Driving in Japan: Phone Navigation, Map Codes and ETC Cards

Short answer: to drive in Japan you need a booklet-type International Driving Permit (or an official Japanese translation if your licence is from one of six specific countries), and you should plan on using your phone for navigation with the rental car’s built-in unit as a backup. Japanese in-car navigation systems often ask for a “map code” — a numeric code that pinpoints a location when an address or phone number will not do. Tolls are a separate problem entirely: expressway tolls are paid either in cash at a general lane or electronically with a rented ETC card, and that card has nothing to do with your mobile data plan even though travellers usually ask about both at once.

This guide covers the four things that trip up first-time drivers in Japan: paperwork, navigation, map codes, and tolls. Prices are quoted from the operators’ own pages and are current as of September 2026.

What licence do you need to drive in Japan?

The Japan National Tourism Organization states that an International Driving Permit is mandatory, must be obtained before you leave home, and must be issued by the national automobile association in a country that participates in the 1949 Geneva Convention on International Road Traffic.

One detail catches people out. JNTO is explicit that only the booklet-type paper permit is accepted: “Card-type and smartphone versions of International Driving Permits are not valid in Japan.” If your local motoring body issues a plastic card, that card will not get you a rental car.

There is a separate route for six countries and regions. If your licence was issued in Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco or Taiwan, you carry your original licence plus an official Japanese translation instead of an IDP, and that combination is valid for one year from your arrival date.

An IDP is valid for up to one year from issue, and is further limited to one year from the date you arrive in Japan. Bring your home licence and your passport to the rental counter alongside it. Cars drive on the left, seatbelts are mandatory for everyone in the vehicle, there is zero tolerance for alcohol, and using a mobile device while driving is illegal — which is the practical reason a phone mount matters, not just a convenience.

Should you use the rental car’s navigation or your phone?

Most travellers end up using both, and the reason is that each one fails in a different place. The built-in unit knows Japanese roads and expressway numbering but may only speak Japanese. Your phone speaks your language but needs a working data connection to do its best work.

Nippon Rent-A-Car states that all of its vehicles include GPS as standard, while noting that a multilingual version may not be available at every branch — its Japanese-language units support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Bluetooth is standard equipment at no charge. JNTO puts it more generally: some rental companies have cars equipped with foreign-language navigation systems, and availability varies by company. Treat an English-language head unit as something to request when booking, not something to expect.

NAVITIME JAPAN released the English version of CAR NAVITIME on 18 June 2020, describing it as a car navigation app built for driving on Japanese roads. The company lists English voice guidance, real-time congestion information, parking availability, speed camera alerts, expressway numbering support, and route search and navigation without a network connection.

What is a Japanese map code and when do you need one?

A map code is a number that stands in for a location when a street address will not work. DENSO SOLUTION, which operates the system, describes it as “a numerical number that the latitude and longitude of a place in Japan are converted into.”

The structure is a grid. Japan is divided into 1,162 zones roughly 27 km on a side; each zone is divided into 900 blocks; each block into 900 units of 30 m × 30 m. Codes run from 6 to 12 digits. On car navigation systems that support what DENSO calls High Resolution Expansion, units subdivide further into 3 m squares, giving a minimum accuracy of about 3 metres. DENSO states that searching and using map codes is free of charge.

Why does this exist? Japanese addresses are block-based rather than sequential along a street, so a trailhead, a car park at a waterfall, or a rural onsen may have no address a navigation unit can resolve. A map code resolves it as a number. You will see map codes printed on tourist information sites, on rental company handouts, and on signs at attractions — and you type them straight into the destination screen of a compatible in-car unit.

Two practical points. Map codes are for Japanese in-car navigation systems; they are not a Google Maps input, so keep a phone-friendly form of your destination too. And Japanese head units also accept a landline phone number as a destination, which is often the fastest way to enter a hotel, restaurant or museum — write the number down before you set off rather than searching for it while parked.

Will Google Maps work offline in Japan?

Google Maps supports downloading an offline map area, and Google’s own help page is the place to check whether your destination qualifies: it states that “You can’t download offline maps in some countries or regions because of contractual limitations, language support, address formats, or other reasons.” That list changes over time, so confirm on the page for your account and app version rather than relying on older travel advice.

More importantly, offline mode is a reduced product. Google states that when you are offline, transit, bicycling and walking directions are unavailable, and that traffic information, alternate route suggestions and lane guidance do not work. Driving directions function as long as your entire route stays inside the downloaded area. Google Maps also tries to refresh an area automatically over Wi-Fi when it expires in 15 days or less.

The sensible reading: an offline map is a safety net for a dropped signal in a valley or tunnel, not a substitute for a live connection. Lane guidance in particular matters at Japanese urban interchanges, where several expressways stack and the correct lane splits well before the junction.

How does an ETC card work, and do you need one?

ETC is Japan’s electronic toll collection system. NEXCO East’s Drive Plaza explains that a vehicle needs two things: an onboard device installed in the car, and an ETC card inserted into that device. Payment happens by wireless communication between an antenna at the tollgate and the onboard unit, so you do not stop.

Without ETC you use a General lane instead: take a ticket from the machine at the entrance tollgate, then hand it to the attendant at the exit and pay in yen cash or by credit card. That works, but General lanes are fewer than they used to be and queues at busy interchanges are longer.

Rental cars are normally fitted with the onboard device, and the card is the part you rent. Nippon Rent-A-Car publishes its ETC card fees as ¥330 including tax for rentals within 7 days and ¥1,100 including tax for 8 days to one month, with longer rentals arranged through the pickup branch (prices as listed on its site as of September 2026). The card is selected when you make the reservation. On return, the branch reads the card’s IC chip, prints an itemised receipt and charges you the tolls in cash or by major credit card — so the rental fee covers the card, never the tolls themselves.

