Comments on: Link clearage time

By: Jade Oc

Jade Oc — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:05:01 +0000

“If only the US were a semi-authoritarian unitary state like the rest of the world we could be driving like kings!”
Note that this is not actually part of the Embassy’s official comments – though it should be. Come to think of it, Kings don’t drive – they get others to drive for them. So take a taxi….

By: Adamu

Adamu — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 01:52:58 +0000

Whoever wrote the US embassy’s explanation of this issue was clearly frustrated by the Japanese government’s policy:

The Embassy spoke with the Superindendent of the License Division, Traffic Bureau, of the National Police Agency (NPA) to learn that prior to June 2002, Japanese law had allowed foreigners bearing international driver licenses to drive indefinitely in Japan.

As of June 2002, however, foreigners are only able to drive on an international driver license for up to 12 months, then have to have applied for and received a Japanese driver license. Long term foreign residents in Japan who attempt to avoid taking a driving test by continually renewing their international driver license abroad every 12 months will now be required to prove that they obtained the international permit at least three months before re-entering Japan. Tourists and others coming to Japan for short stays may drive with an international license obtained at any time before their arrival into the country.

The driver test consists of hearing, eyesight, written and practical/road test components. Citizens of 21 countries, not including the United States, are exempt from taking everything but the eye test. Some of these countries met the exemption requirement because the NPA examined their domestic traffic safety record and determined that it was at least as good as Japan’s. Other nations exempt Japanese license holders from a driving test.

Canada received approval on February 1, 2003 after a lengthy (3-4 years) review. Canada had to submit responses to a lengthy questionnaire, regarding each of the country’s 13 provinces and territories. In order for the U.S. to be exempt from the driver test requirement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must instruct the Japanese Embassy in Washington to contact each of the 50 states and provide them with a questionnaire. Once the 50 individual questionnaires are collected, they will be translated into Japanese and studied by the National Police Agency. In addition to individual state safety records and procedures for acquiring a license, the National Police Agency will be looking closely to see if each of the 50 individual states exempt holders of valid Japanese licenses from taking state road and written tests.

We shared with the NPA statistics which showed that the United States had a risk value much lower than that of Japan’s with respect to fatalities as a share of vehicle kilometers traveled. We were told that the Japanese police still needed to see the safety records of each individual state. The Police are also concerned to see if each of the 50 individual states exempt holders of valid Japanese licenses from taking state road and written tests (many do not).

If only the US were a semi-authoritarian unitary state like the rest of the world we could be driving like kings!

By: Roy Berman

Roy Berman — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:35:06 +0000

Americans can drive in Japan with an international license, but it’s only valid for one year, and the American license does not exempt you from the driving test, as certain other licenses will. I believe this is because we have such a balkanized system, and the Japanese ministry of transportation or whatever just doesn’t want to even try and appraise all 50 different exams.

By: M-Bone

M-Bone — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:45:42 +0000

Yeah, in the US there can be radically different age limits / standards of testing between states. US citizens can still apply for an international driver’s license that they can use in Japan.

By: Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez

Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:43:19 +0000

You can find the East Timor article at http://iht.com/articles/2007/07/23/asia/timor.php

(if it doesn’t work, try copying and pasting the URL on the address bar).

Thanks for the links.

By: timor » Blog Archive » Timor-Leste Still Tense After Post-Election Unrest

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:43:27 +0000

[...] The NYT had a very interesting article (unfortunately it’s already entered the subscriber-only sections, so most readers may not have access) on July 31 on the past and future of language in East Timor. The gist of it is that Portuguese … …more [...]

By: Jade Oc

Jade Oc — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:01:14 +0000

Hmm. I wonder if that also applies to their sub-only columnists etc?

Regarding US licences in Japan, I believe the issue stems from the fact that the Japanese bureaucracy would have to deal with not one issuing authority, but fifty, with fifty different rules and regulations. Canadian licences are acceptable, I understand, however.

By: Roy Berman

Roy Berman — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:25:46 +0000

Awesome, thanks Gen. I’ll have to use that in the future.

By: Gen Kanai

Gen Kanai — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:19:22 +0000

The key is to look for the part of the url that says “partner=rssuserland” which denotes that this URL is freely viewable on the web even beyond the 2 week subscription firewall.

By: Gen Kanai

Gen Kanai — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:18:19 +0000

Roy- for just about any article in the NYT, you can get around their subscription firewall by using the NY Times Link Generator:

http://nytimes.blogspace.com/genlink

So the article on East Timor and Portugese was originally available here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/world/asia/31timor.html

With the link generator, you get a working link that is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/world/asia/31timor.html?ex=1343534400&en=9e46985e2a57c4ac&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss