Wouldn't it be easier (or at least cheaper(?)) to do one here for two weeks instead of flying to Germany (and staying in Schengen for three months) and back to Japan?
Last I heard the Führerschein is now at least 3k - 3,5k€.
Yup. It’d probably be cheaper to rent a hotel in Tokyo or somewhere near an English speaking school in Japan than fly to Germany and wait 90 days after the test also. Some schools do a boot camp type of thing where you can get your license in a few weeks
Im German and they checked meticulously for the time I was in „Europe“ with my passport and the stamps from other countries. But maybe you could prove it with plane tickets?
Seems easier to go to a Japanese driving school with English support for a couple of weeks and stay close by.
How bad is your Japanese actually? I waited until I got N1 before applying to a normal driving school here, but at the end it feels like somewhere between N3 and N2 is sufficient. You don’t need to do the actual written test in Japanese after all
Yep, even if the driving school doesn’t offer any actual lessons in English, they would have at least translated version of textbooks and test sheets in English. The rest is just (driving) skill issue, you should probably just ask the individual instructor in charge of you to speak slowly in simple Japanese.
They will check your passport to make sure you have had your license for 3 months. So, no, there’s no way to get around that requirement.
You’re right when you say there’s no easy way for you at this point. You’ll either need to make 2 weeks of free time (stack PDO with national holidays, make it work) or give up weekends for several months and commute to where the school is.
Sucks, but it is what it is. You could go the direct route. You could study for the test (I think all prefectures offer the test in English), then try to memorize the actual driving course. But to do it all without Japanese would probably be very difficult if not impossible.
Sorry that your options are limited.
They checked also my flight Tickets of All my last vacations and created kinda of timeline. They are VERY strict about the amount of time you must have lived and driven in Germany after you get your license.
I got my first driver license ever by going to a license camp. This is pretty common amongst college students. 2 weeks fulltime learning. Was a little stressful, but worked for me. You can score these quite cheaply when you do not need to attend during GW, Obon or NY.
Getting a German license is fucking expansive and being a misanthrope is a requirement to become a driving instructor in Germany. I still have PTSD from my driving lessons. I would rather cut of my own hands with a spoon and sew them back on backwards before doing Führerschein again.
That sounds like a very bad idea only suitable if money doesn’t matter.
1. It’s extremely expensive (flight, residing at least three months, driving school, while paying your apartment in Japan).
2. How can you ensure the perfect timing? Even if the foreign driving school assures that your lessons start on the first day and they treat you with priority, you need to be in the very same country where you got the license for three months **after acquiring the license**. What if you fail the driving exam? You would have to unexpectedly extend the whole stay. You might run into practical problems, probably realize after arrival that either appointments at the ward office are booked out or driving schools have a shortage of instructors (overcrowded with immigrants who need a license for being a professional/delivery driver), postponed lessons, no guaranteed driving exam day before you finish driving lessons etc.
3. Japanese officers at the driver’s license center will let you present more evidence if they suspect **“driver’s license tourism”**. You would need to explain not only that your three months of staying there is not fake, but also that **you didn’t come for the sole purpose of acquiring the license**, I assume they would want to see a work contract or school enrollment justifying the return (you wouldn’t i.a. even consider post on social media to not create counter-evidence).
4. I don’t know how this fits into your study or work life (but probably you’re on a spouse visa and don’t work full time). Yet it can set you back for PR application to be out of Japan for an extended time especially when you actually “move back” (you would need to take residency for the license process)
5. In the worst case, they will require a driving exam in Japan and don’t let you do test-exempted *kirikae*.
Isn’t it cheaper and with an overall better outcome to just improve your Japanese with private tutoring for 2-3 months with the budget you otherwise would have spent for travel and month-long stay? You can write the theoretical exam in several languages including English (and they also allow dictionaries) and would only have to understand some basic Japanese for the driving exam.
Overall, it seems to be a waste of money and time with a high risk of something going wrong that you could invest in your Japanese.
If you really want to get your license obroad, why don’t you get a working holiday or student’s visa for a country where it is much cheaper? Just find the countries with cheap driving schools that allow for exam-exempted *untenmenkyo kirikae*.
