Last 12 months, we reported on a pattern whereby Chinese nationals, who have already got Chinese driver’s licenses, come to Japan for per week or so on a vacationer visa and choose up a Japanese driver’s license whereas right here. You would possibly surprise why somebody who lives in China would need each a Chinese and a Japanese driver’s license, and the reason being that China doesn’t have as many worldwide driver’s license agreements as Japan does, which means that it’s simpler for Chinese nationals to transform their Japanese license into a world driving allow when going to a 3rd nation than it’s to do the identical with a Chinese license.
Going to a different nation to get a driver’s license looks like it should be a significant trouble, contemplating you’d must return there to resume it and apply for worldwide permits. But, it’s surprisingly simple in Japan. With the low yen, journey has by no means been extra reasonably priced from plenty of international locations, and the system is ready up in order that changing one other nation’s license to a Japanese one solely requires a brief take a look at that’s simpler than the soul-crushing one Japanese individuals endure by leaps and bounds.
▼ Staying effectively in your lane however making a barely huge proper flip to clear that tight curb? Sorry, you fail.
Image: SoraNews24
In reality, it’s really easy that one doesn’t even want a everlasting handle to use for one; a lodge handle would suffice. Possibly for all of those causes, the variety of international license conversions has been steadily rising from 30,381 in 2014 to 75,905 in 2024.
This is inflicting some politicians to surprise if it’s too simple. Manabu Sakai, head of the National Public Safety Commission, mentioned “the written test is too simple” and introduced that it could be seemed into. Meanwhile, former cupboard member and outspoken MP Taro Kono appears to have gone one step additional and introduced that the National Police Agency is already stopping issuance for Chinese license seekers who wouldn’t have residence in Japan.
▼ “The National Police Agency has made it clear that Chinese nationals who do not have a residence card in Japan will no longer be able to exchange their Chinese driver’s license for a Japanese one. They will also ensure that the law will be applied to cases where the rules were followed too loosely in the past.”
Although Kono appears sure {that a} coverage is already in place, there haven’t been any bulletins relating to driver’s licenses on the National Police Agency web site. Also, a report on driver’s license statistics in Japan, printed two days after Kono’s publish, says that the company remains to be investigating the matter.
Some social media customers had been additionally confused by Kono’s obvious proclamation, whereas most feedback on-line appeared to agree that one thing should be accomplished concerning the present state of affairs.
“Where can I see this announcement by the National Police Agency?”
“When will this go into effect?”
“They’re going to review past licenses too?”
“Just stop it altogether and cancel all past licenses given out this way.”
“The people who got them before had no fixed address. How are you going to find them?”
“It’s impossible to cancel existing ones, but easy to stop renewing them.”
“This is a matter of life and death, so I can’t believe that it’s so easy to get a license with a quick test.”
“They really should take care of this as soon as possible.”
“If they have to take the same test Japanese people do, that would be fine.”
It does make sense that folks holding basically the identical license and presumably sharing the identical street ought to have acquired their licenses by the identical requirements. Perhaps elevating the bar for international conversions and reducing the bar for home licenses to satisfy one another midway may be a step in the suitable course.
Source: The Sankei Shimbun, X/@konotarogomame, Hachima Kiko, Yahoo! News
Read extra tales from SoraNews24.
— Chinese drivers flocking to Japan for fast and straightforward path to worldwide licenses
— Getting a driver’s license in Japan the laborious method: The first written take a look at
— Getting a driver’s license in Japan the laborious method: The End
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