Английская Википедия:Driving license in Japan
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use American English Шаблон:Use mdy dates
In Japan, a Шаблон:Nihongo is required when operating a car, motorcycle or moped on public roads. Driving licenses are issued by the prefectural governments' public safety commissions and are overseen on a nationwide basis by the National Police Agency.
Types of license
Japanese licenses are divided by experience level and by vehicle type.
Classes
| Name | Japanese | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Provisional license | Шаблон:Lang | Issued to a new driver undergoing training for their Class 1 license. Requires the driver to display learner's black-on-white plates on the exterior of the vehicle, and to be accompanied by a supervising experienced Class 1 license holder while driving. This license expires unless a learner driver gains a Class 1 license within six months. |
| Class 1 license | Шаблон:Lang | The ordinary licence for operating a private car. |
| Class 2 licenses | Шаблон:Lang | Required when operating a commercial passenger-carrying vehicle such as a taxi or bus. Driver must be 21 years of age or older and have at least three years of experience driving under a Class 1 ordinary vehicle/heavy special vehicle license (relaxed to two years for members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. One year and 19 years old by certain lesson in driving school). |
Categories
The vehicle classes are as follows:
| Name | Japanese | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy vehicle | Шаблон:Lang | Any vehicle which weighs 11,000 kg or more in total, has maximum capacity of 6,500 kg or more, or carries 30 or more people, and is not classified as special vehicle, motorcycle or moped. |
| Medium vehicle | Шаблон:Lang | Any vehicle which weighs between 7,500 kg and 11,000 kg in total, has a maximum capacity between 4,500 kg and 7,500 kg, or carries 11 to 29 people, and is not classified as heavy vehicle, special vehicle, motorcycle or moped. |
| Semi-Medium vehicle | Шаблон:Lang | Any vehicle which weighs between 3,500 kg and 7,500 kg in total, has a maximum capacity between 2,000 kg and 4,500 kg, and is not classified as heavy vehicle, medium vehicle, special vehicle, motorcycle or moped. |
| Ordinary vehicle | Шаблон:Lang | Any motorised vehicle which is not classified as heavy vehicle, medium vehicle, semi-medium vehicle, special vehicle, motorcycle or moped. |
| Heavy special vehicle | Шаблон:Lang | Specialised automotive equipment such as tractors or cranes which are used for particular work and are not classified as small special vehicles. |
| Small special vehicle | Шаблон:Lang | Specialized automotive equipment with a maximum speed of 15 km/h or less and no larger than 4.7m × 1.7m × 2.8m. |
| Heavy motorcycle | Шаблон:Lang | Any motorcycle including a sidecar with a power exceeding 20 Kw (400cc for engine displacement), and is not classified as special vehicle. |
| Ordinary motorcycle | Шаблон:Lang | Any motorcycle including a sidecar, and is not classified as special vehicle, heavy motorcycle or moped. |
| Moped | Шаблон:Lang | Any motorcycle with a power 0.6Kw or less (50cc or less for engine displacement), or motorized quadricycle which is not larger than 2.5m x 1.3m x 2.0m with a power 0.25Kw or less(20cc or less for engine displacement). |
The "restricted to automatic" license (Шаблон:Lang) can be issued for ordinary vehicle (including Class 2 license), ordinary motorcycle and heavy motorcycle license classes. The "restricted to small motorcycle" license (Шаблон:Lang 1.0Kw/125cc or less) can be issued for ordinary motorcycle license class, and can be issued along with the "restricted to automatic" license.
Vehicle Type Ratings
The vehicle type ratings are as follows:
- The minimum requirement for heavy or medium vehicle license can be relaxed to 19 years old and one year experience under ordinary vehicle/heavy special vehicle license by certain lesson in driving school.[1]
Required training
There are two options for learners. Firstly, learners can attend a designated driving school. Graduates from a designated driving school do not need to sit the practical examination but they do need to sit the written examination. Secondly, learners can attend non-designated driving school or obtain practice through other means, in which case they must sit both the practical and written examinations. The Japanese driving examination consists of a written examination and a practical examination for each level of license. Most Japanese go to a driving school prior to taking these examinations (though it is not required), and upon completing the course at a non-designated driving school must register for the examinations in the prefecture where they are registered as a resident. The practical examination consists of driving a vehicle through a purpose-designed driving course while obeying relevant rules of the road.[2]
Japan also allows Japan-resident holders of foreign driving licenses to convert their foreign license to a Japanese license through an abbreviated examination process. This consists of an eyesight test and, depending on the issuing country of the foreign license, may also require a short written examination and a practical examination.
