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While Japan has excellent train and bus networks, there are still parts of the country that you really need a private car to practically access. Unfortunately, many of these hard-to-reach yet beautiful parts of Japan are far enough off the beaten path that hotel choices quickly become scarce, and fewer options makes it harder to find budget-friendly accommodations.
However, rental car company Niconico Rentacar has a simultaneous solution to those problems, as it now rents a car that’s specifically equipped so that you can sleep in it.
Just to be clear, the car, a Daihatsu Wake, isn’t a jumbo-sized motor home. As a matter of fact, in its stock form the Wake is the farthest thing from a house on wheels. It’s a kei car, belonging to the class of Japan’s tiniest compacts.
But with a few additions, the Wake transforms into a place to hunker down for the night. Like most keis, the Wake’s boxy frame allows for a surprisingly roomy interior, and once the seats are folded flat, plopping down the specially designed mattress that Niconico Rentacar provides turns the entire interior space into a spacious bed that measures 185 centimeters in length.
Of course, it’s going to be hard to get any sleep with light streaming through the windows, so the car also comes with a set of curtains, which can be snapped into place to keep out the sun and give you extra privacy.
Niconico Rentacar says the Nicohaku plan (as it’s calling the service) is great for outdoorsy types who want to hike, fish, or otherwise commune with nature during the early morning or late at night, outside the time blocks when buses and trains are in service. However, it’s not strictly promoting the specially equipped Wake as a camping companion, as its website proudly boasts that renting a Nicohaku car will allow you to save the money you’d ordinarily be spending on a hotel room.
The Nicohaku plan is priced at 10,000 yen, which gets you the car for two days and one night, with additional nights available at 7,000 yen each. Currently, Nicohaku cars are offered at select Niconico Rentacar locations, which include Hachioji Horinouchi in Tokyo and New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, one of the best prefectures to travel around by car in Japan (Nicohaku reservations can be made here).
Source: Niconico Rentacar via IT Media
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16 Comments
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Luddite
Where would you park? You can't just stop at the side of a road and set up camp. Where would you go to the lavatory? Wash?
InspectorGadget
This ranks as a giant Nope if Japan wants to develop their tourism industry properly. Multiple countries are experiencing issues with so called "freedom campers" who use vehicles such as this to get around and sleep overnight. Hygiene is a major issue as generally if they are cutting costs by sleeping in a vehicle, they are generally too cheap to pay for toilet and shower facilities and will try to 'borrow' those from someone else
Japan already has a huge number of low cost accommodation providers, extensive transport networks etc. Go for the high value tourists who are willing to pay to enjoy their experiences.
BackpackingNepal
It is possible for Asians, Not for Westerners.
If u long drive to the countryside landscapes, u don't have to worry about parking.
Sleepable cars are what meant for such camping sites, not in the town.
Serrano
The hotels do not like this. And there are problems, like difficulties in finding a safe quiet place to park, and air circulation - if you have the windows down mosquitoes, noise and robbers can come in, so you probably have to have the engine running to have the A/C on all night.
divinda
Aside from highway rest areas, the Michi-no-Eki system is pretty extensive. Well over a thousand locations in Japan, including on many smaller islands.
All have 24hr free parking and toilets, with sleeping in car OK. Most have restaurants, and lots have other things like local product markets, museums, and even onsen.
I've car-camped across the country at these places, for free. If you haven't yet discovered the world of Michi-no-Eki, then you are missing out!
https://www.michi-no-eki.jp/stations/english
Kobe White Bar Owner
the wife and i did this alot here before we became parents. Works great public toilets are everywhere and its not illegal used to get a van cover the side windows from the inside and run a simple curtain between the passenger and drivers seat.
Nobnaga
this car looks so nice would love to buy one
Youkai
Wow great idea, if the price isn't to high ...
bass4funk
Not for me, I’d rather stay at a cheap hotel than to be cramped in a K-car.
Chip Star
Why would someone with their own plane need to stay in a cheap hotel?
Chip Star
And you know this because you've done a survey?
mmwkdw
Who needs Toilets, do as the local Taxi cab Drivers do. They too sleep in their Cabs, as they themselves lease those cabs from the Taxi Company for a set number of hours, so time is quite literally Money for them.... and that's why some Cabs stink.
Now, for a young couple... who're living at home, and wish a weekend away - such a rental system seems idea, a lot cheaper than love hotels for the weekend, and you get to go places too. I just hope the Car valet system is good...as over time, these Car are not going to be worth anything even on the 2nd hand market.