For many expats in Japan, driving a car is essential as not everywhere has convenient door-to-door public transport. Owning a car can be more trouble than it's worth for what's involved in getting a car (see here), but if you must drive then being legally allowed to drive on Japanese roads is mandatory, obviously.
This is my experience with converting my NZ Drivers license and hopefully it provides some insight and useful information regarding the process and what you can expect.
Should you convert?
Not necessarily. If you are on a 1 year visa and have any doubts whatsoever about your long term future in Japan, don't bother. Or at the very least, don't worry about rushing out to do it as you have 1 year before you need to do it (if staying longer than 1 year)
You have two options for your 1st year in Japan:
- Get an International Driving Permit (IDP) which is valid for a year of issue. You simply need to keep this plus your overseas license with you when driving.
- Get an official translation of your overseas license. You carry this piece of paper along with your overseas license.
The only real difference between the above two is when you do it - the IDP you do before you leave for Japan or the translation is once you are in Japan. I recommend the translation as if you decide to convert your license a bit later then you need it anyway. More on this below.
This is all assuming you have a valid overseas license of course. If you have never had a license and starting from scratch then you are in for a world of pain and I cannot help you!
 |
| JAF printed license translation |
Translation
As I just mentioned, to convert an overseas license you must have an official translation for it. An IDP is of no use whatsoever here, as although it contains translations and is internationally recognised, it is actually only a temporary license.
The translation can only be done online and from inside Japan. The link to the JAF site is here. Firstly, you have to register and sign up. Applying for the translation is easy. It's all available in English, and you just provide your standard info such as name, DOB, address etc. along with some photos of your license. Then at the end you'll need to pay ¥6,600. For full info on the application process they have a thorough PDF here.
The application confirmation page has some useful links too - particularly some traffic rules training and links to the 'rules of the road' books. Even if Japan is similar to your country and you've been driving a long time it's best to be prepared as you don't want to risk traffic infringements or accidents potentially having an impact on your Visa applications in future - I don't know if they do but I wouldn't want to risk it.
I received an email the following day to say my translation was completed. The email contained a link for me to 'print' a code that I would then take to a convenience store to enter into their printer to print the actual translation. The PDF I linked above even contains instructions on how to operate the copy machine at different brands of convenience store to print your translation!
Why it's such a roundabout and convoluted process I beyond me. Surely in this day and age they can just email a PDF for me to print or just provide a reference number that the Drivers License centre can refer to in their system or something? Anyway, it wasn't difficult. The cost was surprisingly though.
Booking the Appointment
The next step is to visit the Drivers License centre to do the actual conversion. Fortunately for me, New Zealand is one of the countries that has a reciprocal agreement with Japan meaning I do not have to do a written nor practical test. Not everyone is so fortunate - for example most of the USA bar a few states have to do a written and practical test, poor buggers.
But, you can't just turn up and wait in line to do what in theory should be a simple procedure. You have to make an appointment. We called in mid-August and the earliest appointment we could get was early October and we were told it will take a few hours. A few weeks later they called back advising they could do a little earlier so we managed to get this done in mid September - so still a month to book it.
Other Documents needed
Aside from your Official Translation, there are a few things you already have that you should take: your Zairyu Card, original Drivers License and Passport.
You will also need a Juminhyo, which is a proof of residence certificate. You can get this from your local ward office or City hall. It costs a few hundred ¥ and I just needed my My number card to get it. Why you need this Juminhyo I am not sure, as us foreigners legally have to carry around a card proving our residence and where we live at all times. I suppose it's a blanket policy for Japanese that just carries over to everyone.
Lastly, and most importantly you need to provide proof that you actually lived for at least 3 years in the country that you are converting the license from. This I am assuming is to prevent people skirting around the rules and deliberately getting licenses in countries that have reciprocal agreements just because it's easier to convert in Japan and to avoid taking the tests. This reminds me of a guy I used to ride with. He got his motorcycle license in Rarotonga as you literally ride a scooter about a hundred meters and that gives you a full open motorcycle license that is then valid for a year when used overseas. So every year he went to Raro on holiday which happened to reset the 1 year. NZ closed that loop hole after too many people did it.
Back on topic, I obtained evidence of my living in NZ for 3 years or more by submitting a 'Travel Movements Request' from NZ Customs, and within a couple of weeks I received an email with a PDF of all of my travel movements in and out of New Zealand for the time specified (I asked for 20 years just because). As a backup I also printed 3 years worth of electricity bills though I did not need these in the end. On the phone they did say the documents must be originals but I'm not sure how that is supposed to work when the 'original' for everything nowadays is just a PDF, as the rest of the world isn't stuck in 1982 with hard copy originals buried in archives inside government buildings which exist to store and move paper around.
