by "AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
Published 09/02/2017 at 22:00
by "AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
Published 09/02/2017 at 22:00
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STARS: 4
Last month the Okinawa police decided my international license was close enough to expiring that they would let me take the exam for a Japanese driving license. During the paperwork I was informed repeatedly that I would fail the first time I took the driving portion of the test, but not to worry about the written portion as no one fails it.
Indeed, the written was 10 true or false questions which were obvious. Questions like: There is an officer directing traffic at an intersection. He tells you to proceed, but the signal is red. It is ok for you to proceed. True or false.
When I arrived for the driving exam I met a number of other English speaking foreigners. Some of these people were taking the exam for the 5th (even 6th) time. While we were waiting for our turns we were discussing the whole process, and everyone knew that it was a guaranteed fail.
Though I was told there was one possible exception - cute single university students who were female could pass on their first try if they didn’t hit any curbs.
When my turn came on the course I did everything fine, the instructor complimented me on my driving ability and told me I did not pass. He gave me 5 reasons of which only 1 was legitimate (I didn’t signal for a left hand turn until after I passed the major intersection on the course, and he was clear that it needed to be 30 meters prior regardless of what intersections were up ahead.
(The turn at 38 is the one for which I didn’t signal early enough.)
So 1st test out of the way. I didn’t feel any pressure then, but when I arrived on the 25th for the 2nd driving exam I felt some pressure. If I failed this time it was because I actually did make mistakes.
I did my walk around check, adjusted my seat, played with the mirrors (its an empty course, so it doesn’t actually matter if you can see anything out of the mirrors), made an obvious double check of everything, then drove the course the same as the previous time with the minor change of turning on the signal prior to 36 for the turn at 38, and when I finished the instructor said, “ok.”
Then listed out the 5 counters I would have to visit to pick up my license. 2-6-2-10-13.
Well, everything went smoothly until counter 10 where I was reminded that I had signed a paper stating that even if I passed my exams before August 31st I would not pick my license up until August 31st.
Fair enough.
On the 31st I went back in to counter 10. They sent me to counter 13 who sent me for a photo (I assume my previous photo had expired due to the length of time this whole process took. The original photo they had attached was from my first visit in April when they started my file and told me to come back in August). I was then handed a slip of paper to take back to counter 10.
After about 10 minutes I was given my license and a copy of the basic rules for driving in Japan (this is the first time I was given the basic rules of the road for Japan), and told to proceed to counter 2.
It seems they needed a copy of my driving license for my motorcycle license paperwork.
And with that I had my AT Japanese driver’s license.
(I know it’s not a MT license, but I have to have AT cars for my wife so it was just one more possible way to fail. And considering that the 2 people I met on their 5 & 6th attempts were for MT, and one of them failed (he passed it on the 7th try when I took the AT for the 2nd time) it turned out to be a wise decision.)
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/02/2017 at 22:44, STARS: 0
Why do you not get the rules of driving until after you pass the driving test?
And, why would they set up automatic fails, thus guaranteeing that people have to come back multiple times and make more work for them?
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
09/02/2017 at 22:50, STARS: 1
Kat did a story about this a couple years ago.
Congrats on only needing two tries! (Seriously)
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
09/02/2017 at 22:51, STARS: 0
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/02/2017 at 23:01, STARS: 0
Thanks. That explains a lot, except this:
When my turn came on the course I did everything fine, the instructor complimented me on my driving ability and told me I did not pass. He gave me 5 reasons of which only 1 was legitimate...
This makes it sound like there is a hazing system in place. The fee it brings in partly explains it.
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/02/2017 at 23:02, STARS: 2
Thanks. I still have my unlimited motorcycle license to pass, so... let’s just say riding a 1000cc bike when I haven’t ridden for a year may be a challenge.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
09/02/2017 at 23:06, STARS: 1
Yeah, like it says in the article, they fail everyone converting a license the first time through. At this point it’s probably as much to maintain their reputation as anything else.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/02/2017 at 23:09, STARS: 0
Probably good that I have zero interest in driving in Japan, because I have little patience for BS like that.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
09/02/2017 at 23:10, STARS: 1
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/02/2017 at 23:10, STARS: 0
It is a little bit of that. They just don’t let foreigners have a license on the first go. It wouldn’t be fair to make others look bad for not passing on the first try.
