Taking Your Foreign License Conversion Test in Japan

Last year I obtained my Japanese drivers license. Leading up to the test day I scoured the internet for as many resources as possible in preparation. Unfortunately, most of what I found online was highly outdated, only available in Japanese, or otherwise difficult to use. I post this here now in the hopes it will be useful to others who are looking for resources to prepare for their own test.

(This is literally just a guide on taking the test. It doesn't have anything to do with art- sorry!)

What's the test?

If you live in Japan for a long time, chances are you want to convert your driving license to a Japanese one. Depending on the country you may need to take a test- this one!

How this works depends on your country. In the case of United States licenses, whether you need to take a practical test in addition to the written test or not depends on the state. A friend of mine had theirs from Hawaii, so they only had to take a written test. My license was from California which meant I had to take both the written test and practical test. Other countries such as the UK don't need to take the test at all, so first and foremost you should check if you need to or not.

The foreign license conversion test is very different from the domestic Japanese license exam, an infamously difficult test that can take multiple days and thousands of dollars. Luckily, the foreign license conversion test is much easier. You might see conflicting information about what -exactly- is on it because some people confuse it online for the domestic test, but don't get confused. Also, some small details depend on your testing center and prefecture. Its best if you can get up to date information from those who have taken the test at your local test center before. My experience was in Fukushima prefecture. I hope it will still be helpful no matter where you are in Japan.

Scheduling the test:

Scheduling the test is the first challenge. The Japanese DMV requires you to supply paperwork, including your IDP and any old licenses. I was working as an English teacher and fortunately a supervisor from work helped me schedule the appointments and process the paperwork. In general, getting a native to help you here is a good idea. Every single foreigner I saw at the DMV throughout the process was accompanied by someone from their workplace. 

Caution: don't assume you'll get an appointment quickly! In my case it took about 6 weeks to get a practical exam scheduled from when we first started trying. If you're from the US, absolutely do not wait for your IDP to near expiration. Additionally, don't underestimate the pass rate. The Fukushima DMV had only a 17% pass rate for the foreign license conversion tests (2023, source: my proctor). If you fail and have to reschedule the test it can easily stretch into a nightmarish, multi-month process. This happened to my friend. Also, note the DMV doesn't work weekends, so you might need to use paid time off, and it is especially busy during the summer. Be careful!

It takes a minimum of two visits to the DMV. The first time is to submit documents in person and get them approved. You take an eye exam. After that's finished, you schedule a second appointment for the actual test. Mine was for the following week, so not as bad as the first appointment. Next time you come back you will take the test, the written portion in the morning and the practical exam in the afternoon. 

Document verification involves the following: ① to see your old license(s) ② proof that you lived in your country for at least 3 consecutive months after obtaining that license. Sounds easy, but ② was surprisingly difficult for me and my friends.

For ②, the most straightforward way you can prove you were in the country was a stamp in your passport showing the date of departure from your country. If you're from the US this might be difficult as we're mostly digital now. I had plenty of entries and departures from other countries, but no physical record from US immigration. If you don't have a passport stamp, next they'll ask for something that has your US address printed on it over a 3 month period. This could be snail mail bills or paystubs from a previous job. I had W-2 forms and my university transcripts which I thought would be enough, but neither had my US address on them. Also, my bank, job, and pretty much everything else was set up for digital contact, not snail mail.

 

In the end I satisfied ② with no less than: my university AND high school transcripts, my university diploma, pay stubs from 3 consecutive months of employment (with my US address written on them that I had to request from my previous employer's HR), and a hand-signed letter from a different employer. At any rate, I recommend the "drown them in documents" approach. Make things look as official as possible and eventually they'll shrug and let you through. Alternatively, one of my friends satisfied ② with the receipt from their flight into Japan. No, I don't know why that works, but apparently it's a solid alternative if you don't have a stamp.

A note on driving school: 

I went to a driving school in preparation for taking the exam. I took two one hour lessons which cost me 12,000 yen in total. I think it was worth it! The driving school helped prepare me for some of the more daunting parts on the exam like the crank and the S-curve, and gave me opportunities to ask questions to an instructor about what I should look out for during the test. 

The day I arrived at the DMV there were two other people taking the conversion test. They hadn't done driving school and they were apparently on their 5th and 6th attempts each. I managed to pass on my first try. So, take that for whatever its worth.

The Second Hurdle: The Written Exam

After you've had your documents approved and you've taken the eye exam, the DMV will make your second appointment. On the day of your practical exam you must take a written test in the morning. The written test has 10 true/false questions. You need a 7/10 to pass and I got an 8/10. 

