No. Arabic numerals, flow chart, and intuition will get you through. (Hopefully).

Even if you have driven Japanese cars, there can be some surprises - I recall searching for a parking brake in a Nissan once. I could see no sign of pedal or lever - It had an electronic brake that I was unfamiliar with. Likewise I've had cars in Japan where I struggled to work out the controls to demist the screen, open a window, open the fuel tank, adjust the side mirrors etc. All worth noting.

I have that problem with cars in the U.S. too. Not usually a problem if it's daylight and the weather is good.

Speaking of international driving discrepancies. I also knew a rather senior Japanese executive who was amazed by the automatic toll baskets when he first went to U.S. in the 50s. He admitted that one of his American colleagues had convinced him that they hired midgets to sit under the basket, count the money, and pull a lever to raise the bar.

He said whenever he paid a toll, he'd stick his head out the window and peer into the basket to see if he could spot the guy.

Question: does everyone who's planning to drive in Japan hold international driving permits/licenses? I read that this was necessary for renting but I'm not certain about the legalities of driving with a foreign license.

Yes. Your foreign license is not accepted in Japan. You need an international permit.
(Unless you've been driving in Japan for a year - in which case you need to get a Japanese license).

Adding to Jib71 - Those countries where there has been a treaty, if you are a resident, one can get a translated copy of your driver's license and they will issue a Japanese license WITHOUT a driving test (written nor skills).

USA is NOT one of these countries.

Australia and Canada are for sure, not sure about the any other countries.

Well to be totally precise, Japan is a party to the International Driving Treaty which says they will accept either an International License or a translated copy of a foreign license. In practice they only accept International Licenses. You'd probably win the case if you went to court with a translated copy of your foreign license, but it's certainly not worth the hassle.

This one is not treaty related. It's strictly a matter of Japanese law. About 10 or 15 years back, Japan decided they would only issue automatic licenses to holder of licenses issued by national government (not state or provincial) government. Canada got an exemption about 10 years ago. The U.S. State Department is still negotiating to get an exemption for U.S. State licenses.

http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/.../d_license.pdf




https://rent.toyota.co.jp/en/beginner/license.html

"Driver's licenses issued by Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Slovenia, Monaco or Taiwan must be able to simultaneously present passport and Japanese translation of driver’s license."

And these correspond to the government document above in reference to Foreign Driver Licence issued by the "6 states and 1 territory". Specifically these places do not issue IDP pursuant to the Geneva Convention. The translation must be done by specific agencies.

And then there are drivers from some countries (China, Indonesia,... ) who simply can't drive because they can't have the proper IDP and are not on the list of 6+1 above.

Wow - From the same Toyota page - "Japanese translation of the driver's license must be issued by the respective country’s embassy or consulate in Japan or by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF)"

Good luck with that.

I got a translation from the Tokyo JAF office (which was required to prove my driving history when converting my license). I recall them being able to do it in about 30 minutes for something like 3,000 JPY.

You can also get JAF to do it by post - http://www.jaf.or.jp/inter/translation/specific_e.htm
Although not, it seems, from outside Japan.

JAF or the Japanese version of AAA did the translation for me as well.

It was not very expensive and it took a hour or so.

Hardly any problem, as posted above.

At least one Japanese+French based travel agency also provide mail-in service for overseas clients, because JAF does not deal with overseas requests.

Not to mention Taiwanese drivers can get the translation done at dozens of government Motor Vehicle Offices/Stations throughout Taiwan.

The procedure at Embassies are published. 2 work days and 36 Euro at German embassy. French embassy says go to JAF. ... etc.

You and I appear to have different views of what constitutes a problem.
YMMV as we find ourselves saying so often on this forum.

Oliver, you should check because there is something about IDPs from Germany that they don't accept because it is from a different convention or some other bureaucratic idiocy. I recall something vague that they instead accept an official translation of a German license. Google it.

If you still have a US license then you can get one mailed from AAA or you can pop by the AAA when you are in the US.

I drove for 3 years in Japan using US IDPs.

Informations for travellers holding a German driving license:

http://www.japan.diplo.de/Vertretung...erlaubnis.html