Acquiring a Japanese Drivers License

Hirabari Driving Center

For those of you not aware, Japan is one of those odd countries where cars drive on the left side of the road.  Their population density makes complicated intersections and lots of traffic a fact of life, and as such they're keen to make sure foreign drivers know a thing or two about how to navigate their roads. Citizens of some countries, like Canada, can simply submit some paperwork along with a valid drivers license and receive the corresponding Japanese license. For whatever reason testing is required before the same privilege is granted to Americans.

It all begins with a whole lot of paperwork. That's a striking part of the process - computers aren't involved. There's lots of honest to goodness paper shuffling and rubber stamping. There was an eye exam, followed by a 10 question written test. It's the kind of test you'd be hard-pressed to fail, featuring questions like "True / False - It is ok to park in the striped lines outside of the fire station." Alice and I both missed one question (only seven correct answers are needed to pass) but strangely they don't bother to tell you what questions you got wrong. Upon successful test completion, you receive a date and time for a practical driving test. In our case, that was two weeks away.

When I hear 'driving test', I have flashbacks to when I originally got my license; driving around on city roads while the instructor gave instructions where to turn. Here in Japan, at least for the foreigners, testing takes place on a closed driving course - you're not trusted on open roads. There are two designated courses that demonstrate the desired driving proficiencies, and applicants are expected to have them both memorized. That doesn't seem like such a big deal until you find out what the testing center looks like:

Alice and I had awesome test prep help from the consultants handling her relocation, in addition to two hours of driving lessons the night before the test. That might sound like overkill in the test prep department for experienced drivers, but the testing process takes over four hours, so it's not the kind of thing you want to spend time doing more than once.

On the day of the test, you check in and are told whether you will be driving A Course or B Course. Applicants then have about 45 minutes to walk around the track and mentally prepare. We were walking for about 30 minutes following the route on foot, so I'd estimate the total driving distance somewhere around one mile.

While we were waiting for the testing to begin, I was randomly accosted by a pair of gentlemen from Turkey. Apparently one of them was trying to get a stand-by (unscheduled) testing slot that day. He'd already taken the test five times, and still expected to take it several more before passing. Ultimately the testing was full and he left without getting another shot.

Alice was third in line for testing, I was fourth. The tester remains in the passenger seat of the car while applicants shuffle in and out as they complete the course. Each run takes about 7 minutes, so there was plenty of time to catch glimpses of the other drivers on the course and make sketchy judgments about how the test was going for them.

At the end of the test for the foreigners, the tester has a conversation with your translator about how the test went. Naturally shorter conversations are better - the tester would be mentioning fewer things you did wrong. The girl who drove before Alice got a tremendous amount of feedback, and it didn't look good for her passing the test. She graciously left the door open for Alice to get into the car, which is a big no-no. The test doesn't actually end until you exit the car and close the door, so you lose a bunch of points for walking away with the door open.

Alice will have to post herself how she felt about the test... When she returned she was definitely looking confident. I was quite nervous. I got in the car, ran through the pre-departure seat and mirror adjustments, and then was ready to go. I promptly went to hit the turn signal and activated the windshield wipers instead. The problem with right hand drive cars is the controls are reversed as well. Shifting happens with your left hand, turn signals with your right. I'd gone for two hours of driving the night before without so much as a hint of making that mistake, and the first thing I did on test day was slap the wipers. Color me flustered. I turned the wipers off quickly, got the turn signal on, and was ready to pull out... when the wipers swished once more across the dry windshield. I'd only managed to switch them from constant to delay. The tester indicated the position the lever needed to be in to completely turn them off, and then we were off and rolling.

The next thing I know I'm getting ready to make the last somewhat-tricky turn in the course and wondering how I got there so quickly. Did I miss a turn and cut out a portion of the route? Am I going to hit the last possible curb and fail? I got back to the starting line without any incidents beyond the initial wiper escapade, and listened uncomprehendingly to the (thankfully brief) feedback offered by the tester. Our licensing consultant explained that for both of us the tester had mentioned what good drivers Americans were. That sounded positive, we had him fooled!

We still had to wait another two hours to get the official results. We hung out in a little cafe / coffee shop across the street from the driving center for most of it, which is where the beverage photo was taken. When it's time for the test results, all of the applicants are sitting in a waiting area and an employee comes out and reads a list of names. If you're on the list, you receive your actual license about 15 minutes later - a staggeringly fast turn around compared to the speed of the rest of the process. If your name wasn't called, as was the case for more than half of the other folks who had their test with us, you're stuck scheduling another test and starting the whole day over.

I have to say, the experience had a dramatic element that's really missing from our trips to the DMV at home. Waiting to hear your name called for passing the test was like something you'd see on a reality TV show. Sure it might be possible to deliver the results in a faster, more efficient manner, but it would take away some of the sweetness of the victory. I admit, I was celebrating success for the rest of the day.