So with all my documents in order, and in a folder to safely carry around, we took a half-day off work to go get it done.
 |
| Kumamoto Drivers License Centre |
The appointment
I really don't like the Drivers License Centre. In NZ, any interaction you have regarding a licence (other than actually getting a license) is fast and painless, and you can just drop into any of the AA or VTNZ stores located all over the place, no appointments necessary. I have been to the Kumamoto Drivers License Centre twice before this, both times for Tomomi to do stuff with her license. One was almost a full day and another was a solid half day. The fact that most people have to take a day off work every 3-5 years just to renew a license is crazy stuff.
This enormous hive of regulation and beauracy resembles an airport terminal inside. Interestingly, you can only do anything between 9-11am or 1-3pm. There's a 2 hour gap in the middle of the day where there is nothing happening for anyone, no renewals, no enquiries, no tests. Nothing, All the staff vanish like they are taking a long lunch followed by a nap or something.
Anyway, we turned up early to be safe but with no idea where to go. There were no signs for license conversions readily visible. There was no staff because it was before 1pm and our appointment was 1pm so if we waited for a counter to open to ask, we would have been late for my appointment. Somehow, somehow, google knew. It said go up to the second floor, then turn left and head towards the renewals counter. We did just that and to my amazement there was a narrow offshoot of a corridor with a little sign in English saying 'for Foreign License conversions please enter the room at your allocated time' Bingo. So we sat and waited for 1pm. Oh and I had to get some photos too apparently, there are a few photo booths dotted around which was convenient.
Right on time we headed down the little corridor into an open plan office full of Police Officers. We were quickly directed to a table to sit down by the staff member who would help us. I turned over all my documents one by one so they could see each one, and she provided us with a questionnaire to complete whilst she went away with my documents to do something or other.
The questionnaire (which had English translations) was very much aimed at further proving the legitimacy of my overseas license and that I have had training, done tests and have experience etc. The lady then came back and started going through the questionnaire answers with us and asking more questions about certain parts.
The part they seem really interested in is how you get your learners permit. Now I don't know much about the Japanese system but what I do know is you cannot go onto the road at all unless you have passed written and practical tests, and preferably attended a driving school beforehand too. Then you do a second stage of training and tests to get your full license. In New Zealand you don't need to do a practical test to get your Learners license. To get your first license you just complete what we used to call the 'scratch and win' multiple choice quiz and that's it, you are now free to drive on the roads provided you are accompanied by someone whom holds a full license. You do practical tests to move to a Restricted License and then again for a full License, and I did that all twice because of separate Car and Motorcycle licenses. I did not want to tell them that there is no practical testing for the learners because they were very focussed on that. I mean technically, in the UK I did have to do a full days training and certification for my Motorcycle learners so it was half true. It was difficult to convey the NZ graduated License system and how the Learners stage doesn't really mean much given they seem to put a hell of a lot of emphasis on it here.
There was also no English spoken here, so if your Japanese is not good then be prepared to do everything via a translator app. Better still, try and take a Japanese speaking friend or relative if you have one. I really would not have managed without my wife there to translate. I don't think even good N3 conversational level Japanese would be enough for describing a Drivers License requirements for example.
 |
| Kumamoto Drivers License Centre |
Anyway, the lady was satisfied in the end and another lady came to take me to do an eye test. The test wasn't like I am used to - you are not reading lines of increasingly small letters. Instead, you have lines of circles each with a break in it and you have to say which direction the break is in: left, right, up or down. Then when lights illuminate in traffic light colours you say what colour it is: green (which is called blue for some reason when referring to traffic lights), orange or red. I could not scrape through the broken circles test without my glasses so I'll have to legally wear them when driving. I always do anyway by choice.
The original lady then gave us a slip of paper and asked to go and pay at the payments counter. My payment amount escalated quite quickly because of the multiple classes of licenses and that my motorcycle license allows the biggest sizes, so a License conversion is not a flat rate. Mine cost ¥7,850. This was fortunate as the total cash in my wallet was ¥7,900, ¥50 to spare! We then returned to the original lady with the proof of payment and was told to wait for 30 minutes. So we went for a walk around the perimeter of the centre. It was 2 kilometres! It's that big because it has full blown driving courses on site.
