Renting Car in Japan
 

Addendum (4 June 2019): I've created a wiki, so that other Jpn forum regulars can add useful info and edit as needed. The first version of wiki is essentially my original post (which I'm keeping here) copied and pasted over. I appreciate your contribution.


Although there has been a lot of discussions in this other thread about car rentals in Jpn, I thought it'd be a better idea to start a new thread dedicated to rental car policies in Jpn.

Having now rented a car half-dozen times over the past 3 years in Jpn, I'd like to share what I've learned thus far:

Insurance / Waiver:
General issues - Japanese car rental insurance/waiver
- Jpn car rentals generally automatically comes with insurances included.
- Those coverages include:
a).Third-party injury/death (対人補償; Jpn rental agencies seem to translate it as "bodily injury/damage")
b).Third-party damage (対物補償; Jpn rental agencies seem to translate it as "property damage")
c).Rental car damage (車両補償; Jpn rental agencies seem to translate it as "car damage" or "rented vehicle damage")
d).Renter's injury/death (人身障害補償; "personal injury", "physical injury", etc)
- The word 補償 literally means compensation but, in this case, it means insurance coverage.
- From my experiences, usually (a) coverage has no limit and (c) coverage is up to the value of the car at the time.
- Coverage amounts for (b) and (d) tend to vary amongst different agencies.
- From my experiences, usually (b) & (c) have deductibles, whereas (a) & (d) do not. Deductibles (=excess) are called 免責 (menseki) in Jpnese.
- CDW (免責保証制度) in Jpn actually waives any deductibles associated with above coverages (including what is essentially liability coverage in US). This is different from US where CDW only applies to rental car damage.
- In addition, there is what's called NOC (non-operation charge), which is the penalty assessed to you for the loss of rental car agency's revenue associated with the time that the car needs to be taken out of service for repair.
- Expect that any damage, no matter how minor, will invariably result in some type of NOC.
- NOC fee schedule/policies vary greatly by agencies.
- Most car agencies also offer NOC waiver for a fee.
- Many rental car companies stipulate that you must contact both the rental car agency and the police immediately upon any incident (including even minor damages to the rental car) that might invoke insurance coverage; failure to do may make the coverage null and void. In addition, some even stipulate that the rental is terminated at the point of the incident/accident. Some even go on to stipulate that you will not get any money back from the remaining portion of the rental.

Understanding your credit card coverage
- US credit card coverage is almost always only for your rented vehicle and does not apply to third-party damages (liability).
- Make sure you call and talk to your credit card company's insurance/claim specialist.
- Some of the key questions to ask:
* Any restrictions as to the country, car type, length of rental?
* Any limit on coverage, or does it cover up to the entire value of the car?
* Is the coverage primary, or secondary to your personal auto insurance?
* Any deductible?
* Does it cover NOC?
* If you have to file a claim, what's the required time frame and do you have to file a police report?
* Is it okay if the rental contract is not in English?
- In addition, it may be helpful to understand what your personal auto insurance covers in terms of liability (3rd party property/vehicle damage) in Jpn.

Example 1:
My credit card coverage: Primary full coverage of rental car damage with zero deductible; NOC included; all coverages null & void if I accept any relevant coverage waiver from the rental car.
My Japanese rental car policy:
* (a) unlimited coverage w/ no deductible
* (b) 30mill yen coverage w/ 150k yen deductible
* (c) up to full value of car w/ 100k yen deductible
* (d) 20mill yen per person coverage w/ no deductible
* coverages void for any windshield or tire/hubcap damage and any damage involving animal
* NOC 50k yen regardless of extent of damage
* CDW 1300y per day
* NOCW (NOC waiver): 600y per day
Decision-making:
1). Decline both CDW & NOCW --> risk responsibility for 3rd party damage deductible (150k yen).
2). Buy CDW & NOCW (1900y/day) --> risk responsibility for rental vehicle damage in case of windshield/tire/hubcap damage or animal collision (these would have been covered by my credit card).
3). Buy CDW only (1300y/day) --> risk responsibility for all items under (2) + NOC.
For me, (1) is almost the no-brainer choice, as it meant saving 1900y / day without measurable net loss of benefits.

