{"id":2250,"date":"2020-03-11T16:06:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T07:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com?p=2250"},"modified":"2020-03-20T10:47:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T01:47:34","slug":"japanese-driving-test-for-foreigners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/japanese-driving-test-for-foreigners\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Driving Test for Foreigners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You have made it\nto Japan and you now find yourself in a job position that requires you to\ndrive. It can be a scary thought trying to use a car in another country that\nhas different driving rules and signs. The transition can be both simple and\ncomplicated at the same time, but it will be necessary for anyone who will live\nout in the countryside. There are a few things you should know before going to\napply for a license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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International Driver\u2019s License<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The one thing\nthat everyone will need no matter what country they are coming from is an\ninternational driver’s license. These are required to act as a temporary\nlicense when driving in other countries. They are only good for one year and\nyou must keep your home countries license as well as your international\ndriver’s license on you when driving. If you don’t have them you will be taken\nby the officers and fined, which can take hours, so try not to forget them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you plan on\nstaying longer than one year you will have to get a Japanese driver’s license.\nThe process will be different depending on not only what country you come from\nbut what part of the country you come from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America- If you\ncome from America the biggest thing you will have to do is take a short-written\ntest of about ten questions, and the driving exam itself. This is a huge hurdle\nfor many Americans and is the most difficult part of the process. This doesn’t\napply to some states in the US, such as Maryland and Washington, and you can\ndrive with a valid license from those places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Austria, Canada,\nCzech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Republic of Ireland,\nRepublic of Korea, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia,\nSpain, Sweden, the United Kingdom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People from these\nplaces have to simply bring their license from their home country and pay a\nsmall fee for conversion. You can get your license finished on the same day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belgium, Estonia,\nFrance, Germany, Monaco, Switzerland, Taiwan- <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are from\nany of these countries, you can drive without converting your license. As long\nas you have a current license from your home country you can drive normally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Necessary Paperwork<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You will need a\nfew things when you go to the driving center and apply for a Japanese license.\nYou will need your passport, license, international driver’s license, and the\nfinished application papers. They will need some proof of living in your home\ncountry such as an old bill. This is just to prove that you lived in that\ncountry at the time and after getting your license. You will need some basic\ninformation about your old vehicle too so keep that in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next\nimportant thing you will need is a translation of your license. You will need\nto go to your nearest JLA office and fill out an application to have your\nlicense translated. It will take a few days to finish so make sure to do it\nahead of your appointment.  If anything\nis missing, they will refuse you and you will need to make another appointment.\nPlease remember that the driver centers only give the exams at certain times of\nthe year and the lists fill up quickly. You may have to wait months if you\ndon’t have everything you need so make sure you get it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Driving Exam<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The driving exam\nis usually the most difficult part of the entire ordeal. Your company can set\nup an appointment for you if you don’t have that option you can make one\nyourself. When you go to the driving center you will need all of the\nappropriate paperwork. Once you have finished the application process, they\nwill have you do a standard eye exam. It is the same as western ones so there\nis no need to worry. You will then have to take a short ten question test on\nbasic driving rules in Japan. They are pretty simple questions and you are\nallowed to miss up to three before failing. Once you pass the test you will\nthen be allowed to take the driving exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The driving exam\nis the reason most Americans and some other foreigners can’t get their\nlicenses. The reason for this is that the test isn’t as much about practical\ndriving skills as it is more of being able to follow the motions of the test.\nYou will need to drive in a specific way around the test track. Since that is\nthe case the driving centers offer driving lessons with instructors. They\nusually have an English-speaking instructor to help foreigners. They typically\ncost 5,000 yen for an hour and they are almost necessary if you want to pass on\nthe first try. If you fail the driving test you will need to set another\nappointment and pay the fees to try again. There are a few ways to\nautomatically fail the test so make sure to follow all of the small things you\npractice with the instructor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a big step\nfor getting your license in Japan, at least for Americans and a few other\ncountries, but it will give you a large amount of freedom. You can use your\nlicense in place of your residence card in many situations, and most of the\ntime the tellers would rather use the Japanese license instead. The biggest\nthing to remember is that if you have to take the test, it is best to get the\nlessons before your first attempt. The less you have to attempt the test, the\nmore money and time you will save.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You have made it to Japan and you now find yourself in a job position that requires you to drive. It can be a scary thought trying to use a car in another country that has different driving rules and signs. The transition can be both simple and complicated at the same time, but it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}