had was my own. I immediately pulled out of the rental place onto the wrong side of the road, confused many locals haha but quickly fixed myself =p Driving between cities/towns is amazing. it was a little stressful in the busy cities but countryside/small town was no issue at all.

[@60frederick]

I can't drive a car... So coming to Japan I will have to take the JR... Thank you very much, John, for sharing your great documentary with us.

[@jediron169]

Next time I can go back to Japan I plan to spend a few days in Hokkaido.

[@Suede224]

Absolute beautiful views!!!

[@graceho7845]

Very useful episode for future trip to Hokkaido where public transport is less available for remote towns

[@TeresaDavis-uk7su]

This is so awesome! Thank you John..If we can actually get into Japan..you just made how to rent a car super easy! My husband thanks you in advance! :-) I want to take the kids to Disneyland in Japan! :-)

[@wennychristian2395]

Wow, an explanation like this that I was looking for on KZbin and my favorite channel explained everything in detail. But in fact I still can't drive in Japan because Indonesian international driving license are not accepted. I wonder why? can anyone explain? Is it because our people often ignore traffic signs? 😂😂

[@FirstLast-bi1ve]

Very wintery

[@astroboy3507]

Yeh the Toyota 86 is also a Subaru with just different badges!!! Also the car under that Toyota GR turbo rally car is a little bullet it’s so demanding down under there is a waiting list to buy it!!! ✌️ And yeh petrol is going bananas here too in oz!!! Near 2 dollars a LITRE!!! At some places here!!!🙄

[@louel9272]

I own a Jimny in my country, any rental companies that have Jimmys in Sapporo?

[@Michael_Macasinag]

Wow it's winter already that was fast😂 はあいs

[@サトシユサフ]

Thank you✅✅very good explanation. But I'll stick with public transportation for time being. Probably will rent mext time with my family.

[@onlyinjapanGO]

Definitely consider when you’re comfortable doing it because it opens up places not available by public transport.

[@Godzilla_gaming9292]

You could at least have got an 86 😜

[@cdplaygame1992]

Initial d.

[@mayraperezsostres5128]

Wow, that's so awesome. 👍when I drove I liked Toyota because they have good engine for long distance. 😃👍☕🇺🇬

[@Godzilla_gaming9292]

Yaris GR?

[@adrianyong8422]

Is there like a second delay between speech and video ? I kinda gets headache as John lips dun sync with sound.....

[@khankhattak.]

how does a kei car drive in winter on snowy or slippery roads

[@erwinwenpakssencio6665]

Love it...

[@erwinwenpakssencio6665]

Reliable car tho...

[@erwinwenpakssencio6665]

Already saw the barbecue festival and it was wonderful...

[@riekhoo7036]

Does it come with snow chain ?

[@indiranaicker8394]

Hi from south africa what is the best time to visit Japan

[@micheletonolifilms]

Hello, nice and useful video. Have you ever seen cars with trailer? I would like to rent one to store the luggages, as you need a D driving license for the 10 seats Van, but it seems very difficult to find.

[@onlyinjapanGO]

You can rent large SUV. They’re more expensive. I haven’t seen and trailer hitches like in the US though. I wonder why. Here, I drove Toyota HIACE before - I didn’t need a special license.

[@micheletonolifilms]

@@onlyinjapanGO Maybe it was the Hiace 9 seater version. For that the B license seems to be enough. I'm struggling to find it for rent though.

[@akaiPi.3.14]

