I just failed the honmen test again for the second time, exact same score as before. I don’t understand why the test is so hard in Japan. Why do I need to know about how motorbikes work or what the maximum carrying capacity of a large truck is? I’m not learning for them, I’m learning to drive a normal automatic car.
Back in my home country in the UK, you pass the theory test once and then pass a driving test once and then your done. But 95 questions on the final exam?? Really? And it has to be 90/95 to pass?? The English here is never great either so sometimes it’s hard to really understand what they’re trying to say.
And to top things off, I have to go to another city early in the morning ON A WEEKDAY. Why can’t they include Saturdays too?
The whole system of doing this here is so bewildering and I kinda wish I’d never done it because it this point I feel like I’m just dumb and will never get my licence.
Have you had any experiences with the tests here?
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>Why do I need to know about how motorbikes work or what the maximum carrying capacity of a large truck is?
Because you need a 90/95 to pass and those are questions you might be asked?
Because you’ll be on the road with those other vehicles? I don’t know, it seems beneficial.
These mentioned below are exempt from the written and practical driving tests.
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Netherlands, U.K., U.S.A. (Hawaii, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and Washington only), as of March 2022
https://www.japanlivingguide.net/living-in-japan/transportation/convert-drivers-license/
Good explanation. Those questions are the [brown M&Ms](https://www.insider.com/van-halen-brown-m-ms-contract-2016-9)… 😆
I think you also need to get a full score for the last 5 questions (91-95)
No complaints will help. Maybe need to have a petition to the government which I doubt will help. Many people passed the exam and it is good enough.
>Back in my home country in the UK, you pass the theory test once and then pass a driving test once and then your done.
If you passed in the UK why not simply exchange your license for a japanese one? You even drive on the same side of the road they should have gaimenkirikae for you no?
I don’t think it is that hard… The difficult part is that there are tricky questions that most of the time I got confused if it was false or not.
I got it on my third try. The first two times, I went with what I knew from karimen.
The third time, I actually studied because going.
Funny enough, I was the only foreigner in my class who passed that day
If you notice though its the same group of staff who open the counters in the morning, process all the paperwork, go upstairs to explain and invigilate the exams for you, go outside with you to explain and mark you for the practical course, then come back in and process the paperwork for your licence when you pass and give you the the last explanations. They can only take a certain number of test takers a day too.
They are absolutely slammed from morning to evening because its designed to get your licence within a day without having to come back. They don’t hold tests on Saturdays and Sundays because everyone else that needs something done BESIDES taking a test go in on those days.
Yeah its irritating when you have to keep taking the day off to go back, so get some theory test questions online and practice more.
hah, I’m doing mine this week. If I can make it! Like you my Menkyou center is bloody miles away so I’d have to get a 5am train and spend 2h just to get there for an 8:30am start.
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The test questions are nonsense too! But it is the system! I feel you though, I really do. Not sure I’ll pass first try either lol, 90/95 when many of the questions are trick questions! feels really unfair.
>Why do I need to know about how motorbikes work or what the maximum carrying capacity of a large truck is?
For this question specifically, because you’re allowed to ride some of the bikes and some of the trucks with your 第一種 license, and you’re required to know what you’re allowed to drive and what you’re not. When your aunt’s husband’s nephew asks you to help them moving from Tochigi to Nagoya by driving a 5ton+ truck, you’ll need those knowledge to say no.
Just be thankful it’s not a graduated license like some countries have. Atleast here, just like the in uk, you pass your paper, pass your driving and you’re off to the races… where I’m from it takes minimum 20 months to get a full license.
Cry much? It’s a drivers license. If it’s too hard for you, then you shouldn’t have a license anyways.
Since your comparing to the UK, then why didn’t you get your license in your country?
My wife got it on the first try 92/95.
While her brother took it for the like the whole year just to get a passing score.
My wife can understand en/jp .
Her brother is only jp only .
They both agreed it was hard BUT NECESSARY.
I only took the kirikae so my experience is alittle different
It’s not 90/95.
it’s 90 points out of 100 points(there are 95 questions which is where rhe confusion comes from i guess)
the first 90 questions are one point each, the last 5 questions are 2 points each.
I would really focus on the last 5 and get them perfect. They are just common sense. Then for the remaining 90 you can get 10 wrong!
Also just memorize the shit out of the past questions. I think there is a highly reviewed book on Amazon.co.uk with English questions. Or you could try the japanese questions(definitely needed to translate some of those questions into Japanese first for them to make sense lol)
Rather have this kind of license test to keep the roads more safe instead of places like the US where you take a 10 question test and you can miss 3 or 4 to pass, and retake it as many time as you want on the spot.
The practical test is even worse, it’s a whole theatrical thing. I didn’t have to take it as I’m from the UK but my poor husband, who’s been driving for 10+ years, tried multiple times. It’s not about whether you can drive, it’s about whether you can put on a show.
If you already passed your theory in the UK, it might be easier to take the practical there and convert your licence here (if you’re planning to go anytime soon). It will honestly save you so much time and money. If not, then unfortunately you have no choice but to try again and again until you make it. I know it’s frustrating but you just have to get on with it.
Just want to comment saying I appreciate the constructive replies people left despite my very broken and obviously emotion-ridden complaint about the tests here in Japan. My position on not needing to know about other vehicles was out of frustration but I realise that it is actually important to know about them. I still think these exams are very difficult and have my reservations about them but I appreciate those that posted their experiences and gave some advice too. But I’m general I apologise for the negativity from this post, it was written not long after I got my result in frustration at my failing a second time.
Are you not in a driving school? Didn’t they provide any study materials?
I just passed the honmen test a few days ago. It was my ‘first attempt’, but I also spent a reasonably high amount of time going over the English textbook, watching the school’s online videos, and taking practice tests in both English and Japanese. You don’t mention what kind of preparation you’ve been doing, but even if many questions have ‘common sense’ answers, there’s also a lot of facts that you pretty much need to memorise (eg license types, vehicle loading/towing restrictions, rules around overtaking/parking/stopping, etc.)
The test really isn’t that ‘hard’, especially not in English, but most people will need to properly prepare for it.
The braking distances and handling characteristics of a motorcycle or truck matter. Even if all you’re trying to do is to avoid them.
Not to mention that a standard driver’s license also gives you the right to drive a 50cc bike or a 2-tonne truck (mine was upgraded to drive an 8-tonner a few years back).
I went through Japanese driving school a few months ago, and I passed my honmen on the first try. Your school should have given you access to practice question sets (e.g. Rakusyo 楽勝問題). I advise you do all of them!
The practice question sets are usually more difficult than the real thing, so they get you well-prepared.
And yeah, the English phrasing is sometimes pretty awkward. Unfortunately you’ve just got to memorise the terminology.
I’m in the same boat right now, my problem is that the wording seems to be intentionally confusing, broken google translate English, or both. I got 87% the first try, you need 90% to pass, so I’m very close, but it’s annoying to see a test in confusing English, when the textbook is super straight forward.
Skill issue. I took it with my friends and there were tons of foreigners as well at the test center. All pass first try. Its really not hard.
I went to a driving boot camp. It was expensive but they basically taught me how to pass the test. Passed everything my first try, so it was worth it.
Maybe you are not smart enough to drive