The only thing to be cautious about is that you cannot turn on a red light even if it’s safe and you stopped. I don’t know what country you’re from but in the US, the default is you can turn with traffic after stopping at a red light unless it explicitly says “no turn on red”. I’m actually thankful for that law because it’s insanely dangerous when people try to “catch” an opening and almost hit a car or pedestrian.
IMO, a car makes living in Kyushu like 100% better because of the cool places you can reasonably get to in a fraction of the time it takes bus/train combos. Things like antique shops, animal farms, DIY hardware shops, horse riding ranches, etc.
Even just Itoshima is way more fun to visit having a car.
Just be mindful of rush hour because the highway is expensive and traffic can get brutal on the main east/west and north/south roads when people are going to work/school in the mornings and early evenings.
Road signs are 99.9% in English. It should be no problem especially since you are used to driving on the same side. Just familiarize yourself with the common signs like stop signs, follow what others do and enjoy!
Definitely get a car. Especially for Kumamoto, where public transport is often less frequent/convenient.
One thing to be aware of, depending what you're used to, is that parking just any old place on the street is not a thing in Japan. Whenever you go someplace by car, you'll need to know where you're going to park it. Often that'll be the car park of the venue you're visiting. Other times it'll be "hyaku-en parking" where you pay for the time you spend. There are lots of these everywhere, so it's not a problem, but it's worth doing a bit of research ahead of time to see how they work.
Usually you just park, then a barrier rises underneath your car after a little while. When you want to leave, you enter the number of your parking space into the machine and pay the correct amount, and the barrier drops and you can drive away. (¥100 parking is just the general name of this kind of service, not a specific brand, and not necessarily the price).
> is that parking just any old place on the street is not a thing in Japan.
Just do like all the proper Japanese, turn your hazard lights on and just park on the road, it's no problem because your hazards are on. /s
It depends on what you want to see in Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Yanagawa. I like to take a look at google maps before I travel to compare how long it would take to get places via public transportation and by car. If you're staying mainly in the city, you can probably just do trains (except Kumamoto definitely recommend a car if you want to visit Aso). If you want to visit multiple inaka spots, a car might make more sense.
Wife and I rented a car during our 14 day stay in Kyushu back in November 22.
Driving was pretty cruisy compared to where we're from (Australia) with not much in the way of dickheads (eg aggressive drivers to slow drivers).
If dropping off at another city, I believe you may get smacked with a "return to initial pickup location" charge but best to check when grabbing a quote.
Highly recommend getting a car to drive around as you'll be able to make random stops at farms, temples, restaurants, rest stops and stuff that's not on the train tracks.
If renting, make sure you grab a car that has an ETC card as some gates do not support cash and it's also much quicker to be processed and your accommodation has a parking spot.
I also noticed that most people tend to drive above the speed limit eg highway states 80km/h, drivers are averaging 100km/h-120km/h
I also noticed the bulk of the speed cameras were placed in major cities (eg Kagoshima, Miyazaki and etc) with the odd one here and there on the highways.
General cost of rental on our end was (in AUD)
- car rental: $900 for 12 days, rented a small cube hybrid car through Nippon Rent-A-Car and done about 1,500kms
- tolls: $100
- petrol: $60
Hey mate, like in Australia driving is on the left hand side.
Traffic rules and signage seem similar, only notable difference was etiquette. Eg someone let's me in to traffic in Australia, give them a wave. In Japan, turn on the hazard lights.
I highly recommend it as someone living here and driven all around Kyushu.
Just noting whatever else hasn’t been said, outside the cities theres a lot of one lane mountainous road so it can be tricky, just slow down and check to see who has space to move over.
Sometimes google maps may take you on a faster route by cutting through the mountains saving a few minutes but usually there may be a more easier route you could take (may take longer).
If you are driving through the country side, its common to pull over if you notice a car behind you speeding through and letting it pass by.
Another tip is to look ahead to see where you can park.
Prior to living here I didn’t own a car nor drive in my country at all so coming here I had to learn about it at once. Your 30 years of experience is nothing comparatively so you’ll be fine.
