Hokkaido (北海道) is the stunning, northernmost island of Japan. It is known for its snowy winters and refreshing spring days. Whatever the season, Hokkaido will not disappoint. Spend a few days enjoying the busy cultural sights under the bright city lights before recovering in a traditional remote onsen. It was exactly this dream that drew me and my partners’ attention long ago.
So, this year we decided to finally grab this dream with both hands and delve into the awe-inspiring land of Hokkaido. Only one question remained…
How should we travel around Hokkaido?
You’ve read a plethora of those ‘get off the beaten track type blogs’ and have eagerly created a list of far-flung places that you want to visit. Sound familiar? If so, then you’ll know that the only problem with going ‘off the beaten track’ is that exactly, it is off the beaten track. So, how will you get there? To be honest, for a few days we sat pondering this very dilemma until we had our “Aha” moment.
Tabirai Japan Car Rental
“Let’s rent a car in Japan, but how?”
Not only does renting a car save you painstaking time (and effort) trying to decipher foreign public transport timetables, it also gives you the flexibility to go wherever you want. We desperately wanted this freedom.
Being fairly flexible, we only had two conditions for renting a car. Firstly, we wanted to rent from a company that we found easy to deal with as foreign traveller, and secondly, it had to be a good price. Luckily for us, we came across Tabirai Japan Car Rental early on in our search and they met both our conditions. The only thing left to do was to reserve online.
Organizing driving in Japan
To be honest, I was dubious at the start of the process. If you have ever rented (or even attempted to rent) a car in a foreign country, you’ll understand why. I expected a confusing website with poor translations, a somewhat exceedingly large bill, and above all else a deep sense of being lost.
Luckily, dealing with Tabirai saved us this stress, because it was easy. And I mean, REALLY easy. So at the bottom of this article you’ll find our simple step-by-step guide so that you too can rent a car in Japan – you’ll be driving in Hokkaido in no time!
“Tabirai made my booking and collection easy. Everything was perfectly explained in English, which gave me peace of mind.”
An ideal 3-day Hokkaido itinerary
We had decided on a three-day exploration of Hokkaido with the car. We mainly wanted to have an insight into city life, before exploring some historical points of interest before, finally, relaxing at a Ryokan. In hindsight, I would actually recommend renting a car for 5 - 7 days.
Choosing where to go in Hokkaido was really difficult, we were spoilt for choice in terms of locations! In the end, we settled on a whilstle-stop tour between Sapporo, Otaru, Lake Shikotsu and a bit of places in-between.
Day 1: Lavender fields, a crystal-clear blue pond and a spot of shopping
Furano and Biel are two towns nestled into the heart of Hokkaido. With the stunning picturesque rural landscapes that they offer, your heart will also be overflowing as you get camera happy.
Asahikawa is just forty minutes North from Biei and is a great place to call base for the night.
Furano
During the summer months (July onwards), Farm Tomita is abloom with decadent, heady lavender fields as far as the eye can see. We stopped by early to see the work in progress and of course, to try their infamous lavender ice cream. Well it would be rude not to!
Farm Tomita
Address: 〒071-0704 Hokkaido, Sorachi District, Nakafurano, 基線北１５号
Entrance Fee: Free
Map Code: 349 199 3977
Website: Farm Tomita
Biei
Biei is famous for its unique Blue Pond (青い池, Aoiike). This is one of those occassions where you look back over your photos and realize that they really don’t do it justice. You’ll need a car to visit the Blue Pond. Just seeing this alone, made the car rental worthwhile.
Blue Pond (青い池, Aoiike)
Address: 〒071-0235 Hokkaido, Kamikawa District, 美瑛町Shirogane
Entrance: Free
Map Code: 349 568 888
Website: Blue Pond
Asahikawa
The islands second largest city after Sapporo offers you plenty of fantastic eateries, shopping and entertainment late into the night. We decided to spend our time in the AEON entertainment mall where you could grab some souvenirs, eat some yummy food and then play arcade games! Other ideas might be the taking a trip to the Asahiyama Zoo or even visit the Snow Crystal Museum.
