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In Japan, a driving licence (運転免許, Unten menkyo) is required when operating a car, motorcycle or moped on public roads. Driving licences are issued by the prefectural governments' public safety commissions and are overseen on a nationwide basis by the National Police Agency.
Contents
Types of licence
Japanese licences are divided by experience level and by vehicle type.
Categories
The vehicle classes are as follows:
Ordinary, heavy motorcycle and ordinary motorcycle licence classes are either "unrestricted" (i.e., the driver may use a manual transmission or automatic transmission vehicle) or "restricted to automatic".
The vehicle type ratings are as follows:
Required training
There are two options for learners. Firstly, learners can attend a designated driving school. Graduates from a designated driving school do not need to sit the practical examination but they do need to sit the written examination. Secondly, learners can attend non-designated driving school or obtain practice through other means, in which case they must sit both the practical and written examinations. The Japanese driving examination consists of a written examination and a practical examination for each level of licence. Most Japanese go to a driving school prior to taking these examinations (though it's not required), and upon completing the course at a non-designated driving school must register for the examinations in the prefecture where they are registered as a resident. The practical examination consists of driving a vehicle through a purpose-designed driving course while obeying relevant rules of the road.
Japan also allows Japan-resident holders of foreign driving licences to convert their foreign licence to a Japanese licence through an abbreviated examination process. This consists of an eyesight test and, depending on the issuing country of the foreign licence, may also require a short written examination and a practical examination. The pass rate for the practical exam is only about 35% for JETs for example, but those who take a lengthy and expensive course reportedly have a 90 to 100% pass rate, even though this exam is much harder. The fee for an English-speaking foreigner to obtain a licence from a Japanese driving school is about ¥400,000 (about $3900).
Driving licence card
Every licensed driver is issued with a driving licence card (運転免許証, Unten Menkyo Shou), which they are required to have available for inspection whenever they exercise the privileges granted by the licence.
Description
The sections of the sample licence shown are:
Date format
The dates are written in year-month-day order. The years follow the Japanese era calendar scheme. The months and days follow the Gregorian calendar, as in most Western countries.
For example:
Categories of Japanese licence
Abbreviated names of the categories of vehicle this licence includes. For illustrative purposes, this sample licence shows every category. Category names are in the same places on every licence. If a category is not included in a licence, in the place where the category name would appear there is a horizontal bar.
Amendments
Amendments to the licence, such as a change of address, can be recorded on the reverse side of the licence. For amendments that cannot be recorded in this manner, a new licence must be issued.