Your Guide to Transferring a Driver’s Licence in Japan

Needing to convert your foreign driver’s licence to a Japanese driver’s licence? Then keep on reading- this post is for you.

Disclaimer: This information is based on my own experience and research, but it may not be suitable for you based on your nationality, licence conditions, and prefecture of residence so please do your own due diligence in researching with your local authorities.

International Driving Permit (IDP)

Firstly, if you plan on being in Japan for under a year and don’t need an official Japanese licence for ID purposes, then I definitely recommend getting an International Driving Permit, or IDP. This is accepted in over 150 countries worldwide and is valid for 12 months from date of issue. In Australia, it is as simple as visiting the NRMA website here, uploading a recent photo of yourself, scanning your driver’s licence, paying $51 AUD and after completing the online form, your IDP will be posted to you within 5 business days.

Transferring to a Japanese Licence

If you are planning on being in Japan long-term and want to transfer your valid foreign driver’s licence to a Japanese licence, known as menkyo no kirikae 免許の切り替え, the process is a lot more involved and takes time. You will need to gather the required documents, make and attend an appointment at the Licence Centre for the prefecture where you live, complete an eye test, and depending on what country you are from, you may need to also complete a written test and a driving test.

Documents

And so begins the process of collecting and squirrelling away all of your relevant documents. You will need a:

Valid Passport.
Valid Foreign Driver’s Licence with date issued*. You will need to have your physical card, not a digital licence. *if your licence does not have the date it was issued, see driving record below.
Zairyu Card. Your zairyuu card 在留カード (residence card) is the first thing you need to get organised as a foreigner living in Japan. If you have already applied for and received your visa in your home country, then you should be issued your zairyuu card upon entry at one of the major Japanese airports. If you did it the hard way like me, you will need to visit your local Immigration Bureau for your prefecture. Within 14 days of receiving your card, you need to take it to your local city hall and register your residence. This is called tennyuu todoke　転入届.
Juminhyo. While you are at the city hall registering your residence for your zairyuu card, ask them to print out a juuminhyou 住民票 (certificate of residence) for you. You will need to fill out more paperwork for this and it is a small fee, something like 300 yen.
Phone number. Okay, this isn’t a document I know but you will be making phone calls and writing down your phone number on the approximately 100,000 application forms you have to fill out. Get a Japanese phone number.
Driver’s Licence Translation. Visit the JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) website here to apply for a Japanese translation of your foreign driver’s licence. You will need to upload copies of your documents, fill out an online application form and pay a 4000 yen fee. The processing time is up to 2 weeks, however I recieved mine in the post after only 2 business days!
Driving Record. Depending on your circumstances, you may not need this. My licence unfortunately does not state the date of issue, so I was asked to bring along some proof of when it was issued. You can download and print a copy of your driving record from Service NSW for $26 AUD. Please contact your own country/ state department of transport service for this. In my case, I didn’t need this document translated into Japanese, but this may be a requirement in some prefectures.
International Movement Record. You may also need to bring along proof of residence in your country for the three months after your driver’s licence was issued. I requested my international movement record with the Australian Department of Home Affairs here. This was also accepted in English, however you may need yours translated into Japanese.
Application Photo. Check your local licence centre (免許センター）for photo requirements. Mine had to be 2.4 x 3cm, from the chest up and cost 1000 yen. This is not the photo that goes on your licence.
Fees. The fees may differ from prefecture to prefecture, but in Nagano you will pay 2500 yen for a standard vehicle licence, and a 2350 yen issuing fee.

Making an Appointment

Congratulations! You have acquired all of the necessary documents and a few more grey hairs. You now need to make an appointment with your prefectural licence centre (免許センター). Unfortunately, there is no system to make a booking online. This must be done over the phone. You might think that this is the easy part. If your experience was anything like mine, you would be wrong!

TL;DR: Try to ascertain on what particular day and at what particular time you need to call your local Licence Centre to make an appointment for your licence conversion. This information isn’t readily available online. Be prepared for a lengthy wait until your actual appointment.

In-Person Appointment at your Prefectural Licence Centre

Hurrah! Your appointment day has arrived. If possible, along with your documents, bring a Japanese speaking friend, an interesting book/ podcast/ TV series, and block out the rest of the day just in case. You will most likely need to take the whole day off work.

Get there early. There may be 20 different service windows and you need to find the right one. Once you get to your relevant window at the designated time, hand over your documents and fill out an application form (most likely just your name and furigana, date of birth and phone number). And now you hunker down and wait. Get yourself a coffee from the vending machine and relax.

Questions

You may be asked a series of questions about your driver’s licence- which is where your Japanese speaking friend comes in handy if you don’t speak Japanese yourself. In my experience, I got called back to the counter over an hour after submitting my documents, and was asked questions like: What age were you when you first got your licence? What was the process like? Did you go to a driving school? Did you have lessons with a teacher? Was it automatic or manual? How many hours did you drive? Did you have experience driving on highways? Which car did you drive and what was the engine capacity? How much were the lessons? Was there a road rules test component? Was it written or online? How many questions were on the test? Did you have a driving test? What manoeuvres did they test you on? Have you ever driven in Japan unlicenced? e.t.c. It was a lot! For me, at 37, I had to go digging into the deep recesses of my memory to answer most of these questions.

After that, you make your payment, hand over your photo for the application form, and check a series of boxes that ask things like if you have ever lost consciousness while driving, been told by the doctor not to drive for medical reasons or have you ever had a body part stop working for an unexplained reason.

Eye Test

Then comes your eye test. There is a little circle with a gap in it and you have to answer if the gap is facing up, down, left or right, and then answer what colours you see. I’m not sure if they accept this in different languages, so it’s probably a good idea to know this vocab in Japanese if you don’t already.

Road Rules and Skills Test

If you are from the following regions, you are the one of the lucky ones! You don’t need to sit a road rules or driving skills test*.

Iceland, Ireland, United States of America (Ohio, Oregon, Colorado, Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland and Washington only), United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Canada, South Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Hungary, Finland, France, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg, Taiwan.

*Always best to confirm this before you attend your appointment.

If you are from a country or region not listed above, you will need to complete both tests. The road rules test is offered in different languages, so again, confirm this with your local licence centre prior to attending.

Final Steps

After this, you will be called upon to pay the processing fee, and then you will have your photo taken- this is the one they will actually use on your licence card. But beware! They only take one photo and roll with it. My eyes are half closed in my photo but they used it anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Your licence will be issued and handed to you not long after that. Otsukaresama deshita! And happy, safe driving.

Reflection

My appointment was at 1pm, and being from Australia I didn’t need to complete a road rules or driving skills test, but despite this I was still one of the last people left in the office at the end of the day, receiving my driver’s licence at 4:05pm. The whole process took over 3 hours- I could have flown to Taiwan in the time that it took for my licence to get issued. You are required to wait in the waiting room the whole time with no indication of when you are going to get called up to the window. So have lunch beforehand, and hold your bladder at your own risk!

I hope you find this post helpful and that it makes sense of the kirikae process for you. Are you about to embark on your Japanese licence journey? Have you successfully navigated the kirikae process before? Let me know!