Currently, in Japan, trains remain the primary mode of daily transportation for people in major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto due to the dense and convenient train network. You can practically go anywhere by train. However, in smaller cities, trains mainly travel through large, densely populated urban areas, and cars are the more common means of transportation. And if you're a travel enthusiast living in Japan, besides your camera, a driver's license is definitely something you should get as soon as possible.
If you don't travel by car, you won't be able to fully explore Ine & Amanohashidate fishing village comfortably, it's almost impossible to cover all the Mount Fuji viewing spots in Yamanashi in a day, and things get even more difficult when you travel to the southern land of Japan – Kyushu without a car.
"In today's post, I'll be giving you a detailed guide on cách để lấy bằng lái ô tô tại Nhật chỉ trong 15 ngày, as well as cách đổi bằng lái xe Nhật Bản sang bằng quốc tế that can be used in over 100 countries worldwide."
- Find driving schools near you.
In Japan, there's a website that lists driving schools nationwide, with comprehensive information such as tuition fees, facilities, amenities around the school, and more. You can check it out to find the most suitable school for you. Here's the website address: https://www.menkyo-school.jp/
2. Contact the school to register.
Once you've found a school near you, simply search for the school's name on Google and you'll easily find their contact number. If you're not confident in your Japanese skills, don't worry! Typically, the school will only ask for some basic information such as your address, the type of license you want to get (automatic - AT or manual - MT), and your preferred start date. They will then inform you about the tuition fees (keep in mind that fees may vary depending on the time of year). After that, all procedures will be completed through paperwork (the school will send it to your home), and you won't need to have any further discussions.
In Japan, these tasks are usually handled by an agent who liaises with the school on your behalf. However, if you complete these simple steps yourself (which not everyone knows about!), you can save around 30,000 JPY in agency fees! If you're not very confident in your Japanese, you can also ask a friend or colleague for help.
When contacting the school to register, you should also ask the consultant clearly whether the Karimen (仮免) and Honmen (本免) exams can be taken directly at the school, and whether the Karimen theory test includes Vietnamese, English, and Chinese languages (depending on the language you feel most confident in).
3. Steps to register for driving lessons in Japan
After contacting the driving school, within a few days, the school will send the relevant documents to the address you registered. The documents usually include items such as registration confirmation, tuition fees (including bank account information for transfer), school regulations, documents to be prepared and returned to the school, as well as some directions on how to get to the school (if the school is located in a difficult-to-reach area).
The driving school I chose is Hokkuban Driving School, a school located in a peaceful rural area of Hyogo Prefecture. I also recommend this school to anyone living in the Kansai area for the following reasons:
- Reasonable tuition fees
- Enthusiastic Japanese instructors (when I studied there, there were many Vietnamese students, and the instructors even learned some basic Vietnamese words to better communicate with the Vietnamese students).
- Private dormitory, with each person having their own room (at some other schools, you will have to share a room with other students, and if you want a private room, you will have to pay an extra fee).
- The Karimen (仮免) and Honmen (本免) exams are conducted right at the school, eliminating the need to go to the police station for testing like at many other schools.
- Karimen (仮免) exam materials available in both English and Vietnamese.
- The last and most crucial reason I chose this school is its incredibly high graduation rate. It's a huge time saver when it comes to getting your driver's license.
What was included in the documents the school sent me was:
- School regulations: most items are similar to other driving schools, with only one thing you need to note: the school does not accept students with tattoos on their bodies. If discovered, your learning progress will be canceled without any further compensation. Therefore, please make sure the school you are about to attend does not have this regulation.
- Confirm the information you registered, including the enrollment date, license type, tuition fee, and payment method. You need to pay the tuition fee within one week of receiving this document package; otherwise, your application will be canceled without prior notice.
- Getting to the school is easy: Since it's located in the countryside, away from the city and train stations, the school will pick you up at a specific time at a designated station (like in the picture above, 9:45 AM at Tanikawa Station). If you're coming from far and can't make it by 9:45 AM on the first day, you can come the day before (3:47 PM at Tanikawa Station in the picture). The school will fully reimburse your travel costs to and from Tanikawa Station when you graduate.
