Hey guys, apologies if this topic is repeated/over-posted, I just couldn’t seem to find the answers to my questions regarding tolls in Japan. These are my questions:
1. From what I have read so far, you go through an entry gantry when you enter the highway, and then you go through an exit gantry when you exit the highway. Is this correct?
2. Generally speaking, if I am driving between cities (e.g Osaka to Kyoto), would I need to enter and exit the toll road multiple times for one journey, for example when swapping between routes?
3. How are the tolls calculated? I tried using one of the [toll calculator sites](https://search.w-nexco.co.jp/en/) and they give me three routes with three different prices for the same departing and arriving IC’s. Why would a different route change the price of tolls? How would they track which route you are taking, if you are going from and to the same entry and exit point? This goes back to my unclear understanding of how to enter and exit the highway.
4. Is there a better way to go about calculating tolls and navigating Japan in general? Is it ok to just use google maps?
Thank you for reading, any help would be very appreciated 🙂
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7 comments
1. Yes. There can also be gantry in the middle of the route.
2. No, most route has connection inside the system. Though some has middle gantry that may or may not require you to pay before reaching your destination.
3. There are middle gantry. That site should list you where you are paying and how much at each place.
4. Your rental car GPS will be much better.
1. Generally yes, but toll booths exist at certain points, where you switch highway operators.
2. That depends. Also, driving in Kanto, Kansai and Northern Kyushu urban areas can be only described as masochistic.
3. Distance and route. Depends also whether you switch operators in the process.
4. Use Nexco calculator, or calculators baked into car navigation systems. Generally, I would avoid using Google Maps for car navigation in Japan since the local systems (eg. Toyota’s) have up to date info on road closures etc.
Also, note that if you are renting a car equipped with ETC is strongly recommended.
You also have different prices when using an etc card and you get discounts for driving on the weekend or at night.
Does anyone have any idea how the expressway passes work? If you cam book different expressway passes for one car rental?
I don’t have the exact answers to your questions, but we hired a car for 4 days in Kyushu last month, and found the toll roads incredibly straightforward to use and well maintained. I highly recommend booking an ETC card with your car hire (it was like £3 on top of the hire) as it automatically scans and charges as you go, and then you pay a lump sum to the car hire place when you return the car.
1) That’s right.
2) Not always, you might go from from route 324 to route 497, and if they’re joined up you might not go through a toll booth to go from one to the other. But you might have to come off one expressway and be on the normal highway for a bit, then back on another expressway, so then you’d go through a toll booth and then back through another.
3) I have no idea, but its surprisingly expensive! We paid about £27 to go from Nagasaki to Kurokawa Onsen because the Nagasaki Expressway is loooooong.
4) You’re not allowed to use cell phone navigation in your hire car (unless your passenger is holding it I guess?) so it’s harder to pick alternative routes to the one your in car navigation selects. The in car sat nav was very accurate and easy to use, so we just did as it said, toll roads and all.
Another word of advice re the speed limits – everyone speeds! The roads are well signposted with the speed limit, usually 30 in the city, 50 in towns, and 80 on the expressway. But I was doing the limit and everyone was speeding past me. At one point in single carriageway I found myself doing 50 with a massive queue behind me, one guy even honked at me!
After the first trip, I googled it, and apparently speed cameras only flash you if you’re going over 17kmph over the limit, because there’s a law against photographing someone unless they’re actually committing a crime. So it seems everyone treats that as the speed limit! I wanted to stick to the limit so I much preferred the two lane expressways where I felt like I wasn’t in anyone’s way!
Pro-tip: if you want to pay cash and accidentally line up for the wrong gate, genkin means cash. The operator isn’t asking you how you’re doing.
You can use the [Japan Travel app](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/japan-travel-route-map-guide/id686373726) to estimate driving tolls. If you search a route for driving directions in the free version of the app it will give you estimated tolls. You have to upgrade to the paid version for turn by turn instructions but I just use Google maps for driving directions. I choose the Google maps route that most closely matches the estimated toll route.
At some toll exits you can pay via credit card but not all so best to have plenty of cash with you. Some toll exits are ETC only do you can’t take those if you don’t have an ETC card.