Foreigners driving in Japan

[GT-N]

Hello fellow NSXers,

I have a good chance of visiting Japan in Janurary 2008.
I would like to rent a car (preferably a Nisssan R32 GTR, S15, A31 if possible)
and drive on the streets of Japan.
What are the requirements for a foreigner to drive in Japan?
Is a International drivers license necessary?

All comments are appreciated

 

[Sorcery]

Best bet would be to have/find a friend with one of those cars that doesn't mind you driving it and bring an International Driver's License with you. As far as renting, not many "luxury rental" agencies I know of, like in Hawaii, that cater to tourists. Most rental companies I know of (Orix) are really for your moving needs. What part of Japan are you visiting? I'm here in the Kansai (Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama) area and wouldn't mind hooking up but not so sure if I can give you the keys...:wink:

 

[GT-N]

Best bet would be to have/find a friend with one of those cars that doesn't mind you driving it and bring an International Driver's License with you. As far as renting, not many "luxury rental" agencies I know of, like in Hawaii, that cater to tourists. Most rental companies I know of (Orix) are really for your moving needs. What part of Japan are you visiting? I'm here in the Kansai (Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama) area and wouldn't mind hooking up but not so sure if I can give you the keys...:wink:

The main reason for visiting is for Tokyo Auto Salon.
Me and my friend are trying to city hop in Japan, by visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama, etc. And also Visit sorcery, GT-One, Up Garage, etc.
I am looking more for a chance to drive the cars of Japan, such as the Skyline, Cefiro, Silvia, Cosmo, etc.

Thank you,

Greg

 

[NonStopReaper]

yeah i'm moving to japan to in jan 2008 and i'm bring my nsx along. but my car wont get there till feb -_-

 

[kye]

i'll be at the tokyo show, drop me a PM maybe we can meet up. //Kye

 

[Kaz]

I don't think you can rent those types of cars easily in Japan. Did a quick search on Yahoo.jp and its almost all econbox rentals. Only exception I found was @ Nissan. They have a special going on where u can rent a 350Z.. but the cut-off for the promo is end of december. If I'm not mistaken TAS is the 1st or 2nd week of Jan.
anyway check it out:

http://nissan-rentacar.com/usefultips/special_car.html

Also looks like u can rent a S2000 for about 16Kyen for 1st day , 10K yen each additional here: http://www.otsrentacar.ne.jp/honda/

Other than that the best u can probably do is a RX-8 or Miata from a mazda rental place.

I've been to TAS in 2004 and public transportation works pretty good... And renting a econobox sucks but you don't need a nice ride to hang out at the car hangouts in yokohama.

 

[GT-N]

I don't think you can rent those types of cars easily in Japan. Did a quick search on Yahoo.jp and its almost all econbox rentals. Only exception I found was @ Nissan. They have a special going on where u can rent a 350Z.. but the cut-off for the promo is end of december. If I'm not mistaken TAS is the 1st or 2nd week of Jan.
anyway check it out:

http://nissan-rentacar.com/usefultips/special_car.html

Also looks like u can rent a S2000 for about 16Kyen for 1st day , 10K yen each additional here: http://www.otsrentacar.ne.jp/honda/

Other than that the best u can probably do is a RX-8 or Miata from a mazda rental place.

I've been to TAS in 2004 and public transportation works pretty good... And renting a econobox sucks but you don't need a nice ride to hang out at the car hangouts in yokohama.

thanks for the info,

i am looking for more of a used car rental

as in R32 GTR's, 180SX sil eighty, etc.

 

[Kaz]

Well let me know if you find out something. All google searches in japanese of "kokyusha"(high end cars) and "Renta car" turn up links/blogs to US exotics in LA, Miami, and LV.

Also Japanese government taxes/regulates the hell out of old cars so its not worth it for rental car companies to keep a fleet of old exotics/sport cars. In fact it can be more expensive to keep a 10 yr old car than it is to buy a new one.

 

[ajnsx]

Standard/average cars are very easy to hire here. An international drivers license is all thats required for the first year. There may be some differences for different countries, getting an actual japanese license is a little more difficult for some countries. Australia no problem though.:biggrin:

No way for an older car, as mentioned the shaken is very high. They like to keep a high turnover of new cars here.