After over an hour's drive to Mito from Chikusei, and a five hour wait between submitting all my documents to getting my photo taken and some final details, I have finally received my Japanese driver's license. The best part of it, is that I don't need to renew my license until 2020. However, with all the patting myself on the back and jerking myself off over such a tremendous feat in the history of gaijin...
You know what? I will just skip to the part of the general process of transferring your home country's license in to a Japanese license, should you ever need to drive in Japan beyond one year.
Before you even go to a Licensing Center, you will need the following documents:
- Your home country's driver's license * (more on this after)
- A translated copy of your driver's license (which has to be done by the Japanese Automobile Federation, or JAF)
- Your passport
- Your residence card
- Your certificate of residency, which shows your current address and your nationality (you can get this from City Hall - it cost 250 yen when I asked for one in Chikusei)
- Passport size photo, though you can do this at the licensing center. The one at the Mito licensing center can do it for 800 yen, though 8 photos, so it's handy if you need extra photos in the future.
- Decent Japanese language proficiency. If you're not that confident in handling this on your own, I would recommend you bring someone with decent proficiency, or if you are lucky, bring a native speaking friend along.
- Also, I would recommend bringing a book, or something to help pass the time (I brought my 3ds), as you will be waiting around for long periods of time
In truth, I tried to apply two weeks ago, and found out that I needed the certificate of residency. From various material I had been reading online, the information regarding the required documents led me to believe that my residence card alone would have been sufficient, but that wasn't the case. It's called a juuminhyou (住民票), literally certificate of residence. As I mentioned above, you will need to go to your city hall and request for one. They will want you to tick a number of boxes which indicate what information you want displayed on this certificate. I was not too sure what specifically the licensing center wanted, so I just checked all the boxes to include all the information just in case. It costs 250 yen, so this won't hurt your wallet at all.
Next, you will need to head to the Driver's Licensing Center in your prefecture. Depending on where you live, this could be a fairly short trip, or it can be a long one. The licensing center for Ibaraki prefecture is located in Mito, and it takes a little over an hour from Chikusei city. Besides bringing money to pay for your license, I would recommend either bringing food and drink along, or have some money to buy some food and drink, as this can take up most of your day. In addition the booth for applying to transfer your home country's license to a Japanese one is only open for a very short time - for the center in Mito, it is only open from 9:00am - 10:00am weekdays, so you may have to take a day off to do this. I was lucky this time around, as due to schedule changes for my schools, I had today off, so I did not have to worry for applying for time off.
Once you arrive at the Licensing center, you will need to head to the booth for transferring international licenses in to Japanese licenses. It should be marked in English as well as Japanese, otherwise, just look for 外国. They will give you some forms to fill out, and they will point out which fields you need to fill in, and you will receive a separate form to check some boxes. In Mito, they also gave a separate English form for this on top of the Japanese one, so you know what the questions mean. Basically it's asking whether you've driven under the influence of alcohol, ever passed out due to medical conditions, and so on. Once you have filled that out, you return to the booth, and they will ask for all your required documents.
With regards to your home country's license, they will want to know when your license was first issued. If your driver's license does not contain that information, you will need to obtain that from your country's department of transport, or equivalent for that, otherwise you will not get any further. I have also read that some people who renewed their license before coming to Japan have also encountered difficulty, as you are required to have stayed at least 3 months in your home country after receiving your driver's license (hence, why they want your passport). I had actually renewed my license a month before arriving in Japan, so I was concerned I would not get approval, though my driver's license had the date of when I first received my license, which was over 10 years ago. Apparently this was fine for me, but I have heard other stories where this is not the case, so it is possible this could vary from prefecture to prefecture. I asked the JAF at the time I had my license translated, though they said I would be fine. In any case, just be aware of this. Oddly enough, they asked me about the nature of the driving lessons I took in Australia, such as how often I had lessons, how often I practiced, and whether I took some form of test. Since it had been over ten years, I couldn't remember the specifics, so I ended up giving general answers, which they seemed to be satisfied with.
If all goes well, you will end up in one of two situations. Japan appears to have some sort of agreement with the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, or USA (only Maryland or Washington)
If you happen to be from any of these countries, congratulations! You do not need to take a written or driving test. In fact all you need to do is take a very simple eye test which only takes less than 2 minutes.
