Yesterday, I finally got my Japanese driving license. I took me two attempts, but I think that I was lucky. As I am British, I don't have to take any tests (except a very simple eye exam) and just had to present some documentation. However, had I been from a country without this 'loophole', I would have had to have taken a driving test too.
Despite being lucky enough to be fast-tracked, it wasn't all smooth sailing. They require a vast amount of documentation, some of which I was lucky to have. In the end I had to take:
My British driving license.
A Japanese translation of my driving license (must be done by an authorised source - I recommend JAF)
My current passport.
The passport that I was using when my driving license was first issued (this was the difficult part - I didn't think I even had it, but luckily my parents managed to dig it out back in England).
A passport sized photograph - NO SMILING!
The first time I went, I didn't have my old passport so I was rejected, but only after waiting for about three hours. The woman I spoke to then was really very unhelpful. The second time, I took it with me and the process went smoothly, although it still took about 3 hours to get through the whole proceedure. Anyway, I am very happy that I finally managed to get it. Now all I need to do is get a car!
By the way, this is the car I want!
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