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“止まれ。(Stop.) Stop!” I (Michael) quickly hit the brakes of the car I was driving after hearing the repeated command from the instructor. What have I done wrong this time? I wondered. I glanced around, trying to assess the car’s position, alignment with the lane markings on the road, and so on. I finally realized that after turning left, I was now driving on the right side of the road—which, in Japan, is the wrong side!
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When we lived in the Yokohama area during our intensive language school studies, a car was not necessary for daily life. Sure, it would have been helpful to carry groceries and reach new places, but with all the readily available, convenient public transportation, we decided to wait until we arrived in Yamaguchi Prefecture to work on getting our Japanese driver’s licenses. In Yamaguchi, public transportation is much less frequent and isn’t nearly as common as out east. So, once we moved here, we started work on getting driver’s licenses.
You might wonder why we need to go through any process at all. Couldn’t we just use an international driving permit? Well, you can—but only for your first six months of living in Japan, and we have already lived here for a year. Couldn’t we just exchange our USA driver’s licenses for a Japanese one? Well, you can—if your license is from one of eight U.S. states that participate in the exchange. Unfortunately, Michigan, where our driver’s licenses were last held, is not one of those states. So, alas, we have three choices: go to driving school, which is costly and time-consuming; go to what they call driving “camp,” which is a two-week, all-inclusive, all-day-every-day, get-everything-done-at-once location that is still quite costly; or attempt to just go and pass the written and driving tests for a license, spending the least amount of time and money. We opted to at least try for the last option to save money and time. I was the guinea pig to try the process, and Caitlyn would do it after me.
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We went and enjoyed a performance of Beethoven’s 9th in a nearby city.
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In Japan, you cannot simply walk into a prefectural traffic testing center, request a test, take it that day, and obtain your license. The first step is scheduling an interview with the traffic center to see if they will allow you to skip driving school/camp and go right to the test based on your license history. Hiroko helped us make this call. No one was answering the direct phone number, so Hiroko had the idea to call the local police station, which forwarded the call to the prefectural police, who then forwarded it internally to the driving center. The kind man on the other end of the line walked us through all the necessary paperwork for the interview and scheduled it for two months from the date of the call.
That gave me some time to get my paperwork together. I had to request an official translation of my Michigan license from the Japan Automobile Federation, obtain an official copy of my Japanese residence certificate, take standard-size pictures at a photo booth in town, and prove that I had held my license in the USA for at least three months. The last part wasn’t easy: I had renewed my license just before moving to Japan! So, to fix that problem, I had to go online and request a license history from Michigan to provide proof that I had renewed my license on the date indicated on my license and not just obtained it for the first time. I then paid someone a few dollars on a contractor website called Fiverr to get a translation of that document.
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Hiroko and I went to the traffic center together for the interview, as it was going to be in Japanese, and I wanted it to go well. Although I could understand some questions just fine, it was great to have someone along to help me understand the parts that confused me. I was asked a range of questions about my complete license history, including how I learned to drive and who taught me, details about my driving school and my driving test, and even how much my driving school cost! (I didn’t know the answer to that last one.) We had to scramble once when I was asked to prove that I had lived in the USA for at least a year during the range of my Michigan licenses so they could determine if I was a beginner driver or not. Thankfully, I was able to use an old apartment rental agreement as proof. Finally, I passed the interview, and we scheduled the paper and driving tests for six weeks after the interview.
The Japanese driver’s test for a license exchange consists of two parts: a short, ten-question written test and a practical driving test behind the wheel. The practical test is on a closed course. In order to practice for the test, I opted to pay for a few lessons at a local driving school to get used to driving from the right side of the car, driving on the left side of the road, and the things I would need to know to pass the driving test in Japan, of which there are many. In my first session, I made a mistake and turned into the wrong lane! Thankfully, I was driving on a closed course at the driving school at the time, so neither I nor anyone else was hurt.
Sometimes, processes that we wish were quick and easy take a lot of time, involve many steps, and can be a bit annoying. Thankfully, we serve a God who sees the end from the beginning, knows what we are going through, and can help us accomplish things each step of the way. Keep looking to Him in whatever you are going through, and He will see you through!
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Spending time in Hiroshima with Caitlyn’s family.
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Praises & Prayer Requests
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- Michael’s first attempt at the paper and practical driving tests is June 18. Please be praying!
- We are thankful for the beautiful spring weather, the many flowers, and the good times we had with our field director. We also enjoyed time with Caitlyn’s family, who came to visit, as well as with another missionary family that also visited us.
- Michael also takes a standardized Japanese test on July 6. Please pray that he will do well and pass.
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We would love to hear back from you. You can email us at adventure@shoesatthedoor.net. We are happy to pray for any prayer requests you might have, so please feel free to send them our way.
Thank you so much for your support!
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