I need advice on obtaining a Japanese Driver's Licence

[Taro Toporific]

All right...I've read one person's nightmare on getting a driver's licence and someone else saying it was no problem. ... But I am Canadian, so it is supposed to be a pain in the ass.
How much of a pain is what I want to know.

If you never had a driver license...
Read our FG thread "driving school is so expensive". Rots of Ruck!

If you have an Canadian driver license... NO SWEAT! After one year of driving here on your International Drivers License, you just trade your Canadian driver license for a Japanese one and pay around 3,000yen. Note: the right/left hand steering wheel difference is NOT an issue unless you're a total 'tard.

[Kurofune]

...you just trade your Canadian driver license for a Japanese one...

Are you saying you have to relinquish your driver license from home in order to get a Japanese one?

[Taro Toporific]

So, tell me Taro, is this what happened to you? Did you just trade one for the other?

Somebody, anybody...tell me your story!

Yep, I just traded my Chicago, IL licence for a Japanese one---2.5 hours max waiting time. It's not an issue.

[Taro Toporific]

...you just trade your Canadian driver license for a Japanese one...

Are you saying you have to relinquish your driver license from home in order to get a Japanese one?

Sometimes the Japanese try to take it. SO the F*&% what?
Keep a copy of you Canadian and when you're back home you apply for a "lost license". I have 5 or 6 from different states/States.

[Big Booger]

I didn't give it to them. They never even asked.
BB

[Taro Toporific]

...you just trade your Canadian driver license for a Japanese one...

Are you saying you have to relinquish your driver license from home in order to get a Japanese one?

I gave them my US licence and 3,000yen and they gave me my Japanese one. No sweat.

There seems to be some FVCKING WEIRD ASS changes recently, MAYBE.
See Jthe official Japan Automobile Federation (JAF)
http://www.jaf.or.jp/e/switch.htm

[url=http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:fpzhwYwglqIC:[url]www.occidental.co.jp/Drivers_License_Procedure.pdf+JAF+drivers&hl=en&ie=UTF-8]The[/url] documents[/url] required to change to a Japanese Drivers License are:
1. Overseas Drivers License,
2. Japanese Translation of Overseas Drivers License
3. Passport
4. Resident Card or Alien Registration Card,
5. One Photo ( 2.4cm wide and 3.0cm long )
6. Application form
The fee for issuing a standard license is 3,800 yen.

Residents of New Zealand, Australia, UK and Canada can change their licenses to Japanese licenses by paper application and eye test only, no appointment is necessary.

...some other Nationalities (mainly Countries that drive on the right hand side of the road) are required to take an extra Rule Test after the initial application

These "other Nationalities" actually mean Africa. The need for a translation is bullshit but JAF offers it. I would NEVER waste the money since any fool can point to the expiration date on the licence and that's all the translation is used for---perhaps the "horror" stories you heard were of retard FG who didn't know how to point and officials in outback of Japan. In Tokyo and big cities this ain't aproblem.

[url=http://www.jp.from-hanna.com/daily/driving/rules.html]Getting a Japanese driver's license[/b]
For those who have a valid drive's license issued from another country


?
(1) Bring your certificate of alien registration, passport, foreign driver's license, and a photo (3 cm x 2.3 cm) with you to the driving license issuing center. Your license must show at least three months of driving experience before your arrival in Japan. Applications must be made by the applicants themselves.
(2) Depending on the countries where driver's license was issued, some licenses do not show the date of issuance. In that case, you will be required to attach a driving experience certificate or the date of issuance certificate issued by the issuing authority.
(3) Take the short multiple-choice test on traffic rules in Japan.
(4) After passing the test make a reservation for a short driving test.

[Big Booger]

I had them (JAF) translate it because I didn't want to run into a stickler... never know..
They offer the translation via fax on their website. So my wife sent my info, including copies of my original US license via fax.

They called back, saying they don't offer the service. My wife corrected them, on their mistake.. but they insisted..
she then told them to check the website and call her back. hehehe
They did, they were wrong, but they never admitted it. BUt I got the translation done through fax and postal mail. But they want you to come to the JAF centre to get it done in person.. how lame is that??? Take off another day of work for the translation.. I don't think so.

BB

[Taro Toporific]

I had them (JAF) translate it because I didn't want to run into a stickler... never know..

Back when mastadons walked the Kanto plain...
There was NO translation needed, NO written test, and no driving test. They just had a eye test, a look at your foreign licence and 3,000yen. Hell, they didn't have an English Drivers Manual available until 1987.

Now taking the 500cc-or-larger motorcycle license in Japan, that's a real big BOOGER.

[Big Booger]

Do they really check the CCs of the bike you are riding when they pull you over? Can't you just tell them it is an underpowered Harley Davidson. LOL
BB

[Taro Toporific]

Do they really check the CCs of the bike you are riding when they pull you over?

The info on displacement is part of the numbering on "Number plates"--the EngRish term for licence plate.

The o-gatta motorcylce test is real tough. Many (most?) FG fail it on the first try. You have things like: balance your bike at stoplight without putting your feet down, pick up your 1,200cc Harley Hog in less than two seconds after laying it down flat on the pavement, back your Hog through 10 traffic cones spaced less than 2 meters apart ...

[Big Booger]

Sounds like the most retarded test in the world... why would you ever have to back it up between ten cones in the real world?

And two seconds to lift a "hog".. can Japanese even do it?
BB

[Taro Toporific]

Sounds like the most retarded test in the world... why would you ever have to back it up between ten cones in the real world?

The idea is that you may have to back a Hog through 10,000 bicycles at a station parking lot.

And two seconds to lift a "hog".. can Japanese even do it?
BB

FG are given MUCH less time to lift their 200+kg bike...I've timed Japanese taking up to 2 minutes to pass the test.

The "trick" is that you're allowed cross the front wheel all the to the stearing lock, to start the engine, pop the clutch and drive the crossed front wheel into the pavement which brings the bike upright. FG like me would NATURALLY think they have the bench press their Hog with the engine off.

[n o i s e s]

i just wanted to link to this thread to the one which includes my experiences in aichi, it took me 2 wasted days & being british i didn't even have to take the test. by the way YOU DO DAMN BLOODY WELL NEED a jaff translation.

see what i wrote here, first as teardrops & then later when i'd logged in/signed up/remembered my password:

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2428&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

javascriptemoticon(':?')

[Taro Toporific]

i just wanted to link to this thread to the one which includes my experiences in aichi, it took me 2 wasted days & being british i didn't even have to take the test. by the way YOU DO DAMN BLOODY WELL NEED a jaff translation.
javascriptemoticon(':?')

You were screwed royal because, well just because, and the law changed last year (June). JAF itself is one of Japan's MOST corrupt organisations and the JAF translation is a kick-back scheme for ex-cops who become JAF employees after early retirement.

However, most henna gaijin who've been here a few years will tell ya that it used to be nothing, zip, zada. It used to be a just an hour or two at the English-speaking counter at Samezu Center in Tokyo.

Hell, 4 years ago when I renewed my "Gold" Japanese licence in Shin-Yokohama, I drove in and I parked my car in the Squad Car parking place with a Shakken that expired for more than year. Then cheated on my eye test and I had my new license is 20 minutes.

Welcome to Japan: Land of Case-by-Case.