Example 2:
My credit card coverage: Primary full coverage of rental car damage with zero deductible; NOC included; all coverages null & void if I accept any relevant coverage waiver from the rental car.
Toyota Rental car policy:
* (a) unlimited coverage w/ no deductible
* (b) unlimited coverage w/ 50k yen deductible
* (c) up to full value of car w/ 50k yen deductible
* (d) 30mill yen per person coverage w/ no deductible
* NOC 20~50k yen
* CDW 1080y per day
* DPP (Double Protection Package) = CDW + NOCW: 1620y per day
* Coverages void for any tire/hubcap damage, but such repair will be covered if you enroll in their DPP.
Decision-making:
1). Decline CDW/DPP --> risk responsibility for 3rd party damage deductible (50k yen).
2). Buy DPP --> eliminates virtually all risks, plus gain benefit of free roadside service for flats, etc.
3). Buy CDW only --> risk responsibility for rental vehicle damage in case of tire/hubcap damage (these would have been covered by my credit card or DPP) + NOC.
In this instance, I'd probably go with (2).


Miscellaneous points regarding car rental:
- 3 items you must have when picking up the car: Passport; Driver's License; International Driving Permit.
- For information regarding booking rental cars in English, refer to these posts in this thread: 30, 34, 37-38, 40. [This will need to be updated continuously.]
- If you're going to waive the agency's CDW, then I highly suggest you carry with you your credit card company's Proof of Coverage letter. Call your card company's insurance/claim department and ask to email you such document.
- There are 3 types of rental car agencies in Jpn: Legacy agencies (大手 [oh-te] agencies); Budget chains (格安 [kakuyasu] agencies); independent places some of which are kakuyasu.
- In general, try to go with legacy places. Those include: Nissan; Nippon; Toyota; Times; Orix; Budget.
- Try to avoid kakuyasu places. Those include: Ones; Niconico. I have firsthand experience with Ones. They were terrible, and they gave me a jalopy with dents and rusts everywhere, >200k km on it, on the verge of breaking down. Even then, they still dared to inspect the vehicle upon return with fine tooth comb to look for any new damage they could ding me for. Even if the vehicle comes with Navi, it will probably be outdated and unreliable.
- In Sapporo / CTS, there are 3 agencies that specialize in Honda cars, and they all contain the name "Honda." But each one is actually a local independent operation. I've rented from Honda Rent-a-Lease, and they were fine. I still would've preferred renting from one of the legacy agencies. Honda Rent-a-Lease's insurance and waiver programs had a lot of restrictions, higher deductibles and loopholes not seen with companies like Orix.
- Because the 3 agencies in Sapporo/CTS featuring Honda cars have similar names, this creates much confusion. For example, Honda Rent-a-Lease (ホンダレンタレース北海道）has website www.hondarentacar.jp, while Honda Rent-a-Car (ホンダレンタカー) has website www.hondarent.com. To avoid confusion, always match the agency's phone # on your reservation with the phone # listed on the website you're looking at.
- Japanese agencies are very particular about noting any little scratches and dents. Make sure you inspect the vehicle carefully and document every little thing at the time of pick-up.

I've never used them but JR also has an associated rental car company with offices at some train stations. I'd certainly consider them if it worked out for a trip.

I've used them. They're called Eki Rent-a-Car. When I used them, I thought they were good. Nice newish car with up-to-date Navi. But, as I became more concerned about fine-print stuff over the past year or two, I noticed last year when I was considering them that their insurance coverage is quite inadequate compared to legacy agencies.

Do you remember what aspect of the insurance coverage was different - what made you feel that it was inadequate? I've been happy to rent cars from them but I can't say that I've ever compared insurance coverage from one agency to another.

