🇯🇵 Japan — OpenVan.camp

A female camper van traveller stayed at Hillbilly Camping in Ibaraki Town, Ibaraki Prefecture, by Lake Hinuma. The campsite is known for being hard to book due to its location on the shore of a rare brackish lake and about 90 minutes from Tokyo. The site has 8 pitches with electric hook-ups where vehicles can be parked next to tents, plus showers, toilets and a dressing room. Group use is limited to 3 guests, and one basket of firewood is provided per pitch on arrival.

A modified camper based on the Toyota HiAce Super Long by Nuts RV has been shown. The vehicle features Fabless air suspension and Ohlins shock absorbers, which significantly lower the body. It runs 19×10.5J front and 19×11.5J rear wheels with a minus 3 offset and 30 mm rear spacers. Braking is upgraded with a 415 Cobra kit and yellow calipers. The interior includes a Nardi steering wheel, Recaro seats and an Alpine audio system.

The Nagoya Camping Car Fair has opened in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, with around 170 motorhomes and caravans from Japanese and foreign manufacturers on display. An electric motorhome is shown at the event for the first time; it uses the vehicle's traction battery to power household appliances such as air conditioning and a television while parked. A representative of the Japan RV Association said this removes the need for a separate leisure battery. The fair runs until 8 November.

Japanese company OMC Camper has unveiled the Galaxy camper van based on the Toyota Hiace commercial van. The premiere took place at a camper show in Nagoya. The interior features a bunk bed, a table and seats that convert into a third sleeping place. Power is supplied by a 200 Ah lithium-ion battery and an additional 105 Ah battery, and equipment includes a microwave, a 40-litre fridge and air conditioning. A separate toilet area at the rear can be used as a storage room. The Galaxy will be priced at 7 million 350 thousand yen on the Japanese market.

DRIMO has published a guide to three motorhome stopovers in eastern Hokkaido that offer access to hot spring baths. The list covers Toge-no-Yu Bihoro in Bihoro, Oketo Katsuyama Onsen Yu:yu in Oketo and Akan Tancho-no-Sato in the Akan area of Kushiro. All three sites are next to hot spring facilities or allow bathers to use them. The article was published on 6 November 2026 as part of a partnership with DRIMO.

Toy Factory will show the models presented at the Nagoya camping car fair at its Gifu flagship store: LAIKA KOSMO, Porta Genova, the Ducato range and the Kia PV5. Visits require a booking.

A husband in a family of four wants to buy a used camper van for 3 million yen to reduce travel expenses. The family spends about 150,000 yen on a two-night trip. According to the calculation, more than 20 trips would recoup the purchase, but maintenance costs also apply.

From 30 October, Lawson began offering paid motorhome stopovers at store car parks in Oita, Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. In Oita the service is available at four stores in Hiji, Kusu, Saiki and Nakatsu. This is the first rollout of the Lawson RV Park service in the Kyushu region. A pilot project started in July 2025 at a Lawson car park in Chiba Prefecture, after which the service expanded to Saitama, Shizuoka and Aichi.

The manager of Kakamigahara Civic Sports Park in Gifu Prefecture confirmed by phone on 15 October 2026 that a one-night stay in a car is acceptable. A reporter stayed overnight from 20 to 21 October in a Mazda CX-5 XD Exclusive Mode on the rear car park, which is free and close to convenience stores. The manager asked visitors to avoid long idling, long rest periods, multiple consecutive nights and pitching tents. The park is not a dedicated overnight facility, and formal parking hours and rules have not been published.

Kazu Creation has released a partition curtain kit under the Atrash brand for sleeping in cars. ABS mounts fit into the gap in the trim at the top of the B-pillar without drilling. The manufacturer says fitting the mounts takes about 5 minutes. The kit covers the Toyota HiAce 200 Series from 2004, Nissan Caravan E26 from 2012, Toyota Noah/Voxy 80 and 90 Series, Nissan Serena C26/C27, Toyota Alphard 30 Series and Suzuki Every DA17. The curtain uses 99% light-blocking fabric to screen the cabin from outside view.

