Japan Driving in Japan: What You Need to Know trip to japan 5 (8)Having just returned from Japan, I was able to experience driving there, just to escape Kyoto for a while to visit the surrounding area. We had planned this outing by car and so we had to be in order to be able to drive before leaving. Summary hide Driving in Japan: How to Option 1: Get an international permit Option 2: Obtain a Japanese translation of your national license Car rental in Japan Driving in Japan: How toThere are concretely 2 possible options:Option 1: Get an international permitTo be requested from your home country where you obtained your national license (I specify, because in my case, I can obtain an international license from my Thai license, not from my French license).In this case, this request for France is being made now only online (be careful because the delivery times are particularly long, take this into account!)Too bad, my international license had just expired...If I already had an international permit, made for our stay in the United States last year, it was just expiring and I had to renew it…As I didn't have time to reapply because I was missing a paper to do it in Thailand, I chose the other option.Option 2: Obtain a Japanese translation of your national licenseAs this is a special partnership between several countries, only holders of a Permits from Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Slovenia, Monaco, Estonia and Taiwan are affected.This can be done through the Japanese embassy or consulate in the country you are in. Again, due to lack of time, it was also possible to do it on site through the JAF (the Japan Automobile Federation).Although we lost almost a day of sightseeing, this last option suited me greatly.We discover new places thanks to the JAF 😉So I went to their office in southern Kyoto on the morning of the 2nd day after searching for the address closest to our hotel. See the location below:After a quick metro ride, we had a good kilometer to walk to get there (knowing that on the way there, I crossed the wrong bridge and that made us walk 1km longer...).We were the only ones when we arrived. Studious atmosphere and everyone greets us in unison. A guy stammering a few bits of English approaches us. I really felt he wasn't comfortable but he helped us with the process.It's actually very simple. You need to present a license from one of the countries listed above, and fill out a form (which you can download from the JAF website)This translation costs 3 Yen (or €000) and we provide it to you the same day. So we had to return to the office before 17 p.m. to collect the precious sesame which looks like this:Note that it is the same as when you obtain an international license, the French exception of being able to drive a 2-wheeler up to 125cc is not transcribed. In other words, I was only allowed to drive a car and not mopeds.Small clarification: the validity is one year from the date of issue.As for the driving itself, I was surprised (is that still a name??) to see that the Japanese were not that strict. So be careful, we are far from the crazy Thai drivers, but while I respected the limits (which, by the way, are particularly low), I was still regularly overtaken.I also saw people stop at the last minute at a red light... After that, it remains anecdotal and driving is relatively easy and rather relaxed, especially if, like me, you are used to driving on the left.Afterwards, it is true that the average speed is very slow, which gives a frustrating side and even put us behind schedule in our planned schedule.Another thing that doesn't help to go faster is that it's the first time in my life that I've seen single-lane highways... So limited to 80km/h, and even 70 in rainy weather (which is what we had...).Afterwards it was mostly in the mountains, so I can understand the lack of space and the reduced cost (although I have never come across so many tunnels on such a short route).I thank my GPS even if the signs were generally displayed in English, it allowed me to avoid getting into a headache (even if I made a mistake on the exit once and with their motorway story, there was no way to turn around for a while...).In the city, you have to pay close attention to red lights, especially those concerning pedestrians. Unlike in Thailand where the pedestrian is a disturbing excrement that has the misfortune of hindering us in our journey, in Japan, the pedestrian is king and has priority in all respects.If you are interested in the rules of conduct in Japan, here is a pdf of a booklet that we were given on the basic rules (doc in English):Rules of Conduct in JapanCar rental in JapanWe left and returned to the base from the same point, Kyoto. However, I was able to choose the agency where I picked up the car and the one where I brought it back. As we changed hotels between our 2 parts of our stay in Kyoto, I picked up the car on the way there from an agency close to our hotel.There was only 150m between the metro and the agency and luckily because it was raining (as a reminder). On the way back, I dropped her off at an agency close to our new hotel and we only walked 700m.Based on these criteria, I used Toyota Rent-A-Car agency, this is not sponsored at all, I would like to point out.Our rental car, a small Toyota Vitz.I opted for a small Toyota like a Yaris (I had hesitated for fun to take their famous cube-shaped car). It came to €60 per day which is reasonable. A student at the reception took care of finalizing the procedures before renting. Her English was very basic, but we understood each other.She offered us to rent an ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) card for the highway, which we took because it's true that it's still very practical and it was cheap, only 324 Yen. On the way back, we just had to pay the equivalent amount of the tolls passed with the card. We are told that we have to fill up when we return it (red pump, regular). OK.After a spin in the brand new car (not even 500km on the clock), we were ready to set off on an adventure, in the rain... No problem, we came back with an interesting trip, here are the articles:Kyoto by the sea: Road trip from Amanohashidate to the fishing village of IneMiyama: night in a Ryokan and visit to a thatched-roof villageDid you like the article? share on Pinterest! Did you like the article? Vote on the article Note globale 5 / 5. Number of votes: 8 No votes yet. Be the first to rate this article! Did you like the article? Follow me on social media Practical advice Administrative procedures Road trip Transport 0 3 Roman 03/06/2018