If you are not fortunate enough to be from any of the above countries - you will need to take a ten question true/false test before doing a driving test. I don't know much about this section, as I fall under the former category and only had to take the eye test.
After my eye test, they took me to another room to get my photo taken. Since I went there in casual, my photo does make me look a bit scruffy, but compared to other photos for licenses/passports, it is not actually that bad. Anyway, after some more waiting, I finally received my license, and some instructions about instances on if I move or change my name due to marriage. They also gave me a small leaflet explaining in greater detail those things. By the time I was ready to leave, it was already 3:00pm - over my half of my day gone right there, add to that the drive back to Chikusei, and I didn't get home until just before 4:30pm.
I have to admit, compared to the system of getting a license in Australia, Japan's system is a bit of a pain to go through. If not for the fact I live an hour away from the licensing center, I would have gone home in between waiting periods. I don't remember having to spend an entire day at a licensing center in Australia just to get my driver's license, though I suspect things have changed since I first got my license over ten years ago. All in all, it certainly was an interesting experience - and while there plenty of pages online that highlight this process, I felt like adding my two cents on my experiences going though the system in Japan.
Showing posts with label Mito. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mito. Show all posts
Friday, April 21, 2017
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Day 2 in Mito: Odd feelings of homesickness?
For the first time in since my travels to Japan, I've surprisingly started to feel homesick... not sure if homesick is the right term in this case. As I mentioned in my previous post, it's the first time that I've felt so alone.
I oddly never felt like this at all when I did my studies in Kyoto for a year, but looking back on it, I suspect it might be because I was living in a shared dormitory, where there was support available not only from my dormitory tutors, but also from the convenience store across the street from the dormitory, who helped us out whenever we had any problems Japan related. Furthermore, there were also people from my home university that were staying in the same dormitory, so I didn't feel lonely during those times. I did feel frustrated at times initially, though that was more to do with classes, and having to meet the requirements of my home university to graduate, something other international students didn't have to worry about.
This time around, while waiting for my training to begin on Tuesday, I don't have any of that support. I haven't even met my recruiter in person yet, or any of the other ALTs, but that will happen on Tuesday anyway.
I decided to call my parents in the afternoon, and sure enough, they knew why I was calling. I know Mum was trying to reassure me that I can go back home at any time, but I feel like all of this would be for nothing if I did so, and I also think Mum understands that. She also gave some advice that I should try to be productive, and keep my mind busy, so I don't pick up any bad habits.
Taking her advice, I decided to go out and have a look around Mito station. I ended up going to Bic Camera to get a charging cable for my 3DS, and USB flash drive, which I planned to use for work related matters, and I also went to the 100 yen store to get some notepads, a folder, and some chopsticks. I also decided to check out the game center afterwards. However, while I wanted to play Groove Coaster, both machines were occupied, so I settled for a game of Time Crisis 4 before I returned to the hotel.
Other than practicing my presentation for training, I've been searching around for how to get to and from Mito if needed, and about the bus service to Tokyo that I read about. In addition, I've been checking in to accommodation in Kyoto during the Christmas/New Year period. My girlfriend and I briefly talked about how to spend Christmas/New year together (whether it be in Kamisu or in Kyoto), but we hadn't reached a decision yet - we'll most likely decide once I get an idea on the exact dates.
Tomorrow, aside from practicing the presentation (again), I might take another look around the area, and maybe go to the northern side of Mito.
I oddly never felt like this at all when I did my studies in Kyoto for a year, but looking back on it, I suspect it might be because I was living in a shared dormitory, where there was support available not only from my dormitory tutors, but also from the convenience store across the street from the dormitory, who helped us out whenever we had any problems Japan related. Furthermore, there were also people from my home university that were staying in the same dormitory, so I didn't feel lonely during those times. I did feel frustrated at times initially, though that was more to do with classes, and having to meet the requirements of my home university to graduate, something other international students didn't have to worry about.
This time around, while waiting for my training to begin on Tuesday, I don't have any of that support. I haven't even met my recruiter in person yet, or any of the other ALTs, but that will happen on Tuesday anyway.
I decided to call my parents in the afternoon, and sure enough, they knew why I was calling. I know Mum was trying to reassure me that I can go back home at any time, but I feel like all of this would be for nothing if I did so, and I also think Mum understands that. She also gave some advice that I should try to be productive, and keep my mind busy, so I don't pick up any bad habits.
