{
  "site": "https://drivingschools.nl",
  "page": "https://drivingschools.nl/exchange/japan",
  "checker": "https://drivingschools.nl/check#c=JP",
  "rules_version": "1.2.2",
  "verified": "2026-09-02",
  "code": "JP",
  "name": "Japan",
  "group": "DESIGNATED",
  "rule_class": "agreement",
  "verdict": "Exchange for categories A and B only. Other categories are lost; the licence must still be valid.",
  "exchangeable_categories": [
    "A",
    "B"
  ],
  "licence_script": "non_latin",
  "licence_document_notes": "Japanese \"1B\": passenger car and motorcycle over 400 cm³.",
  "answers": {
    "can_i_exchange_it": "Yes, with limits. The Netherlands has an agreement with Japan: categories A and B only can be exchanged, provided the licence is valid and you lived there at least 185 days in the year it was issued. Other categories are lost on exchange.",
    "how_long_can_i_drive_on_it": "185 days from the date you register at a Dutch address (BRP registration). After that, you need a Dutch licence to drive here.",
    "translation": "Not in Latin script: for an exchange you need a translation by a certified translator, the embassy or the consulate."
  },
  "international_driving_permit": {
    "question": "Which International Driving Permit can Japan issue, and do I need one?",
    "answer": "The RDW never requires an International Driving Permit for your 185 days; it advises one when the categories on your licence are not labelled A, B, C, D, E, so that they can be read. The permit is a translation of your licence, obtained in the issuing country, and it never extends the 185 days. Japan is a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (since 7 August 1964). It is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Its permit follows the 1949 model and is valid for one year from the date of issue. The Netherlands is a party to both conventions, so the 1949 permit is recognised here.",
    "status": "geneva_only",
    "vienna_1968": null,
    "geneva_1949": {
      "date": "1964-08-07",
      "type": "accession"
    },
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "RDW, driving with a foreign driving licence",
        "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/driving-with-a-foreign-driving-licence",
        "verified": "2026-09-07"
      },
      {
        "label": "UN Treaty Collection, 1949 Convention on Road Traffic: status",
        "url": "https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsV.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XI-B-1&chapter=11&Temp=mtdsg5&clang=_en",
        "verified": "2026-09-07"
      },
      {
        "label": "1949 Convention on Road Traffic, Annex 10 (validity of the permit)",
        "url": "https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1952/03/19520326%2003-36%20PM/Ch_XI_B_1_2_3.pdf",
        "verified": "2026-09-07"
      }
    ]
  },
  "licence_categories": {
    "note": "The Dutch column is the closest Dutch category, not an official equivalence: the RDW decides on exchange what a category becomes, and via the 30% ruling only the categories on the licence come across. During your 185 days, your own licence and its own categories are what count.",
    "reading_note": "Japanese licences are named by vehicle size, not by letter: 普通 (ordinary), 準中型 (semi-medium), 中型 (medium) and 大型 (large), the motorcycle licences 原付, 普通二輪 and 大型二輪, and けん引 (towing). What an older licence covers depends on when it was obtained: the ordinary licence shrank on 2 June 2007 and again on 12 March 2017, and an older licence keeps its old range, shown on the card as a limited medium (8 t) or semi-medium (5 t) licence. That is the case in which the RDW advises an International Driving Permit, so the licence can be read.",
    "rows": [
      {
        "code": "原付 (moped)",
        "means": "Mopeds up to 50 cc, and since 1 April 2025 also two-wheelers up to 125 cc with an output of at most 4.0 kW.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "AM"
        ],
        "note": "Dutch AM is set by speed (45 km/h), the Japanese class by engine size and output."
      },
      {
        "code": "普通二輪 (ordinary motorcycle)",
        "means": "Motorcycles up to 400 cc; with the 小型限定 (small) limitation, up to 125 cc. Also small special vehicles and mopeds.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "A2"
        ],
        "note": "A1 with the 小型限定 limitation. The Dutch classes turn on power (11 and 35 kW), the Japanese on engine size; our judgement."