While on a flight my wife overheard an 18-20 year old telling his friends about how he passed his driving exam after taking the complete set of driving classes, and how the examiner told him, ‘you pass, but you’re such a bad driver you should never drive.’ He paid all the fees for a license so it would embarass him to have failed.
We foreigners don’t take the classes so we haven’t paid all the fees, and won’t understand how embarassing it is to not pass.
Though I could have avoided all of this hassle if I had only moved to Maryland for 3 months before I moved.
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/02/2017 at 23:22, STARS: 1
This is not completely accurate for Okinawa. Since we don’t have any trains they don’t bother with that course configuration. Nor do they use taxi cabs. I was driving a Mazda Atenza. But other than that the article is very accurate.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/02/2017 at 23:49, STARS: 0
Thanks for the explanation. It fits in with what I’ve learned about that culture.
"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
09/03/2017 at 06:16, STARS: 0
Americans, not foreigners... I had a Canadian license (which I had converted from an American one lol), I just went to the licensing center, filled out a bunch of papers and there I was with my license! They also give manual licenses to all foreigners who can convert their own..
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/03/2017 at 06:42, STARS: 0
It’s only a few nations who can just convert their license (I think something like 30+). Lots of Europeans have to take the test as well as many Asians and Oceania residents. And one US state (Maryland) can just convert their license (I’ve heard that Washington state just joined that group as well.)
Have I mentioned that I sometimes think you are a lucky bastard.
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/03/2017 at 06:46, STARS: 1
No problem, though I expect that Flavien or Kat could chime in with how I am sort of right, but also wrong at the same time.
"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
09/03/2017 at 07:15, STARS: 0
haha I know :)
But yeah by most countries, I meant to say most developped countries... Pretty much all of Europe can just convert it, Australia, NZ, Canada, South Korea...
“ Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, or USA (Maryland only)..”
All the countries who can’t transfert it directly are countries more or less known to have “looser” driving law enforcement + the US :)
I actually had a WA driver license in the US... Surprising that WA gets a pass... I got my license cumulating a grand total of maybe 45 minutesat the DMV (written + driving test combined)
"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
09/03/2017 at 07:17, STARS: 1
Meh, since I didn’t have to pass the driving test here, nothing much I can add really... But yeah Japanese are excessively procedural, to the point of making any sane foreigner lose its mind lol
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/03/2017 at 21:51, STARS: 0
You are completely right about the procedural.
They actually made a huge deal about the fact that the USA does not stamp my passport when I leave, and since I have more than half the pages in my passport filled it was very worrying for them.
So then they wanted to see some tax information, and that wasn’t a W-2 it was a 1099; that’s not normal either. Then the accountant who made the form put both my and my wife’s names on the form with the word ‘or’ in between. We had to come back another time with other information.
It seems like the spent hours researching the IRS website to determine if my tax forms could help identify if I had spent at least 3 months in the USA since I renewed my license in 2012.
"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
09/04/2017 at 05:42, STARS: 1
I had to deal with the same crap when exchanging my driver license... I had to prove that I had driven 3 months total in Canada... I had driven there for 8 years, but since I had to get in and out of Canada to the US once a week for work, I let you imagine the struggle when the inspected my french passport lol... Tons of fun! 8 years in Canada, I was barely just fine to “prove” that I driven at least 3 months there lol... Quite ridiculous.
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/04/2017 at 10:10, STARS: 0
Oh yeah, Canada was a big issue in their mind as well (I sort of blocked that one mentally), because what if I just drove over and basically lived there. Never mind that my license is from Hawaii.
I can definitely imagine your pain at that time. I apologize if I brought back painful flashbacks. Two or three drives around Mt. Rokko should help though.