Before 2002, an International Driver’s Permit (IDP) could be renewed repeatedly and used, with a valid overseas license, instead of formally applying for a Japanese driver’s license. But, after the law changed, the use of an IDP was limited to (Japan Traffic Act Article Number 107.2)

1 year maximum from first arrival in Japan
Drivers returning to Japan after being out of the country for at least 3 months

After your IDP expires, you must convert your foreign license to a Japanese license. You may not renew it unless you leave the country again for at least 3 months.

Though this law changed nearly 10 years ago, the information has still not completely filtered out to the foreign communities of Japan, and many people are risking penalties of up to 1 year imprisonment, and in extreme cases may also result in loss of employment or deportation every time they get behind the wheel.

2011 saw two high profile drivers arrested for driving without a license in Japan in situations involving invalid International Driving Permits (IDP).

Japanese golf star Ryo Ishikawa was the first. Ryo Ishikawa was named Sports Illustrated’ s Sportsman of the Year for promising to donate all of his golf earnings for 2011 to support relief projects related to Japan’s recent devastating tsunami.

The award and the golf pro’s notoriety did not help when he was caught driving on an invalid IDP; he was arrested and charged. Ishikawa got a United States Driver’s License, and IDP while playing in the US, but failed to notice that an IDP is only valid if the license holder has been outside of Japan for more than three months, which he was not.

The second arrest of 2011 was…“That foreign guy from the Softbank commercials with the cute dog” which is how most of us in Japan know American actor Dante Carver.

Carver, who has been in Japan since 2005, was stopped in Shibuya after making an illegal U-turn. When asked by police for his license, he produced an invalid IDP, and was arrested. Having lived in Japan since 2005, he was well beyond the legal limit for driving with an IDP. To have used an IDP legally for that amount of time, he would have had to leave the country for 3 months out of every year. It appears instead that he simply renewed his IDP and continued to use it, unintentionally breaking the law.