Michi
An expressway with a green direction sign, leading toward a snow-capped Mount Fuji
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Michi · Japan Tolls & Passes

Buy a pass or pay the tolls?

Driving in Japan? Plan your trip day by day and Michi tells you whether an expressway pass will save you money, and what the tolls cost if it won't.

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In English, 日本語, 한국어, ไทย, 简体中文 and 繁體中文

Buy the pass, or skip it? Plan your drive in Japan and Michi tells you if an expressway pass saves you money, and how much.
Tolls for the roads you'll really drive. Every leg routed with Apple Maps and priced from the operators' own tariffs, ETC discounts included.
Every day, leg by leg. Road names as they appear on the signs, so you can follow them on the day.
Your whole trip at a glance. Distance, time behind the wheel and each day's tolls, with the route on one map.
From kei car to truck. Pick your rental by picture, pay by ETC or cash. Weekend and late-night discounts are worked in.
Four regional passes, checked for you. Michi compares each one with paying as you go, and says so when none of them pays off.

The answer first, the math underneath

Regional expressway passes are sold with the rental car, so you have to decide before you pick it up. Guess wrong and a week of driving can cost thousands of yen more than it should.

1

Plan by day

Add a day for each date you drive and the stops for each day. Days are numbered by the calendar, the same way a pass counts them.

2

Tolls from the real route

Each leg is routed with Apple Maps and priced from the expressways it actually uses, with ETC weekend, holiday and late-night discounts.

3

The verdict

Buy a pass or skip it, in the largest type on the screen, and how much you save either way, with every figure behind it.

Passes covered

Every pass that fits your trip, cheapest first, with a link to the official page for the one Michi recommends.

  • HokkaidoExpressway Pass
  • TohokuExpressway Pass
  • KyushuExpressway Pass
  • San'in-Setouchi-ShikokuExpressway Pass

Passes are sold only with a rental car from a participating company, and only to visitors driving with a foreign or international license. If your trip is outside all four regions, Michi says so, and still prices your tolls.

Free to plan, Pro to keep more

Every feature is in the free version. Michi Pro is for when you're planning more than one trip at a time, or would rather not see the ads.

Free

The verdict, the tolls and every pass, for two trips at a time, each with its own days, stops, car and payment. Supported by a banner ad.

Michi Pro

One purchase removes the ads and keeps as many trips as you like. Not a subscription, and shared with your family through Family Sharing.

Honest about what it knows

Tolls are estimates, checked against the operators' published figures. A leg that crosses a road with no published tariff is marked as a minimum, never quietly undercounted.

Weekend discounts leave out the days NEXCO excludes, such as Golden Week, Obon and the New Year holidays. NEXCO announces each year's days in March; until then, a later trip is marked as priced with the discount.

Your trips stay on your phone

No account. Your trips and the places in them are kept on your device. Place search and driving routes come from Apple Maps.

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