Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Discuss anything and everything relating to that fascinating island empire of the east
Post Reply
User avatar
kndy
Posts: 639
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:39 am
Anime Fan Since: 70's
Location: California
Contact:

Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by kndy »

Curious of how difficult is it to get a Japanese driver's license and how does automobile insurance work in Japan and how different is it compared to the US?
User avatar
greg
Posts: 2159
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989 (consciously)
Location: Shizuoka-ken, Japan
Contact:

Re: Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by greg »

I'm not sure about insurance, since actually my father in law is paying for that. (He insisted on being generous, and he even paid for our car too... I think he's just happy to have his daughter back in Japan.)

Driver's licenses are rather tricky. Japanese citizens must pay over about a thousand dollars to go through the driving school and get their license. I have a friend with a Japanese wife who got her driver's license in America, then had it converted to a Japanese license and saved a ton of money in the process. Currently, I still have the international driver's permit from AAA that is good until either May or June of next year. I don't need to go through the expensive driver's school, but I do have to take the test. It doesn't matter how good of a driver you are, it seems. Almost nobody passes on their first try. Since Japan is so Japanesey, the focus is on appearance rather than substance. You must demonstrate your ability to perform in the way that they require you to, not necessarily just prove that you are an okay driver. You must walk around the vehicle first to inspect the tires, you must adjust your seat even if it doesn't require adjusting, you must adjust the mirrors even if they require no adjusting, you must tug the seatbelt strap for no reason at all, etc. While driving, it seems that when you accelerate, you must match the parabolic curve that they expect you to, and to slow down the exact fashion they want you to. You must turn exactly how they want you to, and when you check your mirrors, you have to move your head in an exaggerated fashion to make sure that they notice that you are checking your mirrors.

So it doesn't seem to be a test of whether you can drive a car, but that you must behave in a certain way that is more akin to synchronized swimming or something. The guys I know who have a Japanese license had to take the test several times, and it costs about 8,000 yen each time. People say that there is an anti-foreigner bias with the driving instructors, especially if they are younger men. One guy said he passed on the second try, but he believes that it was because his instructor was a young, pleasant Japanese lady. I have yet to take the test myself, and I am rather apprehensive.

There are a lot of lousy drivers in Japan, and they do stupid things. However, they are basically just making dumb mistakes rather than driving super aggressively to the point of being dangerous like in America. The narrow roads require so much more cooperation. When I come up to an intersection and there's a car wanting to make a right turn and there's a long line of other cars backed up behind it, I will slow down a bit and flash my brights to signal that I will let them pass in front of me. The car will likely make a quick beep to say "thank you" (or "arigatou," I should say). When I need to turn out into a busy street, when somebody lets me pull out in front of them, I flash my hazard lights three times to thank the person who let me pull out in front of them.

So there is this sterotype of "Asian drivers" that paints them as being lousy drivers. They are in fact far more courteous than American drivers, for sure. They just don't know how to drive in America where everybody seems to be driving like they're in a Mel Gibson movie. Oh yeah, and a whole lot of streets in Japanese towns are only 40kmph, which is about 25mph. Highways max out at 80kmph, which is about 55mph. Most people tend to drive around 100kmph on highways though, which is about 65mph. Since streets are so much narrower here, speed limits are lower.
My presence on the Net, with plenty of random geekiness:
My homepage
My YouTube channel
My Flickr photostream
My Tumblr page
gaijinpunch
Posts: 174
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:03 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1980
Location: Tokyo

Re: Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by gaijinpunch »

greg

There are two ways for a whitey such as yourself to get your driver's license w/o going to school.

1: Take the written and driving tests. As you mentioned, you will fail (although it's NOTHING compared to the Ogata motorocycle license, where the average tests taken is 8!!!!)

2: "Flip" your US drivers license. You will still have to take a test, but there are only 10 questions on the test. The test above is something more like 30. You will also likely not fail the test in this option.

