🚐 Read our detailed guide to renting a campervan in Japan:
We found the world’s CUTEST campervan 🏆 in JAPAN! 🇯🇵
For almost 2 weeks it was the ultimate little home on wheels as we road tripped around part of the country. 😍 And for the first part of our road trip we headed to the epic Northern Japanese Alps, the charming Nakasendo Trail, and the Izu Peninsula for waterfalls and dramatic coastal views. It was the BEST 6 days getting a bit off the beaten path!
📅 This video was filmed in early to mid October 2025
🚐 We rented this campervan from Japan CRC:
📍Locations in this video
⌚Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:59 Picking up our mini campervan!
02:12 Important things to know about driving in Japan
02:45 Our plan for our road trip
03:09 Driving to Hakuba
04:40 Tour of our mini campervan
07:45 Why van life is popular in Japan
08:41 Does Adam fit in the bed?
10:18 Our journey to Happo Pond in Hakuba
12:54 Happo Pond and Mt. Karamatsu
16:05 How do we shower?
16:46 Our thoughts on our FIRST Manga Cafe shower
18:47 Early wake up call to get to Kamikochi
19:20 Exploring Kamikochi
21:30 The skies cleared!!!
23:25 Matsumoto Castle
24:48 Trying Matsumoto fried chicken (Sanzoku-yaki)
26:16 Nakasendo Trail from Magome to Tsumago
33:37 Our thoughts on driving in Japan
35:41 Joren Falls on the Izu Peninsula
37:01 Trying wasabi ice cream!
39:36 The craziest bridge!!
40:05 Kawazu Seven Falls (+ the BEST onsen!)
42:19 Trying more wasabi dishes
44:32 The EPIC Japanese coast!
45:21 Kathryn’s FIRST time driving on the left side of the road
47:06 Ryugu Sea Cave
47:39 The perfect beach day in Japan
48:45 Thoughts on van life so far (+ what’s next?)
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👋🏼 About us
Hi y’all! We’re Adam, Kathryn, and Kona, an adventurous married couple (+ pup!) living on the road in our self-converted sprinter van! You can often find us driving all around the US and Canada, scoping out the best coffee shops, eating tacos and ice cream (we’re a 5+ taco and 2+ scoop household), and enjoying nature.
We help travelers spend less time (and stress!) planning their trip and more time enjoying it! Our detailed travel guides, YouTube videos, and travel resources share the must-visit local eats, popular and off the beaten path sights, and tons of tips to make planning your next adventure a whole lot easier.
Note: We’ve linked a handful of items so you can see exactly which products we take with us. Full disclosure–if you click on these links and make a purchase, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. We will only ever recommend products we truly love, actually use during our adventures, and think you can benefit from too!
source
💻 Read our detailed guide to renting a campervan in Japan: https://adventuresofaplusk.com/renting-a-campervan-in-japan/
📅 This video was filmed in early to mid October 2025
🚐 Rent this cute campervan from Japan CRC: https://japan-crc.com/en/
🥾See ALL of our gear here: https://adventuresofaplusk.com/gear/
How much did the rental van cost?
I love you both so much, guys ❤
real japan Trip 🫡❤
Wow❤❤
17:17 これ400円ちょっとってまじあんまりないよなww
This was the best itinerary put together by the first time Japan traveler using a camper-van. I was born and raised in Japan but have been living most of my adult life in the U.S. You visited palaces that I haven't gotten an opportunity to go. I've watched your videos quite often in the past. I've never known that you reached my home country. I really liked how you filmed and narrated them. I can tell so much care went into the contents and editing. Thank you for showcasing my homeland.
Excellent couple(husband & wife) vlogging, beautiful & wide angled panoramic vews plus narration terrifically descriptive.
What do you think the dimensions are in the back living area? 8×6 feet?
How much did it cost you guys ?
日本人ですけど観てて楽しい！ 上高地が素晴らしい！
Love it❤
Was only going to watch for the camper van tour. Nice vid. Liked the ending when you went to the beach for your anniversary. The beach was beautiful and happy to see when you guys finally went into the water. Was surprised when you said you two had been married for 11 years. You guys seem more like a new couple.
I pray I make enough money to visit all these nice places
Sleeping in one of these things when you have a cat is dangerous cause they might knock things off from the table to your face while you're sleeping.
Excellent.
I recently moved to SE Asia and am thinking about a van life trip through Japan. Of The videos I've seen so far, this one is right up my alley. From your choice of camper to your choices of destinations and activities, fantastic video!
It made me cry seeing your reactions to the van 😭 what a beautiful life you two live together. I dream of the day I can do this. Sending blessings & safe travels on all of your journeys 💗
No toilet is a dealbreaker for me. 😞
How did Japan ended up driving on road left but sitting on right to drive? I'm from M'sia but now am a New Zealander, yes, driving to left on road. I thought on Commonwealth countries colonized like India, Misia. Etc. Japan after the War 2, were under Americans, so why weren't they following them?
Way too small
First time watching your channel and really enjoyed this video. Beautiful shots of nature and I love how informative and calm and relaxing your narration is. Looking forward to watching more of your content.
Soooo, did you need special GPS apps ? Do you speak Japanese or was English fluent enough to get things done ?
Belated Happy Marriage Anniversary <3 (the cave also looked similar to Porco Rosso's hideout)…
This is my first time watching one of your videos. I really enjoyed it. Your excitement about the adventures from the beautiful aesthetic places to the convenience of internet cafe showers to the Japanese soft-serves portrayals really delivered through to me. The attention to details in videographing, background music, and personal descirptions were all harmonious. Thank you very much from me to you who got to experince these places because of the video.
Ya missed out on using a traditional Sobakawa pillow the toddler ones with extra stuffing are awesome.
Thanks a lot for the excellent trip ❤to us❤
Japan’s NHK public broadcasting, and their website, is worth checking out.