August 2023
The time had come for me to get a Japanese driver's license. I’d been driving with my International Driver’s Permit which was valid for 12 months, and even though it still had a few months left on in, Shujin didn’t want to wait to the last minute.
Like with all other "life admin", Shujin was left with all the organising; making phone calls, arranging the appointment, filling out forms and gathering documents. I did precious little to contribute, my Japanese is still at just the greetings stage... The whole process was rather painful, even for one fluent in Japanese. An appointment has to be made. There is but ONE day each month when you can phone to make the appointment. If all operators are busy, you simply have to call back. There is no telephone queue, and no call back option. Japanese customer service, which is usually second to none, really fails here!
After phoning what felt like dozens of times, Shujin finally got through and made an appointment. The day of the appointment came and Uncle Toshiro offered to go with me since Shujin now had work commitments he needed to attend to.
“Do you know the name of the place where we are going?” asked Uncle. I had absolutely no idea, I thought he knew!!
“What is it that you need to do?” he continues.
Oh heavens!
“I'm applying for a Japanese driver's licence,” I reply.
“Ah, so,” he nods his head as I hold back from shaking mine. My confidence in him escorting me was really waning!
He phoned Shujin, confirmed the details and off we went to Maebashi city, my confidence returning. It was a pleasant drive. Uncle was easy company. Having almost a whole day reprieve from the Beehive (aka, our house-built-for-two that is currently housing 9 people) was a welcomed break.
We arrived at the government building in good time and ate some lunch before heading inside. The building was large, grey, and unwelcoming. It felt sterile but not clean. Actually, it seems to be typical in Japan. Like they have cleaned but didn’t use bleach, or even a soap of some sort. So the floors were shining clean, but they were well marked and stained.
At the entrance there were a few booths that looked like they should be manned with staff to offer help. But they were empty. Instead there were large signs with lists of names and level numbers, which match coloured lines on the ground, much like I've seen in hospitals in Australia, directing people to the appropriate area. None of it made any sense to me. We bypassed the stairs and lift and came to the first waiting area and service counter. A few people sat around. There were no staff behind the counter. The place felt dead. Uncle Toshiro made a phone call to work out where we should be. He directed me up a level.
Stepping out of the lift, the place was more busy here. To the left I looked through double doors and saw young people in a classroom-looking room. All at individual desks, it looked like they were doing a test. Whilst gazing in that direction some officers walked along beside us, looking very professional in their navy pants and blue shirts with dark blue lapels on their shoulders, a large prominent bronze badge over their front pockets and an official looking badge on their right sleeve. Uncle Toshiro asked them where we needed to go and an officer confirmed it was just up ahead to the right. He was very friendly and chatted with uncle and asked where I was from and if I spoke Japanese.
“Sukoshi, Sukoshi, Sukoshi (very little),” I dramatised with my fingers.
“I speak a little English” he replied. His English was faaaar better than my Japanese.
"Well done!” I affirmed him with a beaming smile. He acted all humble and shook his head and we laughed.
The waiting area and service counter looked near identical to downstairs, but there were more people here. Uncle Toshiro looked up at the signs above the counter and confirmed which line we needed to stand in. It was also written in English. We stood second in the que and once again I noticed there were no staff behind the counter. A few minutes later a chime rang, 1 O'clock. Suddenly there was a buzz of activity and everything came to life. Staff appeared behind the counter, clothed smartly in their blue uniforms. Ahhh, our new friend wasn't a policeman or security guard or anything of the like. He was a staff member! Haha! And lo and behold which counter should be be serving, but ours!
When it was our turn to be served we greeted each other again and I produced my documents. He passed me a form in Japanese and asked me to write my name on the bottom. I had no idea what I was signing! After I wrote my name he produced an English copy. Thankfully I hadn't signed my life away! I read the English copy and checked the appropriate boxes on the corresponding Japanese form. He looked over my documents and then got stuck on my passport, flicking through the pages several times.
“Have you visited other countries on this passport?”
