Hey eveyone,
I‘m (hopefully) going to go Japan for a year on the working holiday visa, from May 2023 onwards. So, planning to travel throughout the country as much as possible, I recently began thinking about how I‘d get around. Now I‘ve done some research already and found that getting to drive a car would take a relatively long time and be quite costly. Especially since I don’t already possess a license in my home country. Not mentioning the fact that I didn‘t find any information on whether it is even possible under the given conditions.
Thus, instead of a car, I‘m currently considering a scooter. I‘m not deep into the matter – so correct me if I‘m wrong anywhere – but what I‘ve seen so far was very promising: Cheap, easy to get, easy to get a license for. I‘d be very glad if anyone could give me some information on the conditions and perhaps some advice/experience concerning the matter of driving in Japan as a whole. Even if none of that, if you know any official sources of information I could check out, I‘d be really grateful if you shared them with me. Thank you!
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UPDATE: So overall I‘ve got to reconsider my options of how I‘ll traverse Japan during my stay. May not drive at all – though I still really want to, so that‘s still on my mind. In case I‘ll opt for driving I will get a license here in Germany and convert it. I‘ll look into all of the addresses that were shared. Also need to check the residency status with my travel organisation. Thank you for your help and advice everyone!
4 comments
You can ride a scooter with an engine size of 50cc or below with a regular driver’s license. Anything bigger and you need a motorcycle license.
You can get an IDP – that’s an International Driver’s Permit – from your country’s automobile authority, usually. The requirements differ somewhat in different countries, but generally, you will need to have a full-fledged license for a period of time – usually a year or two – before you can get an IDP.
You cannot get a driver’s license in Japan if you are not a resident. I have no idea if WHV gives you the residency status you would need for this.
The easiest way to do this, *by far*, is to get your license in your home country. Like… ***now***. The key is to have your license for more than 90 days before you leave.
Most (but not all) of the countries on the WHV list are *also* on the “easy license conversion” list. You’ll obviously need to check whether your particular country can do an easy swap, but it’s very likely that you’ll be able to get a Japanese license with only a written test. That would avoid the “relatively long time and be quite costly” bit.
Like u/awh mentioned, you can’t drive a scooter on an IDP, so the only way to do this is to get a Japanese license. You could try to get a scooter license from scratch in Japan, but why do that when there’s a chance you can just swap a license from your home country?
Would it be possible for you get a driver’s license now in your home country? If you can, then you can get an international driving permit (IDP) that you can use to drive **an equivalent class of vehicle** in Japan for 1 year. Like u/Elestriel said, the rules vary per country, so consult your country’s DMV equivalent to see if you will have enough time to do it.
EDIT: The IDP will only allow you to drive an equivalent class of vehicle in Japan, so a class A license will allow you to drive 2-wheeled vehicles of a similar grade in Japan, while a class B license will allow you to drive 4-wheeled vehicles of a similar grade in Japan.
As for getting a full-fledged driver’s license in Japan, like you said, it would be expensive. You can expect to spend 300,000 yen (~2000$/€) and at least 2 weeks of your time for a regular car license.
Regarding scooters, yes it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to get a license in Japan for it. You just have to [pass a written exam and attend a lecture](https://morethanrelo.com/en/get-a-scooter-license-in-japan/) (no driving test) to get it. However, I personally would not recommend it as a means to “travel throughout the country as much as possible”.
Depending on where you plan to travel in Japan, you might not need a car at all. The train system can get you to major destinations, and buses can bring you to the harder-to-reach locations.
I see from your other replies that you’re German. The advice u/dalkyr82 has given you is absolutely correct. Do your best to get your Category B license in Germany, which will allow you to drive cars and scooters up to 50cc.
https://www.fahrschule-123.de/en/categories-of-driving-licence/car/category-b-b17/
With a German drivers license you don’t need an International Driving Permit (IDP) at all, but you do need an official translation in order to use it in Japan.
https://www.police.pref.chiba.jp/english/foreign_license_01.html
You can get the translation from JAF here in Japan. https://english.jaf.or.jp/driving-in-japan/drive-in-japan/switch-to-japanese-license
JAF also has this handy “rules of the road” reference guide:
https://english.jaf.or.jp/safe-driving/traffic-rules-in-japan