In Japan, a driving license (運転免許, Unten menkyo) is required when operating a car, motorcycle or moped on public roads. Driving licenses are issued by the prefectural governments' public safety commissions and are overseen on a nationwide basis by the National Police Agency.

Types of license

Japanese licenses are divided by experience level and by vehicle type.

Classes

NameJapaneseDescription
Provisional license仮運転免許Issued to a new driver undergoing training for their Class 1 license. Requires the driver to display learner's black-on-white plates on the exterior of the vehicle, and to be accompanied by a supervising experienced Class 1 license holder while driving. This license expires unless a learner driver gains a Class 1 license within six months.
Class 1 license第一種運転免許The ordinary licence for operating a private car.
Class 2 licenses第二種運転免許Required when operating a commercial passenger-carrying vehicle such as a taxi or bus. Driver must be 21 years of age or older and have at least three years of experience driving under a Class 1 ordinary vehicle/heavy special vehicle license (relaxed to two years for members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. One year and 19 years old by certain lesson in driving school).

Categories

The vehicle classes are as follows:

NameJapaneseDescription
Heavy vehicle大型自動車Any vehicle which weighs 11,000 kg or more in total, has maximum capacity of 6,500 kg or more, or carries 30 or more people, and is not classified as special vehicle, motorcycle or moped.
Medium vehicle中型自動車Any vehicle which weighs between 7,500 kg and 11,000 kg in total, has a maximum capacity between 4,500 kg and 7,500 kg, or carries 11 to 29 people, and is not classified as heavy vehicle, special vehicle, motorcycle or moped.
Semi-Medium vehicle準中型自動車Any vehicle which weighs between 3,500 kg and 7,500 kg in total, has a maximum capacity between 2,000 kg and 4,500 kg , and is not classified as heavy vehicle, medium vehicle, special vehicle, motorcycle or moped.
Ordinary vehicle普通自動車Any motorised vehicle which is not classified as heavy vehicle, medium vehicle, semi-medium vehicle, special vehicle, motorcycle or moped.
Heavy special vehicle大型特殊自動車Specialised automotive equipment such as tractors or cranes which are used for particular work and are not classified as small special vehicles.
Small special vehicle小型特殊自動車Specialized automotive equipment with a maximum speed of 15 km/h or less and no larger than 4.7m × 1.7m × 2.8m.
Heavy motorcycle大型自動二輪車Any motorcycle including a sidecar with a power exceeding 20 Kw (400cc for engine displacement), and is not classified as special vehicle.
Ordinary motorcycle普通自動二輪車Any motorcycle including a sidecar, and is not classified as special vehicle, heavy motorcycle or moped.
Moped原動機付自転車Any motorcycle with a power 0.6Kw or less (50cc or less for engine displacement), or motorized quadricycle which is not larger than 2.5m x 1.3m x 2.0m with a power 0.25Kw or less(20cc or less for engine displacement).

The "restricted to automatic" license (AT限定免許) can be issued for ordinary vehicle (including Class 2 license), ordinary motorcycle and heavy motorcycle license classes. The "restricted to small motorcycle" license (小型二輪免許 1.0Kw/125cc or less) can be issued for ordinary motorcycle license class, and can be issued along with the "restricted to automatic" license.

Vehicle Type Ratings

The vehicle type ratings are as follows:

Type of
Class 1 license
Vehicle types allowed to driveMinimum
age
Vehicle (自動車)Special vehicle (特殊自動車)Motorcycle (自動二輪車)Moped
(原動機付自転車)
Heavy (大型)Medium (中型)Semi-Med (準中型)Ordinary (普通)Heavy (大型)Small (小型)Heavy (大型)Ordinary (普通)
Vehicle license
(自動車免許)
Heavy (大型)PermittedPermittedPermittedPermitted Permitted  Permitted21*
Medium (中型) PermittedPermittedPermitted Permitted  Permitted20*
Semi-Med (準中型)  PermittedPermitted Permitted  Permitted18
Ordinary (普通)   Permitted Permitted  Permitted18
Special
vehicle license
(特殊自動車免許)
Heavy (大型)    PermittedPermitted  Permitted18
Small (小型)     Permitted   16
Motorcycle license
(自動二輪車免許)
Heavy (大型)     PermittedPermittedPermittedPermitted18
Ordinary (普通)     Permitted PermittedPermitted16
Moped license (原動機付自転車免許)        Permitted16
Trailer license (牽引免許)Required to drive any heavy vehicle, medium vehicle, semi-medium vehicle, ordinary vehicle or heavy special vehicle, towing a trailer weighing more than 750 kg gross (other than when towing damaged vehicles).18
  • The minimum requirement for heavy or medium vehicle license can be relaxed to 19 years old and one year experience under ordinary vehicle/heavy special vehicle license by certain lesson in driving school.[1]


Required training

There are two options for learners. Firstly, learners can attend a designated driving school. Graduates from a designated driving school do not need to sit the practical examination but they do need to sit the written examination. Secondly, learners can attend non-designated driving school or obtain practice through other means, in which case they must sit both the practical and written examinations. The Japanese driving examination consists of a written examination and a practical examination for each level of license. Most Japanese go to a driving school prior to taking these examinations (though it is not required), and upon completing the course at a non-designated driving school must register for the examinations in the prefecture where they are registered as a resident. The practical examination consists of driving a vehicle through a purpose-designed driving course while obeying relevant rules of the road.[2]

Japan also allows Japan-resident holders of foreign driving licenses to convert their foreign license to a Japanese license through an abbreviated examination process. This consists of an eyesight test and, depending on the issuing country of the foreign license, may also require a short written examination and a practical examination.

