Japanese Drivers License: DENIED

Although I don't know if I'll be back in Japan for the next winter season, I still like to be prepared. One thing that I need after staying in Japan over a year is my Japanese driving license, it is a mis-conception that you can keep getting an International drivers license. I've done the process before, so I knew what was involved. The night before, I checked and double checked all my documents that I was taking to the office. An early start to the day, getting the 6.22 train from Kutchan. getting to Inaho at 8.00 with plenty of time to walk the suggested twenty minutes to the driving centre. Inaho station is tiny and didn't make sense with  my map print out. How I longed for an iphone at that moment to tell me exactly where to go. I asked the man checking the bikes and he sent me off in the wrong direction, I then asked a variety of different people including a man with a dog, the garage man and finally I felt I was on the right track when I saw a sign for it.

I found a controlled madhouse inside with people everywhere, not knowing which counter to queue at, I went to counter number one, he sent me to counter number six. There didn't appear to be a line there, but there were a lot of people standing around, not wanted to cut the queue, I asked a nearby man which counter he was waiting for. Bad move, he looked at me liked I'd just killed someone and pointed at counter seven. Ok, fine, I waited till counter six was empty then went forward, handed all my bits to the lady behind the counter and was told to come back in an hour.

With the driving centre in the middle of an industrial estate there wasn't really anywhere I could go, had a snack and waited. Back at the counter in an hour, they were working on my application, I could see heads bobbing up and down, good sign. She called me forward a few times to check dates and get me to fill out a form. Good, good, everything seems to be going well. Then, another hour later, when she was checking my UK license she asked for the counter part which I left in the UK. 'Dekinai' was her only word, 'I can't'. As someone who constantly finds solutions, it's really frustrating to see people not even try to solve problems. I suggested they contact Fukushima's driving office to get the paper work from my previous license, 'dekinai' was the response. As is Japan, when something so small and insignificant stops the process, I was denied a Japanese driving licence.

So it wasn't a complete waste of day, I heading back to Otaru and went to get my re-entry permit. Which was quick and painless, just involved waiting for their lunch break to finish and going back and forth between buildings to get the money stamp. Done.

Spent the rest of the day walking to the Otrau Outlet Shopping Centre, two train stops from Otaru's main station. A big shopping centre with Warner Brothers Cinema on the fourth floor, a Freshness Burger, Muji and one enormous 100 yen shop.

In case you didn't know...