I don't quite remember the details since this was a year ago or more. I just remember it being significant. Therefore, I just looked up their current policies and, of course, now everything looks solid. On par with Toyota Rent-a-Car's. I swear they must've upgraded their coverage between then and now.
https://www.ekiren.co.jp/info/hoken.html

Thanks for this - very helpful. I am off to Okinawa in a couple of weeks and want to rent a car when I get there. I would never have thought of asking my CC company what cover they provide - always thought the coverage was on the insurance policy you bought when renting the car.

Has anyone rented a car in Japan using an old UK paper licence? I am concerned even with an international drivers licence they might not accept it as it has no photo.

The discussion above concerning credit card coverage is admittedly very US-centric. Are you from UK? If so, I'm not sure that UK credit cards come with these types of perks. But it's worth finding out. Also, when you rent a car in Jpn, the rental automatically comes with insurance coverages. What you have the option to purchase from a Jpanese rental car agency is not the insurance (which again is already included in the rental fee) but rather the exemption from having to pay the excess/deductible in case something happens.

I'm sure I did this in the early 1990s, when there were no UK photo-card licenses and I did not yet have a Japanese license. The IDP (International Driving Permit) has your photo, so the rental company should accept it, together with your paper license. That said, it might be viewed as an oddity by the employee who handles your reservation, so you should be ready to patiently explain it and wait for them to verify it with their superiors if they're suspicious.

You should also carry an up-to-date print-out of your driving license information from the UK government website, just in case someone wants to do things by the book. If I were you, I would not present this last document unless requested. In my experience, it has never been required.
https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

No one ever asked for, or photocopied the home licence. They photocopied passport and IDP. One time I mistakenly gave the clerk my health insurance card instead of my own driver licence. They didn't notice or care.

LOL :D ^

Thanks - am so looking forward to driving there - been several time to Japan but never driven so be a new experience. :)

I think what they ask for can be variable (although they consistently ask for IDP) and sometimes they may not even know what they're looking at. Nonetheless, I've definitely been asked for my US license before.

hk DP has no photos either - just the IDP and the passport.
i usually give them the 3 items plus my credit card on the side. and it had never been a problem (except for the one time i rented from a small company and they dont cater for foreigners)

I went to the post office today to get my International Drivers Permit (UK) and what a farce !! :td: On the front of the IDP it has a 'Valid from' date and they insisted that the date 'had' to be stamped on - trouble is their stamp was useless - date stamped was completely illegible. I complained and they re-did the permit but even after three attempts the year still isn't readable. Now they stamp the back also which clearly states 2018 but the from the front, which is what really matters you can't clearly see 2018.

Has anyone else had this problem? I accepted the IDP as I didn't know what else to do but I am tempted to try another Post Office. Which isn't that easy to be fair as only three Post Offices in my region issue these permits. But my fear is going all the way to Japan only to have them reject the permit because the validation date is illegible. :(

Honestly it beggars belief - I paid for a service and they don't even have a working stamp. Felt like buying them one myself. :mad:

Go back to the same post office. Return the IDP and demand a refund because the last thing you need is a dodgy looking IDP. Then send off to the AA for an IDP
https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice...an-idp-by-post

If they won't refund it, submit a complaint.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/contact-us-complaint

To be honest, no one seems to really care what the date on an IDP is, certainly not in Japan. If it does have a date, when it expires, just put a sticker over it and either stamp or write in a new date -- hey presto, you have an IDP good for another year for free!

This whole IDP thing is surely regarded as a profit center by the AAA.

That doesn't strike me as a sensible way to save £5. YMMV.

I have ones effective 2015, 2016 and 2017 (each one hand-written). Might be able to change 6->8, 7->9 lol.

Thought I'd add a quick heads up for something I only learnt very recently. Just like JR passes it's possible to buy an ETC pass for different regions. This is only open to foreign visitors and gives you the chance to pay a flat daily rate which covers all tolls. Given the cost of tolls in Japan it can easily save hundreds of dollars in just a few days. Here's an example for Kyushu

KEP Kyushu Expressway Pass - West Nippon Expressway Company Limited.

