Can You Drive in Japan on a Foreign License? IDP Rules Explained

2026-08-14 · GaimenGo Team

A US, UK or EU license does not let you drive in Japan on its own. Here is exactly what does — the 1949 Geneva IDP, the six countries that use a translation instead, and the Three-Month Rule that catches residents out.

Short answer: probably yes, for exactly one year — but the rules turn on which piece of paper you carry, and there is one clause buried in the Road Traffic Act that catches long-term residents out completely.

Japan does not accept a foreign driver's licence on its own. What it accepts is one of three things: an International Driving Permit of a very specific type, a licence from one of six countries accompanied by an official Japanese translation, or a Japanese licence you converted through *gaimen kirikae* (外免切替). Nothing else is legal, and driving without one of them is treated as driving without a licence — not as a paperwork slip.

Which situation are you in?

Route 1: the 1949 Geneva Convention IDP

This is the route most visitors use, and the one most people get wrong before they arrive.

Japan recognises only an IDP issued by a contracting state to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, in the format prescribed by Annex 9 or 10 of that Convention. An IDP issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention is invalid here — and, critically, *this is true even if the issuing country is also a Geneva signatory*. Some countries issue both types. If yours does, you need the Geneva one specifically. Check the cover: a valid one names the 1949 Geneva Convention on it.

How long it lasts. If you are a short-term visitor not recorded in the Basic Resident Register, you may drive for up to one year from the IDP's date of issue, or up to one year from your date of entry into Japan, whichever is shorter. An IDP issued six months before you fly leaves you six months of driving, not twelve.

Carry all three. Your IDP alone is not enough — you must carry your original home-country licence and your passport with it. An IDP is a translation of a licence, not a licence in itself.

Route 2: the six countries that use a translation instead

Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan do not issue 1949 Geneva IDPs. Instead there is a separate arrangement: drivers holding a licence from one of these six may drive in Japan by carrying the original licence plus an official Japanese translation, valid for one year from the date of entry into Japan.

The translation must come from an authorised body — in practice the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) or the issuing country's embassy or consulate in Japan. A translation you produce yourself, or one from a general translation agency, is not accepted.

Two details that catch people out:

• Only the paper original counts. JAF issues translations for printing at a convenience store. A PDF on your phone, or a copy you printed at home, is not valid.
• Renew your licence and the translation dies with it. If you renew your foreign licence or change any detail on it, such as your address, you need a fresh translation.

Note that this list is six countries, not seven. Slovenia is sometimes included in third-party guides; it does not appear on JAF's own list of "specific countries".

Route 3: after the first year — *gaimen kirikae*

Both routes above expire after a year. There is no extension and no renewal. Once you have been in Japan for a year, the only lawful way to keep driving is to convert your foreign licence into a Japanese one.

Conversion has two hard prerequisites, and both are checked:

1. Your foreign licence must still be valid. An expired licence cannot be converted, no matter how recently it lapsed.
2. You must prove you stayed in the issuing country for at least three months in total after the date you obtained that licence. This is the rule that blocks people who took a driving test abroad on a short trip and flew home the following week.

What conversion actually involves — the documents, the knowledge test, the practical test and the pass rates — is covered in our conversion guide and the by-country breakdown of who has to sit which test.

The Three-Month Rule: the trap for residents

This is the part almost nobody knows about, and it is written into Article 107-2 of the Road Traffic Act.

If you are a mid- to long-term resident recorded in the Basic Resident Register — which includes most people on a work, student, spouse or permanent-residency status — you cannot reset your driving year by taking a short trip abroad and coming back with a fresh IDP.

Specifically: if you leave Japan and return after less than three months overseas, your date of re-entry does not count as the start of a new driving period. An IDP obtained during that trip does not let you drive. Fly to Seoul for a weekend, pick up an IDP, and you are still driving unlicensed the moment your original year is up.

To restart the clock you must have been outside Japan for three months or longer. For short-term visitors not in the Basic Resident Register, this restriction does not apply.

What a JAF translation costs

Fees were revised on 1 July 2026:

Turnaround is roughly 2–3 business days for licences from the six specific countries, and 5–10 business days for everywhere else. Licences in Arabic script and those from Korea, Thailand and Myanmar can take two to three weeks, so apply well before you need it.

Applications are online only and only from inside Japan — you cannot apply at a JAF counter, by post, or from abroad. Some countries need extra documents: an official receipt for the Philippines, the sub-page document for China, and a residence card, certificate of residence or passport for Korea, Myanmar and Arabic-script licences.

One more thing worth knowing: JAF does not translate International Driving Permits. If your plan was to bring an IDP and have it translated for conversion, that plan does not work.

Five mistakes that cost people their licence

1. Bringing a 1968 Vienna Convention IDP. Invalid here, whatever your home country told you.
2. Assuming the year runs from arrival. For visitors it runs from issue *or* entry, whichever expires first.
3. Leaving the country for a fortnight to "reset" the year. The Three-Month Rule exists precisely to stop this.
4. Letting the foreign licence expire before converting. Once it lapses, the conversion route closes.
5. Carrying only the IDP or only the translation. The original licence must be with it, every time.

Your year is finite — plan the conversion early

However you are driving today, the clock is running out. Conversion involves a knowledge test in a language you can choose and a practical test that a lot of people fail on the first attempt, so the sensible move is to start practising before your permit expires rather than after.

GaimenGo has 3,500+ free practice questions, including 490+ using real Japanese road-sign images, plus timed mock exams in the same format as the real thing. No sign-up.

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*Rules were verified against JAF and Chiba Prefectural Police sources in August 2026. Licence rules change — confirm details with the driver's licence centre for your prefecture before you rely on them. GaimenGo is a study tool, not a legal adviser.*

Sources: JAF — how to apply for a translation · JAF — driving in Japan with a foreign licence · Chiba Prefectural Police — driving with an IDP · Tokyo Metropolitan Police — valid IDPs in Japan (PDF)