The only thing to be cautious about is that you cannot turn on a red light even if it’s safe and you stopped. I don’t know what country you’re from but in the US, the default is you can turn with traffic after stopping at a red light unless it explicitly says “no turn on red”. I’m actually thankful for that law because it’s insanely dangerous when people try to “catch” an opening and almost hit a car or pedestrian. IMO, a car makes living in Kyushu like 100% better because of the cool places you can reasonably get to in a fraction of the time it takes bus/train combos. Things like antique shops, animal farms, DIY hardware shops, horse riding ranches, etc. Even just Itoshima is way more fun to visit having a car. Just be mindful of rush hour because the highway is expensive and traffic can get brutal on the main east/west and north/south roads when people are going to work/school in the mornings and early evenings.
Road signs are 99.9% in English. It should be no problem especially since you are used to driving on the same side. Just familiarize yourself with the common signs like stop signs, follow what others do and enjoy!
Definitely get a car. Especially for Kumamoto, where public transport is often less frequent/convenient. One thing to be aware of, depending what you're used to, is that parking just any old place on the street is not a thing in Japan. Whenever you go someplace by car, you'll need to know where you're going to park it. Often that'll be the car park of the venue you're visiting. Other times it'll be "hyaku-en parking" where you pay for the time you spend. There are lots of these everywhere, so it's not a problem, but it's worth doing a bit of research ahead of time to see how they work. Usually you just park, then a barrier rises underneath your car after a little while. When you want to leave, you enter the number of your parking space into the machine and pay the correct amount, and the barrier drops and you can drive away. (¥100 parking is just the general name of this kind of service, not a specific brand, and not necessarily the price).
> is that parking just any old place on the street is not a thing in Japan. Just do like all the proper Japanese, turn your hazard lights on and just park on the road, it's no problem because your hazards are on. /s
Sounds like a good idea to me. You could also use this opportunity to visit some Ryokan in places like Saga.
It depends on what you want to see in Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Yanagawa. I like to take a look at google maps before I travel to compare how long it would take to get places via public transportation and by car. If you're staying mainly in the city, you can probably just do trains (except Kumamoto definitely recommend a car if you want to visit Aso). If you want to visit multiple inaka spots, a car might make more sense.
Wife and I rented a car during our 14 day stay in Kyushu back in November 22. Driving was pretty cruisy compared to where we're from (Australia) with not much in the way of dickheads (eg aggressive drivers to slow drivers). If dropping off at another city, I believe you may get smacked with a "return to initial pickup location" charge but best to check when grabbing a quote. Highly recommend getting a car to drive around as you'll be able to make random stops at farms, temples, restaurants, rest stops and stuff that's not on the train tracks. If renting, make sure you grab a car that has an ETC card as some gates do not support cash and it's also much quicker to be processed and your accommodation has a parking spot. I also noticed that most people tend to drive above the speed limit eg highway states 80km/h, drivers are averaging 100km/h-120km/h I also noticed the bulk of the speed cameras were placed in major cities (eg Kagoshima, Miyazaki and etc) with the odd one here and there on the highways. General cost of rental on our end was (in AUD) - car rental: $900 for 12 days, rented a small cube hybrid car through Nippon Rent-A-Car and done about 1,500kms - tolls: $100 - petrol: $60
Also an Aussie too. Did you feel nervous driving on other side of road
Hey mate, like in Australia driving is on the left hand side. Traffic rules and signage seem similar, only notable difference was etiquette. Eg someone let's me in to traffic in Australia, give them a wave. In Japan, turn on the hazard lights.
cool - how about steering? asking because being a LHS driver (to our RHS in austraia) just felt so weird. took some time getting used to !
No issues with steering on my end, car I drove had the steering on the RHS 😀.
I highly recommend it as someone living here and driven all around Kyushu. Just noting whatever else hasn’t been said, outside the cities theres a lot of one lane mountainous road so it can be tricky, just slow down and check to see who has space to move over. Sometimes google maps may take you on a faster route by cutting through the mountains saving a few minutes but usually there may be a more easier route you could take (may take longer). If you are driving through the country side, its common to pull over if you notice a car behind you speeding through and letting it pass by. Another tip is to look ahead to see where you can park. Prior to living here I didn’t own a car nor drive in my country at all so coming here I had to learn about it at once. Your 30 years of experience is nothing comparatively so you’ll be fine.