Some more information on tolls and passes here:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2354.html

AAA in the USA is charging $20, but anyway, that's not the main reason -- it's saving the hassle of having to get it. And ir really is irrelevant. No one keeps a database of these international driving permits, their sole purpose is to give information in multiple languages, so who cares about expiration dates? No one, except that at $20 they are a wonderful profit center for AAA.

Thanks a ton for this very useful information.

Fiance and I are going to be honeymooning in Japan for 2 weeks at end of July/beginiing of August.

We are staying in Osaka and Tokyo for about 1 week each. We are thinking of doing a mid-stop to hike Fuji, and were planning to rent a 1-way car from Osaka to Tokyo with a stop at Mt Fuji so we can hike to the top - question is....is there parking at those Fuji base stations? We're looking to do rental car since are are trying to get a very early start to try to do a sunrise...and it will be more convenient if we can drive ourselves from Osaka to Fuji.

Thanks for any help!!

If it were me, I'd rent the car somewhere near Mt.Fuji along/near the bullet train route from Osaka to Tokyo. Like Mishima or Gotenba. That way, you can avoid city driving (esp if you're renting from Gotenba). The bullet train kodama stops at Mishima. Regardless of where you rent, make sure you rent from a place that's right near the JR train station so that you get off the train and it's an easy walk to it. Driving in Osaka and Tokyo would be really difficult and intimidating for me personally, even though I read Japanese. On the other hand, I think it would be nice to have a car to tour around the Fuji area. I don't remember the parking situation at Mt.Fuji too well, except I know that there is a fair amount of parking available at the 5th station.

Be aware that there are restrictions on private vehicle traffic on the routes to the 5th stations, with the exception of the Gotemba route.
Access / Vehicle Restrictions | Read before climbing | Official Web Site for Mt. Fuji Climbing

Dang, ok that is VERY useful to know. Thanks a ton for the word of caution!

Has anyone rented a car using a third party booking site like Tabirai or Jalan/Rakuten (JP versions)?

Tabirai's price for an Orix rental beats booking direct for a similar car for some sample dates. English Tabirai indicates CDW is included, but prices are higher and state they include an English navi. JP Tabirai has something along 免責補償込み which translates an indemnity compensation and which Orix offers as an add-on CDW.

An ETC reader would be helpful if I wanted a freeway pass or ETC rental card, but as far as I can tell, a 2-day pass in Kyushu starts at 3,500 yen while I just need the segment between Oita/Beppu which is < 3,000 yen. Could I just pay the tolls using US credit card or cash?

I think every single rental that I've done in the last few years has been through Rakuten (Jpn version). Although I haven't checked every single time, it just seems like Rakuten offers same or better rates and availability than booking direct. Plus I don't have to deal with having to go to different websites and signing up for different username/password, etc. When I book cars through Rakuten, I don't pay Rakuten but rather pay the rental agency directly at the counter and I'm bound by that agency's rules as far as rental terms, insurance waivers, deductibles, etc (although that will also depend on the type of plan you choose). Rakuten is merely a platform for securing the reservation in that regard, as opposed to booking a car in the US through a third-party site. Yet you still collect Rakuten points. So as of now, I see no downside to using Rakuten for rental car bookings.

You can pay expressway toll via credit card... at least you're supposed to be able to. But, for some reason, my Chase VISA was declined ONLY at Jpnese expressway toll booth the last two trips that I rented a car (the same card worked everywhere else in Jpn). Each time I had to then present another card (AMEx) and that worked. Expect to be able to pay by card. But I agree that it's a good idea to have some cash on hand just in case.

Most people on FT would not be comfortable booking cars in Japanese and may find it more feasible to go through an English website such as Tocoo. But since I'm Japanese, I've never used those websites before.