Countries exempt from the exam include, as of 2022: Iceland, Ireland, parts of the United States (limited to only the states of Ohio, Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland and Washington), United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Canada, South Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Hungary, Finland, France, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg, and Taiwan.[3]

In 2003, the first-time pass rate for Americans was slightly higher than the 35 percent pass rate for Japanese returnees, but not much. On the other hand, for those who took the regular test, they had to go through an intensive (and expensive) driver education program. The first time pass rate for this group, even with the harder test, was 90 to 100 percent.[4] As of 2022, the fee for an English-speaking foreigner to obtain a license from a Japanese driving school is about ¥500,000 (or about US$4556).[2]

Driving license card

Every licensed driver is issued with a driving license card (運転免許証, Unten Menkyo Shou), which they are required to have available for inspection whenever they exercise the privileges granted by the license.

Layout of a driving license card

氏名◯ ◯ ◯ ◯◯◯YY年MM月DD日生
 
住所◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯
交付◯◯YY年MM月DD日 ◯◯◯◯◯撮影
◯◯YY年MM月DD日まで有効







免許の
条件等
番号第 123456789000 号
二・小・原2022年05月05日






















◯◯YY年MM月DD日 都道府県
公安委員会
二種◯◯YY年MM月DD日
Japanese driving license sample with labels

Description

The sections of the sample license shown are:

No.JapaneseEnglishNotes
1年 月 日生Date of birth
2氏名Last name and first name
3住所Address
4交付Date of issue of the card
5年 月 日まで有効Date of expiry of the cardBackground colour: green for new drivers (valid for 3 years), blue for normal drivers (valid for 3 years), gold for good drivers (no violations or accidents for 5 years, valid for 5 years)
6免許の条件等ConditionsIn this sample, vehicles weighing up to 8 tonnes. Usual default also includes a limitation to Automatic Transmission (AT); separate driving test on manual transmission vehicle required for this permission.
7見本"Sample"Doesn't exist on a normal license
8優良SuperiorAnnotation for good drivers (with gold background)
9番号License number
10二•小•原Date of first issue of motorcycle licensesIncluding motorcycles (二輪車), small special vehicle (小型特殊自動車), or moped license (原動機付自転車).
11Date of first issue of other licensesOther categories exclude the commercial ones.
12二種Date of first issue of commercial licensesLiterally means driving license of the second kind
13種類Valid categoriesValid categories are shown in abbreviations in Kanji, invalid only with a hyphen.
14番号NumberIntra-office reference number.
15公安委員会Issuing authorityPublic Safety Commission of a prefecture
16SealOfficial seal of the prefectural public safety commission
17Photo

Date format

The dates are written in year-month-day order. The years follow the Japanese era calendar scheme. The months and days follow the Gregorian calendar, as in most Western countries.

◯◯ YY年MM月DD日
Era and YearMonthDay
Meiji (明治) 1868–1912
Taishō (大正) 1912–1926
Shōwa (昭和) 1926–1989
Heisei (平成) 1989–2019
Reiwa (令和) 2019–
January (01月)
February (02月)

December (12月)

For example:

  • the driver's date of birth (昭和50年6月1日) is the 1st day (1日) of the 6th month (6月) of the 50th year (50年) of the reign of Emperor Shōwa (昭和), or 1 June 1975
  • the expiry date (平成24年07月01日) is the 1st day (01日) of the 7th month (07月) of the 24th year (24年) of the Heisei era (平成), or 1 July 2012

Categories of license

Abbreviated names of the categories of vehicle this license includes. For illustrative purposes, this sample license shows every category. Category names are in the same places on every license. If a category is not included in a license, in the place where the category name would appear there is a horizontal bar.

Abbreviation 大型中型準中型普通大特 大自二普自二
Full name 大型自動車中型自動車準中型自動車普通自動車大型特殊自動車 大型自動二輪車普通自動二輪車
English Heavy vehicleMedium vehicleSemi-Medium vehicleOrdinary vehicleHeavy special vehicle Heavy motorcycleOrdinary motorcycle
Abbreviation 小特原付大二中二 普二大特二け引け引二
Full name 小型特殊自動車原動機付自転車大型自動車第二種中型自動車第二種 普通自動車第二種大型特殊自動車第二種牽引自動車牽引自動車第二種
English Small special vehicleMopedCommercial
heavy vehicle
Commercial
medium vehicle
Commercial
ordinary vehicle
Commercial heavy
special vehicle
Tractor-Trailer
vehicle
Commercial Tractor-
Trailer vehicle

Amendments

Amendments to the license, such as a change of address, can be recorded on the reverse side of the license. For amendments that cannot be recorded in this manner, a new license must be issued.

Use in other countries

Great Britain has an exchange agreement with Japan[5] (and with 16 other countries/regions) which allows the holder of a Japanese license who is deemed to be resident in the UK to exchange it for a British license. To do this, the holder must send the license, a translation thereof, an application form and a fee to the DVLA or DVA (for Northern Ireland).

See also

References

  1. "第二種免許等の受験資格の見直しについて(令和4年5月13日)". www.npa.go.jp (in Japanese). May 13, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Driving in Japan: Passing the Japanese Driver's Test". Gakuranman. March 8, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  3. "外国で取得した運転免許証を日本の運転免許証に切替えるには 警視庁". www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  4. "Japanese Drivers Licenses, An Update | Alien Times, Tsukuba, Ibaraki JAPAN". www.alientimes.org. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  5. "Gov.uk". Exchange a foreign driving license. Retrieved 29 October 2020
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