Road Trip in Kanto Region

Hi,

We are a group of 8 flying into Tokyo in early February 2016 for a 10 days road trip. This will be our 4th trip to Japan. Most of us have been in and around the outskirts of Tokyo and are looking for a more scenic and interesting drive around Kanto region.

Our current planned trip is to train out to Kawagoe after landing and stay for a day or two then picking up our rental cars and heading to Karuizawa. After this we will be enroute to Kusatsu Onsen.

Since 2 in the party has not seen Mount Fuji before, we are trying to drive towards a nearby town that has a view of Mount Fuji which is all the way south of Kanto.

Any suggestions on how else to go about this route and any more interesting things/place to stopover along the way and how many days is good for each above mentioned place? Our intentions are to end up in Tokyo for the last 3 days. Since its winter time, will there be snow on this route and will it be difficult to drive? Some of us would also like to see winter illumination, if any along this route and at that period.

Please advise. We are welcomed to all suggestions.

Genn ( Singapore )

As you are from Singapore and probably have not experienced snow driving before please do not rent a car for the sake of the locals and yourself. There was a year in Las Vegas where it snowed and traffic was at a standstill. (And it was only 0 degress, Japan would be thick -10 degress snow)

Japan has a good transport city. If it is only seeing Mt Fuji, take a window seat on the plane or take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto.

You can also use the train to get from Karuizawa to Kusatsu. Both nice places.

Depending on where you go in Kanto, you can most likely avoid snow even in February. In the plains area, snow is pretty rare (maybe 1-2 times a year if that), and if it does fall is usually pretty light or doesn't even stick. Of course, 2 winters ago we had record breaking snows 2 weekends in a row, but let's hope that is rare!

A note on driving, 8 people is a lot, and big vans aren't common with rental companies. You might have to settle for 2 cars, which makes things more difficult. Just something to think about and plan carefully.

Anyway, I'd suggest driving down to Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes area as step one. Avoid driving the pass around Fuji depending on the weather and just go to Hakone and back to the highway towards Karuizawa, into Gunma through Saitama. Karuizawa may or may not have snow. For Kusatsu in February, it IS a pretty good chance you'll be driving in snow. If you're uncomfortable with that, there are many other onsen in the area that wont take you into the mountains and therefore risk snow. Or, you could park your car then take public transportation into the mountain areas if snow is an issue.

After Gunma, you could swing up to Ashikaga, which has some interesting areas, and Ashikaga Flower Park is very famous for it's winter illumination! Actually, a place down near Hakone (kinda on the way) is also famous but I can't remember its name. Check the Japan Guide articles on winter illumination for that. Um, after Ashikaga you could swing back to Kawagoe to visit, then back to Tokyo. That way you'd make a big loop, and obviously you could start in Kawagoe and go the other way too, whatever works best.

It'd probably be easier and faster to take the toll roads, so I'd grab a map of those and plan your road trip using that as a guide. 10 days is a good chunk of time to see a lot of Kanto!

And one last note, as a Texan who has lived in Gunma for 7 years, most Kanto-area snow isn't really a big deal to drive through. I go snowboarding a lot in winter, and as long as you've got snow tires and don't drive crazy, it isn't hugely different from regular driving. The biggest issue I think is if you hit ice, which can cause a skid that is hard to control. Read up on what to do for snow driving, and insist on snow tires, and I think as long as you're careful you'll be okay!

Hi All!

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. Much appreciated!

We have driven in snowy conditions when we were in Takayama and Shirakawago last year. And we stayed in Indiana, USA, for quite abit with worse snow conditions...it would be a slight pleasure to drift..lol...

Will definitely check out Ashikaga!!

Anymore suggestions are definitely welcomed!!

Thanx again!

GennLee