AEON entertainment mall
Address: 7-2-5 Miyashitadori, Asahikawa 070-0030, Hokkaido
Website: AEON entertainment mall
Asahiyama Zoo
Address: 〒078-8205 Hokkaido, 旭川市東旭川町倉沼
Website: Asahiyama Zoo
Snow Crystal Museum
Address: 〒070-8028 Hokkaido, Asahikawa, Minamigaoka, 3 Chome−1−1
Website: Snow Crystal Museum
Day 2: History and beauty combined
We woke up early and started our trip from Asahikawa to the small but historic harbour city of Otaru. Next stop on our list after a few hours in Otaru was the stunning Lake Shikotsu, which has Mt Tarumae as its backdrop. We chose to stay in a traditional ryokan.
Otaru
If you’re interested in either history or architecture then you don’t want to miss Otaru off of your list. Do as we did and spend hours wandering through the meandering streets and canal. Just be sure to not get lost and miss seeing these three fantastic attractions listed below.
Otaru Canal (小樽運河)
Address: 〒047-0007 Hokkaido, Otaru, Minatomachi
Map Code: 493-690-444
Website: Otaru Canal
The Former Itaya Residence
Address: 1-19, Shinonomecho, Otaru-shi
Website: The Former Itaya Residence
Otaru Denuki Koji (小樽出抜小路)
Address: 1-1 Ironai, Otaru 047-0031, Hokkaido
Website: Otaru Denuki Koji
Lake Shikotsu
Nestled in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park, its beauty dominates the surrounding area. With a backdrop of the white covered mountains, you will not want to miss this crater formed lake that is over 40,000 years old. If you are in the area be sure to drive around the tiny routes and you’ll find some incredible photo-stops. If you are there between June to October be sure to pass by the Moss Canyon. The 420-meter (1378 ft) volcano-formed canyon is covered with 30 types of moss. It might not sound like much, but in the summer months, it looks like a green velvet wall as far as the eye can see.
Lake Shikotsu (支笏湖)
Map Code: 708 205 198
Website: Lake Shikotsu
Moss Canyon (苔の洞門)
Address: Shishamonai, Chitose-shi, Hokkaido, 066-0284.
Website: Moss Canyon
Day 3: Sapporo
Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido and as such, there is a whole host of things to see and do. Take a stroll through the expansive Odori Park and visit the Red Brick Buildings (Former Hokkaidō Government Office) garden, we were lucky enough to see the cherry blossoms. For nightlife be sure to check out Susukino with its bright lights, untold amount of ramen shops, and of course Karaoke and host clubs on every corner.
Odori Park (大通公園)
Address: Odori Nishi 1-chome ~ Odori Nishi 12-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
Website: Odori Park
Former Hokkaidō Government Office
Address: Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo, Kita 3-jo Nishi 6-chome
Website: Former Hokkaidō Government Office
Renting and driving a car in Hokkaido
So, we promised to show you just how easy reserving and collecting your car can be. Simply follow these steps…
Book your car rental in Hokkaido today
Website:
1. Visit Tabirai Car Rental online
Once you’ve decided on your itinerary, you can visit Tabirai Car Rental online instead of going through each individual car hire website. Tabirai Car Rental online is an aggregated car rental OTA search platform in Japan. I’d recommend you just get there. There is a search menu on the left (in English) which you’ll need to complete with basic information. For example, how long you want to rent a car for, and where you will collect. It will automatically select the same pick-up and drop-off point but this can be changed. You can then choose the type of car you want (depending on the number of people), if you have a lot of luggage, you might want to select a larger car. Then, hit search.
2. Decisions, decisions, decisions
Ta-da! You now have a selection of your ideal cars, again in English. This easy to read format allows you to quickly see car type and facilities. It is worth noting that all of the cars from Tabirai come with English GPS as standard. Once you’ve made your decisions, click on the car you’re interested in and you’ll be taken to a page with more information.
3. Understanding what it all means
The folks behind Tabirai have done a fantastic job in making information easy to understand so that you can be sure of selecting the right car. The most important information to look at is the ‘Examples of usage scene.’ Basically, if you plan to rent for 5 days or longer, select one that has 'driving’ listed. We didn’t and we found that the car took a bit of time to build up speed.