The written test itself is fortunately well documented online and doesn't change based on location. Preparing for it is straightforward. I studied for about 4-8 hours while deskwarming at work over a couple weeks and I found it to be no problem. Also, you do learn useful things about road signs. Here are the websites I used to study. 

https://www.japan.drivexam.com/en

https://traffic-rules.com/en/japan/practice-test/random

There's not much to say here other than study until you feel ready. After taking the written test and passing you'll be given a map of the course and told to come back in the afternoon.

The Third Hurdle: The Practical Exam

Advice:

1. Visualize and walk the course during the lunch break(!!)

This was the most helpful out of anything I did. After you pass the written exam there will be a lunch break from 11:30am to 1:00pm during which you can walk the course. I walked the course three times, practicing as if I was in a car. When I got behind the wheel it didn't feel like my first time at all.

On my first pass I focused on getting used to the route. I held the map and referred to it while taking note of turns, visualizing and planning where I'd put on my blinker, where I'd be on the road at different points, where I'd end up in lane after each turn, when to look around and check for phantom cars, etc, etc.

The second time I walked the course I pretended I was taking the test. I started at the beginning of the course, looked under my (imaginary) car before getting in, checked the rear view windows, and in general did a whole pantomime routine.

The third time I went faster. I had memorized the course by this point. I made silly blinker noises and pointed to things with a 'yosh' as I passed them like an old Japanese taxi cab driver. I must have looked insane.

It was raining on that day and my coworker who had driven me to the test center wanted to go out and get lunch. However, I really recommend insisting on walking the course no matter what. It'd definitely the reason I passed on my first try. Apart from this preparation, the proctor will most likely let you sit in the back of the car during the test immediately before yours. This can be helpful to plan and check assumptions you made during your visualization.

2. Exaggerate your actions dramatically. 

The proctor not noticing you check your mirrors is a big reason you might fail. There's actually a procedure for mirror checks during the Japanese version of the exam they are trained to look out for. The foreign license conversion test isn't graded using the same criteria, but I figured the proctors would be used to looking out for that system, so I emulated it. I simplified it into 2 kinds of checks.

Every time you move the car from a stopped position (eg. a red light, a stop sign, beginning the exam, literally any reason), do a check of all 5 directions.

1. Look in the rear view mirror 

2. Look over your left shoulder

3. The left mirror

4. The right mirror

5. And turn all the way around to look behind your right shoulder.

If you're not fully stopped but instead just making a turn or changing lanes, a check of 3 directions is sufficient: 

1. The rear view mirror

2. The relevant side mirror

3. Look over the relevant shoulder. 

Each step of each check should take around 1 second. The goal is to make your checks so obvious, someone watching from outside the car could tell you're doing them. Aim to look so paranoid when checking that even the proctor starts to doubt the safety of (empty) course.

I had a major problem at first. My muscle memory from regular driving got in the way. After all, spending so long and doing such exaggerated checks is impractical under real-world conditions. I overcame my muscle memory by just doubling down. After finishing my exaggerated check, I checked my mirrors AGAIN as I would when driving normally. This way I didn't have to fight against muscle memory. So, I did all my checks twice.

It can feel silly to check so much, but remember they're not testing to see if you can drive: they're testing to see if you can do the checks. After the exam my instructor was extremely impressed. He pulled me aside to ask what driving school I went to and said I was a great driver. So, I don't think you can overdo it.

3. Talk to your instructor

At the beginning of your test, show off however much Japanese you can speak. It's solely up to their discretion as to whether you pass or not, so try to be as polite as possible. I made up some questions to have an opportunity to talk. I confirmed what speed I needed to get to on the straightaway and where to park the car after the exam was over, even though I knew the answer. If you don't speak Japanese, just make sure you give a solid "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" at the beginning and "arigatou gozaimashita" at the end. That should be enough.

4. Drive slowly

Drive as slowly as you can throughout the course without being annoying. Take all turns below 10kph. Otherwise, 20-30 kph is fine. It takes a surprisingly long time to do all the mirror checks so plan accordingly when you walk the course. Some of them are a bit tight.

5. Keep your blinkers on

The course is small, and it's said to signal about 50 meters before changing lanes. So, your blinkers will be on for most of the test. This is normal. 

6. Don't take wide turns 

It was pointed out to me at driving school that I take wide turns. In particular, at a blind or sharp turn I take it wider for increased visibility. However, you'll get points taken off for this. Go really slow and hug the turn.

7. Check for phantom cars

Do your best to imagine the course is littered with imaginary children. Drive as slowly as you would in the crowded downtown district of a city. Check from left to right when anything could even remotely justify it. The purpose of the test is to demonstrate the absolute maximum level of cautiousness you can display, not the appropriate level of caution for an empty road.

