1. Requirements
In order to rent and drive a car in Japan, you require a Japanese driving license or an international driving permit. In case of France, Germany and Switzerland, an official translation of your home country's driving license is accepted.
International driving permits must be obtained in your home country, usually through the National Automobile Association, before you leave for Japan. Foreigners can drive in Japan with a recognized international driving permit for up to one year after entering the country.
Japan recognizes only international driving permits, which are based on the Geneva Convention of 1949. A few countries, including Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland, however, issue international driving permits, which are based on different conventions. The permits issued by those countries are not valid in Japan.
A driver's license issued in France, Germany, Switzerland, Itary, Belgium or Taiwan is valid in Japan by attaching a Japanese translation from either the embassy or Japan Automobile Federation(JAF). The license is valid one year from your date of entry into Japan. People from other countries, whose international driving permits are not recognized by Japan, must attain a Japanese driving license in order to drive in Japan. The minimum age for driving in Japan is 18 years.
In order to have a Japanese translation published, it is necessary to make telephone reservation beforehand at the following. Those who cannot speak Japanese need to ask someone and reserve in Japanese.
※JAF / Japan Automobile Federation / Aomori Branch）：Tel 017-765-5255
Required Documents for get an official Japanese translation |
2. Obtaining a Japanese Driver’s License
A driver's license obtained outside Japan can be switched to a Japanese driver's license. In addition to submitting the documents shown below, as a principle, the applicant must take an aptitude test and a driving test conducted on an examination course.
Japan has concluded agreements with more than twenty countries to ease the process of converting a valid foreign driving license into a Japanese one. Among these countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
If you hold a valid driving license from one of these countries, you can get a Japanese license without taking a written or practical exam. All you need to do is go to “Aomori Driver’s License Center” with an official translation of your license, take an eye test and prove that, after obtaining your license, you have lived at least three months in the country where your license had been issued. It can be advised to convert a driver’s license from the participant’s home country to a Japanese license at an easy procedure, which needs fo1lowing documents and check of driving skill by authorities.
Depending on the issuing country, the applicant may be exempt from the driving test. The holders of a French, German or Swiss driver's license will be exempted from a field test, and can obtain a Japanese driver’s license only by interviews.
In order to carry out change procedure of a driver's license, it is necessary to make telephone reservation beforehand at the following. Those who cannot speak Japanese need to go together with interpreter.
※Aomori Driver’s License Center ：Tel 017-782-0081
－Requirements for switching to a Japanese driver's license－ |
－Required Documents－ |
3. Automobile Maintenance Inspection
All cars driven in Japan are required to undergo the Automobile Maintenance Inspection ("shaken") as stipulated by law. Cars are regularly inspected to check for structural defects or functional disorders. For a regular passenger car, an automobile maintenance inspection must be conducted after 3 years if the car is new, and every 2 years thereafter.
4. Automobile Insurance
Automobile insurance consists of compulsory automobile liability insurance and various optional schemes.
1) Compulsory Insurance
The owner of any type of automobile is legally obliged to take out the compulsory automobile liability insurance. In the event of a road accident by automobile resulting in injury or death, this insurance covers only liability for reparation.
Neither liability for reparation of the property of a third party, nor the death or injury of the driver, nor damage to the driver's car, are covered.
The upper limit on payments under the compulsory automobile liability insurance is 1.2 million yen for a victim's injury and 30 million yen for a victim's death or in the event of aftereffects arising.
All procedures involved in taking out compulsory automobile liability insurance are handled by dealers, service stations which conduct the maintenance inspection, or insurance companies.
2) Optional Insurance
Optional insurance schemes cover liability over and above that covered by the compulsory automobile liability insurance, such as damage to possessions, car, passengers or self.
3) What to Do about Insurance when Involved in a Traffic Accident
First, the accident must be reported to the nearest police station. Once the practical details have been taken care of at the scene of the accident, the driver should contact his/her insurance company and give a report on the accident, such as the other party's name, address, place of work, telephone number, car registration number and car model, and the condition of the accident. The insurance will be paid after an investigation.
5. Rental Companies
Among Japan's leading car rental companies are Mazda Rentacar, Nissan Rentacar, Toyota Renta lease, Nippon Rent-a-car and Orix Rent-a-car. They operate hundreds of outlets across Japan, offering cars in all sizes and, in some cases, large vans, buses and RVs.
The cost per day in case of Japanese companies is typically around 6,000 yen for the smallest car category, around 10,000 yen for mid sized cars and around 15,000 yen for full sized cars, including a mandatory insurance fee of around 1000 yen per day. Rates are usually higher during peak seasons, especially in Hokkaido.
6. Purchasing a car
1) General information
New and used cars are relatively inexpensive in the home country of Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda, with brand new kei-class cars, the smallest car type, selling for less than a million yen.
Owning and operating a car, however, is linked with various considerable expenses, including compulsory inspections (shaken) every two to three years, various taxes, mandatory and optional insurance, high parking costs in cities, and expensive toll expressways.
Shaken is a compulsory safety inspection, which cars in Japan have to undergo every two years, except new cars, for which the first inspection is not due until three years after purchase. The shaken typically costs between 100,000 and 200,000 yen, and besides the actual inspection includes a weight tax (typically 8,000 to 50,000 yen) and a mandatory insurance (about 30,000 yen).
Since the mandatory insurance does not provide full coverage, it is recommended to purchase additional, optional car insurance. Furthermore, there is an annual automobile tax, which depends on the engine size and is typically between 10,000 and 50,000 yen, and an acquisition tax to be paid when you buy the car.
When acquiring a car, numerous documents have to be filled out, including forms to register your car and to verify ownership of a parking space. If you buy a used car, the process is further complicated by forms regulating the transfer of ownership.
Fortunately, if you buy a car through a car dealer, the dealer will handle most of the paperwork for you, while your main task is signing the forms with your officially registered, personal stamp (inkan).
2) Used cars
Each week thousands of cars are sold to domestic and foreign buyers through used car auctions. If you are considering buying a car in Japan, then you could contact a dealer and arrange the purchase of a car from an auction. This can save you a lot of money and time as they will do all the searching for you, and you will get what you want from a national pool of stock rather than your local car yard.
Sites such as used car japan.com (http://www.used-car-japan.com/) offer information about buying from Japanese used car dealers, as well as a useful free car search, which sends details of the car you want to dozens of dealers throughout Japan who will contact you if they find something to match your needs.
If you want to bring your own car into Japan from your home country, you have to adjust your car so as to satisfy the Japanese regulation of exhaust emission. Expenses for such adjustment and shipment amount to around one million yen.
