I'm looking for some advice or suggestions on renting a car in Japan next month. I've read through this entire thread (every post!), and it's been incredibly helpful. Thanks to everyone's tips, advice, and reports.

I'm interested in renting a car that's fun to drive (ideally with a ~2,000cc engine) but isn't big (absolutely not an SUV, ideally a hatchback). The Toyota 86 seems to fit the bill, but I can't find availability at any of the Toyota Tokyo locations for my dates. There's just two of us and we don't have that much stuff. If anyone has any other car suggestions, or on how I can find availability for the 86, I'm all ears .

While doing a lot of searches on rent.toyota.co.jp, I noticed prices are cheaper at locations near the airport (not the actual airport locations) than in the city. For example, the JR Narita Sta. West Ext. Shop near NRT or the Kawasaki Shinkawabashi Shop near HND. I'm staying at a hotel in Shinjuku, and would like to pick up the car in the city rather than near or at the airport. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips on how to get better pricing but still in the city? The ~10 locations I checked in the city all had the same exact price, but the above-mentioned locations were 21% cheaper (¥68k vs. ¥86k for C2, similar price differences for C3 and C4).

While doing a lot of searches on nissan-rentacar.com/en, I encountered incredibly different pricing for the P2 category (March, Note). For example, the Shinjuku Station West Exit store is charging ~¥64k for my dates, while the Nishi-Shinjuku Yamate-dori store is charging ~¥38k. That seems too good to be true for a 9 day reservation. Is it normal for there to be such a big price difference for the same car in the same neighborhood? Is there anything I should watch out for or be aware of with the cheaper location?

I also checked travel.rakuten.co.jp/cars/ (thanks for all the tips!), nipponrentacar.co.jp/en, timescar-rental.com/en/, tabirai.net/car/, and skyrent.jp/. None of them really had better options or pricing than Toyota and Nissan. I also searched National/Enterprise, Hertz, and Amex Travel, but I'm sticking to the recommendations here of booking direct (and the prices were worse, anyways). I'll check Budget later. Did I miss any sites I should check?

We're currently flying out of NRT, so I'll make a reservation for pick-up in Tokyo and drop-off in NRT. There's a chance we'll end up flying out of HND instead (I'm hoping to find better flights back home). Does anyone have experience, thoughts, or advice on what my experience will be like trying to change the drop-off location either 1) after making the reservation (vs. just canceling and rebooking) or 2) after picking up the reservation? I really don't want to have to drop off the car in NRT and then trek over to HND in the event I change our flights .

Our 9 day itinerary kicks off in Tokyo, then we spend 3 nights in the Izu Peninsula, 2 nights in Fuji Five Lakes, and 3 nights in Nikko. If anyone wants to share any practical advice regarding roads, routes, the car itself, driving conditions, or scenic drives, please let me know! We've never driven in Japan, but we've done right-hand driving in the past (drove for 25 days all over South Africa, Eswatini, and Lesotho, including the Sani Pass). FWIW, we're very comfortable with city driving, getting stuck underground with no reception (thanks, Lower Wacker), and dealing with missed exits (c'est la vie, especially when on vacation in a foreign country, since it's all about the journey). Thanks!