Daihatsu Cast Activa: A rental kei car for two in Okinawa
A blue Cast Activa on a coastal road in Okinawa
Haisai! I’m CULT.
I’m back with another Okinawa rental car review. This time it’s Aosora Rent-a-Car, the same company whose Smile Wagon R I reviewed last time. The owner already runs several successful businesses in Okinawa, so he isn’t taking many car rental bookings yet. He’s busy buying cars. He’s Korean, and you can handle everything in Korean from start to finish.
He says the rental business will get going properly in autumn 2025, so until then, you can rent at a low price. First come, first served.
‼A quick summary
Aosora Rent-a-Car gives you a driving lesson in Korean when they meet you at the airport. Getting tips on what to watch out for when driving in Japan is helpful in all sorts of ways. They also offer pickup and a ride back after you return the car, with a choice of the airport or Akamine Station.
Daihatsu Cast Activa summary
The car is small, but the front seats are quite roomy. With two people traveling, you can fold the rear seats down and fit plenty of luggage.
Details
Length: 3,395mm / Width 1,475mm / Height: 1,600mm
Specifications: 660cc 3-cylinder, 52 hp, gasoline, fuel economy 25-30 km/L, 4 seats
Rental rate: 4,000 yen per day / 4,500 yen on weekends / 5,000 yen in the peak season (May)
Insurance: Type D collision damage waiver + NOC insurance: 1,650 yen per day
Daily total: Regular-season rate 5,650 yen / peak-season rate 6,650 yen
Child seats: One free; 1,100 yen each from the second seat onward
Even just looking at the specifications, this is a car where fuel costs shouldn’t be much of a worry if you collect it near the airport in Okinawa and tour the island for 3–4 days. As a kei car, it gets good fuel economy and is very easy to drive. The small size and clear views through the windows on all sides make parking intuitive, so even beginners or women who struggle with judging distances can handle it easily.
The insurance includes Type D coverage for most accidents you might have while traveling, along with NOC insurance. It’s an insurance package covering the kinds of mishaps travelers are likely to have.
It seats 4, and it’s a little too small to make room for a fifth person. I’ve reviewed quite a range of rental cars in Okinawa, haven’t I? To get straight to the point, the price is very good. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal in Okinawa for an April rental.
Hmm.. actually, it’s good in May too. May brings Japan’s Golden Week, when the price of absolutely everything goes up. May is expensive whichever company you use. Booking well ahead now is your best bet.
Aosora Rent-a-Car also has another car of this same model. It’s brown, and I’ll review it separately next time. I review the actual cars you’ll be driving, rather than introducing rental companies.
This photo shows a rear three-quarter view of the Cast.
When I ask people about kei cars, Koreans don’t seem to think very highly of them. I don’t have a great impression of Korean kei cars myself. But this is Japan. They feel different from Korean kei cars, and I think they’re hard to beat for cutting travel costs and trying something new.
Here are the front seats.
You’d expect a kei car to be cramped, right? It isn’t. Changing Koreans’ preconceptions is the hardest part.
When I was in Korea.. I drove lots of kei cars in the military. The Daewoo Matiz, Kia Morning, that sort of thing.. This car is much roomier. It isn’t uncomfortable at all. In Korea, kei cars don’t sell anyway, so the technology hasn’t developed much. In Japan, kei cars are what sell, so they’ve developed a lot. That’s the difference.
The passenger seat is quite roomy too. I weigh 76 kg, and I didn’t feel cramped at all. I think a friend weighing around 100 kg would be fine too.. I’m not sure about height, though I think anyone over 190 cm might find it uncomfortable. You can slide the seat all the way back.. but I’m not 190 cm tall myself, so..
The steering wheel.. maybe it’s because of Aosora Rent-a-Car’s name.. is sky blue. The cover stayed snug and worked fine. Reviewing rental cars all the time lately, I often see cars with covers like this. They’re not an accessory I personally like, but it didn’t get in the way of driving. It felt like leather.
The car has done about 72,000 km, but it has only been rented out once so far. This review is its second rental outing. If it had been a rental car from new, it would be completely beaten up by now. I’m told it was bought with mileage in the high 60,000s and then put into rental service. I can still tell that the previous owner took great care of it.
Even those 3,000 km.. were apparently driven by the rental company owner himself.
Since it has only been rented out once, there are still a few things missing inside. One is a navigation device mount, and the other is a cigarette lighter charger. I’ve mentioned these, so they should be installed by the time you book it and drive it 😀
There are three foot pedals. The Delica I reviewed the week before had a setup similar to Korean cars.. so you might get confused. I’m going to explain this every time. A typical Japanese car has three foot pedals. The one farthest to the inside is the parking brake, the middle one is the regular brake, and the right pedal is the accelerator.
This comes up every time I review a rental car and talk to the rental company owners. People press the accelerator with the parking brake still on..
Unfortunately, the navigation system only supports Japanese. The car was bought from a Japanese owner, so that’s how it is. Still, they’ll help you connect Google Auto or Apple CarPlay if you ask when renting the car.
The rear camera.. helps enough to make parking trouble-free. One thing about Aosora Rent-a-Car is that they use good rear cameras in all their cars.. The car is small anyway, so experienced drivers will find it easy to park even without a rear camera. Once you park in a space, there’s loads of room left in front and behind.
Here are the rear seats.
It seats 4.. and with 4 people on board, fitting luggage gets quite difficult. In that case, you could leave your luggage at a hotel in central Naha, take only what you need, get picked up at Akamine, and collect the car at the office. Then enjoy a trip up north and return it afterward.