I think it'd be helpful if someone who's familiar could post some details about the easiest way for a non-Japanese person to book a rental in Jpn, how Tocoo (or another equivalent website) works as far as the rental terms and who processes the payment, its pros & cons, etc.

I used Tocoo last time I was in Nagano. The staff at the rental office doesn't speak English and called Tocoo customer service and have a guy do live translation for me. If I recall correctly, all I did was book & pay through Tocoo, print out the confirmation email, show up at the rental office with my passport, Canadian driver license, international driver permit, and the credit card I used to make the booking and that's it. I don't recall getting dinged for service charges but some people online did say they do sneak in stuff like that. Read the fine print.

If you're planning to rent from Sapporo CTS it's worth taking a look at Worldnet Rentals. I had a very good experience with a rental from there. My rental choice was based upon feedback on Worldnet in a thread in the TripAdvisor Japan forums and I added to my experience in that thread at posting 66.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTo..._Hokkaido.html

Any recent reports on OTS International Car Rental? It seems popular with renters from Taiwan going to Okinawa and has an early booking special which seems consistent on their JP & EN sites (my guess is also their TW/HK oriented sites, too).
@evergrn - I'm looking at OTS International insurance policy & they include CDW on all internet rentals. They also put in a dash cam on most models of their rentals and opted to get the lane deviation warning system. I think it makes sense to get the "Safety Pack" NOC waiver + CDW based on your first post?
My credit card coverage: Primary full coverage of rental car damage with zero deductible; NOC included; all coverages null & void if I accept any relevant coverage waiver from the rental car. No third party liability coverage.
* (a) Third-party injury/death - unlimited coverage w/ no deductible
* (b) Third-party damage - unlimited coverage w/ no deductible
* (c) Rental car damage - up to full value of car w/ 100k yen deductible (Con - Most big rentals seem to have 50k deductible)
* (d) Renter's injury/death - 30mill yen per person coverage w/ no deductible only when driving
* NOC 20/50k yen
* CDW - included with booking
* Safety Pack - 540 yen/day - Covers NOC, sets tire repair costs max 20,000 yen, JAF service w/ tow up to 15k
* Premium Safety Pack - 1,080 yen/day- Reduces tire repair costs to 0, extends towing distance
https://www.otsinternational.jp/otsr.../rule/menseki/
https://www.otsinternational.jp/otsr...de/anshinpack/
https://www.otsinternational.jp/otsr...um_anshinpack/

I already have JAF coverage as a reciprocal member of AAA JAF | Show Your Card and Save® Program in Japan so that isn't added value.

@freecia
Those are pretty good coverages offered by your car rental agency! Except for that 100k yen deductible for (c).

By declining your included CDW, the only thing you gain is that you save yourself the NOC waiver fee (only 540yen/day) and that you're more likely to be off the hook for any portion of tire repair (which I presume your CC would entirely cover, but I may be wrong) than your Safety Pack option.

By taking the included CDW and then paying for the Safety Pack, you gain the benefit of likely having to deal with less headache (eg, more paperwork, pay upfront then trying to recoup money from your CC) in case you have an incident.

I agree with you that I'd go with the latter option.
(note I did not click on and read over your OTS links)

Tocoo is usually the most expensive English booking site, and required pre-payment or at least CC authorization. Others such as tabirai are much cheaper, do not require credit card. I almost always book with rakuten (Japanese only), very often the cheapest.

If renting in Hokkaido, there are many English sites run by the rental agencies directly.

I have also booked on Toyota website (Japanese only). They do provide English phone booking and full customer support 7 days a week. I often called that phone line to arrange for hotel pick-up, or reserving Express Way passes, etc. It's toll-free inside Japan but otherwise a toll call, though it's cheap using skype etc.

I never prepaid car rentals in Japan.

Credit cards can be used to pay toll on Expressway, but toll roads within a city often do not accept credit.

Me too.

Do you read Japanese, or do you use Google Translate or something?

I sort-of can read Japanese. lol. I can read kanji and do recognize hiragana / katakana. So can manage without google translate for rental car booking.

