Just practice where you live. Take care not to crash in anything.
In all seriousness, there are a few driving simulators which offer European driving (left side of the road, etc) simulation, but none I know with maps of Japan. Maybe some of them have a suitable mod.
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Only in the UK there is left-hand traffic, every other country in Europe has right-hand traffic.
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Yeah, my bad. Not sure why I said "European" instead of "United Kingdom".
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Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus also have Left-hand traffic.
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Yeah, silly islanders... :P
I actually didn't know Malta and Cyprus have left-hand traffic, good to know though.
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I checked wiki. I knew Cyprus was RHD vehicles because my brother was stationed there. I'd forgotten Malta even existed ;)
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We drive on the right side here, so local practice isn't too relevant. This is why I'm looking for a simulator for the PC.
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If you are set on driving, I think you'll need to get an International driving permit before coming to Japan.
It would probably be easier to get a Japan train pass (you need to arrange and pay for it before you get to Japan) and it will be significantly cheaper than renting a car, as far as I can see.
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That's what I was thinking, about the international driving permit...
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Yeah, I'll definitely get the permit.
As for trains, that's what I used in my first (and so far only) visit to Japan, 8 years ago. It was great, but it does lack the freedom and flexibility that driving provides. Renting a car allows me to stop along the way in many smaller places and lookouts and not limit myself to visiting only the main attractions.
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Sounds like you have a lot of the trip planned already and are pretty organized. Not sure if you speak Japanese or if there is anything you still need help with, but I might be able to give a few pointers if there is. I'm not an expert, by any means, but I live in Tokyo and might be able to help you find information.
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remember to check which convetion your country issue international permit (japan in some cases prefers one of them) :P
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Definitely not Japan, or terribly realistic, but Sleeping Dogs does still kind of get you used to driving on the left.
[edit] There's also a few cars in DiRT Rally, at least, where you're on the right-hand side of the car. Not certain if that's also a part of Japanese driving, but I would assume it is if the left/right is switched for the lanes. Anyway... that'll take a small amount of getting used to as well, so I'd try a game that does that, too. [/edit]
[edit2] Also, still not Japan, but Euro Truck Sim does the left-side drive, with optional driver-on-the-right, in the appropriate countries. [/edit2]
[edit 3] JAPAN! ...2D... https://framesynthesis.com/drivingsimulator/maps/ [/edit 3]
[edit 4] I'm having a lot of fun with that last one... works great with a controller, and I've now driven a few laps on the Nürburgring in Germany, dodged buses on a Tokyo bridge while trying not to fall into the water, and successfully found the Long Beach Grand Prix track near me, although it's not labeled. [/edit 4]
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The framesynthesis.com simulator doesn't really work for me, but maybe I'm not using it correctly. The car is basically flying and is completely detached from the map, and I don't see any moving vehicles on the road. Also, I couldn't get my Xbox360 controller to work.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 with UK maps will probably be more useful to simulate urban driving on the left side of the road. I'll check it out.
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Yeah, it's basically just a floating car graphic, but the gas/brake seem to work well, and it was fun for me to try to stay on the road, and (at first) to dodge the static cars. Plus, I don't think any other driving game would have as complete of a collection of real maps! :) Shame the controller didn't work for you; I noticed that requires using Chrome anyway. I'm used a Logitech 310.
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Flying cars? Japan?
*makes note of what a wonderous world it could be
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You own Euro Truck Simulator 2, so if you wanna a sim to drive on the left side it will work (not on Japan tho). You can pick just quick jobs starting on the UK and your truck will be right hand drive.
If you want to drive in Japan (and trucks aren't what you want), Assetto Corsa has a expressway track mod. And the game already have right hand drive cars. But more than a driving simultator, this is a racing simulator, maybe not the experience you are looking for.
As an extra option that I haven't personally tried, you have City Car Driving game. Afaik there are right hand drive cars there. But not sure about driving on the left lane of the road, that's not on vanilla. But saw a gameplay like that, so I suppose there is a mod out there.
