Before you go
This site offers information based on guidance from public agencies, rental car companies and others, to help you get ready for your trip (as of September 2026; it isn’t legal advice), but rules and conditions can change. Before you leave, always check the official guidance listed at the end of this article, and the company you’re booking with, for the latest details.
If you’ll be driving in Japan on a US or Korean license, get yourself one International Driving Permit.
You get it before you leave, in your own country.
JNTO (the Japan National Tourism Organization) also says to get it before you leave. Only a permit from the issuing body in your own country is valid.
If you have a Taiwanese license, what you need is a Japanese translation, not an International Driving Permit (the same goes for licenses from some European countries, such as Germany and France). How to get one is in “Driving in Japan with a Japanese Translation”.
What kind of permit works in Japan?
A paper International Driving Permit, in booklet form.
Card-type and smartphone versions can’t be used in Japan.
The format is the one from the 1949 Geneva Convention. Inside the booklet, the convention’s name is printed as “CONVENTION ON ROAD TRAFFIC OF 19 SEPTEMBER 1949”.
Some countries also issue one in the format of the 1968 Vienna Convention (Thailand, for example). You can’t drive in Japan with that one, so if your country issues both, choose the 1949 one when you apply.
Which parts of the booklet does the counter check?
Toyota Rent a Car’s pre-check page and Nippon Rent-A-Car’s guidance both list what they check in the booklet.
- That it’s a booklet, and that the convention named is the 1949 one
- The date of issue (within 1 year of issue)
- Your photo
- The stamps for the classes of vehicle you can drive
The last one, the vehicle class, is the easiest to miss. One of the common problems Nippon Rent-A-Car lists is a booklet with no stamp or sticker for the class of car you booked.
When your booklet arrives, open it and check these four yourself. If you notice something before you leave, there’s still time to fix it.
Where do you get one in the US?
In the US, only two organizations authorized by the US Department of State can issue an International Driving Permit.
AAA and AATA (American Automobile Touring Alliance).
Some websites claim to issue International Driving Permits, but the US government warns that many of them are scams. Apply through one of these two.
You don’t have to be a AAA member to apply there. You can apply at a branch, by mail or online.
Whichever way you choose, you need the same things.
An application form
A passport-style photo
A valid US driver’s license
A $20 fee (as of September 2026; depending on how you apply, photos and shipping may cost extra)
You have to be 18 or older to apply.
According to AAA, if you apply at a branch, you can usually pick it up the same day. By mail or online, it takes longer.
Many branches can take your photo too. If you’re leaving soon, going to a branch is the quickest route.
Where do you get one in Korea?
You can apply for an International Driving Permit (국제운전면허증) at driver’s license test centers and police stations around the country. You can also apply at the international driving permit centers at Incheon Airport and Gimhae Airport, or online.
At a test center or police station counter, you get it on the spot (within 3 hours, during office hours). Online, it takes 14 days in all.
If you’re going to a police station, check first that it issues permits, and bring a credit or debit card.
There are three things to bring.
Your passport
Your Korean driver’s license
A passport-standard photo taken within the last 6 months
The fee is 9,000 won (the amount checked in September 2026).
The center at Incheon Airport is in Terminal 1 and is open from 9:00 to 18:00. Even so, don’t count on your departure day — get it ahead of time.
Your English name should match your passport exactly
According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority, if the English name on your International Driving Permit doesn’t match your passport, the permit isn’t recognized as valid.
When you apply, set your passport beside the form and compare them letter by letter.
A license with English on the back isn’t enough on its own
According to the Korean consulates general in Fukuoka and Sapporo, you can’t drive in Japan on a Korean driver’s license that has English printed on it (영문 운전면허증).
As the Road Traffic Authority advises, bring all three together: your International Driving Permit, your Korean license and your passport.
When should you get it?
An International Driving Permit can be used in Japan within 1 year of its issue date, and within 1 year of your arrival in Japan.
Time it so your whole trip falls within 1 year of the issue date.
Your own country’s driver’s license also has to stay valid for the whole trip.
If it’s due to expire during your trip, renew it first.
What do you show at the counter?
At the rental car counter, you show these three.
Your own country’s driver’s license (the original)
Your International Driving Permit
Your passport
Nippon Rent-A-Car doesn’t accept copies or digital versions.
If someone else will take turns driving, they need theirs too. Nippon Rent-A-Car and Toyota Rent a Car ask for the license and passport of everyone who’ll drive.
This does differ between companies, though. If you’ll take turns driving, check the guidance from the company you’re booking with.
At the airport, check for your entry stamp
At the rental car counter, they check the entry stamp in your passport to see the date you arrived in Japan. It’s the landing permission mark you get at immigration; the companies’ English guidance calls it a stamp, and sometimes a seal.
At Toyota Rent a Car, you can’t rent a car if they can’t confirm your entry date. You don’t get this stamp if you go through the automated gates at the airport, so, as JNTO (the Japan National Tourism Organization) advises, line up for a staffed immigration counter.
Before you go on to customs, open your passport and look for the stamp. If it isn’t there, show the immigration officer this sentence right there.
【Japanese to show the officer】上陸許可のスタンプをお願いします。 (“A landing permission stamp, please.”)
Open it once before customs, and on the day you pick up the car you can hand over your passport already open at that page.
One booklet in hand — now, where to?
Your own driver’s license, your International Driving Permit, your passport.
With those three together, you’re over the hardest part of getting ready.
Along the coast, or up into the mountains? From here on, it’s the fun kind of planning.
※ The procedure, fees and time it takes to issue an International Driving Permit differ by country and issuing organization and can change, and the documents a rental car counter asks for differ by company too. Before you leave, check the guidance from the issuer and from the company you’re booking with.