I see.
I just tried using Rakuten Travel's Jpn site via Google Translate. It doesn't seem to work well. It translates the initial page fine for the most part, except some of the pull-down menus do not get translated. Then you do a search, and it fails to translate the search results page. Perhaps I'm using it incorrectly. It'd be nice if there was a way for non-Japanese to access rates and packages offered on Rakuten's Jpn website.

So, to summarize options for non-Japanese visitors looking to book rental cars in Jpn, are these the only English options?
- Tococo (which requires pre-payment)
- Tabirai
- Look for individual rental agencies with English websites
- Toyota Rent-a-car (and possibly others), which offers phone# for English booking

Not being familiar with Tococo or Tabirai... is Tococo like Expedia/Priceline (ie, vendors that you make payment to), and then Tabirai is like Rakuten (ie, aggregator / search engine that you can also book through, but the actual booking and payment are with hotels/operators)?

Are you using Google Translate via the Chrome browser Translate option? Chrome browser translate will not translate dynamically populated drop downs (ie, select Hokkaido which then populates the next menu to specific regions in Hokkaido). I usually select the little icon next to the bookmark star to "show original" and then "translate" again.

There's a way to use Google Translate with Rakuten & JP Tabirai, it just isn't the most logical or speedy. I'll probably use Rakuten JP, Tabirai JP, & individual agencies as long as there is a clear English contract on the rental provider's website for liability & insurance. I'm not trusting contract language to Google Translate :)

travel.rakuten.co.jp, selected English -> Cars tab
https://travel.rakuten.com/cars/ is provided by rentalcars.com, not Rakuten. travel.rakuten.com hotel selection is usually from translated Rakuten inventory, though.

I have a JP Rakuten & Jalan accounts. I don't read Japanese and have used it for hotel bookings via Google Translate. The logged-in Rakuten account management page is in Japanese, English, and Simplified Chinese https://member.id.rakuten.co.jp/ A full width <-> half width character converter, machine translators, and a 050 phone number (or JP mobile if you have it) also come in really useful when signing up on new JP websites. Phone # with correct JP formatting can be a mandatory field. I signed up several years ago when business hotels & ryokans were either not on the English hotel aggregators or offered better rates to domestic tourists. There seems to be enough international demand these days that most of the business hotel chains are also available from Booking Holdings and Expedia Group at a competitive rate(-ish, with DCC for some). These seem to offer more predictable XX% off coupons vs JP point systems & limited time coupon for specific hotels 1-3 months out. Perhaps more rental car companies are working on integrating their packages & inventory to rentalcars.com ?

* I found searching on Kayak.com -> Agoda & Expedia offered the best hotel rates for specific hotels & rooms for Nov/Dec 2018 trip. Using Kayak usually discounted the Agoda rates a bit more as a "special rate" and it allows "pay later" to Agoda a few days in advance of the reservation (Kayak & Agoda owned by Booking Holdings). Be sure to change the site options to JPY when searching & at check-out, though as EN doesn't seem to offer the check-out option between USD & Yen (sneaky sneaky forced DCC :/). I used 4travel, biglobe, and tripadvisor.jp to price compare among the usual JP hotel websites. In my limited experience, once business hotels allow far-out bookings, they load most of the discount options and they don't add many actual discounts later on. Sometimes they'll add more "benefits" package like special amenity set, free drink, VOD ticket, etc. Business hotel chains used to load the room inventory a few months out but now seem to go up to half a year? Jalan.net currently still only allows searching a few months in advance even though their backend engine offers bookings beyond that.

Thanks, @freecia !
I'm sure this info will be immensely helpful to others.

Yesterday was probably my first time using Google Translate, so I'm sure I used it wrong and I wasn't even aware of settings you were alluding to.

There are many other English options, like Nissan, Nippon, Orix, etc. I use Nissan rent-a-car regularly.
https://nissan-rentacar.com/english/
https://www.nrgroup-global.com/en/
http://car.orix.co.jp/eng/