      },
      {
        "code": "大型二輪 (large motorcycle)",
        "means": "Motorcycles of any engine size; also ordinary motorcycles.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "A"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "普通 (ordinary), obtained on or after 12 March 2017",
        "means": "Vehicles under 3.5 tonnes gross weight and under 2 tonnes load, up to 10 seats; also small special vehicles and mopeds.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "B"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "準中型 (semi-medium)",
        "means": "Vehicles from 3.5 to under 7.5 tonnes gross weight and 2 to under 4.5 tonnes load, up to 10 seats; also ordinary vehicles.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "C1"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "中型 (medium)",
        "means": "Vehicles from 7.5 to under 11 tonnes gross weight, 4.5 to under 6.5 tonnes load, 11 to 29 seats.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "C",
          "D"
        ],
        "note": "The Dutch C1 stops at 7,500 kg; D1 for a bus up to 16 passengers, D beyond."
      },
      {
        "code": "大型 (large)",
        "means": "Vehicles of 11 tonnes gross weight or more, 6.5 tonnes load or more, 30 seats or more.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "C",
          "D"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "普通 obtained before 12 March 2017 (shown as 準中型, 5 t limited)",
        "means": "Vehicles under 5 tonnes gross weight and under 3 tonnes load, up to 10 seats.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "B",
          "C1"
        ],
        "note": "Beyond 3,500 kg the Dutch licence needs C1."
      },
      {
        "code": "普通 obtained before 2 June 2007 (shown as 中型, 8 t limited)",
        "means": "Vehicles under 8 tonnes gross weight and under 5 tonnes load, up to 10 seats.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "B",
          "C1"
        ],
        "note": "Beyond 7,500 kg even the Dutch C1 stops."
      },
      {
        "code": "けん引 (towing)",
        "means": "Towing a trailer over 750 kg; below that, and for a broken-down vehicle on a rope or crane, no towing licence is needed.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "BE",
          "CE",
          "DE"
        ],
        "note": "Depending on the towing vehicle's own licence."
      },
      {
        "code": "大型特殊, 小型特殊 (special vehicles)",
        "means": "Large and small special vehicles (construction and agricultural machinery); the small special licence also covers mopeds.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "T"
        ],
        "note": "T for tractors; construction machinery has no Dutch counterpart."
      },
      {
        "code": "第二種 (second class)",
        "means": "The passenger-carrying versions of the large, medium, ordinary and towing licences, for driving taxis and buses for hire.",
        "closest_dutch": [],
        "note": "The Netherlands has no taxi class on the licence."
      }
    ],
    "automatic_only": "A Japanese licence for automatics is AT限定 (AT limited): the motorcycle licences say (ATに限る) behind the class, and the ordinary licence has had an AT-limited form for years. From 1 April 2026 the semi-medium and medium licences, and from 1 April 2027 the large licence, also come in an AT-limited form; before that they were manual-only. It means what Dutch code 78 means.",
    "code_78": "If you take the Dutch practical exam in an automatic, the Dutch licence gets code 78: automatic only. Removing it means a new practical exam in a manual car.",
    "document": [
      "A Japanese licence runs 5 years for a driver with a clean record or one minor violation in the last 5 years (優良, 一般), and 3 years after violations or for a first renewal (licence held under 5 years). At 70 it still runs 5 years, at 71 four years, from 72 three years; 3 years in every case after violations."
    ],
    "open_points": [
      "The Dutch column is our judgement: 普通二輪 (up to 400 cc) to A2 and its 小型限定 form (125 cc) to A1, although the Dutch classes turn on power; 準中型 to C1; 中型 and 大型 to C or D; the pre-2007 and pre-2017 ordinary licences to B and C1; けん引 to BE, CE or DE by towing vehicle; the special-vehicle licences to T; 第二種 to none.",
      "The weight table is read from the Hyōgo and Osaka prefectural police pages and a National Police Agency leaflet, not from the Road Traffic Act (道路交通法) and its ordinance themselves.",
      "The validity terms are the Tokyo police's summary of the national rule; the 第二種 row is read from the Osaka page's list of licence types.",
      "The RDW lists Japan's exchangeable categories as A and B (see the facts above); how it reads 準中型 or 中型 on exchange is not stated."
