Note: This page has been written as a guide. Information may have changed since this guide was written, so please ask your supervisor, fellow JETs or Japanese friends, or do your own research to double-check this information.
Step 1: Get your driver’s license translated into Japanese
Notes:
- Check the issue date on your driver’s license. The issue date shown on your driver’s license must be at least three months before the date that you left your home country. If, for example, you renewed it shortly before leaving your home country and it shows the renewal date, you will need to bring additional documentation. If you have your previous driver’s license, that can serve as documentation.
- Check the expiration date on your driver’s license. The expiration date on your driver’s license must be at least one month after the date that you convert it to a Japanese driver’s license. If your driver’s license is going to expire soon, you may not be able to convert it.
Method 1: Go to the Japan Automobile Federation office.
Where to go:
- Japan Automobile Federation Fukuoka Branch (JAF福岡支部)
- Address: 5-12-27 Muromi, Chihaya Ward, Fukuoka City, 814-8505 (〒814-8505 福岡市早良区室見5-12-27)
- Phone Number: 092-841-7731
When to go there: 9:00 am – 5:30 pm on weekdays
(Closed on Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and the New Year holidays)
What to bring:
- Your residence card
- Your driver’s license from your home country
- 3,000 yen
What to do: Fill out the form that the staff gives you and wait while they translate your driver’s license.
Method 2: Order a translation by mail.
Where to send your application:
Japan Automobile Federation Fukuoka Branch (JAF福岡支部)
Address: 5-12-27 Muromi, Chihaya Ward, Fukuoka City, 814-8505
(〒814-8505 福岡市早良区室見5-12-27)
What to send:
- Application form (available here)
- Color copies of the front and back of your residence card
- Color copies of the front and back of your driver’s license from your home country
- 3,500 yen in registered mail (現金書留 genkinkakidome)
What to do: Send your application form and documents by mail. Wait one to three weeks.
Step 2: Get your paperwork screened
| Designated Places: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, selected states of the US: Hawaii, Maryland, Washington. |
Where to go:
- Chikugo Driver’s License Test Center (筑後自動車運転免許試験場) – anyone can go here
- Address: 1135-2 Hisadomi, Chikugo City 833-0056 (〒833-0056 筑後市大字久富1135-2)
- Phone Number: 0942-53-5208
- Chikuhō Driver’s License Test Center (筑豊自動車運転免許試験場) – anyone can go here
- Address: 1518-1 Tsurumio, Iizuka City, 820-0014 (〒820-0014 飯塚市鶴三緒1518-1)
- Phone Number: 0948-26-7110
- Kitakyūshū Driver’s License Test Center (北九州自動車運転免許試験場) – you can only go here if your driver’s license is from one of the Designated Places in the box above.
- Address: 2-4-1 Hinodemachi, Kokuraminami Ward, Kitakyūshū City 802-0842 (〒802-0842 北九州市小倉南区日の出町2-4-1)
- Phone Number: 093-961-4804
- Fukuoka Driver’s License Test Center (福岡自動車運転免許試験場) – you can only go here if your driver’s license is from one of the Designated Places in the box above.
- 4-7-1 Hanahata, Minami Ward, Fukuoka City 811-1356 (〒811-1356 福岡市南区花畑4-7-1)
- Phone Number (Licenses): 092-565-5010
- Phone Number (Tests): 092-565-5109
When to go there: 1:00 – 1:30 pm on weekdays (only a 30-minute window, so don’t be late!)
(Closed on Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and the New Year holidays)
What to bring:
- Your residence card
- Your driver’s license from your home country
- The Japanese translation of your driver’s license from the Japan Automobile Federation
- Your jūminhyō (住民票) issued by your city or ward office with your nationality written on it
(Note: Your jūminhyō does not usually automatically have your nationality listed, so you have to request that the nationality be included when you get it issued at the ward office) - Two 3 cm x 2.4 cm headshots taken within the past six months
- 2,550 yen for the driving test fee
- 2,050 yen for the fee to have your driver’s license issued
- Your passport
- If you have them, any previous passports you held (Note: This is only really necessary if you have renewed your passport on a date later than three months before you left your home country.)
- If your passport does not have stamps showing each time you entered or left your home country (many countries do not stamp passports, especially upon exit, so make sure you double-check this)… proof that you lived in your home country for at least three months after obtaining your driver’s license. For example:
- If you are from the United States: Information Regarding Entry and Exit from Customs and Border Protection (Note: You can request this here)
- Utility bills from your residence in your home country
- Documents showing you were enrolled at a school in your home country
- Plane tickets from all the times you entered and left your home country
What to do: Fill out the form in the waiting area, attach your headshot to it, and bring it and your documents to the window. You will be called for an interview after your documents have been checked.
| If your driver’s license is from one of the Designated Places at the top of page 2: After you’re done with Step 2, your picture will be taken, your driver’s license will be issued, and you’re done! If your driver’s license is not from one of the Designated Places in the box above: Go on to Step 3. |
Step 3: Get a physical check
Where to go: The same place as Step 2
When to go there: The same time as Step 2
What to bring: The same things as Step 2
What to do: You will be called for a vision test and asked to perform some physical tasks.
Step 4: Take a written test
Where to go: The same place as Step 2
When to go there: The same time as Step 2
What to bring: The same things as Step 2
What to do: You will be led to a room to take a paper test about traffic laws in Japan. The test is available in multiple languages.
Step 5: Take a driving test
Where to go: The same place as Step 2
When to go there: The same time as Step 2
What to bring: The same things as Step 2
What to do: You will be led to a waiting room. Wait until you are called to take the driving test. You will drive a car on a test course. Follow the test proctor’s instructions.
| If you pass the driving test… your picture will be taken, your driver’s license will be issued, and you’re done! If you fail the driving test… you can come back and take it again as early as the following day. After six months, you will be required to take the paper test again before you can retake the driving test. You will have to pay the 2,550 yen fee each time you take the test. |
Driving schools that offer lessons to prepare for the foreign license conversion driving test:
- Hakata Jidōsha Kyōshūjo (はかた自動車教習所)
- Phone Number: 092-504-3441
- Website: https://www.hakatads.co.jp/
- License Support NERO
- Phone Number: 080-2695-0013
- Website: https://www.licensesupport.org/