Taking her advice, I decided to go out and have a look around Mito station. I ended up going to Bic Camera to get a charging cable for my 3DS, and USB flash drive, which I planned to use for work related matters, and I also went to the 100 yen store to get some notepads, a folder, and some chopsticks. I also decided to check out the game center afterwards. However, while I wanted to play Groove Coaster, both machines were occupied, so I settled for a game of Time Crisis 4 before I returned to the hotel.
Other than practicing my presentation for training, I've been searching around for how to get to and from Mito if needed, and about the bus service to Tokyo that I read about. In addition, I've been checking in to accommodation in Kyoto during the Christmas/New Year period. My girlfriend and I briefly talked about how to spend Christmas/New year together (whether it be in Kamisu or in Kyoto), but we hadn't reached a decision yet - we'll most likely decide once I get an idea on the exact dates.
Tomorrow, aside from practicing the presentation (again), I might take another look around the area, and maybe go to the northern side of Mito.
Friday, August 19, 2016
First evening in Mito City
After spending 1 week in Kyoto, I have finally arrived in Mito city in the Ibaraki prefecture. As I thought, it finally sank in during my time in Kyoto that I would be not only starting a new job, but a new job in a different country - where the rules are different from what I am used to. I feel like I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to not mess this up, as I know that there is nothing back in my home country if this doesn't work out. Maybe in a few years time I might go back to work, but for the moment, I want to get experience in Japan, not only for work, but to also improve my Japanese, and finally get N2 and N1 certifications.
At the moment I'm staying in a hotel not too far from Mito train station. It's a good location, though I have to fork out of my own pocket until I move to Kamisu city. I also realise that unlike my time as an international student in Japan, there's much less support this time round in getting set up - specifically, I have to set up my own phone account, my own bank account, and my own internet service provider. This will be an interesting experience, though my girlfriend has reassured me that I will get a lot more out of it by doing these things on my own. Depending on the distance of the schools from where I will live in Kamisu, I'm also contemplating buying a bicycle as opposed to renting the company car, as the costs will pile up with the car ($200 a month, plus petrol costs out of my own pocket...); the bicycle will not only cut costs, but will serve to help me lose weight, which I gained a little while I was in Kyoto (laughs). I've also read that there is a cheap gym in a government-funded community center, which I want to look in to more once I move to Kamisu.
In the meantime, I have training next week, and I need to finish preparing my self introduction, which I will need to do for the training sessions, and for my first day at school as an English teacher.
Unlike my time as an international student, where I spent money on any and everything (gunpla, candy, game centers, other toys, etc), I want to be more conscious of my spending habits. A blog entry I found recently has inspired me to save, and from the looks of things, It's doable - especially if I put a lid on my spending habits, and try and cook at home more often. If I can pull this off, I can finally start paying off my student debt, and probably pay off the rest of my car, which I left in the care of my sister back home.
At the moment I'm staying in a hotel not too far from Mito train station. It's a good location, though I have to fork out of my own pocket until I move to Kamisu city. I also realise that unlike my time as an international student in Japan, there's much less support this time round in getting set up - specifically, I have to set up my own phone account, my own bank account, and my own internet service provider. This will be an interesting experience, though my girlfriend has reassured me that I will get a lot more out of it by doing these things on my own. Depending on the distance of the schools from where I will live in Kamisu, I'm also contemplating buying a bicycle as opposed to renting the company car, as the costs will pile up with the car ($200 a month, plus petrol costs out of my own pocket...); the bicycle will not only cut costs, but will serve to help me lose weight, which I gained a little while I was in Kyoto (laughs). I've also read that there is a cheap gym in a government-funded community center, which I want to look in to more once I move to Kamisu.
In the meantime, I have training next week, and I need to finish preparing my self introduction, which I will need to do for the training sessions, and for my first day at school as an English teacher.
Unlike my time as an international student, where I spent money on any and everything (gunpla, candy, game centers, other toys, etc), I want to be more conscious of my spending habits. A blog entry I found recently has inspired me to save, and from the looks of things, It's doable - especially if I put a lid on my spending habits, and try and cook at home more often. If I can pull this off, I can finally start paying off my student debt, and probably pay off the rest of my car, which I left in the care of my sister back home.
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