Driving in Hokkaido
Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
question I have is about driving times.
First, the wife read in a guide book that car navi cannot be trusted
there. The exact reasons were not described, but I would think barring
being in a deep valley, there would be no reason for it to be any
better or worse than anywhere else.
Second, what are driving times like? She found a web page that seemed
to use 50 kph as the basic speed for all the time calculations. Are
the roads really that bad/windy/full of traffic lights, or was this
based on everything being under a metre of snow? We're planning on
going to Hakodate, Niseko, Otaru, and, umm, some mountain place that I
can't remember but the middle kanji is RYOU/yoi.
TIA,
Ken
Ryan Ginstrom
"Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson" <ken_ni...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6afefaef.04032...@posting.google.com...
> First, the wife read in a guide book that car navi cannot be trusted
> there. The exact reasons were not described, but I would think barring
> being in a deep valley, there would be no reason for it to be any
> better or worse than anywhere else.
I would expect it's more due to out-of-date or inaccurate maps.
> Second, what are driving times like? She found a web page that seemed
> to use 50 kph as the basic speed for all the time calculations. Are
Probably just due to over-simplification, but then maybe there is some
regulation that states that driving times must use this speed.
I know this is true for walking -- there is some type of regulation that
states how far one can walk in 1 minute, which effectively standardizes the
distance that e.g. 駅から徒歩N分 makes.
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
Hibijibi
> Second, what are driving times like? She found a web page that seemed
> to use 50 kph as the basic speed for all the time calculations. Are
> the roads really that bad/windy/full of traffic lights, or was this
> based on everything being under a metre of snow? We're planning on
> going to Hakodate, Niseko, Otaru, and, umm, some mountain place that I
> can't remember but the middle kanji is RYOU/yoi.
You're going to Furano (富良野) I believe. We drove there from Sapporo in
about 2 hours in some sort of gerbil-propelled Suzuki rental "car". Even so
I was able to maintain a speed of 120kph for most of the drive. Getting
there was a lot like driving through Indiana, frankly (a great pleasure
after driving around Tokyoland).
I hope you like lavender.
best
hibijibi
Jim
> I'm planning to go up to Hokkaido in a couple of months, but one
> question I have is about driving times.
>
> First, the wife read in a guide book that car navi cannot be trusted
> there. The exact reasons were not described, but I would think barring
> being in a deep valley, there would be no reason for it to be any
> better or worse than anywhere else.
>
Car navi worked great. My trip was in November, rental car had snow tires that
were great on the snowy roads in the mountains. No snow on the roads on the coast.
> Second, what are driving times like? She found a web page that seemed
> to use 50 kph as the basic speed for all the time calculations. Are
> the roads really that bad/windy/full of traffic lights, or was this
> based on everything being under a metre of snow? We're planning on
> going to Hakodate, Niseko, Otaru, and, umm, some mountain place that I
> can't remember but the middle kanji is RYOU/yoi.
>
I drove as fast as I wanted, 140-150 kph and was frequently passed. Between
towns the roads were pretty empty so it was easy to drive the rental toyota echo
at whatever speed I felt like. This was on the southeast coast of Hokkaido,
things may be different near in the metropolis of Sapporo.
-Jim
Declan Murphy
> I'm planning to go up to Hokkaido in a couple of months, but one
> question I have is about driving times.
>
> First, the wife read in a guide book that car navi cannot be trusted
> there. The exact reasons were not described, but I would think barring
> being in a deep valley, there would be no reason for it to be any
> better or worse than anywhere else.
Might be out of date info in the guidebook. I did Hakodate, Niseko,
Otaru and Sapporo in February without any car navi problems.
> Second, what are driving times like? She found a web page that seemed
> to use 50 kph as the basic speed for all the time calculations. Are
> the roads really that bad/windy/full of traffic lights, or was this
> based on everything being under a metre of snow? We're planning on
> going to Hakodate, Niseko, Otaru, and, umm, some mountain place that I
> can't remember but the middle kanji is RYOU/yoi.
If you are going there in a couple of months, then snow (a metre or
otherwise) isn't going to be an issue. Even Furano should be covered in
flowers by then. The 50kph thingee is probably an average elapsed time
calculation - you will take breaks etc. As other posters have mentioned,
on the highways and major trunk roads driving speeds are comparatively
nice and high up there.
--
"Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ No, don't you give
me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ For my head will fly, my tongue
will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die/ Won't you pour me one more of
that sinful Old Janx Spirit"
motosh...@yahoo.co.jp
at Mon, 22 Mar 2004 18:46:52 +0900,
Ryan Ginstrom (= RG) wrote:
RG> > Second, what are driving times like? She found a web page that seemed
RG> > to use 50 kph as the basic speed for all the time calculations. Are
RG> Probably just due to over-simplification, but then maybe there is some
RG> regulation that states that driving times must use this speed.
Probably it's simply based on the legal speed limit, 60km/h.
(Yes, I know the law is seldom obeyed there.)
--
M. Ic.
Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
> "Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson" wrote...
> > Second, what are driving times like? She found a web page that seemed
> > to use 50 kph as the basic speed for all the time calculations. Are
> > the roads really that bad/windy/full of traffic lights, or was this
> > based on everything being under a metre of snow? We're planning on
> > going to Hakodate, Niseko, Otaru, and, umm, some mountain place that I
> > can't remember but the middle kanji is RYOU/yoi.
>
> You're going to Furano (富良野) I believe.
That's the filly!
> We drove there from Sapporo in
> about 2 hours in some sort of gerbil-propelled Suzuki rental "car". Even so
> I was able to maintain a speed of 120kph for most of the drive.
Good - we're doing some fly-drive tour, and since there's four of us,
we get a free upgrade to HC grade - one rank over a Corrola - so
hopefully there's souped-up gerbils under the hood. We bought another
book at the weekend - FURURU Hokkaido - and I'll check what that says
about driving times. The page I mentioned before said Niseko to Furano
was five and a half hours...
> Getting
> there was a lot like driving through Indiana, frankly (a great pleasure
> after driving around Tokyoland).
Two weekends ago it took me 1.5 hours each way from Takarazuka to Kobe
Harbourland - about 40 km, or 45 minutes on the train...
> best
Ta for the info everyone. Like most facts one hears from Japanese
people, I needed to double-check the accuracy.
> hibijibi
Ken