Toyama Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture. Two prefectures on opposite coasts of Japan.

On the one hand, Toyama Prefecture is "located at the center of Japan and serves as a gateway of the Sea of Japan," according to the Toyama Tourism Organization. On the other hand, Shizuoka Prefecture is situated between Mount Fuji and the Pacific Ocean.

If you wanted to visit both of them during a trip to Japan, how would you go about doing it? Most people would consider local trains, shinkansen, and perhaps even air travel. But what if you're one of those people who just love road trips, but only when other people are doing the driving?

You may have heard that Japan is the second most expensive country for cab fares after Switzerland and have ruled out taking a cab for that reason. But what's it really like?

On April 4th, popular YouTuber はじめしゃちょー Hajime Shacho, whose family home is in Toyama Prefecture but currently lives in Shizuoka Prefecture, posted a new video on his channel in which he decided to investigate. He needed to visit his parents in Toyama, so it was the perfect occasion.

He estimated that this coast-to-coast trip might cost him upwards of 300,000 yen (about $2,420 USD at today's rate), but just in case, he prepared a fat wad of 50 10,000 JPY bills.

With the cooperation of the cab company, he was able to carry out the experiment.

In total, the result was 88,490 JPY (about $714 USD at today's rate), which is still quite expensive. For example, it's about $100 more expensive than a fare for a similar distance (around 330 kilometers) in the USA, from LAX to Paso Robles, CA ($620, according to taxi-calculator.com), but not over 100,000 JPY, let alone 300,000 JPY...

Hajime Shacho was considerate towards his cab driver and took breaks at service areas and roadside stations.

On the way there, he came across a car that had been involved in a traffic accident and helped to pick up debris from the road.

At the end of the trip, Hajime Shacho hugged the driver and they parted ways.

The video received comments such as, "You have great planning skills," "I love how you never forget to be considerate to others," and "The results were different from what I imagined! Thank you for doing this experiment!"

If you'd like to see what else Hajime Shacho is up to, check out his YouTube channel here.