The Road to Nihon Hanako (Part 2: Getting a Golden Driver’s License in Japan)

After years of searching, I finally have it in my hands: the golden driver’s license of legend. As outlined in my last post, I have navigated the indescribable dangers of impossibly narrow Japanese roads and driving laws. I have dodged driver trainees, bypassed careening buses, and avoided aori unten road ragers. Looking down at my newest sterile, government-style headshot printed on this surely unbreakable plastic card emblazoned with a thin bronze strip, I recognize that my perilous journey has all been worth it. 

The Three Levels of Japanese Driver’s License (Green, Blue, and Gold)

The gold license is a special type of license for drivers without any traffic violations or accidents over a five year span. It is the third level in a progression, from green for new drivers and blue after that. Whereas each of the previous two levels have three year validity periods, one major perk of receiving a gold license is the five-year validity.

Note that these markers are only for length of validity and are not dependent on the class of vehicle. For different vehicle categories, reference this chart from the Metropolitan Police department.

How to Get the Golden Driver’s License in Japan

Now, the trick to getting the golden driver's license in Japan is not getting any penalty points on your license through accidents or traffic violations for five years. This is literally the only condition. This means that, logically, the best way to avoid accidents and traffic violations is to not drive at all. And that is what many Japanese “paper drivers” decide to do. 

The Paper Driver Phenomenon

“Paper driver” refers to someone who holds a driver’s license but does not actually drive at all. Maybe they never have, maybe they never will. Nippon.com’s analysis of data from a Japanese insurance company shows the reality of paper driving in Japan. Over half of the paper drivers interviewed had not driven for 10 years or more, and over 75% had not driven in at least 3 years.

So we must ask, why retain the license? The respondents to the survey listed the possibility of driving in the future as well as the expense and cost of getting a new license later should they let their current one expire. Additionally, as driving is a resume-worthy skill in Japan, many people keep their license for any little edge it may give them over other candidates. 

Due to the current time and financial demands of getting a license from scratch, you can understand the sentiment. Two to three week driving school camps are popular options for young people over the age of 18 who have time on their hands during school breaks. Once you start working, the time constraints of shin-shakaijin life make it nearly impossible to start. If you’re working in a large city, you may slowly even forget you have a license until the renewal notice arrives in your post box. This was undoubtedly the experience of many of the folks who were nodding off alongside me in our renewal lecture, shortened to 30 minutes due to our unparalleled driving excellence.

As someone who drove almost every day for four out of my five years, I felt an irrational sense of superiority as I walked up to receive my gold license under the demure gaze of the patron saint of driving in Japan. But after a year in Tokyo without a car, I had already completed my transformation into a walkable city fundamentalist, and I took the pedestrian route home from the license center. 

I still enjoy driving (ain’t no kicking out all of my Americanness), but I realized that I could put up with being a paper driver myself for a few more years. Whether or not this plastic card is made of paper, I’ll hang onto it knowing it tells the story of my journey through Japan, a path paved in gold. 

Read More from Your Friend in Tokyo

Hi! I'm a Tokyo local, and I started this blog to share helpful tips that only a local would know and tell some stories of the city's authentic culture. I'd hope you'll take a look around the site and find something that makes your Tokyo experience even more memorable!

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