Carstay and Michi-no-Eki Utsukushigahara Kogen Start Accepting Reservations for Overnight Parking Spots

Carstay Inc. (Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Representative Director: Koki Miyashita), which operates Japan's largest van life platform, offering services such as campervan and overnight parking spot sharing, vehicle manufacturing, and renovation, and Michi-no-Eki Utsukushigahara Kogen, announced today that they have begun accepting reservations for overnight parking spots at Michi-no-Eki Utsukushigahara Kogen (Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture). The reservation/availability period runs from May 23rd to October 31st, an expansion of 88 days compared to last year.

Carstay has prepared 11 dedicated parking spaces for reservations, with standard usage fees starting from ¥3,000. Both companies aim to achieve over 1,000 reservations during the period.

While the facility is popular for its high-altitude views and convenience as a tourist hub, it faces challenges similar to many popular roadside stations due to long-term stays/overnight use by private vehicles, including a shortage of parking spaces for general visitors, littering, nighttime noise, and excessive use of toilets and water.

This time, the facility will conduct a pilot experiment using the Carstay overnight parking spot system, managing long-term stay/overnight users separately from general users. To resolve the issues arising from increasing demand for overnight stays and the discrepancy between roadside station operations and regulations, they aim to improve the environment through paid access, and in collaboration with Carstay, analyze demand and pricing based on reservation data and user feedback to explore future developments.

Simple fences will be installed to secure reserved user areas, usage times will be adjusted, lighting will be installed along nighttime toilet routes, and seasonal pricing will be introduced based on demand.

In 2025, there were 565 reservations, with an occupancy rate of 76.4% (an average of 7-8 vehicles booked per day). In 2026, as a pilot experiment, a portion of the parking lot will continue to be operated as paid exclusive zones for overnight stays. This year, based on reservation data and user feedback from previous years, operational improvements will be made. Specifically, temporary fences