Rules for SA, PA and Michi-no-Eki

Napping and overnight stays at SA and PA

A nap is fine; camping is not. The expressway companies want tired drivers to stop: NEXCO East advises a break every two hours, and NEXCO Central suggests a short nap of about 15 minutes. What their rules for service and parking areas forbid is using them as a place to live:

• parking for a long time for anything other than resting, eating or shopping;
• camping, tents and barbecues, and any careless use of fire (NEXCO West adds fireworks);
• revving the engine or running it needlessly: switch it off while you rest;
• leaving the car there and walking off, and dumping household rubbish.

Staff may ask you to stop or to leave, and may call the police. NEXCO West’s list names “sleeping rough, camping or living in a vehicle” among the banned uses.

Tokyo and Osaka urban expressways. Shutoko (Tokyo) may close its parking areas at any time, together with the police, to deal with street racers: Daikoku, Tatsumi No. 1, Hakozaki, Shibaura and Heiwajima (inbound) are named. Daikoku PA cannot be reached on foot, by bicycle or from ordinary roads. Hanshin (Osaka–Kobe) also bans parking beyond a rest.

Sources: NEXCO東日本「ＳＡ・ＰＡご利用上の注意」 · NEXCO中日本「ＳＡ・ＰＡご利用上の注意」 · NEXCO西日本「SA・PAご利用上の注意」 · NEXCO中日本「SA・PAでのマナー」 · NEXCO東日本「眠気を感じたら」 · 首都高速道路「パーキングエリアについて（よくあるご質問）」 · 阪神高速道路「パーキングエリアのご利用について」

Sleeping in the car at a Michi-no-Eki

Michi-no-Eki are 24-hour rest facilities. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism says a nap in your car is fine (車内で仮眠をとるなどしていただくことはかまいません), but that staying overnight in the car park and other public spaces is 基本的にご遠慮いただいています: something it asks drivers, as a rule, not to do.

Some Michi-no-Eki have separate spaces where you may stay the night, often as an RV Park. Check the station’s own website. Some stations post their own bans; signs on site always apply.

Sources: 国土交通省「休憩施設「道の駅」（道の相談室）」

Where to stay the night: RV Parks and hotels at SA

RV Parks are paid spaces for sleeping in your car, certified by the Japan RV Association: 686 across Japan in September 2026, some of them at Michi-no-Eki. A certified RV Park offers a generous space, a 24-hour toilet, 100 V power, rubbish disposal, a bath within about 15 minutes’ drive, and stays of more than one night. Book and check prices on rv-park.jp.

On the expressway: NEXCO Central has run a small paid overnight spot, “RV Station Suzuka PA”, on the Shin-Meishin (inbound), booked through the Carstay app. There are hotels inside some service areas, such as E-NEXCO Lodge at Sano SA and Chojahara SA, and hotels at Ashigara, Taga and Toyota-Kamigo SA.

Sources: 日本RV協会「RVパーク」 · 日本RV協会「RVパーク 設置数」 · NEXCO中日本「RVステーション鈴鹿PA」 · NEXCO東日本「ホテル（E-NEXCO LODGE）」

Large vehicles and truck drivers

Truck drivers in Japan must take breaks under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s working-hours standard for drivers (改善基準告示, revised from April 2024): 連続運転時間は４時間以内です. Within or right after four hours at the wheel, a driver needs at least 30 minutes’ break in total, which can be split into blocks of about 10 minutes or more. If the SA or PA is full, driving may be extended to 4 hours 30 minutes. This standard binds employers of professional drivers; it is not a traffic rule for private motorists.

Large-vehicle spaces fill up at night. The expressway companies are adding spaces every year, including shared spaces for large vehicles (use them only when the ordinary spaces are full) and short-stay large-vehicle spaces, where you are asked to leave within 60 minutes. If you drive a car or a camper van, park in the car area.