Answers to car questions from your stream: The prices for the rentals have been at what was shown during the stream (¥10,000plus return same day), for at least 10years, as long as I’ve been in Japan. Special prices are only in the off season (mainly late fall/winter) like the time of your trip to Hokkaido. The 86 Toyota ‘sport’ car your were interested in is based on the now, classic mid 80’s Corolla rear wheel drive car. Many petrol heads enjoyed (still do) tuning these cars for drifting, later made popular by the anime TV show, Initial D. It’s not a collaboration between any other car companies, just Toyota updating a popular sporty car, like trying to bring back the Supra. Toyota does NOT make any all electric cars for the rental fleet or for general use period. Do to the lack of hydrogen refueling stations in the country(world). Your stuck with the gas powered electric supported cars. Nissan is the only company you can rent an all electric Leaf. That’s right, the Leaf is your only choice if 100% electric is what you’re looking for. You can rent this directly from Nissan or a few other rental shops. Sadly Japanese automotive giants continue to fall far behind the rest of the world in this regard. Hopefully, they have some special sauce or a card hidden away somewhere that they will pull out. Let’s get it together! I still want to be able to drive a car made by a Japanese company in the near future! Sony, did you change your mind about that concept you’ve been testing around the world?

[@akaiPi.3.14]

Auto insurance: The idea of ‘at fault’ is a tricky one in Japan. This is way both parties must contact the police. Both sides will be assigned a percentage of blame, you may think that you were not ‘at fault’ but the authorities will decide that, not you. Always get the extra insurance for the car. If you get into an accident and someone is hurt, they will handle almost everything. If you are better covered there is a lower likelihood of you being fined or (if your a tourist) not being able to return to Japan if you leave before you situation is settled. (Most extreme case.) the extra insurance is usually not that much more than the regular one. Protect yourself and others.

[@CerberusTenshi]

If you looked closely, Toyota lets you rent the Mirai, the fuel cell electric car. Also, the GT86/GR86 is a collaboration between Toyota and Subaru.

[@akaiPi.3.14]

@@CerberusTenshi Now, I’ve checked both English and Japanese and NO Mirai for rent. It must be on a special page. You should share that page with others. But with the limited to 160 stations in the WHOLE country, good luck refueling. Being a ‘manufacturer’ doesn’t mean you helped develop the car. Look closely at who made the engine and transmission plus the overall design, TOYOTA. Adding a badge with the Subaru Stars and body kit doesn’t mean much. Subaru sure does know how to make cars. Magna International

[@CerberusTenshi]

@@akaiPi.3.14 Look at 17:58 and you see the Toyota Mirai offered for 55000yen renting price. So there you go. And Toyota is super famous for their flat 4 engines, right? Unlike Subaru with their i6? /sarcasm The GT86/GR86 and BRZ are co-developed and co-produced. While Toyota might have taken the lion share on the developement, as they a way bigger company than Subaru, both are Fuji Heavy Industries owned and the production of all cars, so yes, even the Toyotas, is done by Subaru. So, if at all, the GT86/GR86 are just rebadged Subarus, not the other way round. Next, you claim that the A90 Supra is made by Toyota and not BMW and instead, the Z4 is just a rebadged Supra bodykit.

[@akaiPi.3.14]

@@CerberusTenshi Yes, it does show that you can try to rent a Mirai from a special shop(2 locations), you need to call and make arrangements to rent, training on how to refuel, etc... (Did you go to the page yourself and not just watch this video? It is in Japanese only) It’s not for any and all to do via the internet. That is what the host is doing in his videos, right? He’s trying to help those that want to visit here. Do you think most first time visitors would be willing to jump through all the extra hoops would be easy or fun? Sure if they had so special help, maybe. I see you Subaru guy! Like what you like. Believe what you wish. And I see you found Magna International too (Supra manufacturer). Manga makes BMWs and lots of other makers vehicles. Does that mean they designed them? Did BMW design the Supra? No, just the engine and connecting moving parts. If the engine is being made in the same place as other BMWs…. Wait a minute, I get it. You think the engine that goes in the cars makes it whatever kind of car it is…. Is that how it works? Well if that’s the case then your Subarus and Porsches are all Benz. How do you wanna slice this pie friend?

[@dsujono1606]

I wish to know how to fuel... I understand the automatic machine "speaks' only Japanese

[@mayraperezsostres5128]

Dress warm in the Dec. Streaming.🙏😃👍☕🇺🇬

[@garylonier7848]

They appear friendly but they’re just being nosey...

[@deenzmartin6695]

WHO

[@garylonier7848]

@@deenzmartin6695 Japanese