Domestic travel within Japan is expensive! There’s no question about it. If your winter holiday coincides with the Japanese holiday season, travel becomes even more of a challenge. Airplanes and buses to many destinations are booked solid weeks and sometimes months in advance, and trains running at 150% capacity are not uncommon. As for the car, well, all those news images of cars backed up for kilometers along the expressway are surely enough to make anyone head for the remote control and a winter break filled with TV New Year specials. But there’s no reason to hole up in your apartment over the holidays- with a little planning and a few tricks you can make the most of your holidays while stretching your yen so you have more to spend at your destination.
Petrol and Tolls are the Big Yen Traps when Traveling by Car
Petrol costs vary somewhat from place to place if you live in a large town or city but tend to be pretty static most places in the country. (A good hint is if petrol stations are advertising their prices is to shop around. Petrol costs differ by area, and if it appears that costs are lower in one area, it might be cheaper to fill up there if it is ‘on the way’. If there are no signboards out, more than likely all the stations in the area will have the same price.)
Saving Money at the Gas Stand
Paying by cash and becoming a cash member ‘genkin kai-in’ can save you some money. Each petrol station chain has its own system but becoming a member is often as simple as filling in a form. Then you just show the attendant your card each time you fill up and you will automatically receive the member’s discount (usually 2-3 yen a litre.) Self-service petrol stations are becoming increasingly common, and offer a slight discount of between Y2-Y5/litre.
Expressway or Local Road?
The easy answer to avoiding expressway fees is to avoid the expressway! However, if you value your time as well as your yen this is not always a very frugal alternative. Don’t know whether you’re better off using the expressway or taking the back roads? Like to avoid the expressway but not sure how to get to your destination on local roads? A car navigation system would be wonderful but is still just a dream for many of us.
Maps Help
Not quite as good but certainly a lot cheaper is the service offered by Mapfan. You can search for maps based on address, postcode or station name. The best feature for the kanji-challenged is you can even enter it all in hiragana! Using the route map function (requires free registration) you can find the shortest route between two places or alternatively a route that does/doesn’t use the expressway, has the least turns etc. Print out a rally map and you have turn-by-turn directions from your parking lot to your destination. You can also compare routes and decide whether or not the expressway is a necessary evil in your frugal holiday plans.
Another analog option is purchasing a ‘nukemichi’ or short-cut map at the local bookstore. This map book (useful for local areas) features maps of ’secret’ short-cuts to intersections and other roads where traffic jams frequently occur. Although you might find yourself traveling along lonely mountain roads or tiny paths between rice fields, it is an interesting way to go.
Calculating Tolls
If you will be traveling on the expressway and you’re traveling on a budget, the Japan Highways site has a great trip planner. It’s called “Highway Navigator,” and by inputting your nearest expressway interchange and that of your destination you can see at a glance both the estimated length of your trip (in kilometers and hours) and the cost in tolls. The URL is http://search.jhnet.go.jp/route/hinavi.html. The site is only in Japanese but there is an explanation and tutorial on the Japan Highways English site at http://www.jhnet.go.jp/english_new/.
Ed’s note: The Highway Navigator site has since been replaced by Drive Plaza and, unfortunately, there are no English instructions.
Highway cards
Once you know how much your toll fare will be, you can save a tiny amount of money by using a highway card to pay for your toll rather than cash. Highway cards are sold at convenience stores, some supermarkets and department stores, and toll way service areas. Ask for a ‘haiueii ka-do’ . Buying a 10,000-yen card gives you 10,500 yen worth of credit. Not much, but enough for a can of coffee for the driver at least! You can save enough for a coffee for your passenger as well if you buy your highway card form a ticket shop.
Frugal Hint!
Ticket shops (chiketto shoppu or kinken shoppu in Japanese) are a great find for the frugal traveler. Highway cards, shinkansen and airplane tickets, even accommodation packages can be bought at discounted prices. The best way to find one near you is to look in the phone book under chiketto baibai.
Know Before You Go
Even the most well planned trip can quickly turn into a nightmare if you get stuck in traffic. It’s amazing how quickly an accident or snowstorm can turn the ‘expressway’ into a giant parking lot! For up to date road conditions information (including accidents, traffic jams and closed roads), check the Japan Road Traffic Information (JARTIC) site before you leave. You can search both expressways and regular roads by area. The site is in Japanese but if you select the area you will be traveling through the road condition is indicated using a color code described in the top left hand corner.
- Black- Road closed
- Purple- Accident, breakdown or road obstruction
- Red- Traffic jam
- Orange- Road congestion
- Blue- Chains necessary
- Green- Other
- Grey- Awaiting further information.
Service Areas
Many service areas have large TV screens explaining current regional road conditions that are worth taking a look at. Be warned though that rest areas become full very quickly over the holiday period so it is worth planning frequent toilet/ refreshment breaks so if you are not able to stop at one you won’t be too desperate! Be sure to take advantage of the free area maps and green tea while you’re there, too!
So, do your research, pack your bags and join the hordes and head for the hills over your break. Wherever you drive this holiday season take extra care on the roads and plan ahead for a fun, frugal and fret free trip.
© 2004 H. Fukase.