4. Double-checking and answering questions
You’re coming up to the final stages of booking. Easy so far, right? If you scroll down to the subtitle ‘Rental Booking terms and conditions’, you’ll see that you can start to actually reserve your car. Your search criteria will have been pulled through so just double check the info and then move on.
The next section is entitled ‘Valuable options with your rental’*, these are essential extras that are available. Don’t skim over these, paying attention and really selecting what we wanted saved us a lot of time, money, and more importantly stress.
*Please do note that valuable options can vary depending on your car plan.
What is an ETC card and do I need one?
An ETC card is essentially a pre-paid card that works automatically at tolls. If you plan to be using the Expressway a lot, every time you enter there is a toll to be paid. The benefits of the expressway is that it’s quicker and easier to get around. The downside is that it’s straight and boring to drive on. One charge-up on your ETC is 540 JPY (~4.94 USD), and this will essentially sort you for one trip on the expressway. So what if you want to do a bit of meandering through villages and also access the expressway when you need to get somewhere?
Hokkaido Expressway Pass
Instead of purchasing the ETC and having to remember how much was on it, and when we needed to recharge it. Instead, we opted for the prepaid Hokkaido Expressway Pass. This cost us a small additional fee of 3,600 JPY (~32.91 USD) in total for the rental. In return, we could hop on and hop off the expressway which was ideal. For ease and comfort, I would recommend purchasing the Hokkaido Expressway Pass if you plan to rent for 3 days or more.
5. What about insurance?
Ok, so here we got a bit confused. The website said that basic insurance came automatically with the car, but it was unclear as to what ‘basic’ actually covered. In the same options of the ETC cards, you can also choose to have 'Full Safety Package’ for an additional 864 JPY (~7.90 USD). We decided to wait until we picked up the car to sort insurance. But, if you’d prefer the security of knowing that you’re properly covered, then I highly suggest selecting this option.
6. No credit card needed
Tabirai doesn’t require a credit card to reserve your booking so once you’re happy with all the details you can select the ‘Proceed to the booking process’ button without having to worry about where your card details are being sent. When you go to collect the car you will be asked to pay the amount in full. You can pay in cash or by card without issues.
Finally, collecting and returning
You will receive full details in your email about how to collect your car. If you are collecting from New Chitose Airport, simply follow the signs from arrivals for car rentals and look for the car company of the car you booked, in our case it was Honda. At this point, you will just need your name, your passport and international driving license.
Once you have been identified, you will, with other people collecting cars, be driven in a minibus from the airport to the collection point. This is great because it means that you don’t have to try and traverse the busy airport within the first five minutes of driving.
Tips for having fun driving
So, you’ve booked your car and are all ready to go. Read through this last checklist and make sure you’ve got all the information that you’ll need.
1. Have map codes: The English GPS in all Tabirai cars will need either a telephone number or map code to find your destination. The most reliable way to get around is to Google map codes before you leave. We’ve included some in this article to get you started.
2. Be conscious of your tank: Once on the expressway, there are not many gas stations along the route. When you collect your car, along with other helpful information, you will be given a map of gas stations so make sure you keep it well topped up.
3. Stop at stations and collect stamps: A fun activity is to stop at service stations that you come across and collect the ink stamps. It’s a fun and free souvenir of your driving holiday in Hokkaido.
4. Don’t panic!: With your rental from Tabirai, you will be provided with all the information you need including maps, road sign details, how to use the expressway and even gas station maps. Life is simple when you have the information to hand. Do check out their comprehensive guide to learn more about driving in Japan.
Take the dive, go for a drive in Hokkaido!
We hope that we’ve inspired you to rent a car and explore Hokkaido, we truly feel that we got to see much more of this fascinating island. We also had the freedom to choose where to go and creating our own travel schedules. We saw incredible sunsets over rice paddies, met some amazing local people who showed us around, and with the English GPS we had no worries about getting lost. Take the dive, book online with Tabirai today and go driving in Hokkaido. We promise you that you won’t regret it.
This article is sponsored by Tabirai.
Tabirai Japan Car Rental to book for Hokkaido trip!
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