| Driving in Japan legally has recently
afforded new challenges to foreigners
from China, Brazil and the United
States. Released in November 2002
and updated in February 2003,
Traffic Act Article 107-2, has
begun to create many problems
for foreigners. Until June 2002,
Foreigners driving in Japan (who
held a valid drivers license from
their home country) could apply
for an international driving permit
(IDP) and drive in Japan permanently.
Since that time however, IDPs
are only valid for one year. If
a foreigner stays in Japan for
more than one year and decides
to reapply for an IDP, they would
have to leave Japan for at least
90 days in order for the IDP to
be legal upon their return. Those
visiting Japan for a short time,
of course IDPs are the way to
go. They are quite cheap (around
$10-20). Beware however, there
are many sites on the internet
that offer IDPs for several hundred
dollars. These are scam sites
and are to be avoided at all costs.
Quite a few countries have a much
easier time in obtaining a valid
Japanese drivers license when
compared to the United States.
Citizens from Australia, New Zealand,
Britain, Switzerland, Canada or
Germany can simply have their
license translated and officiated
after a minimal fee and an eye
check. Why are American citizens
screwed over? You may check this
link found on the US Embassy in
Japan website http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-drive.html
and find out why. If you take
the time to read the reasons why
as well as the requirements Japan
is asking for in order to overturn
this new law you may very well
cry, or laugh. If you don’t want
to take the time to read the reasons
and requirements; in short, it’s
a better idea to try and take
the actual Japanese driving test
instead of waiting for this law
to be overturned. Let us rewind
to an actual experience of mine.
Blissfully unaware that my IDP
was considered invalid, (I had
been living in Japan for three
years at the time) I parked for
a few minutes in a no parking
zone (I drive a 50cc scooter,
for its sheer convenience). BIG
MISTAKE. I come back to find I
have a parking ticket. “Oh darn,
I have a parking ticket. Oh well,
I may as well go pay the small
fine and bite the bullet on this
one”. I take my scooter to a police
station and show them my passport
and IDP. After much difficulty
in communication it turns out
that I cannot legally drive and
I must go to the city’s main police
office a few days later so they
can have a translator explain
to me exactly what needs to be
done. I return home to find out
why they said I am unable to drive
in Japan, and hop on the net to
do some research. After a short
time I come to find out that I
can be fined up to 300,000 yen
(about $2,800) or spend up to
a year in prison. Needless to
say, my eyes were bulging out
of their sockets. A few days later,
I go to this police station. I
am sweating bullets and to make
matters worse they do NOT have
a translator to explain the situation.
Fortunately, I have a more then
basic understanding of Japanese
so I am able to understand that
I cannot drive legally in Japan
with an IDP. Luckily this fairly
new law, that has been such a
pain for foreigners, is far from
being well known. I am let off
with a warning and told I cannot
drive until I get an actual Japanese
drivers license. Fast forward
about a month. Discovering that
there is only one book in Japan
that has been translated into
English regarding the laws of
the road in Japan, I am forced
to buy it. This book is about
90% useless. There was a whole
two pages about driving motorcycles/scooters
in Japan. I am fortunate enough
to have some Japanese friends
sit me down with a Japanese language
motorcycle practice test book
and ask me some questions that
may be on the test I was preparing
for. In less than a week, I was
ready to tackle this test. Or
so I thought. The Japanese scooter
test is made up of 48 questions.
45 questions or more must be correct
in order to pass with a time limit
of 30 minutes. Let me remind you
that Japan has been required to
have this test in English since
the changing of the law so at
least that was one thing in my
favor. “Piece of cake, done in
15 minutes”! Or so I thought again.
Not since Shakespeare’s time where
double negatives considered a
proper grammatical form for English!
This test took me for so many
twists and turns with its EXTREMELY
poor translation and its “no”
+ “no” = “yes” terminology that
I felt I was going to vomit. I
took the entire 30 minutes to
complete this test with a certainty
that I was going to fail. At least
I got that part right. So, to
all the American citizens living
in Japan and wanting to drive
or currently driving illegally,
I would suggest taking the driving
test in Japanese instead of English.
You will likely score higher.
S.B. I work for a translation
company in Fukuoka, Japan. I work
under http://www.translators.jp/
and I manage http://www.samurai-translators.com/
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