Does anyone know if there is a list or map of established parking lots where you can stop overnight in a vehicle? I’ve seen a few Japanese van-lifers on YouTube stop at some really beautiful locations that are free but still have a toilet on the premises.
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I own a camper, we just overnight in the 道の駅 all over Japan and they all have 24/7 toilets.
There’s a bit of etiquette involved such as not dumping all your crap and potentially grey/black water tank there
Or not filling water tanks or camping there with your awning open and chairs and a what not but other than that, we never had anyone bother us and there’s always a couple other campers overnighting as well.
https://www.google.com/mymaps/viewer?mid=1ZBVjXbJKXFgt7AFBFQlSn5Zx3to&hl=en_US this was posted on a thread here some time ago. I have it saved for my car life trip.
Back in my 20s I did this for an entire summer. Drove from Aomori to Miyazaki and back. I just overnighted in konbini parking lots and took showers at sentos or onsens. Back then there were no smartphones so you just winged it the entire time. It was a great experience. Picked up several hitch hikers for entertainment.