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Preconditions | Necessary Preparation | Cost | Check-in Procedures | Eye Exam | Written Test Driving Tips | Scheduling a Second Test | Notes about Fairness | Practicing
Useful Numbers | JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) | 025-284-7656 License Translation Service (*) | | US Embassy | 03-3224-5000* | | Seiro-machi Prefectural Licensing Center | 025-256-1212 Appointments |
Introduction
**International Driving Permits are only good for one year from the time you enter Japan.** After that, you need a Japanese driving license. Getting a driving license in Japan is very difficult for Japanese people. The regulations and tests are very strict. Luckily for many JETs who already possess a driving license in their home country, it is simply a matter of exchanging your license for a Japanese one. There are some bureaucratic procedures you need to follow in order to do it though, and you will need to spend about a day at the licensing centre in order to get the license. This applies to all JETs from the following countries: France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Canada.
All other JETs (including US, South Africa and Jamaica) have to take the written (very easy, most JET participant native languages available) and practical test (available in English) too, which is extremely strict. Do not expect to pass the practical test the first time. Here is as much information as we have been able to gather on the entire matter. As always, please also consult your JET General Information Handbook. Good luck!
Preconditions
When you show up at the licensing center, you must:
Possess a valid original license. Possess a valid alien registration card. Be allowed to stay in Japan for a specified period of time. Have stayed in the country where the license was issued for more than 3 months since the issue date on the license. If not, you have to order a license record or abstract (from your home state or province) that shows the date of issue and includes information regarding your driving record. Licenses from some states of the U.S. do not show the date of issue. If you have one of these licenses, you will also have to have a license record. If you have your old license, it would be best to bring that, too.
Necessary Preparation
If you cannot speak Japanese, you will need to bring your own interpreter Your alien registration card, your passport(s) The translation of your original license Your toroku-genpyo kisai-jiko shomeisho (document confirming you have been issued an alien registration card, can be obtained from your municipal office) 1 photo (3cm by 2.4 cm, no cap or hat, no background, 1/3rd of the body above the waist) Also, you will need photocopies of the following: passport (including: period of stay, date of expiration of the period of stay, and all pages with visa stamps on them), alien registration card, and original license. The photocopies need to be made on A4 paper. An International Driving Permit (only if you have one)
Cost
Everybody: - 2,400 yen (charge for application, buy stamps at the licensing center) - 1,750 yen (charge for issuing license, buy stamps)
Those who take the driving test: - Above plus 1,100 yen (charge for using a car, pay in cash). - Either MT or AT car. The choice is yours.
Check-in Procedures
Check-in is on the second floor of the Seiro-machi Licensing Center. At the check-in time, please have all your documents organized and paper-clipped. Check-in will take up to an hour, depending on the number of people and the orderliness of your documents.
During check-in, the licensing officers will tell you when to proceed to the ticket window to purchase the stamps needed to pay for the application fee (2,400 yen).
During check-in the licensing officers will ask you some questions in Japanese that pertain to your driving fitness. (Do your hands shake at the wheel, do you get drowsy at the wheel, do you have any conditions that affect your driving, etc.). Whoever is most proficient in Japanese in your group should translate the questions if you are not comfortable answering. In general, please be courteous and serious during the check-in.
Eye Exam
After check-in, you will do an eye test similar to the eye test you take during your health check. They will ask you if you wear contacts or glasses during the test. At this point JETs from AU, CN, IR, NZ and the UK have to wait until their license can be processed.
Written test (From here on, information only applies to JM and US JETs)
For the written test, everyone will sit in assigned seats and be given slightly different test books with slightly different question order. The test is 10 true or false (maru/batsu) questions. The test is very easy. You have to get 7 out of 10 questions right to pass. Study materials in English are available at JAF (Japan Automobile Federation). A copy costs about 1,000 yen.
Driving Tips Next comes the driving test, which is very hard. Again, you will need 70 percent to pass. The following is not official; rather it is based on information shared and situations observed.
You will FAIL if any of the following happen:
You fall of the road at any time (S-curve is a bit tricky). You don’t stop behind the stop line at a stop sign (should be a 3-second stop). You don’t stop at a red light or if you bang through a yellow light. You exceed the speed limit. You turn right into the right hand lane (you want to turn right into the left hand lane) You go over the solid-line lane borders.
