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Winter tires option

winter tires iconYou can instantly reserve winter tires on Nippon Rent-A-Car official website/app!

What are winter tires

  • ●Winter tires are made from a special rubber that does not harden even at temperatures below 0°C, and are designed to transmit driving and braking forces to the road surface better than normal (summer) tires.
  • ●Driving on snowy or icy roads with normal tires is extremely dangerous, so please make sure to check the weather conditions carefully when driving in Japan.
  • *If you reserve a vehicle with normal tires, please note that we may not be able to lend you winter tires depending on the weather conditions for areas where it snows.

Areas and periods winter tires are standard equipment

●In the following regions and periods, winter tires are standard equipment (free of charge) on all vehicles, so there is no need to apply for winter tires. If you specify winter tires outside of the standard equipment period, an optional fee will be charged.

●Winter Season Fee will be added for use in areas and during periods where winter tires are standard equipment.

As of April 17, 2025

region Prefectures Standard equipment period
(Based on pick-up date)
Hokkaido Hokkaido November 1st to April 20th of the following year
Tohoku Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata December 1st to March 31st of the following year
Miyagi, Fukushima December 16th to March 15th of the following year
Central Nagano, Niigata, Yamanashi December 1st to March 31st of the following year
Hokuriku Fukui, Toyama, Ishikawa December 16th to March 15th of the following year

*When there is heavy snowfall and a special heavy snow warning or emergency announcement is made, it is mandatory to install tire chains on some sections of expressways and national roads. In this case, tire chains are required even for winter tires. For more information, please see here.

*Tire chains are not available nationwide. If you require tire chains, please prepare them yourself.

*Ski carriers are not available.

About applying for (reserving) winter tires

  • ●If you are renting the vehicle in a prefecture other than the standard equipment areas listed above, or during a period other than the standard equipment period, please apply for winter tires separately (fees apply, optional fees can be found here).
  • ●Please note that there are a limited number of vehicles equipped with winter tires, so we may not be able to accept reservations.
  • ●The period and class of winter tires provided will vary depending on the region.
  • ●If you are traveling or dropping off to snowy areas (Hokkaido /Tohoku/Koshinetsu/Nikko/Kinugawa area/Hokuriku/Chugoku Sanin/Aso/Kokonoe, etc.), please apply for winter tires.
  • *For customer safety, if you are traveling to a snowy region without winter tires, we may refuse to rent a car in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Road Traffic Act Enforcement Regulations or Road Traffic Regulations of each prefecture.

Snowfall Areas

  • Snow falls every year in the area shown in the image below.
  • Except for Okinawa and the Amami Islands, snow is possible in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and other areas.

How to reserve winter tires options

You can instantly apply for winter tires at the same time as reserving your rental car via the official website or app.
Please see below for how to make a reservation on the website.
On the official website and app, winter tires option can only be selected for reservations scheduled to pick-up between October and May of the following year.

(1) On the vehicle model and class selection screen, select "Specify winter tires (winter only)/4WD" or "Set/change search conditions" Select

*If winter tires are standard equipment, "winter tires standard equipment" will be displayed (no application is required if standard equipment is required).
​Click here for standard equipment regions and periods　

(2) Check “winter tires” on the pop-up screen.
(3) Select “Search with these conditions.”

(4) winter tires will be added to the "Current search conditions" list.

A list of classes of winter tires available for reservation for the selected vehicle type will be displayed.

*If a class is not displayed, there are no vehicles equipped with winter tires available or no winter tires are available.