After returning back to the waiting area, the lady came and took us to get a photo done for the License. I honestly have no idea what the photos I got done earlier were for, but those cost me ¥1,000! Back to the waiting area for another little while. She then came back with my new License all printed and ready to go finally. In NZ you get a written paper slip as a temporary License and your actual card arrives in the mail a few weeks later. In Japan you get it on the spot!
I was also given some booklets on road rules for foreigners. It had useful tips such as 'wear a seatbelt' and 'at red lights, you may not go straight'. But seriously it is quite a useful booklet and has everything in 5 languages.
The whole appointment took 2 hours. Not terrible really. Probably nearly 4 hours in total if including getting the other documents together.
 |
| Materials provided |
My License
The lady handed me my License in the polite two-handed manner, of which I received it in the polite two-handed manner. She then proceeded to spend a long time explaining something or other to my wife, which included my License colour.
You see, I expected that converting a full license would yield a full license in return. Yes and No. My Japanese license is green, just like a learners license which would mean I have to drive with a learners sticker on my vehicle. Mine is green, because like a learner, this is my first license in Japan. On the back of my license is notes exempting me from any of the restrictions normally applied to a green license. If I ever show my license to the Police I have to point this out to avoid getting into trouble.
The expiry date is shorter too. Normally, you renew your license in Japan every 5 years. For a green license, the renewal is a month after your third birthday after issue - so that's Feb 2029 for me, around 2 and a half years. So unfortunately I have to return back to the Drivers License Centre a lot sooner than I would like...
Just circling back to the license colours. So beyond Green is Blue then Yellow. Yellow is the best, It means you have at least 5 years experience and a clean driving history of no accidents or no infringements for 5 consecutive years. Blue could be construed as the license of shame. Not only is Blue for people who have moved up from green but have been driving less than 5 years, but you also get blue if you have been involved in any accidents or traffic violations. So yes you can get demoted from Yellow to Blue at your renewal and everyone who sees your license will know! The renewal period on a blue will vary between 3 and 5 years depending on your driving history too.
 |
| My new Japanese Drivers license |
Combining with My Number Card
The My Number Card (referred to as Myna from hereon) sounds amazing at first. You can now get a combined card called the Toketei Zairyu card which merges your Zairyu card with your Mynumber card. You could already merge your health Insurance Card into your Myna and your Drivers License too! That would be 4 important cards narrowed down to carrying just 1! Amazing!
Actually no, there are a few downsides:
- You end up with fewer government ID's. You often need multiple to apply for many things such as opening a bank account. If you merge 3 of those into 1, then you only have 1 ID. What can you use as another or another? No idea.
- They don't work in the real world. We already know that the 2nd generation Zairyu card introduced in June 2026 still simply doesn't work with most systems that need to use it, and the combined card would likely have the same issues if not worse, because unlike the physical Zairyu card, the myna needs to be scanned to get the info - will a policeman in the street be carrying a scanner when he wants to check your residence card that's buried in the chip of your Myna? Unlikely. Given foreigners are pretty low on the totem pole in Japan, don't expect the Toketei Zairyu card to work properly anytime soon.
- The Drivers License + Myna might have better luck as that will affect all Japanese too, so it should end up in a working state quicker. But then Police would still need to be able to scan the Myna card to get your drivers license info, and so if they don't have a scanner or can't read the card then it will probably be made to be your problem. You would just end up carrying the physical Drivers License anyway just in case.
- If your Drivers License is part of your Myna Card, you cannot use it to drive overseas as the Myna is not a drivers license.
The staff member at the Drivers License centre even told us not to merge it with the Myna. They acknowledge that it's a bad idea because it's been half-arsed, so if that's not an endorsement to not do it, I don't know what is.
I was aiming for 3 cards in total (including my Visa credit card) as that’s what fits in my phone case. Zairyu is mandatory and so is the Drivers license. As the Myna Card is only really needed when you know in advance that you might need it, it can stay at home. I have a digital version in my Apple wallet anyway and the Pdf with my health insurance details on my phone as an extra backup. The Myna card will go into my wallet which I only take out if I know I’ll need cash.
This is the way.
In closing
Phew, I really never thought converting my drivers license would warrant a long blog post all to itself. Originally I was going to do 1 post to cover Zairyu, Myna and this, but this ended up as sucha process it needed its own! I hope this has been useful or insightful to converting your foreign drivers license in Japan.
Post a Comment