- Free luggage shipping: The 15-day intensive course requires you to stay on campus (classes all day, with meals and accommodation provided in the dorms). So, pack enough for two weeks. To avoid bringing heavy luggage on arrival, you can ship it to the school in advance—the school covers the full shipping cost.
When making your tuition payment, be sure to include the payment reference/details provided in the documents you received. Once the payment is processed, your registration is complete. The last step is to go to the designated meeting location outlined in the documents; a staff member will meet you there and escort you to the school.
4.The Process of Obtaining a Driver's License in Japan
Starting from this section, I'll share my complete journey, from my first day of driving lessons to graduation, in hopes of giving you a clearer insight into learning to drive in Japan. Let's dive in!
First, I went to Tanikawa station at the scheduled time. When I arrived at the station, there was a staff waiting in front of the station and took me to school.
Since I opted for the on-campus/residential program (full-time study from morning till evening for 14 days, including meals and accommodation in the school dorms), the school's distance from the city center wasn't a big deal for me. With free transportation to and from the school, plus the on-campus accommodation, my priorities were English/Vietnamese support for the Karimen exam and a high on-time graduation rate, regardless of the school's location.
Once I arrived at the school, I went through some registration formalities and confirmed my registration details. Don't forget to bring your residence card and seal for the paperwork. After the formalities, a staff member will take you for an eye exam and a photo (for your Karimen license).
Free Japanese study materials are provided. If Japanese isn't your first language, you can buy textbooks in your own language (Vietnamese and English are offered) for 7,000 JPY each. If you're not completely comfortable with Japanese, we recommend buying a textbook; it will greatly assist you with the theory portion of the course.
After the enrollment process, I was taken to my dorm room. It had all the essentials: a bed, mattress, desk, AC, TV, and so on. There's also a laundry room and a communal Onsen bath.
My room had a pretty nice view, overlooking the mountains behind the school and rice paddies in front. It looked just like a scene from a Japanese movie.
The only drawback of this school is the food—it's not great, especially considering the 230,000 JPY tuition. The school is also a bit far from convenience stores, so I recommend bringing some of your own snacks if you study here.
Right after I got to my room and had lunch, I received my first week's schedule. My first class was at 1:35 PM that afternoon (see photo below). We started with theory, then practiced driving on simulators, and finished with actual driving in a car.
For the next three days, I alternated between theory and practical lessons, with an average of three theory sessions and two practical driving sessions per day, plus two periods of free practice driving within the school grounds according to a pre-set schedule (using a wireless system/radio communication).
By day 5, I had completed all the theory lessons in stage 1 (there are two stages in total) and was ready for the theory test to get my Karimen (仮免) license. The theory test has 50 true/false questions, and you need to answer at least 45 correctly to pass.
If you don't pass the theory test, you get two more retries at the school. If you still fail, you'll have to take the test at your local police station until you pass (the school won't cover travel costs).
The day after the theory test, I took the practical driving test. The instructor let me drive around a bit beforehand to get a feel for the car. The Karimen (仮免) practical test includes various maneuvers like hill starts on steep slopes, checking at railroad crossings, navigating S and Z curves, and parallel and perpendicular parking. You need a score of 70 or higher to pass, and if you drop a tire off the course in the S or Z curve test, you'll instantly fail.
Once you pass both the written and practical tests, you'll get your Karimen (仮免) license, which lets you drive on public roads with an instructor. Stage 2 of the course starts right after you get your Karimen (仮免).
With stage 2 of the course, the number of lessons ramped up quite a bit, and all the practical driving was done on public roads. It was a totally different experience from driving in the school. These lessons covered pretty much everything you'd encounter in real driving situations, like using your lights in tunnels, controlling the throttle going up and down hills, avoiding obstacles, and handling sharp turns.
During the practical lessons, you'll have one session where you drive in a group of three, taking turns driving different routes. Immediately afterward, there's a debriefing session where the two observers in the group and the instructor analyze any mistakes made on the road—it's very hands-on. And to wrap up the practical training at the school, there will be three highway driving lessons, which is also a very exciting experience.
The study time in stage 2 is quite extensive, usually lasting continuously from 9 AM to 5 PM. However, you should still make use of your free evenings to review the theory practice questions so you can do well on the final exam before graduating.
Once you finish all the stage 2 theory at the school, you'll take a comprehensive test covering all the theory from both stages. The test has 45 true/false questions and 5 scenario-based questions. You need to score at least 90 out of 100 to qualify for the Honmen (本免) practical test.
