I've been going over the various topics posted on here for traveling over to Japan including the car rental topics and have found a few unspoken of topics.

First off, many thanks to stickied posts atop this forum they were most helpful.

In regards to my questions I was a little lost on the rental aspect when it comes to two to three topics....

#1 - Do you need an international license to drive in Japan ? I've read that US citizens need to obtain an official license from Japan which would require me taking their tests, waiting, etc.. In other words not possible for someone going over for a 2 week trip.

#2 - If the above is incorrect and I can drive a rental car, where would one look ? I've looked at few european rental agencies but nothing more geared towards a Japanese firm. I've seen that Nissan are involved with their own rental service, is it possible to find a listing of their cars out of Narita ? Lastly, would I also be able to rent something like a Skyline or GTR ?

#3 - If you handed a pair of keys to a nice car while in Japan and could enjoy the open freeway and lots of scenery, what route would you take... longer the drive, the better.

.... many thanks for you future replys.^

Have you ever been to Japan before? I think most people familiar with the situation would STRONGLY RECOMMEND that a visitor NOT rent a car unless you had some sort of really specialized need.

Having said that, my understanding is that an international drivers license will work fine for driving in Japan for visitors staying less than one year. What you may have read about is that as of a few years ago, Japan stopped accepting a US license on a reciprocal basis in order to obtain a Japanese drivers license, as would be needed by someone living in Japan. You used to be able to get a Japanese license by showing a valid US license and just filling out some paperwork, but now the holder of a US license is treated as if they've never had a license for the purpose of applying for a Japanese license and must qualify by taking an onerous driving test.

It is best to have an international driver's license. These are trivial to get, any AAA office will sell you one, you don't need to be a member. Bring two photos, your state DL, and I think a fee of $15.

This is different than the license required by Japan for people who are resident in Japan, which has all the requirements you mention.

Unlke the above poster, I would say you can rent a car in Japan, having done it myself a few times. But you would not want a car in any major Japanese city -- that is challenging, expensive, and unnecessary given the excellent public transit system. You would only need the car to explore rural areas. Even then, you should take the train or fly to the nearest city and rent there, not at Narita, unless you are going somewhere other than Tokyo (or another city) directly from Narita.

I am in Hakone now and most folks do drive here, it seems, but am still getting around just fine without a car. So not even all rural areas require one.

The only area of Japan fitting this description that I can think of is Hokkaido - away from big cities of course.

So, the International license is formality ? I could just use my Florida driver's license to aquire a car ?

As for the driving portion, I'll most likely grab the car outside a train terminal outside of Tokyo.... not sure of location, that depends on the prices and available cars. I like a little adventure on my vacation, so hitting the freeway and seeing the rural sides of Japan excites me... see the real Japan ya know ?

As your profile says Hertz, they partner with Toyota rent a car for Japan. check http://www.toyotarentacar.net/english/ for more details Dummy booking as always. you can see the level but not the exact model
For that the best is do dummy booking, however it is only in Japanese. Nissian shows that they may offer you skyline or teana for P8 level cars, subject to availability as always. Also note that if you need English GPS, that will limit your choice a lot (or simply not available)

For me driving in Japan is more of necessity in rural part of the country, where transportation is troublesome. I have been enough driving in major city (I am from HK and I hate driving there)

EM .. to see the real Japan ? you won't find it even with 1 or 2 hour of driving from Tokyo station I guess ?

If you want to see traditional Japan, Kyoto is your best choice, 2 hour of shikensen + local train (or rent a car @ Kyoto station) sounds a lot more sense to me .....

I wasn't aware that urban Japan wasn't "real" Japan. I must ask my cat Smidgen, who lives in a parallel universe, if I live in one too, being in urban settings most of the time.

No, it isn't a formality at all, the rental companies are not prepared to deal with anything other than the International DL. That being said, once when I was unaware of the requirement, I was able to talk the rental agent into renting me a car with my California DL -- but it wasn't either easy or fun (especially with me not knowing Japanese). That was more dumb luck than anything else, so I'd strongly disrecommend taking that approach.

Incidentally, regarding going flat out, there is no freeway in Japan posted higher than 90kph, I believe, although apparently there are no serious fines until you exceed this by at least 30kph.

OP: ........I would add to this :.......AND knew what I was getting myself into ..... ( do you?) .......

then I would say fly to CTS, WKJ, AKJ or somewhere similar and point the car away from the city and go. You said you want a long drive -- you can drive a long way in Hokkaido and it is absolutely wonderful. If urban regions are your idea of scenery, don't bother driving

As mentioned earlier, try to get an English GPS (unless you are fluent in Japanese) as it will help a lot (I don't know if an English version is even available) ..... and / or some really good bilingual maps. In rural Hokkaido, that would do for the most part. Finally, if you are going really far afield, you might want to rent a cell phone (though who knows if you will be able to understand the person at the other end).

International Driver's license is not optional.

Hokkaido certainly has more open space than anywhere else in Japan, but it's not the only place to find great scenery and open roads. Much of Tohoku, the Japan Sea coast, Shikoku and Kyushu are rural and drivable.

I think the most "wow" drive for me was around Shiretoko and Akan national parks (in Hokkaido). But I also think that central Honshu (say Yamanashi-Nagano or Gifu-Ishikawa) are great places to get off the beaten track and explore.

For driving immediately after landing at NRT, I think that you could get into some interesting country quite quickly if you head for the coast and then turn left (North).

A lot of people told me they enjoyed watching the "race across japan" by TopGear on YouTube. I guess that might give the OP some idea of what to expect (although it's probably rather contrived ... I ought to watch it myself one day).

To make the advice in this thread a little easier to interpret, I think people who've never actually driven in Japan should say so at the start of their posts. Advice such as taking a "shinkensen" to Kyoto and admonishments that STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT renting a car ... I think it would help if we knew if such advice is based on actual experience ...

Once you are off the expressways, hit the mountains as soon as you can for the mountains are the natural wonders of Japan. Never get tired of driving in the hills here, especially in the summer when it's green and lush. Go! Drive!

1. As others have stated an international driving permit is required for tourists in addition to your driver's license.
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-drive.html
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/tr...ar_rental.html
2. The jnto link directly above has a list of rental companies.
3. I found that driving in the mountains around Nagano was easy and very enjoyable.

Also, if you've never been to Japan, are you aware that they drive on the left and use vehicles with the steering wheel on the right? If you've driven in the UK or Australia or any other country that drives on the left, no problem, but if you haven't, be forewarned.

Thanks to everyone for their input... your open and honest reply's are most helpful and appreciated.

To answer a few questions from the above posters....

-- I've never driven in Japan before. I've driven in numerous countries, including the UK so the opposite side stuff doesn't bother me all that much.

-- I don't plan on getting right off the plane and into a car. I'll probably wait two days and stay in Tokyo and then hit up a train to a yet to be choosen outside area where I can pick up a car and avoid the metro traffic and confusion.

-- I understand that the trains and busses are great aspects of travel when abroad, especially in Japan however I'd like to take a trip to the places that aren't serviced by either and see some of the not so touristy spots.

-- I'm also cool with getting lost and totally fustrated. I'll be going over in Dec or Jan, so I'm expecting the conditions to be less then favorable for a nice stroll behind the wheel... if it is crappy weather, then I'll just do the train thing but if luck is with me then I'll do a bit of driving.

Thanks everyone and keep the input coming, it's really helpful.