Can this person drive in Japan on their foreign license, until when, and can they convert it to a Japanese license (外免切替)?
japan_driving_checkApplies Road Traffic Act art. 107-2 / 97-2 as published by the National Police Agency and Tokyo police (rules as of 2026-10-27; Geneva list = NPA data May 2026). Short-term driving: a 1949 Geneva-format IDP from an issuing party (US via AAA, UK, Canada, Australia, Korea, India, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, most of Europe…; Vienna-format IDPs invalid; UAE/Bangladesh issue two kinds), or for Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan the home license + an official Japanese translation (JAF, embassy, 訪日運転者支援協会, ADAC, 台湾日本関係協会/ZIPLUS). Non-issuing parties (Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ghana…) and unlisted places (China, Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia, Nepal, Mexico…) have no route; NPA inquiry open for Nigeria, Morocco, Jamaica etc. Period: 1 year from landing, capped by IDP validity (1 year from issue) and license expiry; residents' trips under 3 months don't restart it (3-month rule), visitors restart each landing. Conversion (外免切替): valid license, 3+ months in the issuing country after getting it, 住民票 required since 2025-10-01 (tourists can't), tests waived for 28 countries + US states OH, OR, CO, VA, HI, MD, WA (Indiana: driving check only), otherwise 50-question knowledge check (45 to pass) + driving check; reported Oct–Dec 2025 pass rates 42.8% / 13.1%; Tokyo fees ¥2,500 + ¥2,350. Returns verdict (can_drive | not_yet | expired | need_document | not_valid | unclear), headline, summary, howToDrive, period {countStart, lastDay, daysLeft, limits, restarts}, conversion {canApply, blockers, tests, documents, fees, notes}, steps, warnings, sources, disclaimer. Use for 'can I drive in Japan with an international license', 'rent a car in Japan on a US license', 国際免許 日本 いつまで, 外免切替. Educational, not legal advice; not affiliated with NPA or JAF.
Tool call template
Replace each placeholder with a value matching the input schema. Only required parameters are included; add optional parameters as needed.
{
"id": 1,
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"arguments": {
"country": "<country>"
},
"name": "japan_driving_check"
}
}Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| age | No | Driver's age. | |
| today | No | YYYY-MM-DD date to check (default: today in Japan). | |
| trips | No | Residents: trips abroad since entryDate as left_returned pairs, comma separated, e.g. '2026-08-01_2026-09-10,2026-12-20_2027-01-05'. | |
| country | Yes | Country/region that issued the driver's license: ISO code (US, GB, CN, TW, DE, HK…) or English/Japanese name. | |
| usState | No | US licenses: issuing state code, e.g. WA, HI, CA (matters for conversion tests). | |
| document | No | What the driver holds. auto (default) = tell me what's needed. | |
| entryDate | No | YYYY-MM-DD landing date in Japan (residents: landing that started the count). | |
| residency | No | visitor = tourist/short-term (default); resident = residence card, on 住民票; japanese_abroad = Japanese national living abroad. | |
| idpIssueDate | No | YYYY-MM-DD date the IDP was issued (valid 1 year). | |
| licenseExpiry | No | YYYY-MM-DD expiry of the home license. | |
| monthsInIssuingCountry | No | Conversion: total months lived in the issuing country after getting the license (3+ needed). |