At the Samezu Driver¡¯s License Center in Tokyo, there used to be dozens of foreign nationals forming lines early in the morning to convert their driver¡¯s licenses from their home countries to Japanese ones.
They first had to take a written test ¡ª places were offered on a first-come-first-served basis, though applicants can now make reservations beforehand ¡ª followed by a driving test on another day.
This process is much simpler, and even easier, than getting a driver¡¯s license from scratch in Japan, which costs around ?300,000 ($2,100) and takes months of lessons and practice at a driving school.
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