Renting a Car in Hokkaido
One of the most popular ways to see Hokkaido in summer is to rent a car and drive all over the place. Hokkaido is huge, and the roads are delightfully uncongested, so it's the perfect place for a road-trip vacation.
There are several car rental companies at the Asahikawa airport, and here in town, Toyota and Budget have branch offices. Reservations are strongly recommended. Walk-ins usually have limited or no availability.
Here are three things to keep in mind while planning your driving trip in Hokkaido:
1. International Drivers Permit (IDP). Get one and bring it with you. Without this, no car. Seriously. Japan is VERY strict about this, and does NOT have agreements with any other countries regarding accepting their licenses. This is very easy to get before your departure, and impossible to get after your arrival. Plan ahead.
2. Driving time between destinations is longer than you think. This is primarily due to the relatively low speed limits on all non-expressway roads, usually 50-60 km/h. So you'll do a quick search of the distance from A to B, and Google will tell you it's 200 km, and you'll think, "Ah, that's only two hours." The actual time will be 3.5 to 4 hours due to the speed limit and any stops along the way. A good rule of thumb is that your average speed will be roughly 50 km/h counting your stops.
3. Gas. The Half-Tank Rule. Hokkaido is large, spread out, very sparsely populated in many areas, there are far fewer gas stations than you'd expect, and many of the small ones close at 6 PM! It is quite possible to drive 100 km (2 hours!) without seeing a single gas station, particularly when taking the road less traveled. Adding to the fun is entering a small town on a weekday, needing gas, only to find the entire town closed, including the gas station! You have no choice but to keep driving, but find the next town is also closed! Now it's getting exciting! Hence the Half-Tank Rule. Once your fuel gauge hits 1/2, just fill up at the next opportunity. No stress. If you do that, you'll have no problems at all. If you wait until 1/4 tank to begin looking for gas, it can get quite thrilling, particularly at night. Ask me how I know. It is not uncommon for gas station workers in far-flung towns to arrive at work at 7 or 8 AM to find a half-dozen cars lined up with people sleeping in them, waiting to buy gas after driving thru the night. That's just how it is. There are very, very few 24-hour gas stations (the closest one to Furano is 75 minutes away), so if you do happen to see one while on a midnight drive, for heaven's sake, be sure to fill up! So...keep 'er full.
See you in Furano.