Which place to rent a car for a week?

Hi

I'm planning a solo one month trip from 1st november to end of month and I'd like some advice.
I never went to japan I think the 3 first week will be roughly kanto -chubu ( mostly 2 days around mt fuji) - kansai. I 'm still hesitant to go to the 3 south regions. As I can't do everything.

The main question of this post is that I'd like my last week to be slower. Like rent a car in region. as also the JR pass is only 21 days. So i was thinking about hokkaido.
Would it be a good idead to do that end of november ? Other part I was thinking to do this slower week would Chubu ( nagano) as it looks beautiful in the area. Or tohoku
Or even something more adventurous and do a road trip from tokyo to hokkaido and do some stops in Tohoku to see both regions. Then end of week take my plane to leave from Sapporo.

PS: Side question, is nagano doable without a car to see some nature ?

So what do you think ? thanks for your help guys

Ummm.. a few red flags
- 21 day JRP extremely unlikely to pay off for your itinary. Calculate it well. Otherwise go with simple tickets or potentially some regional pass.
- Hokkaido end of November doesn’t sound too good. Already cold but potentially no skiing yet.
- Nagano, end November for nature places might also be a bit late. Early November would be great, but I get it that you want to leave the nature / slower part of your trip to the end. However maybe you could do Tokyo 1 week, 1 week nature , 2 weeks Kansai & other places (you mentioned Chubu). many nature places are reachable by public transport in Nagano but a car can be a good option. Idea generally would be to hire locally. Ie get to a major city, rent there for a few days and return car in same location. Avoids extra costs for different drop off and slow long distance car travel.
- road trip from Tokyo to Hokkaido sounds like a LOT of time in the car and not that much sightseeing. Not that relaxing. It’s about 1000 km and driving in Japan isn’t fast. Plus highway tolls add up. Plus end November isn’t the best time
-same comment for Tohoku end November. Not that cold as Hokkaido but koyo will be gone and it will be cold.

For end November I’d be looking into Kyushu and driving there. It will be cold there too but a bit less so and Kyushu has some great nature and driving is the best way to get around.

Or if you are adventurous maybe look into Okinawa to see something completely different. Haven’t been myself yet so can’t comment on weather.

But as said, I’d try to move the nature part a bit earlier. Maybe around 15-20 Nov at the latest if in the South and latest 2nd week of November if Nagano prefecture. I was in Nozawaonsen in the first week of November last year and koyo was already well beyond peak. But it were splendid and warm days:
http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2023/11/d3-nozawaonsen-to-nagan...

I'd look at doing the drive in Kyushu or Shikoku, weather will be very nice, autumn leaves, not too cold.

There are lots of options, but I'd suggest Shikoku for the weeks drive if you want it to be nice but quiet. If interested I can post my JG blog posts to give you some ideas

Thanks for the response, exactly that kind of answer I was looking for

@LikeBike
-Ok I think I'll ban the north part for this trip as I'm on late automn. and the tokyo => hokkaido idea
So if nagano is worth it without car, maybe interesting to take a few days to visit/hike nagano and do the car part in kyushu ( or both ;) ).
Thanks, I will see that

@Denis
thanks for the suggestion will look into it

@mfedley
would be interested to see your posts !

Btw, renting car in Tokyo and dropping off in Hokkaido will be either prohibitively expensive or outright impossible. In general dropping off car in different province is expensive. Thus best are round trips within one area.

I also support Shikoku. Or you could even continue to stay in Kansai. There are so many great places in Nara prefecture (or also Shiga, Wakayama, Mie, Kyoto…) I am always amazed. Personally my favorite region is inner Nara prefecture, around Asuka, Yamatoyagi, Yoshino, Sakurai. Actually right now I am spending several days here, and already know that I’ll be back.

Considering your desire for a slower pace, Hokkaido in late November sounds serene. However, a road trip from Tokyo to Hokkaido with stops in Tohoku offers a diverse experience. Nagano is accessible without a car, offering stunning nature spots.

Here it is:

https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2479
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2487
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2492
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2484
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2496
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2498
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2501
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2507
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2504
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2505
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2508
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2509
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2510
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2511
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2514

Note that the first 3 posts are the Art Islands so might not be relevant. This took a week at a fast speed but places can easily be missed if it does not look interesting

Thanks a lot ! will look into that

I agree with LikeBike - a JRP is unlikely to be a good investment as you are not doing big distances in a short time (even across three weeks). If you were doing Tohoku AND the other areas, it might pay off, but you have to do a lot of travelling. And, you can always buy multiple passes like 2 x 14-days.
Renting a car for a road trip - general advice is don't. Get a train somewhere AND THEN rent a car for 12-hours. Multi-day hire is not cheaper and can actually be more expensive as you have to worry about parking (and that is a problem). Also as mentioned, you will have tolls, wasted time finding parking and big drop-off fees. You may find you will not be able to take the car to Hokkaido as well (yes there is a ferry, but it's not like driving over the bridge to Kyushu or Shikoku).