During the recent three-day holiday weekend, a series of car accidents occurred across Japan, many of them involving foreign tourists behind the wheel of rental cars. Dashcam footage has captured incidents where drivers ignored stop signs, leading to collisions.
Alarming Examples on the Road
In Nagano Town, Hokkaido, dashcam video showed a collision at an intersection where the foreign driver failed to stop at a stop sign. The car was driven by an American tourist, who admitted, “I didn’t notice the stop sign.”
Similar cases have tragically occurred before. In January 2023, in Kamifurano, a rental car driven by a tourist from Singapore ran a stop sign and collided with a dump truck. The crash killed a mother and her baby who were passengers in the car.
In another incident in Oshino Village, Yamanashi, a Taiwanese tourist stopped briefly at a stop sign but failed to check left and right carefully, resulting in a side collision.
Road Rules & Safety Challenges
Dashcam recordings reveal repeated violations, such as failing to stop or yielding, even near school zones. In busy tourist spots like Oshino Hakkai near Mount Fuji, narrow streets filled with pedestrians are particularly risky for inexperienced drivers. Locals report witnessing near-misses and careless maneuvers by rental cars, many bearing the distinctive “wa(わ)” license plates used for rentals.
Some rental agencies have started attaching stickers indicating “foreign driver on board” to alert surrounding drivers.
Accident Statistics on the Rise
According to Yamanashi Prefectural Police, in the Fuji Five Lakes area:
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In 2022: 417 accidents involved foreign drivers in rental cars.
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In 2023: The number surged to 770—almost double.
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By July 2025: Already around 600 accidents have been reported, suggesting another record year.
The share of accidents involving foreign drivers has also doubled—from about 10% in 2022 to 20% in 2025.
Why So Many Accidents?
Rental car companies explain that many visitors are unfamiliar with Japanese traffic rules, especially the stop sign, which is triangular in Japan rather than the octagonal design used in countries like the U.S. and Europe. The language barrier adds further confusion.
An agency in Yamanashi stresses to customers:
“Please remember—an upside-down triangle always means stop. Most accidents happen at stop signs.”
To address the issue, companies now provide more thorough pre-rental briefings, often in English, and encourage cautious, slow driving until visitors get used to Japan’s roads.
A Safer Alternative
While most foreign visitors do not intend to drive recklessly, Japan’s narrow streets, left-hand traffic system, and Japanese-language road signs make driving here uniquely challenging.
👉 If you are not confident about driving in Japan, the safest option is to charter a taxi or join a guided tour instead of renting a car.
However, Milocal Japan is here to guide your safety trip, so kindly get in touch with us, or you can refer to our travel packages.