That’s why I recommend this car for two or three people traveling together. You can still take quite a bit of luggage that way.
The first thing I want to point out is what you see when you open the trunk. The joints at the bottom are clean, right? Yes, that’s typical of a car with very little rental use. If all 70,000 km had been clocked up as a rental car, this area would be completely battered. I’m always looking at and reviewing rental cars, so just hearing the mileage gives me a rough idea of the condition.
Book this car now, and you’re getting a car in good condition at a decent price.
Unfortunately, there’s no power tailgate. But it does have hydraulic struts, so the trunk is easy to open and close. Cars with fancy features like that cost more to rent. Today’s post is about making your Okinawa trip affordable and smart, so let’s leave the power tailgate aside..
With 4 people, there’s almost no room for luggage. That’s why I suggested keeping a hotel in central Naha and taking as little luggage as possible. If there are 4 of you, you’re better off booking a slightly bigger car.
Slide the rear seats about halfway forward, and you get room for two carry-on suitcases, or one 28-inch suitcase and one carry-on. That could work if the people in the back are short or are children. Well.. for a short Okinawa trip, a 28-inch and a 20-inch suitcase.. with the kids’ things too.. Hmm.. I’m not so sure. Kids do need a lot of stuff.
This is what it looks like with just one seat folded all the way down. Quite a lot of luggage fits. I only own three suitcases, so this is all I can show you, but it looks like another carry-on could fit at the top right.. There’s enough space for a trip with 3 people.
This is what it looks like with both rear seats folded down. Well.. you could practically move house with it. With two people traveling, there’s loads of space left over. It has plenty of room when used as a two-seater, gets a little tight with 3 people, and is a little too small to fit luggage with 4 people.
My impressions after driving it.. First, it’s very easy to park, and it accelerates better than boxy kei cars. Those boxy kei cars usually feel so underpowered.. it’s like they force you to drive safely. If I press the accelerator the way I normally do and think I must be doing about 80 km/h, they’re doing 40 km/h. In this Cast, it’s about 60 km/h. It’s a fuel-efficient car with a 660cc engine, so it isn’t particularly powerful.
That isn’t a problem, though.. There’s no need to drive fast in Okinawa anyway.. You came to admire the emerald sea as you drive, right? Take in the sights at around 50–60 km/h.. You didn’t come here to floor it and test the torque.
Maybe it’s because this was only its second rental outing, but the car is very well looked after. They haven’t fully launched the rental business yet, so there aren’t many bookings. They say they’ll get going properly in autumn 2025, when they’ll presumably have staff to look after the cars too. Perhaps they’ll keep it in even better shape then?
The owner has already made a success of several businesses in Okinawa, so he knows how to run a business.
Lately.. quite a few Koreans have ended up paying fines of tens of thousands of yen for entering private property. Always use the designated parking at tourist sites or paid parking lots. Kei cars have their own parking spaces, which helps in various ways. Check your space number, as shown in the photos, and always pay when you leave a paid parking lot. Even if there’s what looks like a card reader, none of them work for Korean visitors, so make sure you have cash.
When you’re done parking, before you drive away, go to a machine like this, enter your space number, and press the button that looks like “confirm.” It will display how much to insert. Put in that amount, and the locking device will release or your parking fee will be settled.
The Daihatsu Cast’s fuel door release lever is below the driver’s control panel. Reach down with your right hand to find it. You can’t see it while seated, so it’s easier to spot if you get out and crouch down a little. As I mentioned at the start, this is a gasoline car, so use the red nozzle. Self-service gas stations are generally a little cheaper than full-service ones, but self-service doesn’t mean there’s nobody there, so don’t worry too much. You can find a detailed guide to refueling at the link below.
You can find my review of another Aosora Rent-a-Car vehicle here. It’s called the Smile Wagon R, a boxy kei car, and a rather good one. Mint green, easy to drive.. and brand new. Has it done about 3,000 km now? The owner bought it new. A rental rate of 5,500 yen for a new car.. that’s so cheap.. The features are pretty good too, so I think it might be the smartest choice for a family trip with kids. Highly recommended.
If there are 2 or 3 of you, whether a couple, married partners, or friends, this car makes traveling around Okinawa affordable and driving easy. It’s in good condition, gets good fuel economy, and above all, it’s really cute, isn’t it? If you always drive black or white cars in Korea because you’re thinking about resale value, I think trying a different color is a pretty good choice.
Next time, I’ll pick up another car you’ll actually be driving and review it.. rather than the rental company! Mata yasai
- When I used them in April 2025, they gave me a driving lesson in Korean when we met at the airport. I liked getting tips beforehand on what to watch out for when driving in Japan.
- When I used them, I could choose Naha Airport or Akamine Station for pickup and a ride back after returning the car. Another option is to leave your luggage at a hotel in central Naha, take only what you need, get picked up at Akamine, and collect the car at the office.
- The navigation system in the car I drove only supported Japanese. They say they’ll help you connect Google Auto or Apple CarPlay if you ask when renting the car.
- There are three because the innermost pedal is the parking brake. The middle one is the brake, and the one on the right is the accelerator, so check the parking brake before setting off.
- The car I rented didn’t have a power tailgate. It did have hydraulic struts, though, so I found the trunk easy to open and close.
- It’s a gasoline car, so use the red regular gasoline nozzle. The fuel door release lever is below the driver’s control panel, but it’s hard to see while seated, so it’s easier to get out and find it.
- At the parking lot in the photos, you enter the number of the space where you parked. Press the payment button to see the amount, have cash ready, and pay before driving away.
