Eligibility and the four expiry dates that decide a conversion

The clock most people are actually asking about: how long can I keep driving?

To drive in Japan you must hold one of three things, per the National Police Agency: a Japanese license, an international driving permit issued under the Geneva Convention, or a foreign license from a country whose licensing system is recognised as equivalent, accompanied by a Japanese translation from a body specified in the Cabinet Order. That third route currently covers Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan, and no others.

On an international permit or a recognised foreign license, you may drive for one year from the date you landed in Japan, or for the remaining validity of the license, whichever is shorter.

The re-entry rule that closes the obvious loophole

The National Police Agency states the exception explicitly: where a person recorded on the resident register leaves Japan with departure confirmation or re-entry permission and returns within less than three months, the date of that return does not become the start date for the driving period on an international permit.

Source National Police Agency — “For holders of a driving license issued abroad” (in Japanese)

The four clocks, side by side

Source Osaka Prefectural Police — “Converting a foreign license into a Japanese license” (in Japanese) · Kanagawa Prefectural Police — “For foreign nationals taking a driving test or converting a foreign license” (in Japanese) · National Police Agency — “For holders of a driving license issued abroad” (in Japanese) · Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department — “Converting a driving license obtained abroad into a Japanese license” (in Japanese)

Your foreign license must survive the whole process

Osaka states it directly: you must pass the practical confirmation within the validity period of the foreign license, and applicants with less than six months of validity remaining are warned to take care. Being valid on the day you apply is not enough.

This is the tightest constraint in the procedure, because the procedure is slow. Saitama publishes a wait of around three to four months for a knowledge-confirmation appointment. Osaka warns that the date given for the practical confirmation can be a long way out because applications have risen sharply. If your license has under six months to run, work backwards from its expiry date before you do anything else — including, if your home authority allows it, renewing the foreign license first.

Source Osaka Prefectural Police — “Converting a foreign license into a Japanese license” (in Japanese) · Saitama Prefectural Police — “The application procedure for foreign license conversion has changed” (in Japanese)

An expired period of stay stops the paperwork, not just the test

Kanagawa states that a resident record showing a period of stay that has already passed cannot be accepted — for a license application, a renewal or an address change alike. If you have applied to extend your period of stay but your resident record still shows the old date, expect the document review to stop there.

The record itself also expires. Tokyo requires any resident record submitted or shown to have been issued within the previous six months. Osaka requires the same six months, insists on an original rather than a copy, and requires that your My Number is not shown on it. It must carry all of the 特定事項 items recorded for foreign residents. Kanagawa adds that a residence card cannot be replaced by a photocopy, or by a receipt from an agent holding it for you.

Source Kanagawa Prefectural Police — “For foreign nationals taking a driving test or converting a foreign license” (in Japanese) · Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department — “Amended Road Traffic Act Enforcement Regulations, in force 1 October 2025” (in Japanese) · Osaka Prefectural Police — “Converting a foreign license into a Japanese license” (in Japanese)

Proving three cumulative months in the issuing country

The requirement is that you stayed in the country that issued the license for a cumulative three months or more after obtaining it. Cumulative is the operative word: the three months need not be continuous, only add up. The National Police Agency requires evidence of the period — a passport bearing entry and exit stamps, or equivalent documents.

The practical problem is that many passports no longer carry the stamps. Osaka spells the case out: where the passport does not bear both entry and exit stamps for the issuing country — for people who used automated gates, and for holders of EU licenses — the number of days spent in the issuing country cannot be confirmed, so documents proving the stay, or an official record of entries and departures, are required instead.

If that describes you, start obtaining that record before you try to book. The process is arranged so that missing documents mean no appointment, and an official entry-exit record is not same-day paperwork in most countries.

Source National Police Agency — “For holders of a driving license issued abroad” (in Japanese) · Osaka Prefectural Police — “Converting a foreign license into a Japanese license” (in Japanese)

Tokyo publishes one substitution. A person who has fled Ukraine and does not hold the required Ukrainian license, its Japanese translation and proof of the period of stay may instead present the document issued by the Immigration Services Agency certifying that they fled Ukraine, together with a declaration that they hold a Ukrainian driving license. The three-cumulative-months requirement still applies.

Source Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department — “Converting a driving license obtained abroad into a Japanese license” (in Japanese)

The license you end up with, and when to renew it

A license newly obtained by conversion runs from the date of issue until one month after your third birthday after that date, and the band showing the validity period is green.

Renewal happens between one month before the birthday immediately preceding expiry and the expiry date itself, in the prefecture where you are registered as living. At renewal the band can become blue or gold depending on how long you have held a license continuously and whether you have any traffic violations, and the validity period can extend to five years.

A change of address, name or registered domicile — nationality, for a foreign national — must be reported promptly at a nearby police station, a license renewal centre or a test centre.

Source Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department — “Converting a driving license obtained abroad into a Japanese license” (in Japanese)