Got a few questions about some things, but for people who might have some questions, I got a small summary here.
– Took it in Kanagawa
– never had a license before
– it cost 330’000yen (Manual)
– was able to get my license in 5 weeks
– course was split into two parts, １段階 and 2段階. Both have theoretical classes, including the emergency class and driving lessons. First part is exclusively inside the practice area and the second part takes you out on the road. Usually following a designated route, but sometimes you have to set your own goal using a classic map.
– the emergency class is 100% theoretical and doesn’t include any physical activity due to Covid.
Ask me anything you might be curious about.
Now, I also have some questions:
– I am not planning on buying a car anytime soon (earliest would probably be next year summer), but how would I best go about this? I’d be totally cool with a second hand car.
– I really wanna drive some manual cars. Thing is, most rental places only have Automatics. Is that normal in Japan?
– anything else I should be aware of?
And lastly: what is a great spot to go for a day trip when one has just gotten their license?
My first trip will be going to Ikea though.
9 comments
Congratulations
1. https://www.goo-net.com/ and https://www.carsensor.net/
2. it’s normal everywhere in the world, most people can’t drive a manual so stocking them wouldn’t be a good business decision since everyone can drive an automatic
3. ALWAYS GET THE INSURANCE – get the lawyer option it will pay for itself if you use it 1x in your lifetime – what they call mandatory insurance isn’t, it only covers a small amount of personal injury to the other party – GET THE INSURANCE
EDIT – also make sure you have a parking spot before buying something (from earlier this week)
After I got my license, my first trip was to one of the service areas on the highway about 30-40 minutes away from my house. Got to try out driving on the highway, plus the service area had some stores and places to eat.
How lesson/how much time did it take during those 5 weeks ? Did you do everything in japanese ?
>what is a great spot to go for a day trip when one has just gotten their license?
Route 134 in southern Kanagawa runs mostly along the shore, and has nice views of Mt. Fuji if the weather is nice. Traffic is often heavy near Kamakura though.
>I really wanna drive some manual cars. Thing is, most rental places only have Automatics. Is that normal in Japan?
99% of the rentals will be automatics, except for maybe trucks. Some specialty car rental places like sports car rentals and maybe car-shares may have manuals (but these types of rentals may not lend to beginner drivers).
Some home centers lend you a kei-truck to haul your large purchases, and I was once surprised to see that the kei had a manual transmission.
If you borrow a car, remember to place the beginner driver magnet sticker on the car.
Did you take the course in 5 weeks, weekdays?
Is it English or Japanese? If no English, do they still support foreigners? And where?
5 weeks? are you enrroled in a crash course?
It tooks me 5 months, and that’s with me taking all the cancelled schedule from other people, otherwise December or January it is
>I really wanna drive some manual cars. Thing is, most rental places only have Automatics. Is that normal in Japan?
Did you get the license type that allows you to drive manuals? Most people just get the one that’s limited to automatics – it says AT車に限る somewhere on the license card.
Toyota has/used to have GT86 MT’s available for rent. I rented one after getting my license. They don’t care if you still have a green license either.
I can’t remember since I converted my license with over 10 years of experience.
I believe most rental car companies do not rent cars to drivers without 1 year of “experience” (meaning, having a license for at least 1 year”).
i saw it somewhere but maybe I’m wrong…