Japanese Driving Licence Types, Validity and Renewal — and What Happens If It Expires

How many kinds of Japanese driving licence are there?

Article 84 splits licences into three categories, not two: Class 1 (第一種), Class 2 (第二種), and the provisional licence (仮免許). The provisional licence is a category in its own right, which is the single most common misreading of this article.

• Class 1 — ten types: large (大型), medium (中型), semi-medium (準中型), regular (普通), large special (大型特殊), large motorcycle (大型二輪), regular motorcycle (普通二輪), small special (小型特殊), moped (原付), and towing (牽引).
• Class 2 — five types: large, medium, regular, large special, and towing. Not seven.
• Provisional — four types: large, medium, semi-medium, and regular.

Your plastic card lists the licence types you hold along with the licence number and the last day of the validity period, under Article 93. "Licence type" on the card therefore means one of the entries above — not a skill grade.

Practise it: three categories, not two, ten Class 1 types, five Class 2 types, four provisional types, what is printed on the card.

What does a "regular" licence cover, and what is jun-chūgata?

A regular licence (普通免許) covers vehicles under 3.5 t gross weight (under 2 t maximum load). Semi-medium (準中型) covers 3.5 t up to 7.5 t (2 t up to 4.5 t of load). These are the thresholds published by the National Police Agency and set out in Article 2 of the Enforcement Regulations.

Two things follow. First, semi-medium can be taken from 18 without holding a regular licence first — it is not an upgrade path but a separate entry point, created in March 2017. Second, the classes do not cascade upward: a large licence also lets you drive medium, semi-medium and regular vehicles, but a semi-medium licence does not let you drive a medium vehicle. Note also that Article 88 lowers the medium and large minimums to 19 for people who meet conditions set by Cabinet Order.

Practise it: what a large licence covers, what semi-medium does not cover, the semi-medium load threshold, the 30-seat rule for large vehicles.

Class 1 vs Class 2: when do you need a Class 2 licence?

A Class 2 licence is required to drive a passenger vehicle in order to carry fare-paying passengers for a passenger transport business — taxis, route buses and the like. Article 85(11) states plainly that a Class 1 licence does not permit this, and Article 86 assigns each vehicle size its matching Class 2 licence.

The matching is by vehicle size and it does not stretch upward. A Large Class 2 holder may also drive medium, semi-medium and regular passenger vehicles; a Medium Class 2 holder may also drive regular ones. But a Regular Class 2 licence does not reach a medium-size passenger vehicle, and a Medium Class 2 licence is not enough for a large one.

Entry is restricted: under Article 96(5) the Class 2 test requires you to be 21 or over (19 for those who have completed a designated course) and to have held a Class 1 licence for a total of three years (two with designated experience, one with a designated course).

Carrying friends in your own car is not "carrying fare-paying passengers", so an ordinary Class 1 licence is all a private driver needs.

Practise it: when Class 2 is required, size matching, why Regular Class 2 does not reach medium, the Class 1 limit.

Karimen, honmen and the provisional-practice plate

Karimen (仮免許) is the provisional licence you hold while learning; honmen (本免) is the everyday word for the full licence and its written test. The provisional licence is valid for six months from the day you took the aptitude test (Article 87(6)), and it only lets you drive the class of vehicle it names — a regular provisional licence covers regular vehicles only.

Driving on it comes with conditions. You must carry a supervisor in the seat beside you: either a Class 1 holder of the same class who has held that licence for three years or more in total, or a Class 2 holder of that class who is 21 or over. And the vehicle must display the provisional-practice plate (仮免許練習標識) on both the front and the rear, in the prescribed positions — front only is not enough. The minimum age for a regular provisional licence is 17 years and 6 months, six months earlier than the licence itself.

For the test format, the pass mark and where to sit it, see Karimen Test in English and Honmen vs Karimen.

Practise it: six-month validity, what you may drive, the plate front and rear, the supervisor requirement, the age minimum.

How long is a Japanese licence valid, and when is my renewal date?