Hmmm, had I?? My brain started scanning my life in reverse. I reached for the passport and checked the issue date.
“No, I haven't visited any other countries.”
He got stuck on the pages that contain my Japanese visas.
“Have you been outside of Japan since arriving on this visa?”
“No, I haven't left Japan. I haven't returned to Australia.”
He needed a copy of the pages and explained where the photocopier was located. I was glad uncle was with me as I would have went to level one which is where I thought he said it was, but it was on the same level we were on! Located out of sight, but in another waiting area complete with lots of seating, vending machines and a photo booth. I paid the ¥10 (10 cents) for the photocopy and felt amazed once again about how cheap some things were in Japan!
Back at the counter I was asked a few questions about Australian driver's licenses.
“What age can you get a full licence?
“What tests do you have to do?
“How many questions in the written test?”
I laughed. I did that test over 20 years ago, I had no idea how many questions were in it!
“Just guess,” he says.
“100.” I pulled the number out of thin air (tell me in the comments how close I was to getting that right!). He looked pleased.
“In Japan there are 95 questions in the written test.” He was clearly pleased that Australia had a similar length test. At least that was now his belief! I mentally reconsidered my answer and thought, there were probably only 50 questions, or maybe only 30...
“Was the written test with pencil?”
“No, on computer” I refrain from divulging further information about it being multiple choice, feeling that would be looked down upon.
“Was the driving test in a driving school?”
“No, it was in the town.” He looked slightly suprised but pleased. Now I could feel a bit proud!
“Was there an instructor next to you during the test?”
“Yes.” How the heck would they test me otherwise….??? This was over 20 years ago!! But I guess they have to check.
After learning about the Australian license he had us fill out another form. Uncle Toshiro did that for me. I paid the ¥2,550 ($25) for the license and then went to the sight test. This was the only thing I had been worried about. Shujin explained that you had to look into this box type thing and a matchstick size rod moves forward and backwards and you have to press a button when it reaches the middle. Shujin has very good eye sight but even he found it extremely difficult. So now it was my turn. But first there was a brief health check as I was asked to squat down and then up again. Oh help! Would my knees hold me? And I was in a dress! I took a breath and willed myself, going down easily, and up again, trying to hide the struggle. Phew. I passed! Next, hold my arms out, palms up, bend my elbows. Pump my hands closed and open. I passed. I was invited to stand and look through the two peeping holes. I saw the typical Japanese eye test. A chart of circles in varying sizes with a gap missing on one side of each circle. When a circle lit up I had to say where the gap was: top, bottom, left or right. The test was a piece of cake. A coloured light appeared on the left. It changed colours. I said the colours. "Blue" or was that green? I almost clarified as Japanese call a green traffic light "blue" should I have said “green”? But she was onto the next colour. I passed.
We returned to our "officer" friend and handed over the paperwork with my test results. He was now pleased and satisfied with everything. He stepped out from behind the counter and had us go over to a machine just off to the side with a touch screen. I was asked to make a four digit pin. Oh crumbs. Not ANOTHER pin to remember! What was it for? I had no idea! I took out my phone so I could record the number. I stalled, wanting to put it in my phone first, but then I was too slow. The machine did’t like the wait. I tried again. I had to press the number in twice, with no time in between to record it on my phone. Stressed welled up inside me as confidence in remembering just four digits was nowhere to be found. Then the machine spat out a ticket with my number on it. Huh? It wasn’t some secret pin? It was just a ticket number?!! So, why couldn’t the machine decide the number for me?! Would have saved me a lot of stress!!
We were asked to take a seat. We were not allowed to leave. We had to sit around and wait till 4:30pm.
Two hours went by and I sat there, wishing their waiting areas included recliner chairs. I could easily have taken a nap!! As I sat, I had time to watch. I couldn’t quite figure out how it all worked, but groups of people went in and out of the testing rooms at various times. Sometimes in droves, sometimes individually. When the first group was called on I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I was so glad I had an Australian license and therefore did not have to do the test! Getting a driver's license in Japan is a very expensive process. You have to pay over $2,000. But transferring an Australian driver’s license was very cheap, albeit a little painful. And I had no doubt the test would be very hard. Shujin tells me the Japanese like to ask what could be a straightforward question, in a complicated way, making it hard to know how to answer!
