China Has Discovered That Japan Is the Best Place to Get a Driver’s License. Japanese Aren’t Too Pleased About It

You’ve probably heard that it’s “easier” to get a driver’s license in certain places. Chinese residents, for instance, know this. However, where they go to get that document isn’t within their country’s geographical boundaries. According to SoraNews24, Japan has become one of the most popular places for obtaining a driver’s license, though the Japanese aren’t too pleased about it.

Going deeper. To understand the peculiar situation between the two countries, it’s essential to mention the International Driving Permit (IDP). In the U.S., a driver’s license allows you to drive nationwide, as well as in Mexico and Canada. However, if you want to drive in other countries, like Japan, you’ll need an IDP.

A list of territories is available on the State Department website. Search for the country you’re traveling to and see the “travel and transportation” section for rules on foreign visitor permits.

China’s problem. China isn’t a party to the Geneva Convention, so its drivers generally face restrictions on driving abroad. Several years ago, Japan warned of a concerning trend: Japanese authorities had begun investigating the use of forged international driver’s licenses by Chinese tourists in Japan. The issue raised alarms among both police and car rental companies.

The Okinawa Incident. According to Nikkei Asia, in 2018, a Chinese tourist presented an international driver’s license, purportedly issued by the Philippines, to rent a car in Okinawa. The rental staff suspected the license was fake, as the tourist had no recent travel records to the Philippines, and they denied the rental.

The case exposed a fraudulent business network in the Philippines selling fake driver’s licenses to Chinese tourists online. It was also a significant safety concern, as studies showed a high percentage of Chinese tourists renting vehicles in Japan, raising concerns about traffic accidents.

Why? Japan allows foreigners to drive if they present a valid international driver’s license issued by countries that are signatories to the Geneva Convention, including the Philippines. However, China isn’t a member of this treaty, leading many Chinese tourists to obtain fake licenses in the Philippines to drive in Japan.

As Nikkei Asia reports, some of these licenses were so well forged that even the police had trouble distinguishing them from the real ones, according to the Sapporo Car Rental Association.

The solution. Some travelers from China realized they didn’t need to go elsewhere to forge licenses—they could get one directly in Japan. This trend has become popular, with many Chinese tourists traveling to Japan to obtain Japanese driver’s licenses quickly and easily.

How do they do this? By exploiting a legal loophole. By obtaining a Japanese license, Chinese nationals can take advantage of the IDP more conveniently than through China’s limited individual agreements with other countries.

Getting a driver’s license in Japan as a foreigner. The catch is that there’s no catch. According to SoraNews24, the process for foreigners to obtain a Japanese driver’s license is much easier than it is for residents. While Japanese residents must pass rigorous exams, foreign tourists—such as those from China—face a much simpler written exam with basic questions, requiring only a 70% score to pass. In contrast, Japanese residents must answer 90% of the questions correctly.

Moreover, Chinese drivers in Japan don’t need something fundamental: residency. Once in the country, a hotel address suffices to apply for a license.

What the Japanese think. The phenomenon has caused considerable concern in Japan, where there are fears that drivers with little training or those exploiting the system’s leniency may be more likely to be involved in accidents. Japanese media outlets and citizens alike have expressed surprise at the laxity of the process and worry that it could harm the reputation of Japanese licensing internationally.

Following a recent fatal accident involving a Chinese driver, calls have grown in Japan for the government to make the tests for foreigners more difficult. Interestingly, as SoraNews24 reports, in the past, certain Japanese drivers exploited similar loopholes in other countries, like Hawaii.

Image |Wikimedia Commons (Ronin195)

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