Driving test pass rates as low as two percent in some areas.

For a long time, Japan had a very convenient system for licensed drivers from other countries to convert their permits to Japanese ones. For some, this involved a very, very, very simplified version of the written and practical tests to get a license on par with anyone else in Japan, and as a regular license, it could also be renewed independently, regardless of the status of their home country’s license.

This is compared to the standard way to get a license in Japan from scratch, which either involves a moderately easy course in driving school that costs upwards of 200,000 yen (US$1,300) or attempting the very difficult test at a local police station. That way only cost me about 50,000 yen ($320) and a good chunk of my mental well-being.

Still, if someone already proved they could adhere to the rules of the road in their home country, it seemed fair that they could get a pass in qualifying for a Japanese license, so this huge discrepancy has been overlooked for a long time. Then, last May, a horribly negligent hit-and-run by a Chinese national made headlines across the country, followed by a Peruvian national caught driving the wrong way on an expressway that same month.

It was enough to give people pause and wonder if the foreign license conversion tests were effective enough. Subsequent pressure was put on the government to review this system, resulting in a vow to make testing stricter from 1 October.

The previous written test involved 10 illustrated questions, such as identifying a stop sign, from which examinees needed to get seven correct to pass. Now, the test consists of 50 written questions, and in addition to the illustrated ones, there are also questions regarding traffic laws and driver responsibilities in cases such as accidents. Also, the passing threshold has been raised from 70 percent to 90 percent, making the test about the same as the first written test that regular Japanese examinees must take.

▼ Some argue that all Japanese license holders should be able to read these signs perfectly as well, but it’s not required for any of the tests.

As for the driving test, it once basically involved driving around the block of a closed course, but now is basically the same — if not exactly the same — as the standard first driving test on a closed course. Having done this one myself, I can say it involved navigating extremely narrow paths, requires precision turning in the style they demand, stopping on a slope, rolling down your windows at a fake railway crossing, and is, quite frankly, insanely hard.

But don’t take my word for it – since the changes took effect, average test scores took a nose dive. In Mie Prefecture, the driving test’s pass rate fell from about 20 percent to just 1.8 percent. Both Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures saw written test pass rates slide from an average of about 94 percent way down to around 35 percent.

Despite the increased difficulty, this is still only what prospective drivers in Japan have to endure just to get a learner’s permit. After that, there’s an even more difficult written and practical test to take before a full license can be awarded. So, it’s still technically easier to get a foreign license conversion than obtain a Japanese license from scratch, unless you want to pay out the nose for it. Also, it should be noted that the cases of countries that have reciprocal agreements with Japan, such as most of Europe, Australia, Canada, and some U.S. states, which exempts them from the tests altogether, will remain unchanged and is an easy process.

Still, the new requirements ought to be very effective at curbing the practice of tourists from some countries coming to Japan just to get a license. The high-profile traffic incidents last May put the spotlight on widespread cases of people from countries such as China and Vietnam coming to Japan in order to get their licenses converted. The reason for this was that their home countries’ licenses aren’t included in the Geneva Convention’s International Driving Permits, but Japan’s are, so they could use that to be able to drive in a large number of foreign countries.

This trend was made easy not only by the simple tests, but also because a Japanese license could even be obtained by using a hotel’s address. That also ended on 1 October, and now a Juminhyo residence certificate is required for all applicants. It’s too early to see how this will affect the number of examinees, but it will probably be much lower than the nearly 76,000 license conversions conducted last year.

While it’s a bit of a setback for some people trying to get their foreign licenses converted to Japanese ones from here on out, you can at least use our handy guide to getting a driver’s license in Japan to help you with this new test.

Source: Best Car Web, Itai News
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