Japan Highway Rest Area Review – Awaji Service Area near Kobe Hyogo Prefecture, Kansai Region

This is my third time of doing self-drive in Japan, the first is to Kyushu Island covering all the seven prefectures, the second visit was to Central Japan region including the famous Shirakawa Go and now my third self-drive in Japan; to Kansai, Shikoku and Chugoku region.

I love to travel by the rental car and do road trips in Japan, especially to remote places where you can find lots of hidden gems and also a cheaper way of travel if you have a group of 4. You see the thing is, many people think driving in Japan is hard, they can’t speak the languages or read the words in the signboard; they think roads are so narrow. The fact is the signboards are all written in both English and Kanji/Chinese Characters; the roads aren’t narrow especially when you are in the expressway.

One fact you need to know is 90% of the population lives in big cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka and not many populations live outside these big cities. Driving is not advisable in those 3 big cities. Over 70% of Japan is covered by mountain so if you drive away from these big cities, there really not that many congestions and so easy to handle. If you have done self-drive in Perth, then I would say it is similar to that.

Rest Area in Japan

When you are doing the road trip to Japan with a rental car, you will encounter plenty of rest area along the highway. Visiting the rest area in Japan can be very interesting for both the locals and foreigners. This is because these rest areas are often more than a usual rest area that you see.

Important Sign in Japanese Expressway

First let’s find out some important sign along Japanese expressway. You often saw the sign with PA & SA and with the logo of folk and spoon. Both have fork & spoon mean both offer food. Yes, that’s correct. But, what is the difference between PA & SA?

Difference Between PA & SA Sign

PA stands for Parking area, it comes with toilets and some vending machines and maybe a restaurant. SA stands for Service Area and generally larger than PA (parking area). Service areas feature toilets, bigger shops/supermarket, plenty of restaurants and a petrol station. PA does not have a petrol station.

Below is SA (Service Area) – if you look at the signboard, it indicates a petrol station, fork & spoon. Let’s find out Awaji Rest Area,

Awaji Rest Area – Review

Awaji Rest Area is one of the best stops you could find in Chugoku Region. If you are doing road trips in Shikoku & Chugoku region, coming to Awaji rest area is a must!

More than a rest area!

Awaji Rest Area is more than a rest area, it has the Ferris wheel overlooking the sea view, shopping, cafe and coolest bathrooms & toilets with advanced features such as heated seat and otohime/sound princess.

Parking Area: Over 400 car parking lots.

The parking area is so big and spacious and cars and trucks park in different spaces.  About 336 parking lot for the small car, 103 for the big truck and 2 for the super long truck trailer. There are also 4 parking lot for disable.  In total, there over car park lots!

Over 100 toilet bathrooms!

At the entrance of the building for shopping and food, there are the line of vending machines and recycle bins and over 100 toilets for both men and women.

How to use the Toilet in Japan 

Used toilet paper has to be thrown into the toilet bowl.  Unlike in China, used toilet paper are not thrown in the toilet bowl when flushed, it is thrown at the rubbish bin provided near the toilet bowl.  This may be due to China toilet flushing are good enough to flush away the toilet paper.  Throwing the paper at the rubbish bin provided can cause discomfort when you enter the toilet.

That’s the cultural difference between China and Japan. Luckily Malaysia and Singapore toilets are the same as Japan and the West.

Toilets in Awaji Rest Area are rated 5 Star!

Some toilets in Japan are more elaborate than toilets commonly found in other developed nations. There are control elements and advanced features, such as anal hygiene, bidet washing, seat warming, and deodorization. It is really fascinating to use the toilet in Japan.

Shopping in Awaji Rest Area – 24 hours

The shopping here sells souvenirs or Japanese called in “omiyage” – usually are food in nice boxes and fancy wrapping paper.  Japanese has this “omiyage” culture where a gift/usually food to give to family, friends or coworkers after coming home from a trip. It is a serious business in Japan and you can’t go empty-handed to the office from a trip.  The indoor shopping is 24 hours.

Omiyage お土産 means local specialty

Omiyage /お土産 literally translated as local products. The local specialty here is mandarin orange products & seafood octopus, squid, seaweed from the Seto Inland Sea; Onion Pie (Awaji is famous for its sweet white onions) and many more.

Shikoku Omiyage / Shikoku Souvenir

Restaurants Review in Awaji Rest Area

There are several restaurants, cafe and food courts serving a variety of cuisine.

Food Court Center operates 24 hours

We decided to have noodles. These are the steps to make your order.

1. Choose your order, there are pictures beside each number.

2. Insert paper notes or coins inside the ordering machine.

3. Pick up the tickets from the machine and wait for your number to be called.

Our orders – Kitsune (Marinated tofu skin) Udon, Wakame Udon, Ramen set including Toriage /Japanese fried chicken with rice.

Free water or tea 

Observatory Area

Outside it has a beautiful view with fantastic panorama of the mainland overlooking Kobe and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.

Bridge’s Mascot

Wataru is the bridge’s mascot – you can see there is a car on top of Wataru’s head.

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge / 明石海峡大橋

Once we exit Awaji Rest Area, we drove towards the mainland of Honshu passing through the longest bridge in Japan called – Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.  The length of the bridge is almost 2 km connecting Awaji and Kobe. The bridge has a nickname called “Pearl Bridge”.

The Akashi Kaikyo Suspension Bridge is designed in such a manner where the earthquakes and harsh sea currents doesn’t damage the bridge. It even survive the big Kobe earthquake on Jan 1995. I was in Japan during the big earthquake!

Final thoughts :

Japan rest area offer more than a toilet break or fill up with petrol. It even have unexpected facilities such as telescopes & Ferris wheels. The Awaji Rest Area is one of the famous rest area that you cannot missed if you are doing a road trip from the mainland to Awaji Shikoku area.

Have you been to any interesting rest area?  What are the interesting that you see in that rest area?