Japanese Driving License Renewal: Fees, Documents and Steps

Renewal period

The National Police Agency describes the normal renewal window as the two-month period around your birthday: from one month before to one month after. If the final day falls on a weekend, national holiday or year-end holiday, the deadline generally moves to the next applicable business day.

Renew early when travel, hospitalisation or childbirth will interfere. Early renewal may shorten the new validity period, so ask the prefecture before choosing it.

What to prepare

• Your current driving licence or My Number licence, according to what you hold.
• Renewal notice postcard if received.
• Glasses, contact lenses or hearing aids required by licence conditions.
• Residence and identity documents requested for foreign residents.
• Booking confirmation where the prefecture uses reservations.
• Payment method accepted by the facility.
• Documents for an address or name change if doing it at the same time.

Course category and time

The course depends on age and driving record. Typical categories include excellent, general, first-time and violation courses. Older drivers may need separate senior-driver training, a cognitive assessment or a driving-skills check before renewal.

Tokyo's current information lists 30 minutes for an excellent-driver classroom course, one hour for a general course, and longer sessions for first-time or violation categories. Facility processing, eyesight checks and queues add more time.

Current Tokyo fee examples

Fees are prefecture-administered and can change. Tokyo's post–March 24, 2025 schedule currently lists the base renewal fee as:

Course fees are added. Tokyo lists ¥500 for an excellent in-person course, ¥800 for general, ¥1,400 for first-time/violation, and ¥200 for eligible online courses. Treat these as Tokyo examples and check your prefecture.

My Number licence choices

Since March 24, 2025, drivers may choose a traditional card, a My Number Card containing licence information, or both. Eligible My Number licence holders in excellent or general categories and under age 70 can take the renewal course online, but must still attend a facility for eyesight and other required procedures.

What if the licence has expired?

An expired licence is no longer valid for driving. Re-acquisition rules depend on how long ago it expired and whether there was an unavoidable reason. The National Police Agency states that, in some cases within six months, knowledge and skills examinations may be exempted; longer periods have stricter conditions.