Lawson convenience stores adding car camping program at select locations.

When looking for a place to spend the night while traveling in Japan, the standard first question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to stay in a modern hotel or a traditional ryokan inn. However, as of this summer there’s a new option for where to spend the night: a convenience store parking lot.

That doesn’t mean that convenience store chain Lawson is encouraging people to toss their sleeping bags down on the pavement, though, Instead, the chain is entering a partnership with the Japan Recreational Vehicle Association to expand its network of RV Park facilities to Lawson parking lots at select locations.

It’s an idea that sounds pretty unusual at first, but in some ways makes a lot of sense. Once you get outside of the big city centers, most roadside convenience stores in Japan have attached parking lots, but once customer traffic drops off in the late-night hours, most of the spaces go unused until the next morning, so making some of those spots available for travelers camping in their cars overnight is a potential new revenue stream for Lawson. From the user side, being parked next to a convenience store that’s open 24 hours gives them easy access to food, drinks, and various sundry goods from brands they’re used to and at reasonable prices, as well as a clean bathroom. The service also supplies users with electrical hookups and trash disposal service.

Rates run between 2,500 and 3,000 yen (approximately US$17.25-US$20.75) per night, with check-in times between 6 and 9 p.m. and a check-out time of 9 p.m. And though this program is organized in conjunction with the Japan Recreational Vehicle Association, you can spend the night in a Lawson parking lot in regular, non-RV cars and vans too.

The initial trial period for the program begins on July 14 and is scheduled to run until Jun 30 of next year. Six sites will be available to start, all in Chiba Prefecture, at the Ichinomiya Torami Lawson branch in the town of Chosei, the Onjuku Shinmachi branch in Isumi, the Amatsuko Minato branch in Kamogawa, the Futtsu Miinato branch in Futtsu, and the Tomiura Interchange and Minamiboso Iwaii Kaigan braches in Minamiboso.

As shown in the map above, all of the branches are in towns situated on the coast of Chiba, the prefecture to the east of Tokyo, which has a wealth of beaches, surf spots, and other outdoor attractions. That’s in keeping with the program’s goal of providing a place for travelers to spend the night en route to destinations in less-developed areas, allowing them to wake up closer to where they want to spend the day and also allowing them to skip spending for a night in a hotel, something that’s getting more and more expensive to do as rates rise across the travel industry in Japan.

Reservations are open as of July 8 and can be made through the Japan Recreational Vehicle Association website here.

Source: PR Times, Japan Recreational Vehicle Association via Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Itai News
Top image: Japan Recreational Vehicle Association
Insert images: PR Times, Japan Recreational Vehicle Association
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