Not long ago I got my drive license in Osaka.
If you are interested maybe this post can help.
I could change my driving license for Japan but instead I decided to study it from scratch.
The price at my age was around 340.000.
There’s no English support besides one book of 4 books used to study.
All the classes are in Japanese and they will ask you questions.
I did 3 test in school, computer test with 50 question (need 45 to pass, English ), driving test in course (really simple stuff , s curve , sharp corner, hill) and a writing test (for the police, English ).
After I pass all 3 (very simple) they let you drive outside, I had to drive in highway, downtown Osaka (namba, Tennoji) and drive with more people.
After that I have one more driving test were I have to follow a course and chose the lines by myself, it was simple but one mistake and is out (stopping in line is automatic out) this test is also with more people so I decided to be the last one and check how the other fails.
Then a computer test of 95 question (English). Easy.
After that they give you all papers to do the final write test at the police station, same 95 question in English , again very simple basic stuff.
So, the test are easy, studying day before you should pass at the first try. The driving test was kinda very strict (the course is easy if you memorize the route and lines u should enter) , some people drove really well and just because the tire was over the line they got disqualified, that was too much .. (maybe 3 times out? But one out?)
And well , Japanese was damn hard as they only used technical words (usetsu, sasetsu, seidoutou… etc) , some times they ask me to read the book in front of them and I’m like…. “Dude I barely can read hiragana ….”
That’s it ! Happy driving !
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Wait.. you had a license from your own country and could have applied for the Japanese one and sat through their boring lecture, but you choose to spend 340,000 yen instead? Why?
Hoping to get mine next year, I don’t have a license from my home country so I guess I have no other option anyway
Want to share my experience too, got my car license last week from scratch.
First, I enrolled to a driving school.
My driving school is quite big, they have some kind of campaign each summer around may and other months where student got a long holiday.
The campaign basically give you free add-ons plan where it costs you more if you enrolled normally.
Some plan is, night lesson package, free lesson if you keep failing and need more time, free exam fee if you failed.
The lesson is only available in Japanese but you can buy the English version text book which is around 8000 yen.
It’s practically identical to its japanese part down to the pages.
The lessons can be divided into 2 phases. Karimen, and sotsuken phase.
At karimen phase you need to pass driving test, and written test.
The written test is consisted of 50 questions, and most school only offer japanese test. But you can take the test in other languages in police driver’s license center.
(90 points out of 100 is required to pass, so you can only get 5 wrong questions)
If you pass both the test, you will get a learner’s permit. Which allow you to go down to the road for learning purpose (1 year expirity).
Finish the phase 2 lessons, and yes. Another driving test and written test. But now the written test can only be taken in driver’s license center. It consisted of 95 questions, same with previous test. You need 90 points to pass. So only 10 wrong questions allowed.
If you pass the test, you can got your license immediately that day. So be sure to… Suit up!! 🤵🤵♀️
N.B: All the written test and creating the license cost you money. Be sure to bring a money.
You can also forgo a driving school and pay around 5,000 test to take each test. If you can already drive and have read through the English version of the driver handbook, you can take the written tests in English and manage the practical with basic Japanese. It’s a lot cheaper.