Fuchu Driver’s licence test Course/Manual, passed on first try (2024)

Hi all, I've been trying to do Gaimen Kirikae from my Indian licence, and yesterday, amidst the rains from the typhoon, I was lucky enough to be the 1 person out of 11 who passed it in my group of manual drivers. It was my first time at the course, and I firmly believe that all the fear around the license is unsabstantiated, it's pretty easy (If you know how to drive) and I'll explain every step I did.

No, I did not memorise any course, No, I never paid extra money to practice on the course beforehand, all I did was refer to old guides about the checks you need to do before getting in the car, while starting, while turning, and after finishing. This old post was the one I referred to, but there are some inaccuracies, it being 10 years old, so I thought I'd make a new step by step guide for those who want their Japanese licence, specifically at the Fuchu center.

First, I went on a Wednesday morning in June with my documents: A translation of my Indian licence, Zairyu card, Juminhyo, a document attesting to the validity of my licence (taken from Gov. of India transport website), my passport (to prove I've stayed for 90 days in my home country), and my Indian Driver's licence of course. You do not need an appointment, rather go to Window 31 directly on the 3rd floor of the licence centre, you will have to wait a whole 6 hours, and I recommend showing up give or take at 8 AM. The written test was 10 questions, 7 of those you need to get correct. I had practiced beforehand, so I got 10/10 easily. The police officers gave a "whoaaa" simultaneously when they saw it. After passing, I get an appointment card, the next appointment was 7/12, a month later, and I took it. I got free at 2 PM that day, just because they make you wait a lot. I won't be talking much about the first part, since the practical test is what I'm mainly interested to tell about, so let's begin.

First, something popped up on 7/12, so I called them around 7/1 on the number that came with the appointment card, and the next date they gave me was 8/16, 8AM. I reached 3rd floor of the centre on 7/16 at 8:05AM. Ask any officer and they'll direct you to a room where they'll check you have everything (basically all the documents you required on the first day, plus your appointment card). When done, they'll instruct you to wait. At around 8:30, there was a roll call of absentees, and those who were absent were striked off for that day.
Waited until 9, then we all 11 of us, plus 50 something from automatic group went to the room on the second floor where we were explained the rules of the test. The old post said that you it is here where you'll see the officers who'll pass or fail you, and it was right. The manual group seemed to get the most stern out of them all, he never laughed when the other officers were trying to lighten the mood. The presentation is in Japanese, but I'll tell you what's worth remembering:
1. Each corner is marked by a number, and the officer will tell you "yon ban de hidari", and you turn left on number corner marked by 4 (the numbers are well visible on the track). If he wants you to go the end of the road, the officer will say "tsukiatari de migi/hidari". (You do not need to memorise the course at all becasue the officer will tell you where to turn, so don't bother with whether you are getting course C or D.)
2. When it's your turn, you keep the bag on the backside, but with the left door, the right door must never open (since that is the traffic lane)
3. You need to do a vehicle check before entering, which I'm sure you guys have seen a million times already, but I'll paste the text from the old post here:

There's a pre-start ritual you should do. First, go around the back of the car and look underneath it for obstacles. Go from the back to the front of the car via the passenger (left) and do the same in front. Be sure to bend down far enough to look underneath! Then from the front of the car go to the driver's door. Before stepping out in the road, look both ways (as if it was real traffic), and go to the door. Before opening the door, look both ways again, and then open and get in and close the door.
Lock the door after you get in. Immediately put on your seatbelt, making sure there are no twists. Adjust the seat (even if it doesn't need it), adjust your mirrors, look into each thing and make sure everything is OK. Make sure your handbrake is on (visual or put your hand on
it to check it's up). Put hands at 10 and 2 and ask "daijoubu desu ka?" to the proctor. He will say yes.For MT, clutch in and put the car in neutral. For AT, brake in. Turn on the car. Ask the proctor "ikimasu ka?" and he'll say yes.
Signal to your right (even if you are going to go straight), MT put the car into 1st, AT put the car into D. Look in your mirrors (left, rear, right), then over your right shoulder. Pull forward to the blue pole.

We then proceed to the track, and since it's a rainy day, we're told to wait in a shed while the first guy goes to the driver seat, and the second at the back. The first guy came out the officer gave him an explanation, and he got a white slip (fail). The second guy got the explanation and the slip, so did the fourth, fifth and sixth. I sat in the car with the sixth guy, and that's when I realised why the pass rate is so low. The other 10 people cannot drive. He kept turning on the wipers again and again instead of the turn signal, hit the curb 3 times, and the officer had to put the emergency brake on twice. Maybe he just got nervous, but I understood then that the officers are not an evil bunch who hate foreigners, they are just trying to keep the streets safe because no way in hell would I allow drivers like this to be anywhere within the reach of a steering wheel.

My turn came, I forgot to say "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" at the start, as suggested by the old post. When the officer said hashitte (go), I wasn't paying attention for some reason so he got annoyed and kept saying hashitte hashitte, so I thought welp there goes everything. I even forgot to check the blind spot on at least two turns. But, when the test got over, he had no comments for me, all he asked was my appointment card back and gave me a yellow slip saying show yourself at window 31 at 12 AM (they meant PM). I said a very grateful "Doumo arigatou gozaimasu" but the officer didn't even bother to look in my general direction. Anyway, instead of going up after passing, I went back inside the stand to chat with the others and help calm them down if they were nervous. There was a nice lady who was supposed to be the last driver, she was half american, and had been driving for 10+ years. She said she even paid to take extra classes at Fuchu center, and I was confident she'll pass just because she had so much more experience. The officer saw me in the stand when he came back again and said "sorya dame", so I ran quickly to 3rd floor away from the track not to make him angry any more. But i kept waiting for the lady since I thought she'll pass and she never came. Oh, well.