We're doing a bit of a Kyushu road trip in early December. We're flying into Nagasaki from Tokyo on 30 November and will then drive from there through Kumamoto on the Yamanami Highway through Aso, Kurokawa and to Beppu, before looping back through Hita to Fukuoka over 10 days. One thing I heard a lot is that snow and ice is a very real risk even that early in the winter, especially around the more mountainous areas around Aso.
I've been looking for rentals with studless winter tyres, but so far I am coming up empty. I was looking at all the rentals in Nagasaki Airport (minus Toyota which only takes bookings starting 3 months out), and even checked if I did a swap in Kumamoto which might be feasible but still nothing.
Am I overthinking this and should simply get what is available and pick up snow chains if a cold snap is forecast, or is there something I'm missing about booking studless tyres? For reference I had a pretty bad experience on black ice a few years ago hence the paranoia.
by JohnnyOR