8. Stay to the left within your lane.

Unless you're making a right turn or lane change, drive to the far left of your lane, not in the center. My friend failed one of his attempts because of this.

9. Pump your breaks during the straightaway. 

Apparently, some Japanese driving schools teach their students to do this. The advice I saw online was that it's better to jolt the car gently while braking just to make it clear to the proctor that you're brake pumping. That seemed silly to me but I did it anyway.

10. Inspect around the car before starting the test.

Before getting in the driver's seat, walk the perimeter of the car. Inspect the tires, look under the car to make sure nothing is there, etc. Just make a show of it, taking no longer than 20 seconds. Make sure the proctor sees you doing it and isn't messing with his clipboard. Before opening the door to the car, look behind you to check no imaginary traffic is oncoming.

11. Starting the test

Sit down in the car and follow this order:

1. Say "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" to your proctor. Ask your questions and throw around whatever Japanese you can.

2. Adjust the seat and mirrors. I adjusted my rear view mirror so I'd have to lean in to use it, thereby making the checking of it more obvious. 

3. Fasten your seatbelt

4. Start the car

5. Turn on your right-turn signal 

6. Put car into drive

7. Disengage parking break (yes, after putting the car into drive)

8. Do a 5 mirror check

9. Say "ikimasu" and go out slowly

12. Tips for the Crank and S-bend

Go slow. Break the whole time, as even idling makes you go too fast. When you're about half way through, start signaling. Come to a full stop before exiting the feature, doing a 5 mirror check. 

13. Traffic Lights

When turning at the traffic intersection, note the triangle shaped guide in the center on the ground. Turn in alignment with the triangle, aiming to put your tire on the arrow, but don't touch the triangle. Driving on the triangle caused my friend to fail one attempt.

14. Check at the open intersection 

In my case there was an open intersection with no light or stop sign.  Pass through at a slightly slower speed, looking both ways cautiously, but don't stop. 

15. The parked car obstacle

There will be a car parked on the left you must overtake. Follow this procedure for passing a parked car:

1. Right turn indicator 30m before overtaking

2. 3-mirror check 

3. Move to the center of the road, with about 1 meter distance between you and the parked car 

4. As soon as you finish moving to the right, immediately turn on your left blinker

5. 3-mirror check

6. Merge back left into your lane

I thought this obstacle was the most difficult because of the limited time you have. Go really slow.

16. The straightaway

Accelerate energetically as soon as you enter the straightaway. You need to hit 50 kph which is hard to do if you don't floor it. You don't have to hold the speed for any specific length of time after you hit it, so you can start braking after, as you need to take the final turn under 10kph. Don't forget to do a 3 mirror check at the end of the straightaway if there are merging lanes. 

17. Moving lanes

For merging, I followed this procedure:

1. 3 seconds before initiating the merge, signal

2. Just before merging to the right, 3 mirror check

18. Do not pull past lines on the road

Give yourself about 40 cm or 1 ft clearance before stopping before a line on the road (stop signs, etc.) Pulling ahead of this line is an immediate fail. A good way to do this is to stop the car just as the line on the road aligns with the front hood of your car from your point of view. 

18. Roll down your window before the railway crossing

This wasn't on the Fukushima test but I note it here for the sake of completion. When stopping before a railroad crossing, roll down your driver side window or a moment to listen for oncoming trains. 

19. Engage your parking break before cresting a hill with an intersection at the top.

This also wasn't on the Fukushima test.

Before cresting a hill with an intersection on top, come to a complete stop and engage the parking brake. Look around, doing a 5 mirror check. Before disengaging the parking brake, depress the accelerator in anticipation so the car doesn't roll down the hill when you remove the brake. Allowing your car to roll backward is apparently an automatic fail on the Japanese exam.

20. Ending the test

For the Japanese version of the test you're supposed to park the car in a specific way. You must park so the passenger side is within 30cm of the white line on your left, and the front of the car is within +/- 30cm of a barber pole at the front. However, my instructor had me pull well past the poles. He didn't seem concerned at all about where I stopped, even though I spent a lot of time practicing it at the driving school.

After you park, engage the parking brake and turn off the car. The instructor will tell the others to leave the car so he can give you results and any feedback. If you pass you'll have to wait for another hour or two, do some paperwork, then you go home with your license.

Well, those are all my tips! The test can be daunting but with some preparation it's nothing to be afraid of. Better safe than sorry when it comes to something that involves your paid time off.

I hope this helped you. Good luck on your test!