Omoshiro Rent-a-Car Noda Head Office

Omoshiro Rent-a-Car is the Japanese chain built on one idea, renting the sports and open cars nobody else will, and the Noda head office in Chiba is its biggest yard: 54 cars on the lot on a suburban road north of Tokyo. The cars are listed by year and gearbox, and the top of the list is the reason to make the trip: a 1999 R34 Skyline GT-R and a 1994 R32 GT-R, both manual, beside an R35, a Honda S2000, a GR86, a Mazda Roadster, an S660 and an Alto Works, with a Porsche Boxster, a Mercedes-AMG GT and a Lexus RC F for the non JDM crowd. Visitors have also come back with a Z Proto Spec, an R33 GT-R, an RX-7, an Evo X, an AE86 and a WRX STI.

A hire is self drive, sold in time blocks from 6 hours up to a full 24 hour day and beyond, with the day rate dropping on the second and third days, from ¥7,000 per 6 hours for the Alto Works to ¥54,000 for the R34. There is no km limit on most cars and an ETC toll unit in every car, though the shop does not rent ETC cards. You need to be 23 years of age or over with three years since obtaining a manual licence, and overseas drivers need a paper Geneva Convention IDP with a passport showing the entry stamp, or an official translation for the handful of countries Japan recognises that way. Insurance is included with ¥100,000 deductibles; the CDW, ¥1,080 to ¥8,000 by car, removes them for the first accident, but the non operation charge of ¥150,000 (¥300,000 if the car cannot be driven back) is payable regardless.

Plan around the shop. It is closed Monday, rentals run inside 10am to 7pm, the car goes back to the same yard with a full tank, and the shop itself says public transport is poor, so arriving in your own car and parking free on site is the intended way. Dated reviews describe licence checks that ended hires at the counter and disputes over scratches that were already there, so treat the handover as the most important ten minutes of the day.

Self drive JDM hire from the chain's head office yard, priced by time block.

• 54 cars listed by year and gearbox: R34 GT-R 1999 MT ¥54,000, R32 GT-R 1994 MT ¥32,000, R35 GT-R 2018 AT ¥39,000, S2000 2006 MT ¥19,000, GR86 2023 MT ¥16,000, Roadster 2023 MT ¥10,000, S660 2016 MT ¥9,000, Alto Works 2015 MT ¥7,000, Boxster 2012 MT ¥20,000, AMG GT 2016 AT ¥45,000, RC F 2015 AT ¥28,000, all 6 hour rates.
• Blocks run from 6 hours through longer blocks to a full 24 hour day; multi day hires get cheaper per day from the second and third day, so a two or three day hire is better value than repeat single days.
• Self drive, no chaperone, no km limit on most cars, ETC unit fitted free.
• Insurance included with ¥100,000 deductibles; CDW ¥1,080 to ¥8,000 per rental removes them for the first accident. Non operation charge ¥150,000, or ¥300,000 if the car cannot be driven back, applies even with CDW.
• Drivers 23 years and over with 3 or more years on a manual licence; paper IDP plus passport with entry stamp plus home licence, no digital or copied documents.
• Add ons: CDW as above; child seats and delivery are Bancho branch only, not here. No ETC card rental, no one way returns.
• Credit card only, single payment with 3D Secure; cancellation free 7 days out, 30% at 3 to 6 days, 50% at 1 to 2 days, full fee same day.
• Free parking for your own car for the length of the hire.

• Closed Monday (Tuesday when Monday is a holiday); open 10am to 7pm, and both pickup and return must fall inside those hours, so a Sunday afternoon hire cannot come back until Tuesday and is priced accordingly.
• 10am is peak: a queue of hirers arrives at opening and the paperwork can eat an hour before you get the car. Arrive before opening and approach staff as soon as the doors open, or book a later slot.
• Bring paper originals: a plastic or digital IDP, a photocopy or a phone image ends the hire at the counter. Reviewers have been turned away on this.
• Photograph every panel, wheel, glass and the interior at pickup and again at return so the images carry a time stamp; dated reviews report pre existing rim scratches being charged as damage.
• Check your travel insurance for rental car excess cover before paying for the CDW; many policies include it, in which case you pay the deductible here and claim it back. The NOC is not a deductible and is charged either way.
• Return with a full tank or pay the shop's refuelling charge; return to Noda only; extensions are by phone and not guaranteed.
• The shop describes its own public transport access as poor; free on site parking and own car arrival are the norm. Phone 04 7192 7348, limited English reported.

Last updated: 11 September 2026