Driving licence in Japan

A sample of a Japanese driving licence.

In Japan, a driving licence (運転免許, Unten menkyo) 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

Name	Japanese	Description
Provisional licence	仮運転免許	Issued to a new driver undergoing training for their Class 1 licence. 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 licence holder while driving. This licence expires unless a learner driver gains a Class 1 licence within six months.
Class 1 licence	第一種運転免許	The ordinary licence for operating a private car.
Class 2 licence	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 licence (relaxed to two years for members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces).

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, 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 5,000 kg or more, has maximum capacity of 3,000 kg or more, or carries 11 or more people.
Ordinary vehicle	普通自動車	Any motorised vehicle outside the other classifications.
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 50cc.
Moped	原動機付自転車	Any motorcycle with engine displacement of 50cc or less.

Ordinary, heavy motorcycle and ordinary motorcycle licence classes are either "unrestricted" (i.e., the driver may use a manual transmission or automatic transmission vehicle) or "restricted to automatic".

The vehicle type ratings are as follows:

Type of Class 1 licence		Vehicle types allowed to drive								Minimum 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)	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)	Permitted	Permitted	Permitted		Permitted			Permitted	21 (20)
	Medium (中型)		Permitted	Permitted		Permitted			Permitted	20 (19)
	Ordinary (普通)			Permitted		Permitted			Permitted	18
Special vehicle licence (特殊自動車免許)	Heavy (大型)				Permitted	Permitted			Permitted	18
	Small (小型)					Permitted				16
Motorcycle licence (自動二輪車免許)	Heavy (大型)					Permitted	Permitted	Permitted	Permitted	18
	Ordinary (普通)					Permitted		Permitted	Permitted	16
Moped licence (原動機付自転車免許)									Permitted	16
Trailer licence (牽引免許)		Required to drive any vehicle towing a trailer weighing more than 750 kg gross (other than when towing damaged vehicles).								18

Required training

The Japanese driving examination consists of a written examination and a practical examination for each level of licence. Most Japanese go to a licensed driving school prior to taking these examinations (though it's not required), and upon completing the course, 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. However, the pass rate for the practical exam is only about 35% for Americans, for example, but those who take the regular, lengthy and expensive course and test reportedly have a 90 to 100% pass rate, even though this exam is much harder. The fee for an English-speaking foreigner to obtain a licence from a Japanese driving school is about ¥400,000 (about $3900).

Driving licence card

Every licensed driver is issued with a driving licence 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 licence.

Layout of a driving licence card

氏名 ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ 年1990月01日生19   住所 サントス エリクソン 1–19–90 交付 年01月19日2015 01192015 撮影 年01月19日2016 日まで有効 運 転 免 許 証 免許の 条件等 番号 第 123456789000 号 二•小•原 ◯◯ＹＹ年ＭＭ月ＤＤ日 種 類 大 型 中 型 普 通 大 特 大 自 二 普 自 二 小 特 原 付 け 引 大 二 中 二 普 二 大 特 二 け 引 二 他 ◯◯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 licence sample with labels

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
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 (valid for 3 years), blue for normal drivers (valid for 3 years), gold for good drivers (no violations during the previous licence period, valid for 5 years)
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 (AT); 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 (with gold background)
9	番号	licence number
10	二•小•原	Date of first issue of motorcycle licences	Including motorcycles (二輪車), small special vehicle (小型特殊自動車), or moped licence (原動機付自転車).
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 (明治) 1868–1912 Taishō (大正) 1912–1926 Shōwa (昭和) 1926–1989 Heisei (平成) 1989–	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 reign of Emperor Heisei (平成), or 1 July 2012

Categories of Japanese licence

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

Abbreviation	大型	中型	普通	大特	大自二	普自二	小特
Full name	大型自動車	中型自動車	普通自動車	大型特種自動車	大型自動二輪車	普通自動二輪車	小型特種自動車
English	Heavy vehicle	Medium vehicle	Ordinary vehicle	Heavy special vehicle	Heavy motorcycle	Ordinary motorcycle	Small special vehicle
Abbreviation	原付	け引	大二	中二	普二	大特二	け引二
Full name	原動機付自転車	牽引自動車	大型自動車第二種	中型自動車第二種	普通自動車第二種	大型特種自動車第二種	牽引自動車第二種
English	Moped	Tractor-Trailer vehicle	Commercial heavy vehicle	Commercial medium vehicle	Commercial ordinary vehicle	Commercial heavy special vehicle	Commercial Tractor- Trailer vehicle

Amendments

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

See also

• Driver's license

External links

• Driving in Japan - Passing the Japanese Driver's Test
• Cars and driving in Japan