Points will be DEDUCTED if you do the following:
You don’t stay very close to the left-hand line when driving. You take a left turn too wide (again your back wheels should stay very close to the line). You take a right turn too wide or too tight. As you approach the turn, you will want to be close to the right (center lane). As you turn, don’t go over the traffic channel markers when turning right. You must stay on the inside of the solid white triangles, taking a very gradual and wide-angle turn. You hit the brakes during any turn. (Brake before all turns and turn extremely slowly). You don’t obey the rules for changing lanes and turning (see below)
Changing lanes and turning: The following procedure is very important and practice is necessary. Basically, whenever the testing officer says in Japanese where the next turn will be, you should start the procedure to execute the maneuver immediately.
Before you do anything, check your mirrors and your blind spot. Do not move the wheel or put your signal or before checking. Put your signal on (The signal must be on for 3 seconds before you turn, and it must put it on 30 meters before the intersection where you are going to turn.) This means that even if you are going through an intersection before the point where you are going to turn, you must put your indicator on. It must always be on 30 meters before the point (even if it means signaling before or in an intersection in which you will not be turning). The one exception is when you turn and then turn immediately after, as it would be impossible to signal 30 meters before. If you are just changing lanes (you will only have to change lanes from left to right because you will end up in the left hand lane after all turns), check your mirrors and your blind spot a second time and then change lanes. Take your signal off when you get into the new lane, unless your turn is coming up. If you are stopping and then turning, come to a complete stop for 3 seconds (or until the light turns). Check right and then left and then right again, then check your mirrors and your blind spot one last time and then turn. If you are not stopping, do all of the “stopping things” and proceed slowly through the turn. Always check right, left, right, mirror, and blind spot before you turn.
The beginning of the test:
Walk the perimeter of the car to ensure that no children are playing under it. Slowly open the door, get in, and lock it right away. Adjust your seat, put on your seat belt, adjust mirrors. (For MT, take the car out of reverse.) Turn the car on. (For AT, put the car in drive.) Release the emergency brake (foot should be on the brake). Check your mirrors and blind spots. Wait, check again, and pull out.
Check your mirrors/blind spot. Pull close to the white lane marker without going over it, and pull up to the stopping point. The front of your hood must be close to the stopping point without going over it. Put the car in neutral (MT) and put the emergency brake on (both). Turn the car off. (For MT, put the car in reverse before you get out). Take off your seat belt, check your mirrors/ blind spot and exit the vehicle.
When exiting, open the door a crack and wait before you open it all the way.
Other Tips and Tricks: When driving the track, you can go about 40 or 50 on the straight bits, but as soon as you approach a curve, pump your brakes, and then slow down to - seriously - 5km/hour. As you leave the turn speed up and try to reach 50 again. Right after you pull out at the start, depending on the course you do, you may have to signal again to get onto the course. Remember to always try to signal before turning the wheel (the indicator will go off if you turn the wheel first). If you fall off the road or go over the line when stopping, roll down your window, put the car in reverse, and carefully reverse, checking for other vehicles. Don’t signal when unnecessary (turning corner on the same road, the S-curve, etc.). Only signal after the instructor has indicated you will be turning (and after you have gone through the checking procedure). Go very, very slow through the S-curve and the series of two turns with hanging poles (the poles are right up to the side of the road and will move if you hit them). Always brake before the turn, not during it.
Other information: You get to take a short practice lap of part of the course before you start the test, to ‘become accustomed to your vehicle. Points will not be deducted on this lap for any mistakes made. If you take the test in an automatic transmission, you will only be able to drive AT cars.
Scheduling a Second Test If you should fail, scheduling a second test should prove easy. You will be allowed to take the test at a licensing center nearer to you (there is one in Nagaoka and one in Kakizaki). You will be given your documents in a sealed envelope, the seal of which cannot be broken, and sent off to make your own appointments. If you take it at Seiro again, the appointment will probably be made on the spot.
Every time you take the test, you will have to pay the 2,400 yen application fee, together with the car rental fee (1,100 yen) - for a total of 3,500 yen. When you pass, you will then have to pay 1,750 yen, the charge for issuing your new license.
After everything is finished, they will ask you to go downstairs to pay the car rental fee (1,100 yen) and come back upstairs to show them the receipt before you leave.
Notes about Fairness Although it comes as little consolation, this test is very hard for Japanese citizens too. Of course, the instructor speaks their native language. But they are given no breaks. Despite any frustrations that may arise when you are at the center, please remember that the officers are just doing their job. Please remember that foreigners will no doubt come after you, and the impression you make will last.
Practicing
It is a very good idea to practice on the driving course. The course in Seiro-machi is open to the public on the 1st, 3rd (and 5th) Sundays of each month, and from 4 pm to 9 pm on weekdays. You must be accompanied by someone who has held their Japanese license for 3 years or more.
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