DIY driving

Which car rental company ?
1. There are many car rental websites, but for English users, there are probably just a few :
    (a)    Rakuten travel
    (b)    Times Car Rental
    (c)    Tocoo
    (d)    Japanese car rental websites in English, where you have to fill in a form, and then they reply to you in email, eg Nippon Rent A Car.
2. I have used Rakuten travel to book a car and Times Car Rental directly. When booking with Rakuten, I also chose Times Car Rental for my car rental, as I am familiar with them.

Car rental pickup and return at airport

1. The car pickup/return office is usually not located at the airport but nearby. 
2. The car rental counter at the airport, if it exists, will receive you and then arrange for a van/car shuttle transfer for you to go to the car pickup office, or vice-versa, when you return your car to the pickup/return office, they will transfer you back to the airport.
3. In Kyushu Fukuoka airport, the car rental office is situated at the domestic terminal, so you have to commute by free shuttle bus from the international to the domestic terminal, and then walk a short distance to the rental office located opposite the terminal.
4. For Matsuyama Airport, Times Car Rental had a van/car shuttle to bring us to/from the car rental company.

Car rental return at Matsuyama airport

1. The Times Car Rental Office only opens at 7 am. So how did we manage to return our car, knowing that our departure time is at 0735 hrs ?
2. Upon initial arrival, we checked with JAL counter staff that the check-in time starts at 0640 hrs for that morning flight.
3. So that morning, we first made it to Times Car Rental’s recommended petrol station near the airport to fuel it to full tank. At early morning hours however take note that most petrol stations are unmanned. Luckily there was 1 staff inside the office at this station Solato. I approached him to assist me at the auto-pay machine for fueling. I really thank all Japanese service staff for being so helpful.
4. We then arrived at the airport at about 0620 hrs and unloaded our luggage at the waiting area. My wife got the trolleys while I went to park my car, which is just in front of the terminal.
5. We were the first to queue at the check-in counter.
6. We checked in our luggage and then we drove off to Times Car Rental office. The parking cost 150¥.
7. The staff took a cursory look at the car exterior, checked the fuel gauge and whatever, and asked us to hop into the car. He drove us back to the terminal in this same car. Japanese service !!!

Car insurance
1    To reduce your liability for any car accident, the car rental company will tell you of your risks if you don’t buy additional insurance coverage against any accident or damage.
2    For Times Car Rental for example, depending on the category of car you rented, you are liable for a NOC (Non-operation Charge or excess) charge, from 20000 to 100000 yen.
3    So it all depends on your travel insurance coverage for car rental excess and how comfortable you are with the coverage provided by your travel insurance as compared to the liable excess charges you will incur in an accident.

Road Safety

1. The overhead red light may be placed behind the junction so you may end up stopping wrongly beyond the designated stop line, so be careful when stopping at red light.
2. In urbanised areas, the traffic lights come in 2 sets. The top row of 3 lights may show a red light, while the bottom row of 3 lights shows green arrows, left, straight ahead or right. So do not be confused.
3. In urbanised areas, before a traffic light, you may see orange lines being painted instead of the usual white lines. No changing of lanes is permitted before the traffic light.
4. When turning left or right, whether at junctions or for parking at supermarket or restaurant, watch out for cyclists.
5. The Japanese driver may turn out from a shop or supermarket onto the main road you're driving on and expect you to give way. 
6. The Japanese driver in the opposite direction may turn right in front of you quickly or at cross-junctions.
7. Do not honk unnecessarily, unless your life is in danger, or on narrow hilly roads to signal your car coming.
8. If you are driving a bit slowly or normally and you find someone tailgating you (bullies exist all over the world), you might want to let it pass by stopping at a road shoulder if possible.
9. Do not anyhow use hazard lights (like most Asians do) to stop. People think you are in trouble and need assistance.
10. If you hear emergency vehicles from behind or in front, be prepared to stop by signalling hazard lights and stop as quickly and as close to whichever roadside possible to let them pass. Even at traffic lights when you have the right of way, all vehicles will attempt to stop to give way.
11. On mountain or hilly roads, you might want to switch on headlights, even if Japanese don’t have this habit.
12. Switch on headlights in tunnels.
13. Do not overtake unless necessary. Very few Japanese drivers overtake.
14. Driving at night is relatively safe in urban or suburban areas, although there may not be street lights. However, narrow hilly or mountainous roads are to be avoided as there will be no street lights at all in these areas.
15. Sometimes, you may come across roads undergoing construction, and cars from each side are only permitted to travel at any one time obeying automated un-manned signalised traffic lights. Watch out for these traffic lights, because you may miss them while driving and not notice whether you have the right of way at that time.
16. When driving along small roads, at cross junctions when there are no traffic lights, there is no international traffic "Stop" sign telling you that you don't have the right of way. For those who understand Mandarin, the word "止 。。。" is inscribed on the road at the cross junction so you know you have to stop. Otherwise, take heed when driving across these small road cross junctions.
17. A flashing amber light is placed usually over a pedestrian crossing, so drive through but stop if necessary for a pedestrian or cyclist crossing.