4:20pm arrived and all but five people had been and gone for the day. The busy counter was now quiet and no blue uniforms could be seen, until a lady came from the back room and called out our names. I had to pay another ¥2,050 ($20). I didn’t know why. Uncle joked that it was bribe money. The five of us remaining were each handed a sheet of paper with our name, date of birth and address on it. We were asked to check the details and produce our tickets. I scrambled through my hand bag, twice, but couldn’t find it. How could I have lost it??!! What was the number I ended up choosing?? Oh heavens!! I searched in my envelope of unneeded copies of documents. Bingo! Thanks for waiting for me everyone!
The lady then walked us downstairs to the first service area that we had seen that morning. We were taken to a door at the back of the room. Despite knowing that we were getting our photos taken on the other side of that door, I still had a sudden sense of fear that this was now the time they were going to give us the eye test! I was third in line. When the man in front of me was asked to sit on the seat for a photo I still couldn’t let go of the fear until I saw that the photo was taken and he left the room. I followed the queue, handed my paper and ticket to the lady like the person before me did. I placed my handbag on the table and took a seat on the chair the looked directly into a camera lense. CLICK. I left and took a seat in the waiting area. A few minutes later a lady appeared at the counter and called out our names. I stood to receive my Japanese driver's license. Arigatou gazaimusu!
The lady had started talking to me and held up a green and yellow sticker that I have seen on cars in Japan. It’s for the novice drivers to use, kinda like a P plate. Except it’s the shape of a two-tone love heart. Well, that’s what I see! The design was actually inspired by a “fresh young leaf”. I guess it looks a bit like that too…! And there’s no L plate’s as learners only drive in driving schools, not on the streets. Anyway, I had no idea what she was saying and I wondered if I was meant to get one and display it on the car when I drove??? Or was it just a suggestion?? Since I’d been driving in Japan for almost a year now, and prior to that, I’d been driving in Australia for over 20 years…. No, she couldn’t have meant I needed it. Maybe it was just a suggestion, if I was lacking confidence or something. Which I wasn’t. So, thanks, but no thanks.
I reached out both hands to receive my license. It’s the polite way of receiving gifts or items of importance in Japan, so it felt right to follow this practice. This driver’s license almost felt like a gift, considering I didn’t have to do any written or driving tests! Australian’s are lucky, we’re in the privileged few countries that Japan recognises as having an equal standard of driver’s license, so just a transfer is OK.
The lady had started talking to me and held up a green and yellow sticker that I have seen on cars in Japan. It’s for the novice drivers to use, kinda like a P plate. Except it’s the shape of a two-tone love heart. Well, that’s what I see! The design was actually inspired by a “fresh young leaf”. I guess it looks a bit like that too…! And there’s no L plate’s as learners only drive in driving schools, not on the streets. Anyway, I had no idea what she was saying and I wondered if I was meant to get one of these novice stickers and display it on the car when I drove??? Or was it just a suggestion?? Since I’d been driving in Japan for almost a year now, and prior to that, I’d been driving in Australia for over 20 years…. No, she couldn’t have meant I needed it. Maybe it was just a suggestion, if I was lacking confidence or something. Which I wasn’t. So, thanks, but no thanks.
Back at home I shared my day’s experience with Shujin. He thought about the eye-test that I was stressing about the whole day, that I didn’t have to end up doing, and concluded that perhaps it was for a different license class. He had a medium rigid license. You mustn’t need to do such tests for a car driver’s license. All that worrying for nothing! And when I told Shujin about my friendly officer friend in blue, he educated me, laughing, saying the staff actually were policemen and policewomen!
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Hit the Comment button and let me know what the driving tests are like these days in Australia (or how many questions we had to do 20 odd years ago!)