Aug 19, 2019. We went to Aira, a city NE of Kagoshima, about 35 minutes away if traffic is good, to apply for my Japanese driver's license. It is surprising that this is the only place within Kagoshima Prefecture that one can get their first driver's license. The reason we have to go to Aira is the driving test is given on a driving course specifically designed for conducting driving tests. On this facility there are 2 test routes, called course 1 and course 2. I had to show up for my appointment any time between 1 p.m. and I think 1:30 p.m. We got there before 1 p.m. We were ushered into a room by a gentleman whose job title I have no idea. His job was to look over all the documents that I was required to bring, like my passport, USA driver license, translation of USA driver license by a company authorized to do such translation (3000 yen cost), International Driving Permit, Japanese residence card, resident certificate issued within 3 months (300 yen cost), and 2 photos 3 x 2.4 cm taken within last 6 months. He asked me a bunch of questions about my driving record, like when did I get my driver license, where I took my driving test, etc. He also asked me if I wanted to take the driving test that day if I passed the written test. I had not planned on it because I had not seen the course, but he said "no one passes on their first try, so might as well take the test and get a feel for the course." Real comforting words.
After he was finished with all the paper work and satisfied with my answers, he left the room to get my written driving test packet. I don't know why it took so long, but it was like 45 minutes before he came back into the room to give me the written test. It was 1 p.m. when he started interviewing me. He left the room at 1:45, came back about 2:30 p.m. Sister Lee had to leave the room then. The written test was only 10 questions, true or false. Maybe it took him that long to find a test printed with English translation. He said there is no time limit to finish the test, so I knew that there had to be some trick questions. Sure enough, there was one question that the answer was going to be true or false depending how one interprets the statement. Unfortunately with Sister Lee not around, I couldn't ask if the English translation is correct translation of the Japanese statement. To pass the written test, one has to get at least 7 out 10 questions right. So I doubled checked and triple checked, counted # of questions that I felt pretty confident that I have the right answers. When I felt I had at least 7, I stopped worrying about that trick question and told the interviewer that I was done. He took the test and we went back to the waiting area.
After a few minutes, I was told I passed the written test without any specific result as to how many questions I got right. Then the driving test, which was a horrible experience. It started OK. I did what I heard I had to do, even before getting into the car, like look underneath the car to check if there is a cat or child. Oh, I have to mention that I have to drive their car. In America, we drive our own car. So driving a strange car, not familiar with how close the car is to the curb or a line, is strike one against you. Strike 2 is I can't understand the language. Strike 3 is I don't know the course. You get the picture. I was at the mercy of the proctor telling me where to go. I understand "migi" for "right" and "hidari" for "left" but that's about it. Anyway he tells me to go to #3 (there are numbered signs throughout the course). Well, #3 happened near opposite end from where we were so there was no way I could see it. So he pointed in a direction and from my viewpoint, it looked like he pointed straight ahead, which I followed but it turned out that it pointed an opposite direction lane. So he stopped me and directed me to the correct lane to start. Then I was still looking for that elusive #3 (which is down by D in course map below). Looking all around while driving along the lane, I missed the stop light. The proctor stepped on his brake. I think the proctor knew I was having trouble finding #3 so gave me the benefit of doubt to allow me to continue the driving test. After that, I finally see #3 about 50 meters ahead. The rest of the driving test went better but after going through the S-curve successfully, I had forgotten the proctor telling me to turn "migi", so I started turning "hidari", at which point the proctor had seen enough and told me to exit the course without driving the "crank - right angle turns". He told Sister Lee that I failed miserably, that I needed to take a class on driving that course. In addition, he didn't tell Sister Lee what I did wrong, no feedback to what I had to correct for the next attempt. All I can hope is I don't get that same proctor again. He knew I didn't understand Japanese, yet he spoke some full Japanese sentences to me. It was very distracting as I tried to hear some recognizable words in his full sentences to understand what he wanted me to do. I've heard that the average # of attempts to pass the driving test is about 6, but there have been people who went into double digits. I hope I can pass in the single digit attempts. My International Driving permit expires in mid Jan 2020. If I don't get the Japanese driver license by then, we might be coming home early for at least 3 months, after which I can get a new International Driving permit.
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