driving school is so expensive

[stuckinkysuhu]

I made a mistake of not getting a lisence when I was in High School - I never really had a need for it. For university I went off to Japan, and now I am a f*cked gaijin without a car. Living out in the sticks I want to get a car but I need a lisence. I looked at some driving schools and saw ridiculous prices like 350,000 yen. Has anyone gone through a driving school here? Can you recommend any good (cheap!) ones (Preferably Tokyo, Osaka or Fukuoka)? Or any alternative way to get a lisence without shelling out that much cash. Any help would be appreciated.

[stuckinkysuhu]

I agree with everything you're saying. And that was my plan at first - the problem of course is that in my province (B.C., Canada) they have instituted this silly system where it takes you 2 years to get a full drivers license. and unless i get the full one i cant get an international license or convert it to a japanese one. Oh well, I actually found this shoddy driving school near where I live for 160,000. it sounds like a relatively good deal for Japan

[American Oyaji]

If you had an international drivers license, its pretty easy to get a Japanese one.

Its still possible to get a drivers license without going thru a driving school, you need a Japanese person with common sense, (i.e. isnt a lemming that always does what Big Brother says do) and ask some questions from the license bureau. I think you can take a driving test there. I mean, if you KNOW how to drive already, just tell them that your license in your home country expired because you weren't there to renew it and you had left it there. (But dont offer that info unless they press you.)