Countries exempt from the exam include, as of 2022: Iceland, Ireland, parts of the United States (limited to only the states of Ohio, Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland and Washington), United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Canada, South Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Hungary, Finland, France, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg, and Taiwan.[3]
In 2003, the first-time pass rate for Americans was slightly higher than the 35 percent pass rate for Japanese returnees, but not much. On the other hand, for those who took the regular test, they had to go through an intensive (and expensive) driver education program. The first time pass rate for this group, even with the harder test, was 90 to 100 percent.[4] As of 2022, the fee for an English-speaking foreigner to obtain a license from a Japanese driving school is about ¥500,000 (or about US$Шаблон:To USD).[2]
Driving license card
Every licensed driver is issued with a Шаблон:Nihongo, which they are required to have available for inspection whenever they exercise the privileges granted by the license.
Layout of a driving license card
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Description
The sections of the sample license shown are:
| No. | Japanese | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Шаблон:Lang | Date of birth | |
| 2 | Шаблон:Lang | Last name and first name | |
| 3 | Шаблон:Lang | Address | |
| 4 | Шаблон:Lang | Date of issue of the card | |
| 5 | Шаблон:Lang | Date of expiry of the card | Background colour: green for new drivers (valid for 3 years), blue for normal drivers (valid for 3 years), gold for good drivers (no violations or accidents for 5 years, valid for 5 years) |
| 6 | Шаблон:Lang | Conditions | In this sample, vehicles weighing up to 8 tonnes. Usual default also includes a limitation to Automatic Transmission (AT); separate driving test on manual transmission vehicle required for this permission. |
| 7 | Шаблон:Lang | "Sample" | Does not exist on a normal license |
| 8 | Шаблон:Lang | Superior | Annotation for good drivers (with gold background) |
| 9 | Шаблон:Lang | License number | |
| 10 | Шаблон:Lang | Date of first issue of motorcycle licenses | Including motorcycles (Шаблон:Lang), small special vehicle (Шаблон:Lang), or moped license (Шаблон:Lang). |
| 11 | Шаблон:Lang | Date of first issue of other licenses | Other categories exclude the commercial ones. |
| 12 | Шаблон:Lang | Date of first issue of commercial licenses | Literally means driving license of the second kind |
| 13 | Шаблон:Lang | Valid categories | Valid categories are shown in abbreviations in Kanji, invalid only with a hyphen. |
| 14 | Шаблон:Lang | Number | Intra-office reference number. |
| 15 | Шаблон:Lang | Issuing authority | Public Safety Commission of a prefecture |
| 16 | Seal | Official seal of the prefectural public safety commission | |
| 17 | Photo |
Date format
The dates are written in year-month-day order. The years follow the Japanese era calendar scheme. The months and days follow the Gregorian calendar, as in most Western countries.
| ◯◯ ＹＹ年 | ＭＭ月 | DD日 |
|---|---|---|
| Era and Year | Month | Day |
| Шаблон:Nihongo 1868–1912 Шаблон:Nihongo 1912–1926 Шаблон:Nihongo 1926–1989 Шаблон:Nihongo 1989–2019 Шаблон:Nihongo 2019– |
Шаблон:Nihongo Шаблон:Nihongo — Шаблон:Nihongo |
For example:
- the driver's date of birth (昭和５０年６月１日) is the 1st day (１日) of the 6th month (６月) of the 50th year (５０年) of the reign of Emperor Shōwa (昭和), or 1 June 1975
- the expiry date (平成２４年０７月０１日) is the 1st day (０１日) of the 7th month (０７月) of the 24th year (２４年) of the Heisei era (平成), or 1 July 2012
Categories of license
Abbreviated names of the categories of vehicle this license includes. For illustrative purposes, this sample license shows every category. Category names are in the same places on every license. If a category is not included in a license, in the place where the category name would appear there is a horizontal bar.
| Abbreviation | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | |
| English | Heavy vehicle | Medium vehicle | Semi-Medium vehicle | Ordinary vehicle | Heavy special vehicle | Heavy motorcycle | Ordinary motorcycle | |
| Abbreviation | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang |
| Full name | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang | Шаблон:Lang |
| English | Small special vehicle | Moped | Commercial heavy vehicle |
Commercial medium vehicle |
Commercial ordinary vehicle |
Commercial heavy special vehicle |
Tractor-Trailer vehicle |
Commercial Tractor- Trailer vehicle |
Amendments
Amendments to the license, such as a change of address, can be recorded on the reverse side of the license. For amendments that cannot be recorded in this manner, a new license must be issued.
Use in other countries
Great Britain has an exchange agreement with Japan[5] (and with 16 other countries/regions) which allows the holder of a Japanese license who is deemed to be resident in the UK to exchange it for a British license. To do this, the holder must send the license, a translation thereof, an application form and a fee to the DVLA or DVA (for Northern Ireland).
See also
References
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ 2,0 2,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web Exchange a foreign driving license. Retrieved 29 October 2020
External links
- MetropolitanPoliceDepartment(Japanese)
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