    ],
    "followup": "https://github.com/reede-web/drivingschools/issues/133",
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "警察庁, 原動機付自転車の車両区分の見直し: the wider moped class from 1 April 2025",
        "url": "https://www.npa.go.jp/bureau/traffic/menkyo/menkyo_nirinsha.html",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "Osaka Prefectural Police, 免許の種類と運転できる自動車など: licence types and the vehicles they cover",
        "url": "https://www.police.pref.osaka.lg.jp/kotsu/untenmenkyo/shurui/5969.html",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "警視庁 (Tokyo Metropolitan Police), AT二輪免許試験について: the AT limitation on motorcycle licences",
        "url": "https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/menkyo/menkyo/annai/nirin/tekisei05.html",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "Hyōgo Prefectural Police, 運転できる自動車の範囲: weight, load and seat limits by licence and by the date it was obtained",
        "url": "https://www.police.pref.hyogo.lg.jp/traffic/license/hani/index.htm",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "警察庁 (National Police Agency), 準中型免許: what the semi-medium and ordinary licences may drive",
        "url": "https://www.npa.go.jp/bureau/traffic/menkyo/junchuu/semimedium.pdf",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "警察庁, AT大型免許等の導入: AT-limited large, medium and semi-medium licences from 2026",
        "url": "https://www.npa.go.jp/bureau/traffic/menkyo/menkyo_atogata.html",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "警視庁, 更新手続一覧: validity by driving record and age",
        "url": "https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/menkyo/koshin/koshin/kousin00.html",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "RDW, rijbewijscategorieën",
        "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/het-rijbewijs/over-het-rijbewijs/rijbewijscategorieen",
        "verified": "2026-09-08",
        "side": "dutch"
      },
      {
        "label": "CBR, wat betekent code 78",
        "url": "https://www.cbr.nl/nl/veelgestelde-vragen/wat-betekent-code-78",
        "verified": "2026-09-08",
        "side": "dutch"
      }
    ]
  },
  "worked_example": {
    "note": "Computed by the rules engine for a sample input; your own dates give your own deadline.",
    "input": {
      "issue_date": "2020-06-15",
      "expiry_date": "2030-06-15",
      "brp_registration": "2026-09-01",
      "as_of": "2026-09-02"
    },
    "may_drive_until": "2027-03-04",
    "sentence": "Registered at a Dutch address on 1 September 2026: you may drive here until 4 March 2027 (185 days). After that you need a Dutch licence.",
    "rules_applied": [
      {
        "rule_id": "V-NONEU-185D",
        "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/het-rijbewijs/buitenlands-rijbewijs/rijden-met-een-buitenlands-rijbewijs",
        "verified": "2026-09-04"
      }
    ]
  },
  "cost": {
    "route": "exchange",
    "currency": "EUR",
    "note": "Official 2026 fees carry their source; estimates and derived amounts are labelled.",
    "totals": {
      "low": 150.55,
      "typical": 170.55,
      "high": 210.55
    },
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "gemeente_fee_max",
        "label": "Municipal exchange fee (national maximum)",
        "low": 53.65,
        "typical": 53.65,
        "high": 53.65,
        "source": "https://vng.nl/nieuws/rijbewijstarief-2026",
        "verified": "2026-09-02"
      },
      {
        "id": "health_declaration",
        "label": "Health declaration (Gezondheidsverklaring)",
        "low": 46.9,
        "typical": 46.9,
        "high": 46.9,
        "source": "https://www.cbr.nl/nl/service/nl/nl/tarieven-2026",
        "verified": "2026-09-02"
      },
      {
        "id": "sworn_translation",
        "label": "Sworn translation of the licence",
        "low": 40,
        "typical": 55,
        "high": 90,
        "market_estimate": true,
        "source": "https://www.beedigdevertalingonline.nl/vertalingen/rijbewijs",
        "verified": "2026-09-02"
      },
      {
        "id": "passport_photo",
        "label": "Passport photo (fotomatrix standard)",
        "low": 10,
        "typical": 15,
        "high": 20,
        "market_estimate": true,
        "source": null,
        "verified": "2026-09-02"
      }
    ],
    "assumptions": [
      "No city chosen: the €53.65 national maximum is used; your gemeente may charge less (Amsterdam charges €64.65 for exchanges).",
      "Timeline: RDW decides within 15 working days of a complete application; cities quote 2–4 weeks overall, plus health-declaration processing (~4 weeks) where required."