The final practical test (Honmen – 本免) is taken right at the school and is graded by your instructors (at some schools, you'll have to go to the local police station for the test and be evaluated by police officers). If you pass the practical test in the morning, there's a graduation ceremony that afternoon. You'll get a course completion certificate and a beginner driver sticker (to put on the front and back of your car for a year after you get your license).
You're now 80% of the way to getting your Japanese driver's license! The only thing left is to register for the Honmen (本免) written test at your local police station. You can register online or in person at the police station. Since I live in Osaka, I'll be registering at the Osaka police station; I'll put the registration link here:: https://www.police.pref.osaka.lg.jp/tetsuduki/untenmenkyo/10542.html
I registered for the theory test right after graduating from driving school (I wanted to take it soon so I wouldn't forget the theory I'd learned 😀 ). The theory test includes 45 multiple-choice questions and 5 scenario questions, and you have 50 minutes to complete it (it's exactly the same as the competency assessment when you graduate from the school). You only need to review the questions on the website provided by the school to grasp 95% of the theory. In my opinion, the test at the police station is much easier than the competency assessment at the school.
The test results will be available about an hour after you finish the exam. You need to stay at the police station to see the results in person. If you pass, you'll need to stay to complete the necessary procedures to receive your license (taking a photo, returning your Karimen license, etc.). And after about 1-2 hours, you should be able to receive it. Japanese driver's license Already.
If you plan to travel abroad, you can apply for an International Driving Permit (IDP) at the counter (the IDP is valid for one year from the date of issue). One more tip: you should bring your own passport-sized photos. In Japan, taking photos yourself and printing them at a convenience store (Combini) is much cheaper and produces better results than getting them taken at the police station.
And that concludes my entire 15-day journey to getting a driver's license in Japan. I was initially hesitant because my Japanese isn't very good, but in practice, everything was much easier than I expected. Most of the vocabulary you learn at driving school is borrowed from English and is easy to remember (for those who know a little English). I'll leave a list of important vocabulary below for your reference.
Choosing to board at the driving school was also like a short break for me after many years of continuous work (going to a peaceful rural area far from the city center and focusing on studying for 15 days). If I could do it again, I would definitely get my license sooner so I could travel to more places in Japan on my own. I'll attach a list of driving school vocabulary below, along with photos of some of the peaceful scenery around the school. I hope this article has been helpful. Thank you for reading to the end.
Some common vocabulary used in Japanese driving schools:
ライト: Headlight
steering wheel: steering wheel
タイヤ: tire
運転免許証（うんてんめんきょしょう）: driver's license
シートベルトをしめる: put on a seat belt
エンジンをかける: to start the engine
アクセルをふむ: to press the accelerator
ブレーキをかける: to apply the brakes
急(きゅう) ブレーキ: sudden braking
ハンドブレーキを引（ひ）く: to engage the handbrake
ハンドブレーキを戻（もど）す: To disengage the handbrake
ハンドルを戻（もど）す: to return the steering wheel to the center/straight position
リバース: (Symbol R) Reverse
パーキング: (symbol P) Parking
ドライブ: (symbol D) Driver
ルームミラーをあわせる: adjust the rearview mirror (inside the car)
ドアミラー: Side mirrors
右折（うせつ): turn right
左折（させつ): turn left
直進（ちょくしん): go straight
発進（はっしん): start (the car starts rolling)
後退（こうたい)（バック): Reversing
左カーブ（ひだりカーブ): left curve
右カーブ（みぎカーブ): right curve
止まれ（とまれ): Stop
上り坂（のぼりざか): sloping up
下り坂（くだりざか): sloping down
Sand: Sand formation
S字（エスじ): S-shaped (test content in driving test)
クランク: L-shaped (l test content in driving test)
3点確認（さんてんかくにん): Confirm 3 points, this part the teacher will directly guide you.
5点確認（ごてんかくにん): Confirm 5 points
目視（もくし)/巻き込み（まきこみ): Check blind spots (with your eyes, not through mirrors)
死角（しかく): blind spot (dead spot)
安全を確認する（あんぜんをかくにんする)/安全を確かめる（あんぜんをたしかめる): confirmed safe
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