Driver’s License Requirements
There are the following types of driver’s licenses that allow you to drive a car in Japan.
- Regular domestic driver’s license (for residents in Japan)
- International Driver’s License
- Foreign Driver’s License
- SOFA U.S. military driver’s license in Japan
Please check the National Police Agency document for the most accurate information.
Japanese Driver’s License
A driver’s license issued by the Public Safety Commission of Japan.
- If you are an overseas national, please bring your residence card.
- If you are an overseas national and it has not been more than 3 years since you obtained a Japanese driver’s license, please bring your driver’s license issued overseas as well.
Foreign driver’s licenses
Foreign driver’s license issued by eligible countries and regions (Swiss Confederation, Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of France, Kingdom of Belgium, Principality of Monaco, Taiwan).
- You must have domestic driver’s license & Japanese translation & original passport.
- The Japanese translation must be issued by the embassy or consulate in Japan or JAF in each country based on the applicant’s application.
- Taiwanese applicants must have a Japanese translation issued by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Fukuoka, Naha, Sapporo), the Taiwan Association for Relations with Japan (formerly the Association for Relations with the East), or the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF).
- For Germans, a translation by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) or the German Automobile Federation (ADAC) is required.
- The validity period in Japan must be within the validity period of the foreign driver’s license and within one year of arrival in Japan (to be confirmed by the date of landing in Japan stamp in the passport).
- Please make sure to have your passport stamped with the entry/exit stamp. Without the stamp, we can not verify your date of entry. So you can not be able to rent a car.
If your documentation is incomplete, you will not be able to rent a car for any reason. In such cases, please be very careful as you will be charged a cancellation fee in accordance with the terms and conditions.
International driving permit In Geneva Convention (1949)
International driver’s license issued to countries that are signatories to the Geneva Conventions (1949).
- You must have domestic driver’s license & international driver’s license & passport.
- Hong Kong : The above documents + original Hong Kong ID card are required.
- America : Passport cards are not valid in Japan.
- The only valid international driver’s license in Japan is the paper type issued by member countries of the 1949 Geneva Convention.
- International driver’s licenses are valid within one year from the date of issue and within one year from the date of arrival in Japan (confirmed by the date of landing in Japan stamp in the passport).
- If you are listed in the Basic Resident Registry or registered as an alien in Japan and wish to drive with an international driver’s license, the international driver’s license is valid within one year from the date of re-entry into Japan after having stayed outside Japan for at least three consecutive months, and within the validity period of the international driver’s license.
- Please make sure to have your passport stamped with the entry/exit stamp. Without the stamp, we can not verify your date of entry. So you can not be able to rent a car.
- A Japanese international driver’s license issued in Japan is not valid for driving in Japan.
If your documentation is incomplete, you will not be able to rent a car for any reason. In such cases, please be very careful as you will be charged a cancellation fee in accordance with the terms and conditions.
List of parties to the Geneva Conventions
Europe
- United Kingdom
- Greece
- Norway
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- France
- Italy
- Russia
- Serbia
- Montenegro
- Spain
- Finland
- Portugal
- Austria
- Belgium
- Poland
- Ireland
- Hungary
- Romania
- Iceland
- Bulgaria
- Malta
- Albania
- Luxembourg
- Monaco
- San Marino
- Vatican City
- Kyrgyzstan
- Georgia
- Czech Republic
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Lithuania
- Croatia
- Liechtenstein
- Estonia
America
- United States of America
- Canada
- Peru
- Cuba
- Ecuador
- Argentina
- Chile
- Paraguay
- Barbados
- Dominica
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Venezuela
- Jamaica
Africa
- South Africa
- Central African Republic
- Egypt
- Ghana
- Algeria
- Morocco
- Botswana
- Congo
- Congo
- Benin
- Cote d’Ivoire
- Lesotho
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Niger
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Zimbabwe
- Namibia
- Burkina Faso
- Nigeria
Asia
- Philippines
- India
- Thailand
- Bangladesh
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Japan
- Korea
- Brunei Darussalam
Oceania
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Fiji
- Papua New Guinea
Middle East
- Turkey
- Israel
- Syria
- Cyprus
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- United Arab Emirates
Administrative district
- Hong Kong
- Macau
- French Overseas Territories
- Aruba
- Curacao
- Saint Martin
- Cayman Islands
- Isle of Man
- Guernsey
- Jersey
- Gibraltar
- United States Territories
Countries that are party to the Geneva Convention but have not yet issued a Geneva-style international driver’s license
- Algeria
- Albania
- Kyrgyzstan
- Guatemala
- Cote d’Ivoire
- Congo
- Georgia
- Serbia
- Haiti
- France
- Bulgaria
- Belgium
- Botswana
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Rwanda
- Russia
The above countries do not issue Geneva-style international driver’s licenses, so you cannot drive a car in Japan with an international driver’s license from that country.
Of the above, France, Belgium, and Monaco allow driving in Japan with a Japanese translation attached to the driver’s license of the country concerned.
SOFA License
SOFA U.S. military driver’s license and U.S. military ID card.
