Getting around Miyakojima
My ride, for just me, in Miyakojima.
Nervous for all of 5 minutes
I am going to be perfectly honest. I had a lot of anxiety before this trip that I almost did not go. I live in Canada, the driver side is on the left hand side of the car and cars travel on the right hand side of the road. In Japan, the driver side is the right hand side of the car and cars travel on the left hand side of the road. This might not be a problem for those who’s country’s driving rules are similar but as an individual who doesn’t often drive while travel, it was a big deal as this was my first time driving in Japan alone.
Google map show the estimated distances to drive around the island. As you can see, Miyakojima isn’t very big. To drive from the top to the bottom, it would only take 40 minutes and to drive and see all of the major sights would only take less than 2.5 hours.
Getting around Miyakojima was my biggest obstacle and I almost decided to not go because the lack of frequent public transportation was an issue. Once I did more research, I became more comfortable about renting a car and since it was a small island, I did not have to make quick decisions like if I was driving on a highway. Here are some of the considerations that I had to make about how to get around:
Could I get around by public transportation?
What about taxi service?
If I rented a vehicle, how much would it cost?
Does my Canadian Driver’s License allow me to drive in Japan?
What are the rules for driving in Japan?
How does accident claims and insurance work if I get into one?
Do I really want to burden myself with all of these questions for my vacation?
Let’s tackle these questions, shall we?
Could I get around by public transportation?
When you start to do your research on travelling around Miyakojima, you will find that there is a public transportation system, but every website or person who has visited recommends to rent a car because of the convenience factor. Miyakojima is not a big island to begin with. If you drive from the top to the bottom, it would only take 40 minutes. From my hotel, it is about 20-30 minutes in every direction. Also, Miyakojima does not have a big population and most people already have their own cars. It is still possible to go everywhere by public transportation but it is not very frequent like other places. You can learn more about the bus routes from this website that I used in my research : http://www.kotsu-okinawa.org/en/map_miyako.html#miyako
What about taxi service?
Taxis in Japan are very clean, convenient and I don’t mind using them. The only issue is that if I take a taxi from one location to another, will there be other taxis around or would I need to call for one? Could I hire one as personal ‘limo’ driver for the day and how much would that cost? Ultimately, these questions and the main question ‘Do I want to be stuck on a schedule?’ is why I did not choose this option either. I didn’t try Uber but don’t think there is enough business for a Uber driver to operate but I could be wrong. I also don’t think it would be any cheaper either.
If I rented a vehicle, how much would it cost?
There are many considerations that are factored into cost but my main concerns was not actually rental cost but price of gas and how do I get to the rental agency in the first place? Through my research, the car rental agency that I went with was Times CAR Rental Miyakojima Airport. The link will take you to the English page with all of the important details about how to rent a car from them. At the airport, I found the representative once I exited the baggage claims area, who was gathering all of the customers together before calling for the shuttle bus to take us all to the car rental agency.
On the top of gas, I don’t think it was too expenseive considering I stayed there for three days and drove everywhere. I think I spent 3,000 yen to refill my car before I returned it. The real fun was learning how to fill up the car but I will save that for a miscellaneous blog post.
In terms of the car rental cost, unfortunately, I don’t have my receipt anymore, and can’t recall the cost. I think it was just under 30,000 yen for the three days with maximum insurance coverage. Again, this cost can be influenced by type of vehicle, time of year, insurance coverage, etc… but should give you an idea.
Does my Canadian driver’s license allow me to drive in Japan.
Since my license is in good standing in Canada, I applied for an International Driver Permit at a CAA (Canadian Automobile Association) office. Its costed me $30 CAD and is good for one year. CAA will even take your passport photo for the permit along with the paperwork.
What are the rules for driving in Japan
I suppose that the rules would be very similar to many places. The car rental agency provided this booklet as part of my rental package for me which was in English with some helpful information and even a ‘finger speaking guide’ of common issues.
Enlarge the image to read the info.
How does accident claims and insurance work if I get into one?
Definitely check with your personal insurance provider for coverage and how to get in contact if it does happen before hand. Thankfully, I did not have an accident. I also maxed my insurance coverage at the car rental agency as I did not want to take any chances.
Some interesting requests on my dashboard of my rental car.
The first one on the left says, to not wear your swimwear in the car. The second is requesting to clean the sand of your body before getting into the car as much as possible. Miyakojima has many beaches and a lot of people come here to enjoy the beach, snorkel and go swimming, so the car rental company is asking to help keep the car’s interior from getting damaged.
The dash of my car rental
One last thing!
When the car rental agency representative was going over the things in my car, I asked a ton of questions.
First thing first; driver side is the right side.
But the brain isn’t going to immediately understand after being used to everything on the left side of the car.
When I first started to drive, I found a warning sound come from the car. Luckily the car rental agency isn’t on a busy road so I was able to turn back into the parking lot and put the car back in park before searching for the issue. I am used to a hand parking brake and found that the foot parking brake was engaged. After that, I was ready to go.
One of the things that I never understood how to use properly was the GPS system even after asking many questions with the representative. The layout and entry system was too confusing for me. Ultimately, I just used my Apple Maps on my cellphone to get around. The other thing that I never got used to is the location of the turn signal and wipers.
Quick! Where is it??
In Canada the signal is on the left and the wipers on the right. In Japan, this too was in the opposite order. Oh yeah, don’t freak out when you look at your gas meter. E is on the Left and F is on the Right.
