Driving in Hokkaido

[happyshirt]

Hey Guys, How hard would it be for me to rent and drive around for 2 maybe 3 days in the Biei, Furano area? I can't read Kanji think I can survive alone? I'm worried bout the driving portion.

Thanks.

 

[leroce]

Both place close by, short drive alone should be ok.
Nowadays the rental car GPS is easier, just punch in the destination postal or maybe phone number n follow along.
Likewise, you can use own GPS instead of the rental vehicle GPS.

 

[Satki General]

I would also like to know whether parking would be an issue in Hokkaido? Especially if I want to go to the flower farm and shiroi koibito park?

 

[danielkok]

OP: I would recommend that you drive around Biei/Furano area. More flexibility. Regarding driving, make sure you have your International Driving Permit done at AAS. Easiest is to key in map code of the destination. It is something like a GPS ZIP code for each place.

Parking in the major cities can be a bit of a problem. Most hotels in the city will have parking spaces but be prepared to pay for overnight. Not sure about day time. In the countryside, most hotel parking is free.

I am renting from Nippon Rent A Car. Price for the GPS (multi lingual) is FOC. It's built into the car.

 

[cheefarn]

Hey Guys, How hard would it be for me to rent and drive around for 2 maybe 3 days in the Biei, Furano area? I can't read Kanji think I can survive alone? I'm worried bout the driving portion.

Thanks.

No worries at all. Traffic in Hokkaido is far and few in between. Even Sapporo is no deal for us Sinkies...If u can drive properly in SG, you can drive anywhere liao.

Be advised though, although some car rental agencies offers true multi lingual GPS head units, the majority car rental agencies still offers head units (aka radio) in Japs only. You can set the voice guidance to English, but the rest of the system will be in Japs.

Do take some time to fiddle around the headunit before setting off from the agency parking lot ba

 

[cheefarn]

I would also like to know whether parking would be an issue in Hokkaido? Especially if I want to go to the flower farm and shiroi koibito park?

As I've mentioned before, parking is mostly free in Hokkaido. This is esp true outside of Sapporo and Asahikawa

For those places where paid parking are enforced, some allow you to redeem the parking charges when you buy something from the shops nearby. Or for some tourist attractions such as Ishiya choc factory (shiroi Koibito) at Sapporo, you can redeem onsite parking by just using your entrance tickets.

Tomita lavender farm and all other flower parks are free de la

 

[happyshirt]

Thanks guys!!! I am even worst/better (depends on how you look at it) I'm from Penang driving here for most of my life. so i guess i'll be able to survive. Can survive driving on wrong side of road in US with no GPS (at that time still very expensive).
Just a bit nervous cos 1st time in Japan and worried bout language.

Thanks for the advise on the GPS and playing with it before leaving the parking lot!!!

 

[danielkok]

Penang driver won't have issues lah. Haha. Have fun!