Blog 005, Harshad Bokil, Aug 2018, How to buy a car in Japan

Hello, I am Harshad Bokil (MTech EE 2015). I came to Japan in October 2015 and started working with SONY as a Lithium ion battery design engineer in Koriyama (Fukushima Prefecture). After almost 2 years working with SONY I got transferred to Murata Manufacturing Corp along with energy storage division of SONY, continuing the same work.

I recently got married in Feb 2018 and my wife Rucha also moved to Japan. She is enjoying her life in Japan and also working with a local school to train Japanese kids in Science, Maths and English!

In the following blog I have shared my experience with getting a Japanese Driving license and buying a car in Japan. I hope this will be useful information for those who plan to do the same. 

Further I would like to nominate Ravi Gehlot to write next blog, sharing his experiences in Japan.

Driving in Japan

Japan, the land of rising sun, a country filled with beautiful scenic views! Many of you might have traveled around a lot. Off course Japan has one of the best public transport systems in the world, however ones you get out of big cities, the frequency of public buses/trains decreases drastically. So having a personal vehicle or having a driving license in Japan has its perks. If you are living in big cities like Tokyo/Osaka perhaps buying a car may not be a good idea. However having a Japanese driving license will surely be very helpful!

Driving in Japan

As you might know, Japan is one of the safest countries to drive in the world! No dog or गोमाता will ever cross you on roadJ! Japanese guys generally follow the traffic rules (that too without honking!).

In short driving is not as horrible as it seems back in India. Renting a car in Japan is also very easy and convenient.

Driving License Requirement

If you have an International Driving Permit (need to get it done at your local RTO in India), you can use it as it is within one year of your stay in Japan. However you cannot drive after one year of your first entry to Japan even if the IDP is valid. It is necessary to get a Japanese driving license after one year.

Things become very interesting when you think about getting a Japanese driving license! There are few countries whose driving license can be used as it is in Japan. Unfortunately, India is not one of them L

Indian driving license holder can apply for license conversion (外免切り替え) given that applicant has at least 3 months of driving experience in India (in simple words, You should have made your driving license at least 3 months before you first entered in Japan). If you don’t fit in above criterion, then you need to take license as other fellow Japanese guys do (that’s whole different story… will talk about that sometime latter)

Getting a Japanese driving License

Japanese driving license is issued by Japan Automotive Federation or popularly known as JAF (RTO equivalent of India). JAF webpage is also available in English. They have given detailed procedure to convert foreign driving license into a Japanese one. (http://www.jaf.or.jp/e/translation/switch.htm )

Procedure can be simplified into a flowchart as shown:

Japanese Translation if Indian License

Very first step is to get the Japanese translation of your Indian license. This should not take more than 3 working days. Contact your nearest regional JAF office. They will tell you what documents are required. In general documents need to be sent:

l  Original Indian driving license

l  Zairu card copy and/or residence certificate (住民票 this can be obtained from city office)

l  Application form
http://www.jaf.or.jp/inter/translation/pdf/pdf_apli_english_2018_ippan.pdf

l  It takes around 3,200JPY . You need to send the money through Post (現金下記).
For Fukushima region, only Sendai Office offers such service.

Appointment with regional JAF office for the test

Remember that all the JAF offices DO NOT conduct 外免切り替え. So please contact your regional JAF office and ask them where you should take the test. The test has three parts:

1.      Medical

2.      Paper

3.      Driving skill check

Medical

They will conduct basic eye checkup. They will also give you a form inquiring about your health history (e.g. any special condition, sleep cycle etc)

Paper

Before medical checkup, they will ask you about your driving history. For example, which car have you driven? Did you attended any driving school? How did you get the license in India? Was there any driving/paper test for the license etc. Basically they want to know whether you have learned driving properly or not.

Don’t ever say that I got my license without any exam!! They might straightway disqualify you. Prepare a story about how you learnt driving and convince the guy sitting in front of you.

If you could convince them that you have driving history at your home country and there was proper test for getting driving license back in your state they will allow you to take this 10 point aptitude test.

Aptitude test is not that difficult. There are 10 questions. Most of them can be answered based on common sense. However I would strongly recommend you to prepare for sample questions. There are many webpages, I found this one very useful:
https://japandriverslicense.com/en/test-1/

You need to score at least 7 questions correctly. Otherwise you will be asked to give another attempt.

