Japanese driver licence from scrap.

[Davey]

That would scare me a lot as well.

I'm glad that I have never driven a car before I came to Japan and that I have been living her long enough to have "I have to drive on the left side of the road" programmed in my head.

[Glenski]

Congrats. I must have been one of the lucky ones to pass the test the first time. A friend took it with me, and he had driven (illegally) for a couple of years earlier, and failed the test! Panicked at a stop sign and didn't fully stop. Duh.

Take it easy the first year. You'll probably have to return for follow-up video training like most of us even if you never have an accident.

[Mike Cash]

Two points which will save you a lot of trouble:

1. Never trust anybody else's driving.

2. If there is anything rude, stupid or dangerous another driver could possibly do, assume he WILL do it.

I make my living on the roads and highways and watching the way people drive is a very fast and effective way to lose your faith in human nature; the roads are full of a**holes.

[Davey]

Congrats. I must have been one of the lucky ones to pass the test the first time. A friend took it with me, and he had driven (illegally) for a couple of years earlier, and failed the test! Panicked at a stop sign and didn't fully stop. Duh.

The driving test itself was fairly easy, it was the written test that was a pain.

Yeah, I will definitely take it easy in the first year.

@Mike
How do you compare drivers in the Kanto and Kansai region?

[Petaris]

Congratulations on getting your license Davey!

Take it slow and easy as it will probably take a while for you to really get comfortable driving around and dealing with other drivers and pedestrians.

Soon it will be second nature!

[Uncle Frank]

Part of our drivers training in Japan by the US military was about being in an accident. We were told our fault or not , if you were in an accident involving a Japanese person, you had to take a carton of American cigerettes and a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and appologize face to face with them. I always thought that would be horrible if a Japanese person/child were killed and you tried to make it up with that crappy gift.
I had more trouble driving when I returned home. For the first month or two , I would find myself on the wrong side of the road while daydreaming. Lucky traffic was thin early in the morning and I never hurt anyone.

Uncle Frank

PS----Congrats Davy!

[zoomingjapan]

I got my Japanese driver's license last year in December.
The process greatly depends on your nationality, so carefully check what you have to do!
For me it was rather easy as I'm German! I got it within one day! You can read all about it here: "How to obtain a Japanese driver's license".

The real adventure actually starts after that! Driving in Japan can be scary! Japanese people don't care about traffic rules it seems!
I have to drive to work every day and almost every day I see crazy things!
Drive carefully! ;)