We came here after a refreshing bath at the Kaga Katayamazu City Spa. We had looked at a list of the service areas (SA) in the area and settled on the Amagozen Service Area in Ishikawa for its location and amenities. The location was amazing. It was walking distance from the coast and Amagozen Cape.
We arrived around 21:00 and began setting up the car. We set up our privacy shades on all the windows using the attached suction cups. Afterwards, we moved our bags around and folded down the back seats. We then inflated our sleeping pads and laid out the cooling blanket we had recently purchased at Deco Home (an affiliate of Nitori). Then, we fluffed our camping pillows and attached some cooling pillow cases. We also rolled down our front windows and placed some bug screens over them. The hope was to get some airflow through the car. Unfortunately, despite being near and practically on the coast, there was very little to no wind that night.
We went inside the service area to brush our teeth and went to the restrooms one last time. One nice thing about this service area was that the bathrooms were inside the main building. This all but assured that they were very clean, free of bugs, and temperature controlled. These were probably the most sophisticated toilets we’ve ever used. There was a TV at the entrance to tell you how many stalls were vacant on each side of the restroom. The locking mechanism for the stalls was a little tray to put your wallet or phone on. It also encouraged people to not forget their personal belongings. Last, but not least there was a touch screen panel in each of the stalls. The toilets bidet functions could be translated into 14 languages.
Amagozen Service Area Food Court
After washing up, we looked around the 24 hour souvenir shop and 24 hour restaurant. It was comforting to see a decent amount of people at both, even at 22:00 at night. We returned to the car and got ready for sleep.
It was pretty hot at night. The air was humid and the car itself was emanating a decent amount of heat, even after we had turned it off. Despite this, we tried to go to sleep and get some rest. The noise from the surrounding trucks was a little loud, but we did our best to fall asleep.
Around midnight, we finally broke down and turned the car on. We removed the bug nets and closed the windows. We blasted the AC initially to cool off the car and then we turned it down to low. With the temperature inside the car more comfortable, we were able to get about five hours of more-or-less quality sleep. We woke up around 5:00 in the morning. We packed up the car, brushed our teeth, and were pretty much ready to go by 6:00.
Final Thoughts
Our original intention was to sleep at roadside stations throughout Japan. Due to Covid and just the nature of roadside stations, they close around 17:00 everyday. Bathroom facilities and vending machines remain open, however there are no other people there. There was just something more comforting about these service areas (SA) and parking areas (PA). Partly because their always seems to be other travelers there. There are usually large trucks, but there were a few other cars as well. In addition the larger stops have a 24 hour convenience store and Amagozen Service Area in Ishikawa in particular had a 24 hour restaurant and souvenir shop. The 24 hour facilities gave us peace of mind when we stayed here. In the future ETC service areas and parking areas will be our go to places to stay.
More to Come…
Here is the link to their website.