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I'm downloading Euro Truck Simulator 2 now and dusting off my G27 wheel... crossing fingers that driving a truck in the UK will be a fun experience :-)
Assetto Corsa looks great, but the expressway track mod seems to be limited to expressway driving only, with no way to take turns into the city and no other cars in sight. It's not like I could just drive slow to mimic regular driving in the city.
City Car Driving looks great, notwithstanding the mixed reviews. Unfortunately it doesn't have maps of Japan, so I'll try ETS2 before considering to sink $25 into a new game.
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I'll definitely post pictures when I'm back, maybe even combine them with a puzzle ;-)
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idk any specific one for japan but if you just want to practise driving left
http://www.3dfahrschule.de/uk_index.htm
https://uktrucksimulator.com/
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Do you know if the truck simulator allows free roaming without a trailer attached? I have Euro Truck Simulator 2 but it seems I have to drive many hours with a trailer to be able to "buy" a truck and detach it...
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I only own both ETS myself but I asked a friend in the UK who has the UK game. no answer yet but I let you know when I get one. but actually I doubt its different from the other games :-/
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Where do you live? I live in Poland and it's impossible to rent a car in Japan even with an international driving license.
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I live in Israel and already booked a car for my trip. My sister rented a car in Japan last year and I don't think she encountered any issues.
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mozliwe, nie latwe :) szczegolnie od kiedy zmienili prawo w jap :P rowniez od kiedy wydaja w pl prawko wg konwencji ktora sobie zazyczysz
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Don't know of any games, but found an article about driving in Japan from a foreigner's perspective.
You can also explore around with google street view to get some idea of the streets and intersections around where you'll be visiting. Also plenty of Youtube dashcam videos of people driving.
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Are you absolutelly sure you need a car? Japan has one of the most advanced (if not the most advanced) train systems in the world, plus they offer tourist Rail Passes - 2 week Rail Pass would end up not only being probably much cheaper than cost of renting a car + buying gasoline, but you would actually travel much faster than by a car ;)
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Going by car is a lot more expensive, no doubt. And since I'm traveling solo there's no-one to share the cost, which makes the difference even bigger. This is a significant disadvantage, but I think I'm getting my money's worth when renting a car, for multiple reasons.
Driving is actually shorter (see attached table) and it's a lot more flexible. With a car I can stop along the way if I see interesting places and lookouts (and I always do). The trip isn't limited to just traveling within sites.
Another issue is the luggage. With public transportation, when I arrive at my destination I have to first get to the hotel to store my luggage (or look for another place to store it). I can't just go to the sites I'm interested in and leave the bag in the trunk, like I can with the car.
Lastly, with public transportation you have to be in the station on time. Switching multiple trains and buses (and as you can see in the table, in some cases there's a lot of switching) makes me anxious. With a car I can leave when I'm ready to go, and I don't need to be so calculated and timely throughout the day. Worst case, I just check in late :-)
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we rented a small campervan last year. so we didn't need any hotel's or the like. look for michi no eki. and go to public baths to clean up.
in big city's the drive can be very slow. and with the train you reach city centers easily. and parking there is expensive. we parked somewhere outside Kyoto and Tokyo and took the train for the last part.
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as pointed out by verveeri, I think you don't estimate city traffic in your calculations. I suppose you don't want to waste your time for travelling in the middle of the day, so you will most likely be travelling either in the morning or in the evening, so you have most of day for actual sightseeing. You estimate 1-2h for most of your travels, while in reality in for example morning rush hours you may waste 1h just to get out of city centre.
But in the end it's ofc up to you ;) Just keep in mind that especially if you plan to rely mostly on car (aka driving it to actual city centre instead of leaving it at outskirts and then using public transportation), your estimates may change quite a bit ;) Train never gets stuck in traffic jam ;)
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I actually did calculate it. You see, Google Maps allows you select date and time for a more accurate estimation. These are the links to each lag in the table:
- Tokyo Haneda Airport -> Sagamihara
- Sagamihara -> Mt. Takao
- Mt. Takao -> Yamanouchi
- Yamanouchi -> Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park
- Jigokudani -> Matsumoto
- Matsumoto -> Takayama
- Takayama -> Hikone
- Hikone -> Nara
- Nara -> Kobe
- Kobe -> Naoshima
- Naoshima -> Minamiawaj
- Minamiawaj -> Kyoto (return the car)
And I'm not going to drive much in big cities, as you can see from this plan. I plan to visit Kyoto and Tokyo after returning the car.
