TOKYO –
Traffic accidents involving rental vehicles pushed by overseas guests are rising sharply in Japan, with some rental automobile companies even stopping leases to abroad vacationers as issues develop over unfamiliar site visitors guidelines and driving practices.
According to the National Police Agency, 212 such accidents have been recorded in 2025, the very best quantity prior to now 10 years. A collection of accidents believed to contain overseas vacationers additionally occurred in Hokkaido in July 2026.
Ishikawa Prefecture is recording accidents at an excellent quicker tempo than final yr.
Many overseas vacationers utilizing rental vehicles have been visiting Kenrokuen Garden, a well-liked sightseeing vacation spot in Kanazawa, on September 8.
A customer from France stated the group had traveled there by rental automobile and had almost collided with a truck on the way in which. “We almost hit a truck coming here. But we’re fine!”
A customer from Britain stated Japanese roads have been straightforward to drive on and that driving situations have been snug.
A car parking zone close to Kenrokuen was full of rental vehicles bearing the “wa” license plate designation used for rental automobiles, together with automobiles registered exterior Ishikawa Prefecture.
From January by way of August 2026, Ishikawa recorded 42 site visitors accidents involving overseas nationals, 13 greater than throughout the identical interval in 2025 and about 1.5 instances the earlier yr’s tempo.
A taxi driver in Kanazawa stated overseas drivers can have issue understanding Japanese street indicators and infrequently make sudden lane modifications. “They drive in a way that makes you not want to get close to them,” the driving force stated. “There are a lot of sudden lane changes. The ones I’ve seen were European. With rental cars, you can tell from the ‘wa’ plate, so I try to keep my distance.”
A Toyota Rent a Car outlet close to JR Kanazawa Station has additionally seen an increase in accidents.
Kazuya Sakai, supervisor of the Toyota Rent a Car Kanazawa Station Shinkansen Exit department, stated accidents have elevated significantly in current months as inbound tourism has grown. “There were especially many inbound visitors in April. About 30% of all accidents involved inbound tourists.”
Foreign clients now account for almost half of the corporate’s leisure-related rental automobile gross sales in Ishikawa Prefecture. Five teams of overseas clients visited the department on the day of the report.
To forestall accidents, employees use English-language brochures to completely clarify Japanese site visitors guidelines earlier than automobiles are rented.
Among the purchasers have been a dad or mum and little one visiting from Sweden who have been driving in Japan for the primary time.
“In our country, we drive on the opposite side of the road,” considered one of them stated. “The traffic rules are also different, so it’s a big challenge. I think we’ll be all right.”
Their journey after sightseeing in Kanazawa concerned a roughly three-hour drive to Shirakawa-go, a significant vacationer vacation spot in Gifu Prefecture.
Despite having to drive on the left facet of the street, reverse to Sweden, they have been seen rigorously dealing with lane modifications and left turns.
“You have to be careful when driving in a new country,” the Swedish customer stated. “You don’t want to have an accident on the first day.”
The investigation additionally discovered that some rental automobile companies in Gifu Prefecture have stopped renting automobiles to overseas vacationers due to the rise in accidents.
As extra overseas guests select to drive whereas touring in Japan, rental automobile operators and authorities face rising strain to strengthen measures geared toward stopping site visitors accidents.
Source: FNN