When you request for a English GPS with the rental car, it’s a misconception. Everything is still in Japanese, only the menu options and the voice instruction are in English.
Ways of getting to the destination with the GPS
There are 3 ways of reaching the destination :
1. By keying in telephone number of establishment
2. By keying in postal code of establishment
3. By keying in Mapcode of establishment
• I have tried method 2, but it got me somewhere nearby but not correctly.
• I have not tried method 3, but I will show you how to get Mapcode. It’s to be used for places without telephone numbers, like mountain summit, national park entry point, lake entrance point, etc.
By keying in telephone number of establishment
1. When you power up your car, the GPS screen switches on automatically, press close button on the screen if necessary.
2. Press the home button on your steering wheel :
3. You will see the home screen, press “Dest. Search” :
4. Press “Number” and key in the telephone number :
5. The search results appear :
- As you can see, the search results are in Japanese, so when you research your destination, you have to note it in Japanese, so that you recognises it in the GPS (I will show you how to do this in another section).
- The GPS is also sometimes so good that it shows your destination, same distance, same name, but with the car park words 駐車場. For drivers, it’s good, so pick this if you are going to the carpark.
6. Select the desired destination out of the many choices and press “Set Destination” :
7. Your route is shown :
• Observe the amount under “Fee”. If it’s zero, then the GPS takes you through non-toll roads. Press “Start” to begin.
• If the amount under “Fee” shows a certain number in yen, then if you do not want to use toll roads, press “Local”. The amount under “Fee” becomes zero, and you will see a different GPS route. Note that the colour code on the Local button should correspond to that of the new non toll route.
• I have never used the button “Distance”, but I think it corresponds to the shortest distance, which I would strongly discourage, as it might take you through narrow or hilly roads.
8. For advanced usage of the GPS :
• Before you press “Start”, you could press “Route Information” button just above the “Start” button. It would then display all the roads or expressways used by the GPS route.
• You might want to have a national road map of Shikoku on paper at hand, so that you know the route taken by the GPS.
• Why is “Route Information” useful or important ? Sometimes, the GPS takes you through narrow or winding roads, so having a road map gives you the advantage of over-riding the GPS, as you could continue on the toll-free expressway ”国道” that you are on, since you know it’s a good road and you are aware that it would be in the right direction. It would automatically re-calculate anyway, so you don’t have to worry.
Example of the above using Google and which I have put to use myself on the GPS :
• I wanted to go to Emiful Masaki Shopping Centre from Imabari and Google shows 2 to 3 alternative routes.
• Upon arrival the first day at Matsuyama, I have travelled route 317 and I knew it to be hilly towards Imabari.
• I have also used route 196 to go to the western coast from Imabari on another day and knew it to be a good easy drive.
• On the day in question, it was raining, so I decided not to take route 317 (winding, narrow, raining) and opted for the route 196.
• As you can see, even Google shows the 2 estimated times do not differ much, so why take a more difficult route ?
First way of choosing your route using the GPS :
• So how do I choose the route I want on the GPS unlike Google which shows us several routes at once ?
• So just set the GPS for the first destination on the western coast, which is a roadside station, and upon arrival at this via point, set your next destination for Emiful Masaki.
• All these means of course that you must have the telephone numbers of both the destinations.
2nd way of choosing your route using the GPS :
• Set your destination for Emiful Masaki and press Start.
• Then do all over again to select your coastal destination and at the final screen, do not press Set Destination, instead set via point to tell the GPS that you are going to Emiful Masaki via the coastal destination.
Where to get the paper road map of the country ?
By asking at any TIC (Tourist Information Centre), hopefully they have one.
Estimated time of arrival by the GPS
The car GPS bases its estimated time of arrival on the local speed limits when calculating, so the estimated time might be longer/shorter depending of course on traffic conditions.
