[2013/14 season plans - carcamping around honshu]

i havent booked my flight yet as usually i wait for the cheap jetstar deal. the past couple years ive arrived december 18.

thanks for the info about minami soma and adatara kogen, i will check that out for sure. looks like an easy drive east from minowa.

[2013/14 season plans - carcamping around honshu]

cheers mate.

[2013/14 season plans - carcamping around honshu]

yep cool thats who im going with.

what did you do in terms of powering electronics? i have bought an inverter but im not sure if thats capable of powering a laptop.

did you open your windows while you slept?

whats the deal with ETC cards?

where did you do laundry?

any other car issues i need to be aware of?

[2013/14 season plans - carcamping around honshu]

goz, who did you hire your van through?

[2013/14 season plans - carcamping around honshu]

thanks guys. toll roads arent a huge concern, but id obviously like to avoid getting stung with like $50+ tolls like in europe.

 

are there any must see things along the way?

i like ghost towns and was wondering what the deal is around the exclusion zone. how close can i get to namie?

 

also im taking my split with me for backcountry in hakkoda and tenjin but im not that familar with any other areas that have easy to access backcountry. ideas?

[2013/14 season plans - carcamping around honshu]

my only small concerns are finding places to park and sleep.

i know resort/hotel carparks are fine as ive seen/talked to others that have done that.

are seicomart/lawson/711 carparks ok to sleep in?

 

the other thing will be finding onsens to bathe in but i see that the bigger resorts tend to have onsens around.

 

i hear that tolls are expensive in japan? any idea of what this kind of trip would add up to?

[2013/14 season plans - carcamping around honshu]

Hey, long time lurker, I thought I'd post and ask for advice on my plans next season.

This will be my 4th season in Japan and I've always dreamed of doing a bit of cardanchi around honshu.

I am landing sometime late december.

 

My plan is to hire a toyota suceed or probox from Toyota @ 120000yen/month for 2 months and drive up to aomori and then back down to nagano hitting as many resorts as I can and then probably spend my final month around hakuba or thereabouts.

I'll probably stay in a hostel once or twice a week and the rest of the time just sleep in the car and shower at onsens.

I'll rent one a mobile wifi unit so I still have internet everywhere I go.

I've got a -40 degree sleeping bag that I use to go touring with along with a thermarest pad so I think I should be ok for warmth but I'll keep an eye on temperature forecasts and if its super freezing Ill grab a bed for the night.

 

After some research I've listed a bunch of resorts that are on my hit list. My route will be up the east side of honshu and then back down the west side so I've listed the following resorts in that order.

I'm not sure whether or not this is the best route and Im open to suggestions on ideas that might be better depending on whether there will be snow around minowa around late december for example. I'll spend more time at the bigger resorts obviously and the ones I really like and Ill skip the ones that people here think arent worth going to. I basically went through the reviews and trail maps on this website picking the ones that looked good.

 

so starting from narita ill drive up to:

minowa

inawashio

alts bandai

grandeco snow resort

kuriko kokusai

zao onsen

Kurobushi Kogen Snow Park Jangle Jungle

geto kogen Wagacho Iwasaki Shinden

Shizukuishi

tazawako AKITA

appi kogen

hakkoda

naqua shirakami

niigata

Joetsu Kokusai

Maiko Snow Resort,

Ishiuchi Maruyama

gala yuzawa

iwaparra

kandatsu kogen

naeba/kagura

tenjin

Okutone Snow Park

Minikami Houdaigi

Oze Iwakura

Marunuma Kogen

kawaba

Sugadaira Kogen

kusatsu kokusai

manza onsen

shiga kogen

Ryuoo Kogen

Makinoiri Snow Park

Togakushi

myoko suginohara

akakura,

seki onsen

charmant hiuchi

Kashimayari

 

and drop the car off at nagano.

 

Note I've already ridden these resorts

niseko

rusutsu

chisenpurri

niseko moiwa

saporro teine

saporro kokusai

hakuba goryu

hakuba 47

hakuba norikura

hakuba cortina

hakuba tsugaike

hakuba yanaba

hakuba iwatake

hakuba highland

hakuba minekata

happo one

nozawa onsen

madarao kogen

tangram

 

Thoughts?