Again I think this depends on your disposition and comfort level. I suck at video games and I don't do well in unfamiliar surroundings and foreign countries. Driving in New Jerzey would be extremely stressful. You might be completely different. You might be totally fine in Tokyo. But I know that a lot of people wouldn't be.

For me, driving in Tokyo would be nearly impossible. Side streets are tiny, there're complicated intersections, entrances to parking towers in the city can be hard to spot, and Tokyo's expressways are confusing with many twists and turns and one fork after another.

But I do agree that there're harder places to drive in the world, such as Hong Kong.

I've rented a couple times in Japan, and generally found that although the rental agents speak no or minimal English, they have paperwork (with phrases in Japanese and English) to guide you through the process. I have found that renting from Tocoo makes things a little easier, as the rental facility will expect an English speaker. (As others have pointed out, Tocoo will usually be a bit more expensive).

I wouldn't hesitate to drive in rural Japan and smaller cities, and for me personally even Tokyo would be ok (but there seems no point in driving there). I mostly do single day or overnight rentals to see specific sites, but get around longer distances by train. My only longer rentals have been in Okinawa, Hokkaido, Akita, and Miyazaki.

Hmmm, I'll have to think about this further, but maybe I'd do better putting the 3 of us on a bus from Kyoto to, say, Takayama, doing a little driving around that area, and then busing to Tokyo. Would that make sense? I've heard that the buses are reasonably comfortable and affordable -- and much cheaper than the trains these days.

I have driven a lot on the left side of the road and that wouldn't bother me. I've driven in lots of big cities, too. I usually find them stressful when they are a bit disorganized. I remember Lisbon being the worst. What would concern me about Tokyo would be if there were any unusual driving behaviors, or if (despite GPS) it would still be confusing to know where to go. I obviously wouldn't be driving "around" Tokyo, just driving TO Tokyo to return the car and then settle in.

I rented a tiny 660cc Kei-car in Tokyo a couple of years ago to get to Hakone and back. It was the cheapest thing on the catalogue. It came with a sat nav with an English interface (at a small additional cost). Two things that stood out for me: you enter your destination, eg hotel or restaurant, using its phone number so that you don't have to deal with the unfamiliar Japanese address format. And it knows how many lanes there are at the junction, and tells you which one/s to be in. The hardest part of the side trip was locating the rental office in Shinjuku station...

Limited express train is generally more comfortable than bus for the same route. However, since train travel from Takayama to Tokyo takes such roundabout route (and also quite expensive), bus may make sense for Takayama to Tokyo.

Why don't you take the train from Kyoto to Takayama? Then rent car for a couple days there.

And then from Takayama to Tokyo, consider one of these two options:
1).Bus from Takayama over the Alps straight to Shinjuku (https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/highwaybus/shinjuku/)
2). Bus from Takayama over the Alps to Matsumoto (https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/expr...umoto_takayama), then check out the city of Matsumoto for a few hours including their famous original castle, then train to Shinjuku.

Sorry... both of the above links are in Japaenese.

I'll happily drive in Paris. I've done it many times, and also most other cities in Western Europe. [In England, I've driven around smaller cities and the countryside, but never London.] However, I won't attempt to drive in Japan and especially Tokyo. The same applies almost everywhere in Asia.

Driving on the wrong side of the road is much harder.

Styles of driving, expectations, and conventions can differ greatly around the world.

Finally, it's much harder to find your way when you can't make sense of basic signs, including knowing the "alphabet." It becomes dangerous.

Is the ETC "handling fee" of Times Car a one time payment or do I have to pay it every day of rental/ every time I use toll roads?

I can't speak for Times, but at Toyota I paid one small fee for the ETC card and the total amount of tolls charged to the card once when I returned the car.

I took advantage of the option above many years ago, although I didn't rent a car. The bus route is a real thrill ride with lots of hairpin curves but gorgeous scenery.

The ongoing "ETC fee" among different rental companies is 300 Yen + 8% tax per car rental, if the card is provided by the rental company.

If renting from toocoo (the broker), they charge 300 yen per DAY.

Ok. I think that I can afford those 324 YEN and avoid messing up at the toll booth without any Japanese skills. :D

There is no Japanese language skill required interacting with human operators at the toll gates.

It's not the human operators that would be worrying me.

My sister is going to Okinawa next week.

She has a valid US driver's license. Does she need an int'l drivers license?

Thanks!

yes.

even though my understanding is that intl drivers license is just an interpretation document, Japanese car agencies have asked for it every time in my experience