Hi all,
As usual, great and informative group. I currently have a japanese driving license and have been keen to get a motorcycle license, my question are:
Do I have to do a written test along with the practical test or would that be skipped ?
Is the practical test in school or would I need to go to the driver license center to do the exam there too?
And if I have to, do they provide them in English, while I can speak in Japanese, I can’t really do such exams in Japanese..
4 comments
You can go try the practical test directly with an At license, though it isn’t easy.
I ended up going to the school. It is cheaper if you have a car license to begin with.
I just took my <400cc bike license a few months ago. Situation was same as yours, although my car license is MT. For your bike license I’m assuming you are taking the “driving school” route (not conversion)?
If so, then there is no written test. Register at a driving school of your choice, pay up, take around 17 hours of riding lessons (all practical), take the final practical exam **in the driving school**, if you pass then they will hand you over a graduation certificate. Bring that certificate to your nearest license center and they will add bike clearance to your current license.
Had a car license, took 大型二輪 license, no need for the written test.
Whether the practical test is at the school or at the center depends on the school. It has to have a certain certification to be able to do tests in the school course (most do)
When it comes to Japanese ability, if you’re only doing the practical driving lessons and test, I’d say you’ll be ok if you’re intermediate level or above. In the beginning, there’s a 適性検査 (“suitability test”) which will be in Japanese, but I don’t think you can fail those, it’s just to understand your personality and basic cognitive ability. No English in most of the schools, unless you pay more for one that offers that service
I went the other way, I had an MT motorcycle license and went to get an AT car license at a school.
I didn’t need to take any written tests, just the two car practical tests. If you’re doing it at a designated driving school, you will do the tests at the driving school (which is significantly easier from what I heard). Then at the end of the course and tests, you will get awarded a certificate with some other documents, you bring that to a driving license center, and they’ll process your license and add motorcycle onto your car license.