Job Discussion Forums

[Brooks]

I found a couple of useful links you should click if you want to get a Japanese driver`s license. They are

www.JapanDriversLicense.com

www.globalcompassion.com/driving.htm

www.jaf.or.jp/e/switch.htm (from the Japanese Automobile Federation)

I myself am in the process of getting my license, so I can share what I know.
I went to the Kanagawa center, which is in Futamatagawa.
People need to get there by 8:30 or 1:00 p.m. and then need to get a number. You have to wait quite a bit.
You need to bring:

your passport, and previous ones
your foreign driving license, and previous ones
your alien card
money
and a translation of your foreign license

what they really want to know is did you have a foreign drivers license 3 months before you came to Japan? That is why they want to see previous passports and driving licenses.
Believe me, do this to save yourself a headache. I saw a couple of British citizens who probably had to go to their embassy with information stating when they got their first passport. And a Japanese woman from Brazil who had to go get similar documentation.
I am glad I kept my previous New York license. I was asked when I first got a license in New York and which passport was my current one, and where my first passport was (I lost it after returning from France).

if everything is ok, you get to take the written test.
In Kanagawa, it is a paper test with 10 questions. Japanese people, by contrast have 100 questions.
I definitely recommend getting the English manual from JAF (Japan Automobile Federation). The test can be challenging, especially the signs.
There were questions about numbers and distance, which can be challenging.
I was not able to take the written test until 3:30 at the earliest. Get used to waiting.

The written test is in English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and Poruguese in Kanagawa.
Tests are in English in Kanto, Kansai, and other areas, like Hokkaido and Tokushima. But generally in Japan, the test is in Japanese.
In Ibaraki, tests are in English, and the written test is actually is given by a touch screen.

If you pass, you have to take the driving test. (that means Americans, as well as people from Africa, Asia (except South Korea), Latin America, and parts of eastern Europe, Russia, and the former CIS). I had to reschedule my test, since I am going to the US for vacation. I was told to get to the center an hour early. Apparently, even though the test starts at one, they want to be sure that I am there, and foreign people have to take the test together, so the waiting time can be up to two hours.

Australians, Kiwis, Brits, and Canadians don`t have to take a driving test, but Americans need to since the Japanese government asked the US to send information on traffic violations from each of the 50 states, and the US has yet to do so.
Canada sent information on driving in all the provinces and territories, so Canadians have a simplified process.

[Glenski]

I'll just add a few comments.

The procedure Brooks described is identical to the one I followed in Sapporo.

The test was in English, all right, but not perfect English. The monitor flipped through a binder notebook to locate 10 questions that accompanied drawings/pictures to help explain the situations. These were nearly perfect English grammar, but not always. I assume the choice of questions was random, because my friend took the test on the same day and had some different questions.

If you have a license that was renewed while you were in Japan (I did this online and through the mail), your license will not show when you originally got it. So, you cannot just get it translated and bring it to the office hoping to take the test. You must ALSO get a document from your home country attesting to the date when you got the license (and have this translated, too).

[Gordon]

I'll add my 2 yen. Driving centers think they are Gods and may not accept legally binding treaties between nations. I am a Canadian and had to take a written test and driving test in Kagawa despite their being an agreement between the 2 countries stating otherwise. When I explained my situation, they said that "they don't have to follow the gov't guidelines and can make anyone they want take the test". I don't know if driving centers in other prefectures are as idiotic as mine, but be forewarned.