Driving licence in Japan
In Japan, a driving licence is required when operating a car, motorcycle or moped on public roads. Driving licences are issued by the prefectural governments' public safety commissions and are overseen on a nationwide basis by the National Police Agency.
Types of licence
Japanese licences are divided by experience level and by vehicle type.Classes
Categories
The vehicle classes are as follows:| Name | Japanese | Description |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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 carries 10 or fewer people. |
| Ordinary vehicle | 普通自動車 | Any motorised vehicle which weighs less than 3,500 kg in total, has a maximum capacity less than 2,000 kg, and carries 10 or fewer people. |
| 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 with engine displacement over 400cc. |
| Ordinary motorcycle | 普通自動二輪車 | Any motorcycle with engine displacement over 125cc. |
| Small motorcycle | 小型自動二輪車 | Any motorcycle with engine displacement over 50cc. |
| Moped | 原動機付自転車 | Any motorcycle with engine displacement of 50cc or less. |
The "restricted to automatic" licence can be issued for ordinary vehicle, ordinary motorcycle and heavy motorcycle licence classes.
Vehicle Type Ratings
The vehicle type ratings are as follows: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 licence. Most Japanese go to a driving school prior to taking these examinations, 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.Japan also allows Japan-resident holders of foreign driving licences to convert their foreign licence to a Japanese licence through an abbreviated examination process. This consists of an eyesight test and, depending on the issuing country of the foreign licence, may also require a short written examination and a practical examination.
Countries exempt from the exam include, as of 2020: Iceland, Ireland, United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Canada, Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Hungary, Finland, France, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg, and Taiwan.
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 driver education program. The first time pass rate for this group, even with the harder test, was 90 to 100 percent. The fee for an English-speaking foreigner to obtain a licence from a Japanese driving school is about ¥400,000.
Driving licence card
Every licensed driver is issued with a driving licence card, which they are required to have available for inspection whenever they exercise the privileges granted by the licence.Layout of a driving licence card
Description
The sections of the sample licence shown are:| No. | Japanese | English | Notes |
| 1 | 年 月 日生 | Date of birth | |
| 2 | 氏名 | Last name and first name | 子 means female in this illustration |
| 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 card | Background colour: green for new drivers, blue for normal drivers, gold for good drivers |
| 6 | 免許の条件等 | Conditions | In this sample, vehicles weighing up to 8 tonnes. Usual default also includes a limitation to Automatic Transmission ; separate driving test on manual transmission vehicle required for this permission. |
| 7 | 見本 | "Sample" | Doesn't exist on a normal licence |
| 8 | 優良 | Superior | Annotation for good drivers |
| 9 | 番号 | Licence number | |
| 10 | 二•小•原 | Date of first issue of motorcycle licences | Including motorcycles, small special vehicle, or moped licence. |
| 11 | 他 | Date of first issue of other licences | Other categories exclude the commercial ones. |
| 12 | 二種 | Date of first issue of commercial licences | Literally means driving licence of the second kind |
| 13 | 種類 | Valid categories | Valid categories are shown in abbreviations in Kanji, invalid only with a hyphen. |
| 14 | 番号 | Number | Intra-office reference number. |
| 15 | 公安委員会 | Issuing authority | Public Safety Commission of a prefecture |
| 16 | Seal | Official seal of the prefectural public safety commission | |
| 17 | Photo |
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 Year | Month | Day |
| Meiji 1868–1912 Taishō 1912–1926 Shōwa 1926–1989 Heisei 1989–2019 Reiwa 2019– | January February — December |
For example:
- the driver's date of birth is the 1st day of the 6th month of the 50th year of the reign of Emperor Shōwa, or 1 June 1975
- the expiry date is the 1st day of the 7th month of the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Heisei, or 1 July 2012
Categories of licence