Archive for June, 2006

Ok, more about how I got my license to drive in Japan. After being sent away the first time I got back a week later. This time with a certificate from the Swedish DMV that confirmed that my license was in fact genuine. By now I was ready for anything I thought. You are not only supposed to bring your passport, but also your expired passports if any. Then they ask you when you were abroad for the first time, and what country you visited. Not that it does seem to matter if you get this wrong. I answered quickly “Denmark, 1980″ only to later realize that my first trip abroad was to Norway in 1977.

It all went very smooth up to the point when they compared my address from my ID card with the one I had stated. There was a slight difference. They started by asking my wife if we live together. Innocent question we thought so we said yes. Should not have done that. The next question was then, so why have your ID cards different addresses?

Turns out that the authority that issued the ID card had make a typo! Doh! Ok, we had already taken the day off for this so I went straight to prefectural office to have it changed. No problem, changed in a jiffy. (Is that a strange expression? Maybe I will change that later) So, after a quick lunch things went faster back at the DMV. Test of vision is performed with a machine that looks very old. Not colorblind, ok, next. In a pace that would impress the assembly line at Toyota our photos were taken. Sit down. Look here. Click. Thank you. Next. Half an hour later I exit with my Japanese drivers license. It cost me 3000 yen is valid for 2 years. What kind of car should I get? Maybe I will settle for a small motorbike to start with.

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