It's easier to flip. They say you must prove you used it for 3 months while in the state/country of issue (6 months for a Japanese native doing this method) but I think they give you a pass if it's a state that does not print the issued date, such as my home state of Texas. (Unfortunately I don't have this license, and only have my California counterpart... which I got like 3 months ago. :( ).

Insurance is TOTALLY separate, and really stupid. You can get car insurance without having a valid drivers license, but it's invalidated by not having any license. O_o I bought insurance, while I was waiting on my international permit. Got into a fender bender on my scooter, and the pigs told me my insurance wasn't valid b/c my license wasn't valid. Another one of those great Japanese systems.
User avatar
kndy
Posts: 639
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:39 am
Anime Fan Since: 70's
Location: California
Contact:

Re: Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by kndy »

Thanks guys! Does the drivers license expire every four years? And do you take a test or just go to a Japanese version of a DMV and retake a photo?

And by any chance, does anyone know the estimated cost of automobile insurance? I'm guessing in Tokyo, it's very expensive?
gaijinpunch
Posts: 174
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:03 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1980
Location: Tokyo

Re: Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by gaijinpunch »

Never had a license so not sure of the expiration. Never had a car, so not sure of the insurance costs. One fee that you will surely cry at is the registration fee. Google Japanese Car Registration (and maybe throw in "shaken" for more hits) for that disaster. I can't do it justice.

Not sure if you're doing research for any particular reason, but if you're trying to justify owning a car, don't bother: in Tokyo, the money never adds up. You can take a cab everywhere (which are crazy pricey) and it's still cheaper than owning a car. If you live in the city, you're looking at 100,000 yen a month at least, which doesn't cover the car payment itself.
User avatar
greg
Posts: 2159
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989 (consciously)
Location: Shizuoka-ken, Japan
Contact:

Re: Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by greg »

gaijinpunch wrote:2: "Flip" your US drivers license. You will still have to take a test, but there are only 10 questions on the test. The test above is something more like 30. You will also likely not fail the test in this option.
I think this "flip" you're talking is what everyone I work with is doing. I have to take the road test, which I will likely fail at least once. It's about 8,000 yen per try. A friend of mine paid one instructor for some lessons because this guy knows what the testers look for on the road test, like how sharply you turn corners and such.

I'll then need to take my US driver's license to some place in Shizuoka City that will provide an official translation of it. My friend from Spain didn't have to take the test. He just converted his license with no problem. The same goes for Australians and Brits. Tough luck for Americans. It didn't use to be that way, I hear.
kndy wrote:Thanks guys! Does the drivers license expire every four years? And do you take a test or just go to a Japanese version of a DMV and retake a photo?
It's every 5 years. I don't know about the photo, but I hope I can just get a photo taken at a photo booth. Those are everywhere here, which takes photos for passports, your gaijin card, the JLPT exam registration papers, and so many other application forms that you must do in Japan. They're very cheap and can be found everywhere here.
My presence on the Net, with plenty of random geekiness:
My homepage
My YouTube channel
My Flickr photostream
My Tumblr page
gaijinpunch
Posts: 174
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:03 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1980
Location: Tokyo

Re: Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by gaijinpunch »

It's always been that way for Americans. Driver's licenses are issued by state, not federally. For Japan to have the same system it has with just about every other industrialized nation, it would have to review the policies of, and sign agreements with all 50 states separately (according to them). The Embassy said they were working on something to make it easier but that's been the standing statement from at least the time I moved here.
User avatar
greg
Posts: 2159
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989 (consciously)
Location: Shizuoka-ken, Japan
Contact:

Re: Driver's license and automobile insurance in Japan

Post by greg »

Wow! I had no idea, but that makes perfect sense. I'll pass that information along to the other American guys I work with. Most of the teachers in my city are pretty new to Japan. Only a few of them have been around for a while. Most of them have only been here for a handful of years.
My presence on the Net, with plenty of random geekiness:
My homepage
My YouTube channel
My Flickr photostream
My Tumblr page
Post Reply