From 13 November Lawson will open motorhome stopovers at store car parks in Tokyo, Kanagawa, four Shikoku prefectures and Miyagi for the first time. The network will reach 75 stores.

A family of four spends about ¥150,000 on a two-night trip. A used motorhome costing ¥3m would pay for itself after around 15 trips, but running costs also need to be counted.

Japanese converter Anex has added the Kanure Comfort to its Kanure range. The camper van is based on the Nissan NV200 Vanette and offers a 2,000 mm bed, a covered sink and a pop-top version that sleeps four.

The Japan RV Association has added 23 new RV Park motorhome stopovers, 13 of them at Lawson convenience store car parks. By the end of October 2026 there were 735 such sites nationwide.

The owner of a Retreat Anniversary camper van based on a narrow-body, standard-roof Toyota HiAce has drawn up an interior refit plan with the help of AI. The aim is to keep the wooden finish and solve two problems: no walk-through from the cab to the living area, and a passage and bed blocked by a portable toilet and gear. The plan includes a walk-through aisle, a new kitchen unit 34 cm high, 90 cm wide and 40 cm deep with a built-in sink and microwave, and upgraded electrics: power from a portable station, a solar panel and a fan. The AI-generated images needed repeated corrections, and the owner spent about a week refining the layout.

The YouTube channel Dentan has shown a Daihatsu Atrai camper van converted into a Japanese-style room. An igusa rush mat was laid in the cabin; the material naturally regulates humidity and keeps the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. For more comfort, the owner suggests thick tatami mats or modular tatami, along with a bamboo table and wooden accessories. He reads and eats dessert in the evening and cooks pork soup on a gas burner in the morning. The video presents an accessible way to create a Japanese atmosphere in a compact camper van without major modifications.

A family of four made their first overnight trip in a Toyota HiAce from Hyogo to Yokohama to attend Hanshin Tigers versus DeNA BayStars baseball games in 2016. Departing on 1 April around 20:00, they reached the Surugawan Numazu service area in Shizuoka at 3:30 and slept there, although the car park was nearly full. After Hanshin won both games on 2 and 3 April, the family returned to Hyogo, covering about 600 km and arriving home at 1:30. The account describes a personal experience rather than a vehicle test.

Recvee, a camper van manufacturer and retailer, has reported test results in which a domestic air conditioner installed in a vehicle ran continuously for 26 hours 15 minutes. The test vehicle, based on a Nissan Caravan, was fitted with a 300Ah lithium-ion battery developed jointly with J-Tech and with multi-layer insulation. From 21:00 on 18 August to 23:15 on 19 August the air conditioner ran in automatic mode set to 27 degrees, with a fridge and lighting also operating. The result was about 3.3 times the 8 hours recorded in 2020 using three lead-acid batteries. A 215W solar panel provided partial charging during the test, and the cabin was unoccupied. The RECVEE INFINITE CLIME CELL battery uses lithium iron phosphate with carbon nanofullerenes, operates from minus 10 to 60 degrees and, according to company figures, is rated for 16,000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge and 1C.

The article lists three RV parks in Miyazaki Prefecture that are either attached to hot springs or set in natural surroundings. For RV Park Smart at Takachiho Onsen Meirin-no-Yu it gives a rate of 2,040 yen per vehicle per night, check-in from 13:00 and check-out by 12:00, two pitches measuring 6 by 5 metres, and free 100 V/1500 W electricity and water. Admission to the Meirin-no-Yu bath costs 700 yen for adults and 300 yen for primary schoolchildren, with a private family bath at 2,500 yen per hour by reservation. The item was published as part of a partnership with the magazine DRIMO.

A new auto campsite called Kureasobi opened this spring in Kozagawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on the site of the former Prefectural Furusato Settlement Centre. The site covers about 3 hectares and offers 32 auto camping pitches and 6 accommodation buildings. Shared facilities include a kitchen, shower rooms, laundry and a dog run. A day-use plan for river activities started in mid-July. The campsite limits groups to four adults, enforces lights-out at 22:00 and has staff patrol at night.