This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Is Driving in Japan an Easy Adjustment?**
I ask as someone from Canada where we drive on the right side and I’m not very confident in my ambidextrous skills.
Would love your advice.
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I don’t consider myself a great driver and I had no real issues. The time it comes up is reversing (turning my head to the right rather than left), but that is basically a non-issue in modern cars with reverse cameras. Also, the turn signal and windshield wipers are flipped, so I used to mistakenly turn on the windshield wipers quite often.
Edit: no turns on red lights (Montreal style), stop signs look like upside down red yield signs, and you have to come to a full stop before a train crossing.
If you can rely on public transit, that should be your first choice. However, having been on toad trips before in Japan, it wasn’t too difficult to acclimate…especially outside of major cities (busiest place I drove in was probably nagaski or naha).
One thing that I always have to get used to, is making sure I’m not drifting into the center median line…as I sometimes underestimate how much space i have on the right-hand driver’s side.
It was pretty easy to adjust for me, but I was also out in the countryside and able to take advantage of some very quiet roads to get my bearings at first.
I promise you, the hardest parts will be turn signal / windshield wipers being on the opposite sides and going to the correct driver’s side when you’re walking to your car in the parking lot and thinking about other things.
The hardest part of driving in Japan is remembering that the turn signal and wiper controls are usually switched. It is the most annoying thing and will screw you up whenever you travel back and forth between Japan and Canada. For automatic transitions, driving isn’t that difficult because the gas and brake pedals are in the same position. Someone was teaching me how to drive manual in Japan and it was a little annoying because the stick shift was in the left side and not right side. Japanese drivers are typically more considerate than western drivers so I found it easy to drive. The hardest part of driving is finding yourself on side streets that are super narrow. Take your time and be careful. The most important nuance are traffic laws, esp. you’re not allowed to make a “right” turn at an intersection if your signal is red. In the US and Canada, you’re allowed to go if you stop and no cross traffic is coming.
It’s a super easy adjustment, only took me a few days to get the hang of it and about 2 weeks to be 100% comfortable. I had driving anxiety in the USA from some bad accidents, loved driving in Japan. Felt safer, less people on the roads, in the two years I spent driving around the country while living there, I don’t think I even saw one accident on the side of the road.
If you’re living in a big city with reliable transportation, driving won’t be necessary. But I genuinely think that driving opens up more opportunities to travel to less-trafficked areas. The freedom is wonderful.
YMMV, but my only experience was with a manual transmission, and the whole foot/clutch/stick shift thing was just too stressful, lol. I’d imagine automatic transmission would be a little easier.
There are no round-a-bouts in Japan, which in my experience are the hardest to manouver if you don’t have some time to adjust first.
8 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**Is Driving in Japan an Easy Adjustment?**
I ask as someone from Canada where we drive on the right side and I’m not very confident in my ambidextrous skills.
Would love your advice.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I don’t consider myself a great driver and I had no real issues. The time it comes up is reversing (turning my head to the right rather than left), but that is basically a non-issue in modern cars with reverse cameras. Also, the turn signal and windshield wipers are flipped, so I used to mistakenly turn on the windshield wipers quite often.
Edit: no turns on red lights (Montreal style), stop signs look like upside down red yield signs, and you have to come to a full stop before a train crossing.
If you can rely on public transit, that should be your first choice. However, having been on toad trips before in Japan, it wasn’t too difficult to acclimate…especially outside of major cities (busiest place I drove in was probably nagaski or naha).
One thing that I always have to get used to, is making sure I’m not drifting into the center median line…as I sometimes underestimate how much space i have on the right-hand driver’s side.
It was pretty easy to adjust for me, but I was also out in the countryside and able to take advantage of some very quiet roads to get my bearings at first.
I promise you, the hardest parts will be turn signal / windshield wipers being on the opposite sides and going to the correct driver’s side when you’re walking to your car in the parking lot and thinking about other things.
The hardest part of driving in Japan is remembering that the turn signal and wiper controls are usually switched. It is the most annoying thing and will screw you up whenever you travel back and forth between Japan and Canada. For automatic transitions, driving isn’t that difficult because the gas and brake pedals are in the same position. Someone was teaching me how to drive manual in Japan and it was a little annoying because the stick shift was in the left side and not right side. Japanese drivers are typically more considerate than western drivers so I found it easy to drive. The hardest part of driving is finding yourself on side streets that are super narrow. Take your time and be careful. The most important nuance are traffic laws, esp. you’re not allowed to make a “right” turn at an intersection if your signal is red. In the US and Canada, you’re allowed to go if you stop and no cross traffic is coming.
It’s a super easy adjustment, only took me a few days to get the hang of it and about 2 weeks to be 100% comfortable. I had driving anxiety in the USA from some bad accidents, loved driving in Japan. Felt safer, less people on the roads, in the two years I spent driving around the country while living there, I don’t think I even saw one accident on the side of the road.
If you’re living in a big city with reliable transportation, driving won’t be necessary. But I genuinely think that driving opens up more opportunities to travel to less-trafficked areas. The freedom is wonderful.
YMMV, but my only experience was with a manual transmission, and the whole foot/clutch/stick shift thing was just too stressful, lol. I’d imagine automatic transmission would be a little easier.
There are no round-a-bouts in Japan, which in my experience are the hardest to manouver if you don’t have some time to adjust first.