driving Japan's country roads

I've driven across most of Japan. Most, as in spanning the country length-wise, from as far south as Kyushu and as far north as Hokkaido. I have even been to the northernmost point of Japan where Russia is a stone's throw away (well slightly farther away than that).

In the earlier years I wanted to save money so I never used the expressways. They're expensive. 2500 - 3000 yen (~35 USD) is the typical fare for a 3-hour drive. But as long as time not a real concern, I recommend national roads (国道) in the country side that promise better sights.

The daily commute being too short for my S2000, last Sunday we took it out for a stretch of its legs on a beautiful road - the Kujukuri tolled road (九十九里有料道路) on the east coast of Chiba prefecture. With the sun peeking from behind a few late winter clouds, we had the top down and let the crisp air greet our faces before the pollen-filled hay fever season begins in the last week of Feb.



not my pic

If you look carefully you can see the coastline to the right and the blue body of water to the left is I believe a river.