[Nyororin]

I never took the English version of the driving test, but the Japanese version is a SERIOUS exam. As in detailed questions about pretty much every law out there. The English version is made independently by each different area, so I imagine those in big cities with more test takers using English will likely have a different more in depth version. Out in the country and areas with few foreigners it is apparently considered pretty lucky to find a place that offers the test in English at all.

There were 3 parts to the Japanese test and each literally took an hour and a half - it was indeed a full day thing. I went at 8am and actually ended at 2pm. I think only about an hour of that was waiting. The tests were like booklets - not a sheet or two of paper.

The actual driving test is to test how well you drive when you know you`re being tested. The thinking is if you can`t manage to follow the explicit rules when you`re being tested, then you likely won`t follow the more important ones when you`re not.
I`ve never heard of anyone seriously screwing up and being passed - that guy who screwed up and still passed is probably quite an exception. They failed people I took the test with for scraping the curb when parking at the end, etc.

There is no real "order" to the things you need to check - what they want you to do is "assume this is a rental car, and you have no idea what sort of condition it is in - check the things that are most important to your safety and the safety of others on the road." Of course we know their cars are checked up and down every night to be in perfect shape - but they want you to play along and show what you would and should check with a glance if you have no clue if the car is in working order. (Tires, lights, looking to see nothing weird is lodged under the car, confirming the location of all the levers, etc.) This is something that you should be doing in an unfamiliar car, really.

Originally Posted by steven

Nyororin, I'm curious, does this continue after your visa status is changed? I really hope I don't have to take these driving tests every 2 years for the rest of my life...

How many times have you renewed?
The first renewal and you are required to take a refresher course and a test again. I think the course was 2 to 3 hours and the test something like 10 minutes for my first renewal.

Second renewal was about 25 minutes from start to finish, only an eye test and a brief (5 minutes?) summary of the laws that had changed since the last renewal.

If you had any infractions since your last renewal, you will have to do another class and test. It`s not so much to test you as it is a punishment. Also, if you`re over 60 (I think - maybe 65?) you have to do another course and test.

If you`ve changed over from an international license or foreign license, then I really have no idea. I got my license from scratch in Japan.

Even still though, I think it's protocol to just fail a person on their first attempt here. I forgot to mention, you are also expected to memorize your path in their course.

I passed on the first try with a perfect score. (Practice test I forgot to shift back to drive after going down an incline and had points off...) I think the key is to not assume that anything is assumed - and treat it all as a simulation. Sure, you know that the car is in perfect condition - but act as if it isn`t. Sure, you know that you`re the only car on the course and that nothing is going to leap out to be hit - but act like you`re in the most dangerous and busy area ever with cars and pedestrians flying out at every corner.

The tester is supposed to give you directions for the course, but maybe some don`t. It`s usually split into certain specific "obstacles" - like proper procedure for a turn with multiple pedestrians, proper procedure for a rail crossing, zig zag navigation, parallel parking, backing in, shifting for an incline, etc. No matter what the order, each one has a legal procedure to it (which is how they decide who is at fault in an accident - if you didn`t follow the procedure and the other person is, your fault.)

What is ironic about this is taht you are not expected to do so for the first year of your drving here (which I did anyways).

It is a legal requirement to put the mark on for your first year after getting a license. It is against the law to drive without one during that year.
After the first year, it is illegal to post one on your car. This is apparently because drivers tend to be "nicer" and more forgiving to a new driver... So people took advantage of this by keeping the marks on forever, totally defeating their meaning.

Since we seem to be on the subject of roads, I'd like to point out a pet peeve of mine. In Japan, apparently stop signs aren't first come first go... if you want to turn, you usually wait for someone who is going straight (even if they've come after you).

Straight and left have the right of way. It is a law.
For example - if you and another car going in opposite directions hit an intersection at near the same time, assuming you want to turn right, if the other car is turning left or going straight it gets the right of way. This is true even if you reached the intersection first. If you can see the other car and there isn`t enough time to turn before it reaches the intersection then you wait.
If you and another car hit an intersection of equally sized roads at an angle and you both want to go straight, the car to your left has the right of way.

I think there are serious (potentially dangerous) flaws in their system of assessing foreign drivers.

This I definitely agree with. There is a lot of whining about the scaled down tests foreigners take to get a license here, but it really isn`t that much compared to the tests Japanese take to get their licenses. It usually sounds like they don`t bother checking knowledge of laws - which can make it seem like everyone is driving crazily (as they aren`t following familiar laws) or put you in blatant danger... Like the poor woman I met a few years back who almost died after getting her Japanese license - she either didn`t realize or had forgotten that there is no turning on red in Japan. She pulled out to turn and was hit... And then had to pay for everything having to do with the other driver and their car, even though it was legal where she was from.