    ]
  },
  "timeline": {
    "weeks": {
      "low": 3,
      "high": 6,
      "estimate": false
    },
    "steps": [
      {
        "id": "ex-1",
        "title": "Health declaration via Mijn CBR",
        "time": "~4 weeks (CBR processing)",
        "time_is_estimate": false,
        "link": "https://www.cbr.nl/nl/rijden-en-uw-gezondheid/buitenlands-rijbewijs-omwisselen"
      },
      {
        "id": "ex-2",
        "title": "Sworn translation (non-Latin licences)",
        "link": "https://www.rdw.nl/het-rijbewijs/buitenlands-rijbewijs/buitenlands-rijbewijs-omwisselen"
      },
      {
        "id": "ex-3",
        "title": "Passport photo",
        "link": null
      },
      {
        "id": "ex-4",
        "title": "Gemeente appointment",
        "link": null
      },
      {
        "id": "ex-5",
        "title": "Hand in your foreign licence",
        "link": null
      },
      {
        "id": "ex-6",
        "title": "Collect your Dutch licence",
        "time": "RDW decides within 15 working days; collect ~5 working days later",
        "time_is_estimate": false,
        "link": null
      }
    ]
  },
  "country_notes": [
    {
      "text": "A Japanese licence is in Japanese script. The RDW names Japanese as its own example of a licence that must be translated by a certified translator, the embassy or the consulate before exchange.",
      "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/exchanging-a-foreign-driving-licence",
      "verified": "2026-09-06"
    }
  ],
  "common_mistakes": [
    {
      "text": "Counting on all categories coming back. Only the categories on the agreement list are exchanged; the others are waived on a waiver form (afstandsverklaring).",
      "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/exchanging-a-foreign-driving-licence",
      "verified": "2026-09-02"
    },
    {
      "text": "Letting the licence expire first. The RDW cannot exchange an expired non-EU licence.",
      "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/exchanging-a-foreign-driving-licence",
      "verified": "2026-09-02"
    },
    {
      "text": "Forgetting the residency test. You must have lived in the issuing country for at least 185 days in the year the licence was issued.",
      "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/exchanging-a-foreign-driving-licence",
      "verified": "2026-09-02"
    },
    {
      "text": "Driving past day 185 while the exchange is pending. The 185 days run from your registration; the pending application does not extend them.",
      "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/driving-with-a-foreign-driving-licence",
      "verified": "2026-09-02"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "RDW, exchange checklist (Dutch)",
      "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/het-rijbewijs/buitenlands-rijbewijs/buitenlands-rijbewijs-omwisselen"
    },
    {
      "label": "RDW, exchanging a foreign driving licence (English)",
      "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/exchanging-a-foreign-driving-licence"
    },
    {
      "label": "RDW, driving with a foreign driving licence (English)",
      "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/driving-with-a-foreign-driving-licence"
    }
  ],
  "terms": "Guidance, not legal advice. Every entry carries the official page it was read from and the date it was read. The RDW checklist is the authority; where the rules encode a conservative reading, the entry says so. When you use this data, cite the page URL and the rules version. Corrections: hello@drivingschools.nl."
}