A Good GPS Unit To Use In Japan

Someone was searching this on the website.. If you know please provide them answers.

I just use my Softbank iPhone with the built-in GPS/mapping software. It's free to use. I've gotten pretty good about being able to input locations and following directions on the phone. It won't say "Turn now" like a full-featured GPS unit, but each time you turn it will tell you how far to the next turn. I zero my odometer at the turn so I always know how far to the next turn. It will say "left" or "right" in English, but pretty much everything else is in Japanese. Still, I've been able to use it very successfully to find some very out-of-the-way places or new shortcuts to old places.

(Note: It doesn't give spoken directions, you have to read it on the screen. My wife is adept at using the iPhone GPS so she's the navigator. I used to do it myself while driving but this is pretty dangerous & I wouldn't recommend it.)

PC Depot in Yokosuka sells a Garmin GPS!! IT is great!!! YOu can set it up to speak english. The road names and everything is in Japanese, but it tells you in English which way to drive. Also, if all you have is the phone number just type it in and it will take you to your destination that way. You can also download info from the computer. We also used it in the states. We just bought the software for it, had it delivered to the hotel and uploaded it on the GPS. Works great

that's awesome, heather. How much did the unit cost? How how much was the extra s/w for stateside use?

It cost 19,700. The extra software I believe was $50.

I have the Shake 350, which costs about 27,400 yen new and can be used in English, Japanese or Chinese. It is useful to a point, but gets confused when you're driving on a road parallel to a tolld road. It thinks you're on a toll road and will occassionally advise you to turn into a wall. That said, all the names and signs are in English, which is nice.
I noticed they are now selling two new English-language GPS units at the Yokosuka NEX for $300 and $500 respectively (back wall near the cameras), so I might try to unload my Shake 350 and see what the latest and greatest units can do.

Posted By Erik on 10 May 2010 04:56 PM

gets confused when you're driving on a road parallel to a tolld road. It thinks you're on a toll road and will occassionally advise you to turn into a wall. 

Regrettably, this is a shortcoming of all or most GPS.  Your lateral separation from the tollroad is too small for it to tell which road you're on, so I think it generally makes a "guess" that you're on the tollroad.

When this happens to meet and I'm actually on a surface street below or near a tollroad, what I'll do is pull off, well away from the tollroad (at least 100 yards) then update the directions. By then, it can figure out I'm not really on the tollroad, and it will give proper directions to the destination.

I must agree so far that there is not a consensus answer here. I love a built-in GPS system we have in our Acura MDX and it's difficult to get a good GPS here that is versatile. Please help if you could find one that works well for an oldtimer in Japan.

Here is one that I looked at. I didn't get it but It's a great brand that you can get shipped to FPO addresses as per the site Webmaster.