Is travel accommodation in Japan too expensive? NHK's program recommends "parking in the car" and the issue of expensive room rates arouses heated discussion among netizens

Many people like to travel to Japan. However, in more popular areas, if there are popular times such as holidays, Christmas, flower season, maple leaf season, or international sports events, hotel accommodation costs will rise. At this time, other than booking a room in advance, you can often only keep your wallet tight and book it. In response to the problem of expensive accommodation, Japan's NHK program recommended that everyone try "parking in the car (車中泊)" to solve the problem of expensive accommodation, which also aroused heated discussions among netizens.

Image source: @carsharemania

In fact, the accommodation costs in Japan during the peak tourist season in recent years are much more expensive than before the epidemic. If you want to spend Christmas in Japan or travel to Japan during other peak seasons, you have to book early to save money. A few days ago, a Japanese netizen shared that he saw NHK claiming that hotel prices have increased, so it recommended that people rent cars and sleep in them. He even said that there are many car types to choose from. This plan also confused him, and after sharing it, it also caused a stir Netizens discussed it enthusiastically.

In fact, NHK introduced some vehicles specially designed for parking in this program. These vehicles are equipped with bedding, tents and batteries that do not require a belt to operate, combining the mobility function of the vehicle with parking. The program also mentioned that it can introduce the audience to some hotels in the suburbs that are less frequented by foreign tourists through self-driving.

During the epidemic, many people began to try camping, and even explored different modes of travel by parking their cars. Car models that can be modified to have exclusive small spaces in the car have become very popular. However, as a large number of tourists travel abroad after the epidemic, relatively fewer people choose to camp.

Image source: Alu-Cab

However, the idea of renting a car instead of staying in a hotel still confuses many netizens. Unless you are traveling by car across cities and have to sleep in the car during the journey, most people still prefer to sleep in a warm and comfortable room and bed. In addition, some netizens mentioned that it is now winter, and there is a big temperature difference between day and night, so sleeping in a car also has problems keeping warm. At the same time, the safety of sleeping in the car is still worrying.

For foreign tourists, after finally saving money and planning a vacation to travel to Japan, as long as the room rate is not too expensive, most people will still choose a hotel or restaurant that is affordable by their budget, right? As for whether accommodation in Japan is really expensive now? Some netizens shared that a hotel room that cost about 16,000 yen a night last year has risen to 36,000 yen for the same room this year. However, what he did not mention was whether to go to the same hotel on the same date, because the price of a room in the same hotel may differ several times on weekdays and holidays. With special days such as holidays, the price may even differ by as much as five times. It won't come as a surprise.

Whether in Japan or other places around the world, in addition to booking early to reduce the burden of room fees, choosing a date is also very important. Even if it is the same Japan, different regions have different peak and low seasons, and the cost of travel will be very different. The period from December to February is considered the peak tourist season in Hokkaido, Japan, but in comparison, this period in Okinawa is the off-season.