License Renewal , Change of Address

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• Please make a renewal application in the prefecture where your home address belongs to.
• Please make an application within one month before or after your birthday in the year your license expires.
• After converting your foreign license into Japanese one, you obtain a license with a “green” horizontal stripe, in which the expiry date of your license is shown. However, depending on your driving experience or traffic offence record, you could be given a 5-year license which has a “blue” or “gold” stripe.

Please report change of your address, name, registered domicile, nationality, etc., as soon as possible at a police station, a Driver’s License Renewal Center or a Driver’s License Testing and Issuing Center.

• If you fall under the category of ”novice driver”, you are required to put “novice driver stickers” on the front and the back of your car for one year from the date of license issuance.
• If you accumulated 3 penalty points or more because of traffic offences and/or accidents (or 4 points or more, if you were given 3 penalty points in one offence or accident) during the one-year “novice driver” period, you would be required to take part in a “lecture for novice drivers”.

• You may not ride double on a motorcycle unless you have more than one-year experience of riding motorcycle.
• You may not ride double on a motorcycle on motorways unless you have more than three-year experience of riding motorcycle.
• Motorcycles that have engine size of 12 cc or less are not allowed on motorways.
• If you have less than three years of driving experience in overseas (this will be judged from the submitted documents), the number of days since you obtained your license will be displayed on the back of your license.