For an excellent-record or ordinary driver under 70, the licence runs until one month after the fifth birthday following the expiry date — five years in practice. From 70 it becomes four years, from 71 three years, and for a driver classed as a violator it is three years regardless of age. That table is Article 95-6.

So your expiry date is one month after a birthday, not on it. The renewal window (更新期間) defined by Article 101(1) runs from one month before the birthday immediately preceding the expiry date through the expiry date itself — a two-month window straddling your birthday. If the final day falls on a Sunday or other designated holiday, it moves to the following day, not the preceding one.

Renewing late inside the window does not buy you time: the new period is counted from the day before that birthday, not from the day you turned up. Being classed as an excellent-record driver (優良運転者) requires five continuous years of licensed history, not three, and provisional licences do not count.

Two age thresholds add steps. From 70 you must complete a designated course within the six months before the window ends; from 75 you must also take a cognitive function test in the same six months. Tokyo, as an example of how prefectures implement this, runs the renewal lecture for 30 minutes for excellent-record drivers, 1 hour for ordinary drivers and 2 hours for violators and first-time renewers — but fees and booking are set per prefecture, so check your own prefectural police.

Practise it: the five-year rule, age 70, age 71 and over, violators, what "excellent-record" requires, when the last day is a holiday, renewing late in the window, the course at 70, the cognitive test at 75.

What happens if my Japanese licence expires?

Under Article 105 the licence loses its effect the moment you fail to renew it — it is not "expired but usable". Driving on it is then unlicensed driving under Article 64, which also covers driving while a licence is suspended, and Article 106-3 requires you to hand the card back once the validity period has ended. If you hold both a card and a My Number card carrying your licence information, the licence lapses only when neither is renewed.

Recovery is a new application with parts of the test waived, not a renewal, and the timing decides how much is waived. Taking Tokyo as the example:

• Within 6 months of expiry: the aptitude test only — the written and practical tests are waived, and you get your licence back.
• More than 6 months but within 1 year: you can obtain only a provisional licence (large, medium, semi-medium or regular) through the same partial waiver, and then continue from there.
• With an unavoidable reason (illness, a long stay abroad and similar): the six-month treatment extends to within 3 years.

Beyond that you start again as a first-time applicant. Because these procedures, fees and counters are set by each prefecture, confirm the detail with the licence centre where you live — and note that this is about a Japanese licence lapsing. If it is a foreign licence you are holding, the route is conversion, covered in the conversion written test guide.

Practise it: a licence that is not renewed, the two-card case, handing the card back, driving while suspended.

FAQ

What does "licence type" mean on a Japanese licence?

It means which of the statutory licences you hold — for example regular (普通), semi-medium (準中型), large (大型), regular motorcycle, moped, or a Class 2 version of these. Class 1 has ten types, Class 2 has five, and provisional licences have four. It is not a skill level or grade.

What level is a regular Japanese driver’s licence?

A regular (futsū) Class 1 licence covers vehicles under 3.5 t gross weight and under 2 t maximum load, plus small special vehicles and mopeds. It is the ordinary private-car licence and can be obtained from age 18.

What is jun-chūgata (準中型)?

Semi-medium: a Class 1 licence for vehicles of 3.5 t up to 7.5 t gross weight, or 2 t up to 4.5 t maximum load. It was created in March 2017 and can be taken from 18 without holding a regular licence first.

How often do I have to renew a Japanese licence?

Every five years if you are an excellent-record or ordinary driver under 70 on the renewal date, four years at 70, three years from 71, and three years for a driver classed as a violator. The expiry date falls one month after a birthday.

What is the renewal date, and how early can I renew?

The renewal window opens one month before the birthday immediately preceding the expiry date and closes on the expiry date itself, which is one month after that birthday. If the last day is a Sunday or another designated holiday, it shifts to the following day.

How long can my Japanese licence be expired before I lose it?

The licence loses effect immediately, but recovery is possible. In Tokyo, within six months of expiry you take the aptitude test only; between six months and one year you can obtain only a provisional licence; and if the delay had an unavoidable reason the six-month treatment extends to three years. Procedures are set per prefecture, so confirm locally.