International Drivers License Information on www.idlicense.com

Renting a car is an option worth considering if you plan to explore rural Japan, where access by public transportation can be inconvenient and infrequent. A rental car can also be an economical alternative, if traveling in groups.

Exploring Japan's big cities by car, however, is not recommended, as traffic tends to be heavy, orientation difficult, and parking fees high. Trains, subways and buses are generally a better choice in metropolitan areas.

Elsewhere on the site are pages on driving in Japan and Japanese highways.

Requirements

In order to rent and drive a car in Japan, a Japanese driver's license or an international driving permit is required. In the case of French, German and Swiss nationals an official translation of your home country's driver's license is accepted.

International driving permits must be obtained in your home country, usually through the national automobile association, before you leave for Japan. Foreigners can drive in Japan with a recognized international driving permit for up to one year after entering the country.

Japan recognizes only international driving permits which are based on the Geneva Convention of 1949. A few countries, including Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland, however, issue international driving permits which are based on different conventions. Those permits are not valid in Japan.

Instead, holders of a French, German or Swiss driver's license can drive in Japan, for up to one year, with an official Japanese translation of their driver's license from their respective country's embassy or consulate in Japan. People from other countries whose international driving permits are not recognized by Japan must obtain a Japanese driver's license in order to drive in Japan.

The minimum age for driving in Japan is 18 years.

Rental Companies

Among Japan's leading car rental companies are Toyota Rentacar, Mazda Rentacar, Nissan Rentacar, Nippon Rentacar and Orix Rentacar. They operate hundreds of outlets across Japan, offering cars in all sizes and, in some cases, large vans, buses and RVs.

Most Japanese car rental companies do not provide English websites, and service in English is not usually available.

International car rental companies such as Budget, Avis and Hertz also offer car rental in Japan, typically in cooperation with one of the leading Japanese car rental companies. However, their rates are usually not very competitive.

Japanese rental companies usually charge around 6000 yen for the smallest car category, around 10,000 yen for mid sized cars, and around 15,000 yen for full sized cars. Those prices include a mandatory insurance fee of around 1000 Yen per day. Rates are usually higher during peak seasons, especially in Hokkaido.

A recommended service for car rental in Japan is ToCoo. The discount travel service does not only offer lower rates on car rental, but also provides an English website and support in English

We were driving down a country road with literally no houses in sight, only tall grass and outskirts of rice farms, when a policeman jumps out in front of the car ahead of me, wearing a white reflective vest, blowing a whistle and waving his scrawny old-man arms. He waved the car ahead of me onto a side street that was hidden entirely by long grass. At first I thought just the guy in front of me was going to get pulled over, but the police officer continued to wave his bony arms at me and the two cars behind me, directing us to the same side street.

As I pulled onto the side street, I saw a big police van a few feet ahead of the first car to be pulled in of which a couple more police officers came shuffling out the side door. One approached me, and asked for my license. I showed him my international license, and his face dropped. I knew from that moment that I was in for another cultural roller coaster of being screwed. He then asked for my gaijin (foreigner) card. So I whipped that out and gave it to him. His face drooped even further and asked me to get out of the car. I did so, and he took me into the big police van where he showed me the radar of how fast I was going, 19km/hr over the limit (about 12mph). He then turned to confer with his superior officer about the legitimacy of my documents.

Then they sat me down at a table in the van while one of the officers filled out all the paperwork. I signed a few dotted lines and was given my ticket: 15,000 yen, almost 150usd. When I got my one speeding warning at age 16, I was doing 45 in a 25mph zone, the officer then took pity on me because it was my first offense, was late for work, and was very respectful the entire time. In this instance, the “late for work” part could have been substitued with having to put up with slightly offensive raised suspicion based on me being a foreigner, the time that they kept me detained (a little over 2 hours), and/or the insignificance of the offense being only 12 mph over on a very country road. But no, of course they didn’t give me a break.

So I have to pay this ticket, but fortunately, unlike in America, I don’t have to make the inconvenient trip to the police headquarters to do so. I can just go to any bank or post office and pay it there.

In the past, foreigners were permitted to drive in Japan with an International Drivers’ License as long as they physically returned home at least once a year to get it renewed. Then a few years ago, the Japanese government started requiring that every resident change over to a Japanese license — a very reasonable requirement, and I’m going through that process now, to make matters worse, I have to take the driving test because I can't converted Malaysian license automatically without be tested again with Japanese's tester. Because the foreign population of my prefecture is a hodge-podge of people from around the world, I found myself taking the test alongside gaijin from Brazil, Peru, Philipines, Vietnam, and a really big guy from Bangladesh..Japan is a very rule-oriented country, and there’s exactly “one” correct way to do most things, including driving a car — one correct order of adjusting your seat, mirrors and fastening your seat belt, one correct way to hold your hands on the wheel while you make turns. Cannot be suka hati laki tiri nenek kau ye.. It's usually in Hiroshima, gaijin or foreigner will get pass after more than 5 times even had more than 10 times that I heard before. I got my license when I was 18 yrs and just once in time..wanna bet how many times in Japan???? I will make a kenduri if not more than 5 times.