How to #Vanlife in Japan

Japan might be the best country on earth to do #vanlife. The problem is you can’t buy a van on a tourist visa. You need a student visa. I bought a small van in Okinawa, and explored the island while going to school. When school finished, I took 2 months, and drove everywhere in mainland Japan. It was amazing, BUT but I made many mistakes. This page is a complete guide to “#vanlife in Japan.” How to avoid my mistakes, save money, and be 100% legal. NOTE: you need to watch my other videos on “how to buy a car” and “how to rent an apartment.”

Six Months Before Japan:

  • Apply for a student visa (oneyearvisa.com)

  • Save up $2000 (for the van)

  • Get international drivers permit (set the activation date to the first day you arrive in Japan)

  • Get a new drivers license (From Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, or Washington. Trust me)

  • Pay for Student Housing (Tell the school you want to live in the student housing, this will simplify the van buying process)

Getting Ready to Buy:

Start the car buying process as soon as you arrive in Japan. It took me 3 months, it was terrible, but you can do it in 2 weeks.

  • Collect the required paperwork from the city hall (Watch my video on how to buy a car)

  • Visit car dealerships (Search for vans and campers on https://www.goo-net.com/ and try to visit as many dealerships as possible. Remember, the roads and parking spots in Japan are small, so please choose a kei van. It will be cheaper to register, and easier to rent a parking place. I wanted to buy a full size camper, but it required me rent a full size parking spot. Impossible to find in a city, so I bought a Subaru Sambar van for $4000. I liked it, because I could lay down in back, it was in perfect condition, and it had a manual transmission. I sold it for $1000. I recommend you buy the cheapest / oldest van you can find, and plan on giving it away in the end. Trust me, no one will buy it)

  • Get a parking certificate (Most areas in Japan require a car to have a parking spot. You need to rent a parking place, and get a parking certificate. IMPORTANT: Please live in the school dorms or a share house near the school. You do not want to rent a apartment that includes a parking place. You need the parking place lease to be independent from your home lease, because you van’s registration is dependent on the parking place. I’ll explain later)

  • Car insurance (It’s not required. I didn’t have it)

Vanlife During School:

  • Japanese Driver’s License (Your international driver’s permit is only good for 1 year, so remember to get a Japanese drivers license ASAP. The process can take 4 months, or it can take 1 week. Watch my video on it)

  • Van Buildout (There is no Home Depot in Japan, but you can Google search “home center.” There is Japan Amazon. I bought a 12v fridge, solar panel stuff, a sink, and a foot water pump. I bought a cheap used car battery from a junkyard. Get the cheapest stuff possible)

  • School Schedule (I would highly recommend getting the 15 month student visa. You’re in school the first 12 months of the visa, but you have weekends free, and the school has 4 long breaks in the school year. So that’s 4 vanlife adventures in the first year. There is no school for the last 3 months of the student visa, so are free to do more vanlife around Japan)

Fulltime Vanlife:

  • Move Out (Move out of the student housing, but keep paying the rent on the van’s parking spot. The parking spot will keep the van’s registration current. Forward your mail to a friend’s house, and give them $150. The DMV will mail you a registration renewal bill, and it will be forwarded to your friend’s house. The friend will pay the bill for you. Make sure to get the receipt from them. You will need it to sell the van)

  • Michi No Eki (You can stay in MICHI NO EKIs for free. There are hundreds of them all over Japan https://www.michi-no-eki.jp/stations/search/43/all/all)

  • Extend Your Visa (Before your student visa ends, drive to a major airport, and put the van in long term parking. Fly to South Korea for a few days, and then fly back to Japan. They will give you a 3 month tourist visa on arrival. Get back in the van, and enjoy 3 more months of vanlife in Japan)

  • Sell the Van (I made a video on selling a car in Japan. Good luck with that. Also, contact the real estate office, and cancel the lease on the parking spot)