Just a quick question, wonder if anyone can help me out, This summer I am off for over a month in Japan, including a solid road trip with some mates. Now I have been asked to help out with the driving. So quick check list, I am British (hurrah!) I have a full English Driving license which covers bikes and normal cars. Now from my little investigation it looks like all I need to drive in Japan is an IDP, international driving permit, which I can get from a post office in England. Is this all I need? I have checked I am insured on my mates car, so that is ok. The other thing that troubles me, what happens if I (for example) get caught speeding in Japan (it is a sports BMW I will driving after all...)? Will I just get fined and my IDP removed or will they screw me for the most minor thing? Any help with this is greatly appreciated, I tell you I'm not looking forward to drive in urban areas at all. Give me a solid highway and some serious speed anyday. Pity I'm going to be in Osaka for most of the time, I remember when I was there this time last year, I thought "I would hate to drive these roads..."
All you need is international driving permit since Japan drive on the same side as the UK. Make sure you keep that and your British license together though. Just the IDP on it's own is not good enough. Also learn about the odd rule of turning corners even though the pedestrian light (green man) is lit. Most other if not all other rules are the same as England. As for speeding I do it EVERY day ! The police are dumb ! They wait in the same spots all the time. It's so funny because everyone is bombing it down the road then all of a sudden everyone slows down at the place where the police are normally hiding. Once they past it's back to the world of whacky racers :lol: The actual speed limits in Japan are far too slow for my liking. A main dual carriageway is about 60kmph but most people do 80kmph to 100kmph, myself included. If you do get caught though you'll get your IDP revoked and a fine of about 10'000 yen and up depending on your speed. What ever you do though, DON'T DRINK & DRIVE in Japan. Even a few chocolate liquors is out ! The rule is NO ALCOHOL at all !! If you are caught you can get a fine of 300'000 yen !!! But get this, if you are in a car as a passenger and the driver is drunk then not only he gets fined but so do you for letting him drive. It's f*cking strict when it comes to drinking and driving unlike the UK where you can get away with a pint or two. Yakumo
Nice one - I'll get my IDP sorted soon. I was getting nervous watching this documentary on the Japanese police that was broadcasted on TBS a couple of weeks ago. They were fining all these people about 3man each, well at least I know all the tricks that they use now. And I won't be drinking and driving - though I was surprised by the fact that you could get fined for letting a drunk guy drive you. Last year I was driven to a station by someone who had drunk a lot - would have sucked to get fine for his drinking. Though I was way pretty much gone as well at the time. Anyway, the law about turning on a light is crazy - I almost got taken down in kyoto over that. Well at least I will not have to deal with roundabouts, crazy things that they are anyway. A japanese friend of mine, still trys to avoid roundabouts when she is driving - they still scare the shit out of her!
Tell me about it. Roundabouts are nasty bloody things if they have no traffic lights !! I hated them things when driving in the UK. They have them in Japan though but they are a seldom seen. I've encounter only 2 in 8 years of being here. One was in Oita and the other here in Yamaguchi. Yakumo
Wow, I thought that there were simply not roundabouts in Japan at all! Did not know that, must be some kind of tourist spot given their rarity! People can gather and joke about their pointlessness. It looks like we will be driving into Tokyo to a mates house right in the thick of things, I'm definately not driving that day at all! A good time to be hung over/ill in my book. Maybe I will just get dropped off near the first train station with a line to shinjuku and leave them to navigate tokyo.
You only need an international drivers license -- from any country, and you're REAL license, as Yakumo stated. For other people using this for reference, it doesn't matter what side of the road your country drives on (whether it be the left side, or the correct side). What you really need to look into though, is insurance. I have no clue how this works, but I was attempting to drive on my "international" license which I hadn't attained yet (it was in the mail) and bumped into a brand new Mercedes (on a scooter). The cops said that my insurance wasn't applicable, and I had to pay about 200,000 yen straight outta my pocket. You need to double-check the law though Warakia, as you've been to Japan before (long term). It's not super strictly enforced, but technically, an international drivers license is only valid for any given person's first 6 months in Japan. Arguably, it might be per visa, but I don't think so. Just be careful. It will probably not be a problem unless you get in a wreck.... at which point, you could be fucked in a huge way.
