Driving in Japan: converting your foreign licence (after the 2025 changes)

Driving on an international permit

An International Driving Permit from a Geneva Convention country lets you drive in Japan for up to one year from the day you arrive, as long as the permit itself is valid. Some countries' own licences work with an official Japanese translation instead.

The trap: if you live here, leaving Japan and coming back doesn't reset the year unless you were away for three months or more. Once you're a resident, plan to convert.

Who can convert (外免切替, gaimen kirikae)

• You're registered as a resident: since October 2025 you need a resident record (住民票) to convert, so short-term visitors can't.
• The three-month rule: after you got your licence, you spent at least three months in total in the country that issued it. Your passport stamps prove it. Automated gates don't stamp, so you may need your official entry and exit record from immigration.
• Your licence is valid, and you have an official Japanese translation of it (from JAF, your embassy, or another body the rules name).

What to bring

• Your foreign licence (and any older one that shows when you were first licensed).
• The Japanese translation of it.
• Your passport, including old passports covering when you got the licence.
• A copy of your resident record (住民票) showing your nationality.
• Your residence card, and a photo (3 cm × 2.4 cm; the licence centres have photo booths).
• The fees: around ¥2,500 to apply for a standard car licence plus ¥2,350 to issue it in Tokyo (they vary a little by prefecture).

The knowledge and driving tests

Holders of licences from a list of about 29 countries and regions skip both tests and only have their documents and eyesight checked. Everyone else takes:

• A knowledge test on Japanese road rules, available in several languages. Since October 2025 it's longer and the pass mark is high, so study the rules: stop signs, railway crossings (stop before every one), and right-of-way at uncontrolled junctions.
• A driving test on the centre's course, booked in advance. Examiners want exaggerated safety checks: mirrors and a head turn before every turn and lane change, a full stop at every stop line, and staying left before turning left.

Many people fail the driving test the first time. A lesson or two at a driving school's practice course, or with someone who passed recently, is often the cheapest way to pass sooner.

The day itself

1. 1Check your prefecture's licence centre: many need a booking for the document check, and some only handle certain countries.
2. 2Go with every document. The document check can take hours.
3. 3Take the knowledge test (if you need to). If you pass, book the driving test.
4. 4Pass the driving test, then the licence is issued the same day.