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The story
A poster planning a trip to Hokkaido with four friends wrote on 5channel (5ch, Japan’s largest anonymous forum) that their friends pushed back hard after they tried to cut costs on the rental car model, accommodations, and the seafood course. The poster argued a five-seat kei car (Japan’s compact “light vehicle” class) would be plenty for getting around, and that the cheapest food course would do — but other members of the group pointed out that cramming five people and luggage into a kei car could violate seating-capacity law, and argued a trip is exactly the time to splurge. The group also clashed over who should cover gas money for the friend doing the driving, and the thread eventually widened into a broader debate over thriftiness itself.
What people said
I said a kei car that seats 5 would be fine, but my friend goes, "Are you dumb? Five guys plus luggage, it'll be cramped — we're renting a cheap minivan or SUV."
That's illegal to begin with 🚔
You tried to save on everything? Like flights → early-morning or last flight on a budget airline, that kind of thing?
Do that and you'll get busted for a violation.
Yikes 😨 Who's even driving?
I don't have a license so I wouldn't know. We're leaving all the driving to that one friend. He doesn't pay for the rental car or the gas, so it's easy for him to talk.
Of course he's not paying — that's his driver's fee.
Why would that be? He's riding in the car too, so obviously he should pay, normally.
Just let someone else handle all the arrangements from now on. You just pay your share and leave it at that.
If you're going to make him do all the driving, you'd better set him up with something in return.
What's even the point of traveling then? At least splurge a little when you're actually on a trip.
Honestly, guys like this seem like they'd blow up in frustration the second costs go up.
But it makes me anxious when my savings go down. So I want to cut wherever I can.
"Something in return" like what? Why should the driver alone get special treatment?
It's the same as paying for a taxi.
Right? The food probably doesn't change all that much just because the course is different.
Sounds like your parents rolled a dud on the food-upbringing lottery. (A play on "gacha," the random-draw loot mechanic — i.e., you got unlucky in how you were raised to appreciate food.)
I'd say it does change, though.
They're hometown friends — we've known each other since elementary school, so even though we're at different universities now, we're still close.
But the driver is riding in the car too, right? We're renting the car for all 5 of us including the driver, so it should be split among everyone.
Why am I the one in the way? I haven't done anything wrong.
I don't want to be the only one left out.
Then why don't you get a license and drive yourself? That way you'd come out ahead — congrats.
Then you drive. Go get a license.
Why should I have to get a license? There's not even enough time before the trip anyway. Besides, you don't need a license living in the city — it'd be a waste of money.
You might not need a car, but you still need a regular driver's license. What are you even thinking?
Funny how you say that while fully planning to rely on it. lol ("kusa," literally "grass" — net slang for laughter, from the old 笑→w→grass-emoji chain.)
Then just don't rent a car at all and figure out transportation some other way. Good luck.
Background and the Real Point of Contention
In group activities like travel, people’s sense of an appropriate budget for lodging, transportation, and meals can vary widely, and friction tends to flare up when the trip organizer or a member unilaterally pushes the cheapest option. This is especially true with rental-car transportation, where opinions often split over how to compensate the person doing the driving for gas and the burden of driving itself — and this thread was no exception, splitting into a camp that said “of course you pay a driver’s fee” and one that said “just get a license and the problem solves itself.” Thrift itself isn’t the issue; the real question is how to reach agreement with fellow travelers — and from this thread alone, it’s impossible to say whether the poster’s proposals were high-handed or simply cautious.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyou G, a “live commentary” discussion board) thread “My friend blew up at me over the trip plans.”
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