Tolls are not trivial. JNTO gives Tokyo to Kyoto as roughly ¥10,070 in tolls one way, as listed on its page as of September 2026. When passing through an ETC gate, NEXCO East instructs drivers to do so at no more than 20 km/h — the barrier only lifts once the card reads successfully.

Are the tourist expressway passes worth it?

NEXCO sells flat-rate regional passes that only non-Japanese passport holders can buy (Japanese nationals with permanent residency abroad also qualify). Each one requires an ETC card rented from a participating rental company, and each covers one region’s network for a fixed number of days.

JNTO also lists Tohoku, San’in-Setouchi-Shikoku and Central Nippon passes, and NEXCO East’s Drive Plaza additionally lists a Niigata pass. Prices above exclude the rental car itself and the ETC card fee.

The conditions deserve attention before you assume a pass saves money. NEXCO East states that the Hokkaido pass period cannot be extended midway, and that it applies to ordinary passenger cars and light vehicles only. NEXCO West warns that the Kyushu pass “will not apply for the whole portion of relevant driving” if you enter or exit outside the covered area or drive outside the stated usage period — in other words, straying off the covered network can void the flat rate for that trip, not just the stray segment. Note also that participating companies change: NEXCO West currently lists thirteen companies for the Kyushu pass, and states that Toyota Rent a Car, Budget Rent a Car and ORIX are not accepting reservations for it at present.

A rough way to decide: compare the pass price against the tolls for the specific route you intend to drive, using NEXCO East’s toll and route search, which calculates applicable ETC discounts based on your departure and arrival times. If your itinerary is mostly local roads, the pass is unlikely to pay for itself.

Where can you get WiFi on the road?

Service areas and parking areas on the expressway network carry free WiFi. NEXCO East describes E-NEXCO Wi-Fi SPOT as a free public WiFi service with no time or access frequency limits, reachable on the SSID NEXCO_FREE_Wi-Fi at facilities displaying the sticker.

You register with an email address, a mobile phone number or an SNS login, and the login screen is available in Japanese, English, Korean, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese. One account works across all three NEXCO companies. Accounts stay valid for 14 days before re-registration is needed, and you can reconnect without logging in again within a 12-hour window — NEXCO notes this timeframe may change without notice.

This is useful for downloading an updated offline map area or re-syncing an itinerary during a rest stop, but it is a stop-and-use service. For navigation while moving you still want mobile data on the phone itself, whether that is an eSIM, a physical SIM or roaming.

Practical setup before you pull out of the rental lot

Because using a handheld device while driving is illegal in Japan, decide how the phone is held before you start the engine. Ask the rental branch whether a mount is available, or bring your own. Nippon Rent-A-Car lists Bluetooth as standard free equipment and CarPlay and Android Auto support on its Japanese-language units, which is often the cleanest solution: the phone routes navigation audio through the car and stays out of your hands.

Two more things worth doing at the counter. Confirm the navigation language actually installed in your assigned car rather than the fleet average, and confirm the ETC card is physically in the vehicle and reading before you leave, since discovering it at a tollgate at 20 km/h is a poor time to find out.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my phone instead of an ETC card to pay tolls?
No. ETC is a hardware system — an onboard device plus a physical ETC card, per NEXCO East. There is no phone-based substitute at the tollgate. Without the card you use a General lane and pay cash or credit at the exit.

Do I need mobile data if the rental car has built-in navigation?
Not strictly, but the built-in unit may be Japanese-only and it does not help you look up an opening time, a phone number for destination entry, or a map code found on a website. A data connection also gives you live traffic, which Google states is unavailable in offline mode.

Is a map code the same thing as a postcode or GPS coordinates?
No. It is a Japan-specific numeric encoding of latitude and longitude on a fixed grid, developed for Japanese car navigation systems. DENSO describes codes of 6 to 12 digits, with about 3 m accuracy on units supporting High Resolution Expansion.

Will my card-type International Driving Permit be accepted?
JNTO states that card-type and smartphone versions are not valid in Japan; only the booklet-type paper permit is. Check the format before you travel, because it cannot be fixed at the rental counter.

Should I buy a regional expressway pass in advance?
It depends on your route and whether your chosen rental company participates — participation lists change, and NEXCO West currently shows several major companies not accepting Kyushu pass reservations. Price your actual route with NEXCO East’s toll search first, then compare.

Before you go

Sort the permit first, since nothing else works without it. Then request an English navigation unit and an ETC card at the time of booking rather than on arrival, download an offline map area for your region over hotel WiFi, and note the phone numbers or map codes of your main destinations somewhere you can read them while parked. The connectivity part — data on the phone for live traffic and lookups — is what turns a Japanese rental car from workable into comfortable, but the paperwork and the toll card are what get you moving at all.

Sources

• Things to know when renting a car — Japan National Tourism Organization (accessed 2026-09-11)
• How to Pay the Expressway Toll — NEXCO East / Drive Plaza (accessed 2026-09-11)
• Hokkaido Expressway Pass — NEXCO East / Drive Plaza (accessed 2026-09-11)
• E-NEXCO Wi-Fi SPOT — NEXCO East / Drive Plaza (accessed 2026-09-11)
• Kyushu Expressway Pass (KEP) — West Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO West) (accessed 2026-09-11)
• What is MAPCODE? — DENSO SOLUTION CORPORATION (accessed 2026-09-11)
• Download areas and navigate offline in Google Maps — Google Maps Help (accessed 2026-09-11)
• CAR NAVITIME now Available in English — NAVITIME JAPAN (accessed 2026-09-11)
• Useful Services — Nippon Rent-A-Car (accessed 2026-09-11)