(I don't know any teens!) As I understand it, you can get your car driver's license on your 18th birthday, and that's uniform (Is it?) throughout all Japan departments. (Unlike, say, sex (!) where I believe officially you have to be 18 in Kanto but 17 in Kansai!)
Anyway my US acquaintance who's a driving instructor (I mean in the US) was wondering as a curiosity, in Kansai (same all of Japan?) in fact can you take driving lessons ie presumably with an instructor when you're under 18 (17? 16? what?) .. I guess that's the question.
(Actually I suppose if the answer is No, it would be technically impossible to literally get a DL on your 18th birthday? Or?)
Thanks if anyone knows!
I seem to remember hearing about driving "camps" for <18 but perhaps that's only on private/closed roads?
(PS. I'm fully aware that in Japan, certainly Tokyo, just in broad terms not so many people need a DL and it's not like the US where 99% of teens get a DL the first day they can, and it costs a few dollars and is easy.)
by jonny_cheers
2 comments
https://gprivate.com/6c4bt
This obviously has nothing to do with Osaka/Kansai in particular, and you could just Google this yourself, but whatever:
First practice can be on private property (driving camps tend to have their own little circuit for this), but to go onto public roads you need to be granted a learner’s permit (provisional license), for which the minimal age is 18. IIRC, when going to one of those driving camps, the first week will typically be internal, and the second week external (driving on public roads), so I think it can make sense to start a week or so prior to your 18th birthday, but any earlier and you’d just waste time and money waiting for your birthday while forgetting the stuff you already learned.
[ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/仮運転免許](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%AE%E9%81%8B%E8%BB%A2%E5%85%8D%E8%A8%B1) + [relevant article](https://www.gasshukuhikaku.com/blog_car/post_5748/)