Jason Cormier wrote:

> They didn't ask any questions.

Then where you've lived is quite different. For example, the man I gave my
application to took over 20 minutes looking over my documents and had a prepared
worksheet, which I saw later, in which he calculated how long I had been in my
home country while licensed, as if me driving since 16 (I have that
documentation, and got my first passport at 20) and leaving the country at 24
were not proof enough I had been licensed in the country for over 90 days. Then
I was asked the questions I have mentioned regarding how licenses are given at
home. He also took my home license into the back office for awhile as if he had
to check it out somehow. At the driving school, they copied my student record
after a couple of hours of instruction (despite the record being stamped for
internal use only), and told me that I would need such proof at the licensing
center because they require two hours of instruction minimum (at the licensing
center, they claimed they did not need such a copy). I was asked at another
driving school that I decided not go to, how many hours I was told by the
licensing center to attend before trying the test. When I said I had been told
nothing, they made a phone call. On my third attempt, I also met a Taiwanese
woman on her sixth attempt at the test, whom the examiner had asked if she had
been to driving school and for how long, was called a liar (I did not see, but
heard from someone else she had been nervous), and asked to bring her receipts
next time.

> They took our application forms; our money;
> and our proof of being licensed in our home country. They did a vision test.

Hiroshima does vision tests after passing.

> They had us write the written portion then told us to go have lunch and walk
> the course to see what there was out there. After lunch, we took turns
> riding in the back seat while the preceding person was tested then drove it
> ourselves. After everyone was done,

Hiroshima has tests morning and afternoon, up to three people with foreign
licenses at a time, despite it being a fairly large place. I saw 50 to 100
students from the driving schools at one time looking over the course or coming
out of lecture to pay the fees and be photographed.

Do you normally keep within 70 cm of the curb when turning left (even if that
requires going inside the white stripe), keep within 50 cm of the center line
when turning right, for at least 30 m before the turn (also signaling), and also
confirm the rear is clear (turn head to look back) before making your signal for
three seconds before a lane change, as is required at the Hiroshima Licensing
Center (the examiner has English copies of the pages with the requirements ready
to show the applicant in the car after the failed test), and is instructed in
the driving schools? Did you stop at the simulated railroad crossing (if any
during the test in that area), look both ways and roll down the window to listen
and confirm the way is clear before proceeding across, as is instructed in
Hiroshima?

Or was such never mentioned for your test? If the center failed people for not
handing a manual transmission well or not driving with confidence, because they
doubted such people would be safe on the road, I'd understand that, but I never
heard that. In Hiroshima they really do tell people they say drive well ("jouzu"
or "sousa ga daijoubu") that they fail because they are not within 70 cm of the
curb or 50 cm of the center line for 30 m before turns, or that they do not
signal early enough (30 m before a turn, or three seconds before a lane change -
two or three lane changes are required before the first turn, and signaling in
time a bit of a feat, as the course starts with a pedestrian crossing and a
curve, where lane changes are forbidden). Even the instructor at driving school
had to point out there wasn't enough time to signal after the curve. There was
also a simulated construction area immediately followed by a left turn. This is
precisely the kind of reason the course had to be experienced or memorized
beforehand to position the car and signal in time. The course for those with
foreign licenses was in itself quite easy. It could be driven in less than five
minutes.).

> I still don't get the ranting about the testing centres. In both prefectures
> in which I lived, the foreigners generally had no problems getting a license
> and none were every told to go to driving school....and Mie and Aichi ain't
> exactly freewheeling, open-minded prefectures either.

But they're still different from places where people (including experienced
drivers and Japanese who've driven abroad) rant about licensing centers.

> They're no different than most of the prefectures in which you guys live.

What you've described proves where you've lived is quite different from the
places where people rant about driving centers, as is the continued or growing
demand for places like

http://www.japandriverslicense.com

and driving schools where instructors speak foreign languages. I don't believe
drivers in general differ so much in skill by where in Japan they take their
test.

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