Van Life in Japan: Trying Out a Kei Camper Van
Van life in Japan. I wanted to try that out for myself — and of course, I wanted to do it in a very Japanese way: with a kei camper van.
A kei car (keijidōsha) is Japan's small-car category, with strict size and engine limits. A kei camper is basically a tiny camper van built on this very compact type of vehicle.
My husband is 185 cm tall and I'm 157 cm, so we were also curious to find out how that would work for the two of us — especially in the hot Japanese summer.
Escaping Tokyo
We rented our kei camper and picked it up on the street in Shibuya on a very, very hot day in August.
The van was a little old, and it took us a surprisingly long time to escape Tokyo because of the traffic. Eventually we reached our first Parking Area (PA).
I had now learned the difference between a PA and an SA (Service Area): an SA is generally larger and has more facilities, while PAs are smaller places to take a break.
But both are very convenient for a road trip. You can expect clean, free toilets, food and drinks, and vending machines are everywhere. Many are open 24 hours. And you can even stay overnight in your vehicle where overnight parking is permitted.
This was already giving us a taste of how easy it can be to travel around Japan by car.
車中泊 — sleeping in your car
In Japan, shachūhaku (車中泊) means sleeping overnight in your vehicle.
I had done some research beforehand, because I didn't just want to park anywhere and assume it was okay. There are different places where people do shachūhaku, but you need to follow the local rules and, just as importantly, the manners.
I decided to try three different types of overnight stay:
Michi-no-eki (道の駅) — roadside stations
RV parks
Campgrounds
And all three had quite different cultures.
1. Michi-no-eki
The first michi-no-eki I chose was… very loud.
Because it was August, we needed to sleep with the rear door open, with a mosquito net attached with magnets. Unfortunately, the location was right next to a national road, so the traffic didn't really slow down in the evening.
And although most of the campers were very nicely behaved, there were also some Japanese trucks and cars whose drivers left their engines running so they could enjoy the air conditioning.
So we moved to another michi-no-eki, about 3 km away.
Much better!
Michi-no-eki are government-designated roadside stations found throughout Japan. They have free parking and clean toilets that are available 24 hours a day, as well as vending machines and usually somewhere to buy food and local products.
They're also perfect for eating those konbini bento boxes you picked up earlier, because many have picnic tables or other places to sit.
But there are some manners to follow. You're there to rest, not to set up camp. So no tables and chairs next to your camper, for example. You stay in your vehicle.
And don't expect to sleep in too late either! The workers usually arrive before 8, so the peaceful morning doesn't last forever.
2. RV park
We also stayed at a simple but clean RV park.
This had a completely different atmosphere. There was a certain community feeling: everyone greeted each other, and people were very friendly.
The owner even came by in the morning to bring us a warm potato-salad toastie.
I had never heard of this before, but it was actually really good.
The whole stay cost us ¥2,000, which I thought was well worth it. We did have to pay extra for electricity, but we didn't use it because all we needed to charge were our phones.
For hot water, we used the gas konro (ガスコンロ), the little gas stove in the camper.
3. Camping at Atera Valley
The third experience was a proper campground, at Atera Valley (Atera Keikoku, 阿寺渓谷).
We arrived quite late and left again the next morning at 8 because of car troubles, so we didn't have much time to enjoy it. But once again, the atmosphere was very neighbourly and relaxed. There were children around, but it was still surprisingly quiet.
This was much more about being in nature than having facilities.
The toilet was an eco toilet, and the water came naturally down from the mountains. There was no electricity — just beautiful nature.
We paid around ¥5,000 for two people with our kei camper.
The Atera Valley campground is in the Kiso forest, next to the clear waters of the Atera River. The area is deliberately quite basic: there are no electricity or communication facilities, which is part of the experience.
So, how was the kei camper?
Well, my husband's feet would stick out and kick the mosquito net if we weren't careful.
But in the end, we managed to find a layout that worked for us.
We have a VW camper van in the Netherlands, so we're already quite used to travelling in a camper. The kei camper was definitely a different experience.
It couldn't go very fast and had to work quite hard going uphill. But would we do it again?
Absolutely.
There was something really nice about simply driving wherever we wanted to go and finding a place to stay for the night. And instead of waking up in a hotel room, we could open the door and be right in nature.
Japan also makes this kind of travel surprisingly convenient. There are toilets, onsen (hot springs), convenience stores, vending machines and roadside stations all over the country.
The main thing you need to think about is garbage. You can't always find a place to throw it away, so you need to take it with you and dispose of it properly. At the RV park or campground, however, we could leave our garbage there.
So yes, I would definitely do it again.