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ha, was about to ask about Sagamihara - Takao, because, Takao is almost in said Sagamihara :)
it is complex matter - both ways have pros and cons - been to Takao few times, never by car, because for me is way faster and easier to go by train. Having rail pass is convenient and nice - faster depeding on locations (Tokyo - Hiroshima with change 5,5hours with one change while you can rest is nice). Car have pros you mentioned and it is nice :P If you are planning going small outskirt places - than way more useful, another if -using highway stop at rest stops, usually they carry unique and highly regional treats, not the cheapest but ... :) from personal experience Nihon rent a car can be problematic in case of trouble/scratches etc Weather in late march should be fine in the areas you are going, but you never know. Now in Tokyo area is snow cataclysm (like 4 cm of snow :D ) - train have delays but car traffic was totally shit (now is ok, even with another snow) Google usualy give ok estimate
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well, whatever suits you, anyway have a wonderful trip ;)
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enjoy the journey. just one thing, don't forget you travel toll roads. (very expensive) so make sure you have cash. when you're not willing to do that, your journey will increase a lot in time. but you will see a lot more, but have less time in the places you want to visit.
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Forza Horizon 3 is set in Australia so that's your best bet for left drive. Its open world with traffic and cockpit cam so u can just go cruising. Its not a sim but it should do the trick.
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I went to Ireland some time ago and had to adjust to driving on the left side.
At first just take it easy, its mostly following the driver in front of you.
You'll pick it up very fast, I needed a few hours, hope you'll experience the same.
I dont think you can prepare for this on a simulator tbh
I had more trouble with using my left hand to switch gears than the driving itself
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Euro Truck Simulator 2
It doesn't contain Japan (maybe some mod which Idk) but it have UK in base map. Also you can buy it separatly from Steam or try Demo.
As for me (I never drive in left side countries or right wheel cars in real life) - I have no issues with left wheel truck on left side roads.) They come when I drive right wheel truck on left side road.)
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Not sure about the driving sim, I would go for the ETS2 as others suggest, but I recommend checking some vids here, it might give you some ideas what to visit while there ;)
https://www.youtube.com/user/Rambalac/videos
Have a good time and safe journey
Please share some photos once you get back ;)
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I went to Japan last October and rented a car on my trip at the north east area for the maple season, driving in Japan is really enjoyable since every driver I met is super friendly and you can take your time without feeling pushed, just remember to add some spare time because driving in big cities can be really painful with all the traffic, and you might want to add the car insurance that covers most of the messy situations, which only costs like 600 Yen per day which is super cheap, wish you the best luck and have a nice trip!
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Yeah, try ETS2 with mods:
- ProMods to get better British Isles
- or 2 WiP mods for Japan: Tokyo Bayshore or Project Japan
First one should work without any problems, the second - you need to ask modder if it's available for preview. I'm pretty sure there was one more mod for Japan, but I'm unable to find it anywhere.
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Wow, that trip sounds amazing! I hope you have a really fun time.
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I have a trip from work to Japan in March and I'm planning to extend my stay for 12 more days. I'm going to rent a car for the first week and plan to drive about 1300 KM (Tokyo->Jigokudani->Matsumoto->Takayama->Nara->Kobe->Naoshima->Awaji->Kyoto). The thing is, it's been more than 10 years since I last drove on the left side of the road (in NZ and Australia) and I think it would be a good idea (and fun) to practice a bit on my PC. The problem is that I can't find a driving simulator that has maps of Japan. Any suggestions? It obviously doesn't need to be on Steam.
Edit: This is the part of my trip that I plan to drive:
I'll also spend several days in Kyoto and Tokyo, but without a car.
O.GA
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