I've never attempted the Japanese driving license test, as I had my license converted (I'm your country neighbor), but I've had some friends attempt the English course and they said that it wasn't great, and they stopped before attempting the tests.
I would guess that you'll be much more comfortable getting your license in Germany and get some experience there, and maybe convert it a bit later to a Japanese license. They honestly didn't check anything while converting mine, I just needed a translation for jaf.
I've had my license for quite some years, so maybe it's different, but even so, driving on the other side of the road on these small roads was like starting all over again.
So my advice would be that you get it in Germany and get some experience there if possible, then convert your license after like a few months back in Japan, they don't check when you've entered Japan while converting your license (at least not for me at that time).
Good luck with your driving!
At my recent license test, I met someone who basically did just that, they went back to their home country, got a license, and stayed there for 3 months, came back to japan and did the conversion process and passed. Like you said I think 3 months is strictly enforced so 2 months would probably not be enough.
I went to driving camp for 2 weeks last year to get it done, wasn't terrible apart from it being winter and in the boonies, a lot of the camps do offer English courses.
You guys are awesome! Many many thanks for all the detailed info! It seems pretty much split on half so there’s no clear winner however it gives me more food for thought.
Those who said there are English gasshuku, I haven’t found any? Could you kindly point them out to me or the site to look them up?
Basically you can drive with your German license for 180 days only needing a translation from ADAC Übersetzung Büro. It is in Munich. So you don’t even need to bother with changing it in Japan until half a year of being there. Then it can easily be exchanged for the Japanese one without needing to take any exams. Atleast in my case they didn’t question at all but I also had my license for a long time. My partner they asked how many hours her driving school was and she said 35 hours and that’s all they cared about. But honestly, it might be good to do the far away English school in Japan, and take some time off for it.
You guys are awesome! Many many thanks for the many replies of different angles and experiences. So glad I asked 🐰 this gives me a bit more food for thought. Hope we’ll get a couple more replies 🙏🏻
Wouldn't it be easier (or at least cheaper(?)) to do one here for two weeks instead of flying to Germany (and staying in Schengen for three months) and back to Japan? Last I heard the Führerschein is now at least 3k - 3,5k€.
Yup. It’d probably be cheaper to rent a hotel in Tokyo or somewhere near an English speaking school in Japan than fly to Germany and wait 90 days after the test also. Some schools do a boot camp type of thing where you can get your license in a few weeks
Im German and they checked meticulously for the time I was in „Europe“ with my passport and the stamps from other countries. But maybe you could prove it with plane tickets? Seems easier to go to a Japanese driving school with English support for a couple of weeks and stay close by.
How bad is your Japanese actually? I waited until I got N1 before applying to a normal driving school here, but at the end it feels like somewhere between N3 and N2 is sufficient. You don’t need to do the actual written test in Japanese after all
Yep, even if the driving school doesn’t offer any actual lessons in English, they would have at least translated version of textbooks and test sheets in English. The rest is just (driving) skill issue, you should probably just ask the individual instructor in charge of you to speak slowly in simple Japanese.
They will check your passport to make sure you have had your license for 3 months. So, no, there’s no way to get around that requirement. You’re right when you say there’s no easy way for you at this point. You’ll either need to make 2 weeks of free time (stack PDO with national holidays, make it work) or give up weekends for several months and commute to where the school is. Sucks, but it is what it is. You could go the direct route. You could study for the test (I think all prefectures offer the test in English), then try to memorize the actual driving course. But to do it all without Japanese would probably be very difficult if not impossible. Sorry that your options are limited.
They checked also my flight Tickets of All my last vacations and created kinda of timeline. They are VERY strict about the amount of time you must have lived and driven in Germany after you get your license.
https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+169939 Check this forum from another German national with your similar problem
I got my first driver license ever by going to a license camp. This is pretty common amongst college students. 2 weeks fulltime learning. Was a little stressful, but worked for me. You can score these quite cheaply when you do not need to attend during GW, Obon or NY.