Speed limit
1.    40 km/hr in urban or city areas
2.    50 km/hr in suburban areas or on national or toll-free expressways
3.    70 or 80 km/hr on toll expressways
4.    Remarks
•    Generally, Japanese drive beyond these limits, 10 to 20 km/hr higher.
•    Fortunately, Shikoku is still not as populated as compared to mainland Honshu or Kyushu. There are less cars on the roads, so the ride might be smoother or shorter as compared to Honshu or Kyushu.
•    My experience is that my ride is about 30 minutes less than the GPS estimated time in Shikoku, driving accordingly to the speed limit or 10 km/hr higher in better traffic conditions.
 
Parking駐車場

1. In many suburban or countryside areas, parking is generally free, in front of shops, supermarkets or restaurants. It’s generally not true in city areas, even in city hotels.
2. Do not park anywhere at places which don’t look like car parks. You don’t want to face any embarrassment or worse still, trouble trying to retrieve your car from don’t know where your car has been towed to. The car rental agency also reminds us against indiscriminate parking.
3. The general rate is about minimum100 yen per 30 mins.
4. For coin operated parking, you park first in a lot that you like. When you return, you find that a lever clamp has lifted against the car undercarriage to prevent you from driving away. Usually, you key in the car park lot number in the automated parking machine and it will tell you the amount. Pay and the lever clamp will unlock.

Understanding Expressways and using Toll expressways
1.    The toll-free expressway is called “国道” and the signboard is blue with the expressway number on it.
2.    The toll expressway is called “IC” and the signboard is green.
3.    When entering toll booth, head towards the lane which has a green sign “一般”, if you don’t have a ETC card reader nor ETC card to pay with.
4.    Prepare to take a toll ticket which comes out automatically from a machine when your car approaches the toll gate.
5.    When exiting the toll expressway, again head towards the green sign lane.
6.    Give your toll ticket to the toll staff and pay in cash.
7.    Remarks :
•    We hardly use the toll expressways, as we don’t believe in paying and furthermore, we like to take the “国道”, as the roads are well-paved and we could stop whenever we want when we see something interesting along the way.
•    We use the toll expressway only when we need to cross the Shimanami expressway from Shikoku to Honshu, because there are no toll-free roads.

Fuelling up at petrol station
1    Try to avoid early morning and late evening hours. Most stations become unmanned.
2   Stop only at manned petrol station. You cannot manage the complexity of unmannd self-service auto-pay station by yourself.
3   Ask for “regular”, and full tank(“mantan”). If your car rental company has written down all these on paper for you, show it to the staff.
4    Pay in cash.
5    Remarks :
      I have stopped twice at self-service station, but as it is manned, the staff at the self-service auto-pay station helped me throughout. Some of these stations are manned by 1 or 2 staff, while others are totally unmanned.