Garmin maps for Hokkaido,. Japan for use on Nuvi...??

[ianchong48]

Hi guys,

Am hoping to do a Hokkaido "drive-eat-drive-eat" trip very soon but I can't figure out where to get NUVI maps in English covering Hokkaido. I know Japanese GPS sets provided by car rentals/travel companies have Japanese language maps loaded; been told that English maps are not available. Is this true?

I was originally assuming that any maps for Garmin sets could be loaded into my GPS and because my Nuvi 1490 already uses English, it should be ok. But what bout the POI's which are also needed?

Any assistance appreciated. Thanks in advance

Ian

[silverbeauty]

Hi guys,

Am hoping to do a Hokkaido "drive-eat-drive-eat" trip very soon but I can't figure out where to get NUVI maps in English covering Hokkaido. I know Japanese GPS sets provided by car rentals/travel companies have Japanese language maps loaded; been told that English maps are not available. Is this true?

I was originally assuming that any maps for Garmin sets could be loaded into my GPS and because my Nuvi 1490 already uses English, it should be ok. But what bout the POI's which are also needed?

Any assistance appreciated. Thanks in advance

Ian

Try this http://uud.info/en/map/

[ianchong48]

@silverbeauty: Thanks for the lead - very informative.

Impression I get fm UUD"s specs is that their different 'address search' basis (due to Japanese addressing conventions) and the obviously numerous non-routable streets/lanes in the maps will very likely mean relying and use of these GPS maps will be somewhat frustrating (..to say the least ..) for someone not already familiar with local conditions. But that is the only game in town - no other options. So looks like I'm gonna bite after all ...

[baba]

@silverbeauty: Thanks for the lead - very informative.

Impression I get fm UUD"s specs is that their different 'address search' basis (due to Japanese addressing conventions) and the obviously numerous non-routable streets/lanes in the maps will very likely mean relying and use of these GPS maps will be somewhat frustrating (..to say the least ..) for someone not already familiar with local conditions. But that is the only game in town - no other options. So looks like I'm gonna bite after all ...

I had been using this map fr uud for 5yrs driving from Chiba-Tokyo-Osaka-Hiroshima-all around Kyushu Island...no problem at all but most of the time I pre-planned my trip using mapsource so that I will not miss any place that I want to make a stop while on the journey.

My trip from Chiba to Kitakyushu on Kyushu island alone is about 1200km

[SilantRa]

when i was in japan i dont sempat to get japan map...so my garmin and papago have no go..
out of curiosity i tried google map on my andriod... of course i had a data plan and i works like a charm...

we drove almost kyushu island... from kitakyusu to fukuoka to kumamoto and kagoshima... and google map is in english... we did lost a bit but frankly speaking, the best direction telling device is still human... just stop by at highway rnr or nearest police station and ask the good japanese people..the catch was to get any japs that can speak english (or malay...) .. hahaha...


simple nihon go class " kagoshima doko desuka?? - where is kagoshima?? although its is not complete way of asking direction but for a foreigner and alien in japan, that works ... get a paper and ask them to write..

just to share... hehe... i missed Kitakyushu...........