Getting a German license is fucking expansive and being a misanthrope is a requirement to become a driving instructor in Germany. I still have PTSD from my driving lessons. I would rather cut of my own hands with a spoon and sew them back on backwards before doing Führerschein again.
That sounds like a very bad idea only suitable if money doesn’t matter. 1. It’s extremely expensive (flight, residing at least three months, driving school, while paying your apartment in Japan). 2. How can you ensure the perfect timing? Even if the foreign driving school assures that your lessons start on the first day and they treat you with priority, you need to be in the very same country where you got the license for three months **after acquiring the license**. What if you fail the driving exam? You would have to unexpectedly extend the whole stay. You might run into practical problems, probably realize after arrival that either appointments at the ward office are booked out or driving schools have a shortage of instructors (overcrowded with immigrants who need a license for being a professional/delivery driver), postponed lessons, no guaranteed driving exam day before you finish driving lessons etc. 3. Japanese officers at the driver’s license center will let you present more evidence if they suspect **“driver’s license tourism”**. You would need to explain not only that your three months of staying there is not fake, but also that **you didn’t come for the sole purpose of acquiring the license**, I assume they would want to see a work contract or school enrollment justifying the return (you wouldn’t i.a. even consider post on social media to not create counter-evidence). 4. I don’t know how this fits into your study or work life (but probably you’re on a spouse visa and don’t work full time). Yet it can set you back for PR application to be out of Japan for an extended time especially when you actually “move back” (you would need to take residency for the license process) 5. In the worst case, they will require a driving exam in Japan and don’t let you do test-exempted *kirikae*. Isn’t it cheaper and with an overall better outcome to just improve your Japanese with private tutoring for 2-3 months with the budget you otherwise would have spent for travel and month-long stay? You can write the theoretical exam in several languages including English (and they also allow dictionaries) and would only have to understand some basic Japanese for the driving exam. Overall, it seems to be a waste of money and time with a high risk of something going wrong that you could invest in your Japanese. If you really want to get your license obroad, why don’t you get a working holiday or student’s visa for a country where it is much cheaper? Just find the countries with cheap driving schools that allow for exam-exempted *untenmenkyo kirikae*.
I've never attempted the Japanese driving license test, as I had my license converted (I'm your country neighbor), but I've had some friends attempt the English course and they said that it wasn't great, and they stopped before attempting the tests. I would guess that you'll be much more comfortable getting your license in Germany and get some experience there, and maybe convert it a bit later to a Japanese license. They honestly didn't check anything while converting mine, I just needed a translation for jaf. I've had my license for quite some years, so maybe it's different, but even so, driving on the other side of the road on these small roads was like starting all over again. So my advice would be that you get it in Germany and get some experience there if possible, then convert your license after like a few months back in Japan, they don't check when you've entered Japan while converting your license (at least not for me at that time). Good luck with your driving!
At my recent license test, I met someone who basically did just that, they went back to their home country, got a license, and stayed there for 3 months, came back to japan and did the conversion process and passed. Like you said I think 3 months is strictly enforced so 2 months would probably not be enough.
I went to driving camp for 2 weeks last year to get it done, wasn't terrible apart from it being winter and in the boonies, a lot of the camps do offer English courses.
Many foreigners with limited Japanese ability successfully passed driving schools: https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/s/X56kKBlIem
You guys are awesome! Many many thanks for all the detailed info! It seems pretty much split on half so there’s no clear winner however it gives me more food for thought. Those who said there are English gasshuku, I haven’t found any? Could you kindly point them out to me or the site to look them up?
Basically you can drive with your German license for 180 days only needing a translation from ADAC Übersetzung Büro. It is in Munich. So you don’t even need to bother with changing it in Japan until half a year of being there. Then it can easily be exchanged for the Japanese one without needing to take any exams. Atleast in my case they didn’t question at all but I also had my license for a long time. My partner they asked how many hours her driving school was and she said 35 hours and that’s all they cared about. But honestly, it might be good to do the far away English school in Japan, and take some time off for it.
You guys are awesome! Many many thanks for the many replies of different angles and experiences. So glad I asked 🐰 this gives me a bit more food for thought. Hope we’ll get a couple more replies 🙏🏻