User Guide
If you have a foreign Driving Permit and are driving in Japan, you are required to have the following permit (license, certificate).
The same process will apply for Japanese citizens
who are using an International Driving Permit to drive a vehicle from Budget Rent a Car.
When Driving with an International Driving Permit: (applies for both Japanese and foreign citizens)
- Passport with a stamp
indicating date of entry
- International Driving Permit
Please make sure to have the above 2 items and provide them when renting a vehicle.
*The following 2 items are required for persons who are recorded in the Basic Resident Register or are Registered Foreigners, and who wish to drive a car in Japan with an International Driving Permit.
- (1) If you have lived outside of Japan continually for more than 3 months, you are valid to drive for 1 year starting from the Date of Entry to Japan. (Does not necessarily has to be the country where the International Driving Permit was issued)
- *After departing Japan, if you have returned under a period of 3 months (continually, not cumulatively), the date of return will not be considered as the “Date of Entry to Japan(Starting date for the period of validity to drive with a International Driving Permit and foreign Driving Permit).”
- (2) Please check the expiration date of your international driver license.
- If you are entering the country through the "Automated Gate," please have your plane ticket stub with you when the rented vehicle is being handed over. We need to check your date of entry to the country.
- (NOTICE!!) The validity of your international driver’s license will be verified upon confirmation of your passport. Some individuals provide their residence card along with their international driver’s license instead of their passport, but since a residence card does not provide a date of entry to Japan, the residence card alone will not be valid for use. Please always bring your passport.
Regarding the Expiration Date of the International Driving Permit
If you are entering the country through the "Automated Gate," please have your plane ticket stub with you when the rented vehicle is being handed over. We need to check your date of entry to the country.
*Regarding the Automated Gates
When traveling overseas for business or vacation, the immigration and custom at the airport may be busy and crowded. By using the “Automated Gates” the immigration and custom process will be much smoother.
The Automated Gate is a system that automates the immigration and custom process via personal identification using a passport and fingerprint scan.
Please refer to the “Operation of Automated Gates (User’s Guide)” at the Ministry of Justice website.
How to Drive in Japan using an International Driving Permit issued in another country:
Only International Driving Permits issued by a signatory country to the Geneva Convention in conformity with the Convention’s provisions are recognized as valid for driving in Japan. An International Driving Permit issued under conformity with other conventions or treaties (Vienna Convention, etc.) is invalid, even if the issuing country is a signatory to the Geneva Convention.
The following requirements must be met in order to drive in Japan with an International Driving Permit.
(1) The International Driving Permit is valid for 1 year from the date of issue, and the driver is within 1 year from the date of entry to Japan
(2) Is not in contrary to what is called the “3-month rule,” as stipulated in Article 107-2 of the Road Traffic Act
Please also refer to the Metropolitan Police Department’s “Valid International Driving Permit in Japan” page