Sources: 厚生労働省「トラック運転者の改善基準告示」 · NEXCO東日本・中日本・西日本「休憩施設の駐車マス不足への対策（2026年5月27日）」 · NEXCO西日本「SA・PAでの事故防止」

EV charging

Most service areas, many parking areas and several hundred Michi-no-Eki have quick chargers on e-Mobility Power’s network. A quick-charging session lasts at most 30 minutes. Move the car as soon as it is done: charging spaces are for EVs that are charging.

Paying as a visitor: pay-as-you-go charging without a membership card needs a smartphone and a credit card issued in Japan. Cash, debit cards and QR payments are not accepted. If you rent an EV, ask the rental company for a charging card.

Sources: e-Mobility Power「急速充電の利用時間」 · e-Mobility Power「ビジター充電に必要なもの」 · NEXCO東日本「EV充電スタンド」

Leaving the expressway for a Michi-no-Eki

Leaving the expressway normally ends your toll journey. At 29 designated Michi-no-Eki, cars with ETC 2.0 can exit at the nearby interchange, stop at the station and come back on at the same interchange, in the same direction, within two hours, and pay the same toll as if they had not left (２時間以内に再進入した場合には、降りずに利用した料金のままとする). You must use the same ETC card and actually stop at the station. Many rental cars have ordinary ETC, not ETC 2.0: check before relying on it.

Smart interchanges (スマートIC), often at an SA or PA, are for cars with ETC only: 167 were open in August 2026. Some limit vehicle types or opening hours.

Sources: 国土交通省「「道の駅」への一時退出（2022年4月15日）」 · ETC総合情報ポータルサイト「道の駅 一時退出」 · 国土交通省「スマートインターチェンジ」

Driving licences for visitors

To drive in Japan as a visitor you need either an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, or, for licences from Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan, your licence with an official Japanese translation (for example by JAF or your embassy). You may drive for one year from the day you arrive, or until the permit expires if that is sooner.

Licences from countries that are not party to the 1949 Convention, including mainland China, are not valid in Japan. Estonia is now a Convention party, so Estonian drivers need an International Driving Permit.

Sources: 警察庁「外国の運転免許をお持ちの方」 · 警視庁「外国の運転免許証で運転する」 · United Nations「Convention on Road Traffic, 1949 (status)」

Tolls, ETC and expressway passes

More and more tollgates are ETC-only: dozens were converted in spring 2026. Rental cars can be fitted with an ETC card; ask for one. If you drive into an ETC-only gate without ETC, do not reverse: take the lane marked 「ETC/サポート」 or 「サポート」, stop, and follow the staff’s instructions.

The nationwide Japan Expressway Pass is no longer sold. Regional passes for visitors with a foreign passport are still offered with rental cars and an ETC card, including the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Niigata, San’in–Setouchi–Shikoku and Kyushu passes. Availability and prices change: check JNTO’s page and your rental company.

Sources: JNTO「Expressway passes」 · NEXCO中日本「ETC専用料金所」 · NEXCO東日本「ETC専用料金所」

Breakdowns and emergencies

1. Turn on your hazard lights and pull over as far as you can.
2. Set out a warning triangle behind the car. The law requires you to show that you are stopped (停止しているものであることを表示しなければならない), and the triangle is how; a flare helps but is not enough on its own.
3. Get everyone out, watching the traffic, and wait behind the guardrail. Staying in or next to the car is dangerous.
4. Call for help: 110 for the police after an accident, 119 for fire and ambulance. Emergency phones stand every kilometre on the expressway (every 200 m in tunnels). #9910 is the free 24-hour road emergency line for breakdowns, damage and objects on the road.

Sources: NEXCO中日本「If you have an accident or breakdown」 · 国土交通省「道路緊急ダイヤル（#9910）」 · e-Gov法令検索「道路交通法 第75条の11」 · 総務省消防庁「救急車利用マニュアル（多言語）」