Driving skill check

Real Fun begins here! You will be asked to drive a car at JAF office on a predefined driving course. They have large driving course at JAF office. A JAF inspector will accompany you in the car (car is provided by JAF). He will first drive you through driving course. There are various types of turns, signal crossings etc. You can find infinite number of blogs related to driving test experiences of foreigners living in Japan. To mention few:

http://www.supermelf.com/japan/ajetdrivingbook/chap5.html

https://jalopnik.com/you-will-definitely-fail-your-japanese-driving-test-1707574079

I have heard from many people that getting a license for Automatic car is easy as compared to manual gear car. I also feel and agree with many others that Japan license driving test does not really check how good your driving skills are, rather they check how good you are at following the instructions! It is not rare to appear for driving test 3-4 times before you pass.

I strongly advise you to take some practice lessons at nearby driving school. Although those one hour driving lessons are costly (5000JPY/hour), they are very helpful in boosting your confidence. Driving school instructors will help you a lot in understanding Dos and Don’ts at driving skill test. 

Once you get over driving skill check test you will get driving license on same day. Congrats! You have worked hard. This can be your resume pointJ. It is not just a driving skill test, it is a test of patience!!

Renting a car

Renting a car in Japan is very convenient. Gagan has previously mentioned in his blog regarding different options available in Japan. Just don’t forget to take additional insurance when you rent a car.

Having a Japanese driving license is a bliss. You can easily get cheap rental car which is generally hard to get with an IDP.

I rented car when I went to Okinawa with Rucha it was great experience to drive there…

Buying a car in Japan

If you are reading this part, I think you are damn serious about driving in Japan! Japan is known for its supremacy in the automotive field. You have tons of options to choose a perfect model, suitable for you. However, buying a new car is very costly business here. Even very basic car models will cost you more than 10,00,000JPY! Off course loans are available here at very cheaper rates however I am not sure how easily a foreigner can get a loan in Japan.

Due to above mentioned facts, it is wiser to go for second hand cars. Japanese do maintain their cars very well so it’s highly likely that you will find a well maintained second hand car in Japan.

Car types

Roughly speaking, cars are categorized based on engine volume and purpose. Those with less than or equal to 660cc engines are categorized as Kei-cars (軽自動車). Kei-cars come with yellow number plate. Other white plate cars have engine volume more than 660cc.

Automotive taxes and other expenses vary according to what type of car you buy.

Useful webpages for buying a car in Japan:

http://www.supermelf.com/japan/ajetdrivingbook/chap1.html

http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2012/11/buying-used-car-in-japan-what-you-need.html

Where to buy?

There are many online platforms to search a used car. I used Carsensor (カーセンサー) and goo-net to search a car. There are many parameters when you buy a car. Mainly budget, tax, purpose, availability, car model, aging etc.

Unlike India, in Japan there is a yearly automotive tax on private vehicles too. This tax in determined based upon engine volume. Generally Kei-cars have yearly tax less than 10,000JPY/year where as white plate cars may have tax as high as 30,000 ~ 50,000JPY a year.

Although new Kei-cars are cheaper as compared to new white plate cars, the cost of second hand kei-cars and white plate car are almost the same! I made a comparison table which may be helpful for all

Cost	Almost the same for both Kei-car and White plate car
Performance	Kei-cars have significantly less power. No acceleration whatsoever! Feels like driving a scooty! :P
Mileage	Kei-cars give ~15kmpl. White plate cars have more efficient powertrains in general.
Tax	Automotive tax for kei-car is significantly low
Maintenance	Maintaining kei-car is cheaper. Car inspection (車検)is also cheaper for Kei-cars
Safety	Both are safe, however, many people say white plate cars are more safer

In short, I would say car type is a personal choice. I bought Kei-car (Mitsubishi Minica). And really happy with the performance.

If you have budget of around 4~5lakh JPY, you can get a very good car.

Few more useful websites for the guidance:

https://www.city-cost.com/blogs/City-Cost/z82Ww

http://www.transenzjapan.com/blog/how-to-buy-a-used-car-in-japan/

Tip 1: When you go to a dealer to see a car for the first time and if you fix a deal in your first visit itself, there is high possibility that the dealer will give you some kind of discount (e.g. free insurance or free servicing for 6 months etc). So make sure that you go to a right dealer.

Tip 2: You can negotiate with dealer for free snow tires, ETC card machine or navigation.. I tried to negotiate and got ETC and snow tires for free J  

Concluding notes

Driving a car or owing a car is not just a luxury in Japan. Having a Car gives you freedom to explore the very interiors of this beautiful nation. I have been driving in Japan from past 3 months and really enjoying it…

If you are planning to get a Japanese driving license or planning to buy a car in Japan, feel free to contact me. Will be happy to help!