Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!ccsf.homeunix.org!news1.wakwak.com!nf1.xephion.ne.jp!onion.ish.org!onodera-news!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!c03.atl99!news.webusenet.com!pc01.webusenet.com!fe06.private.usenetserver.com.POSTED!84fe297b!not-for-mail From: Raj Feridun Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan Subject: Re: Strange incident at Immigration Sender: Raj Feridun Message-ID: References: <3FCACE88.4080601@hotmail.com> <3FCD8D71.2040109@hotmail.com> <3FCEA3E4.6040906@hotmail.com> <867k1dhs7a.fsf@littledevil.internal.zobbo.org> <86brqogc3e.fsf@littledevil.internal.zobbo.org> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.93/32.576 English (American) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 33 X-Complaints-To: abuse@usenetserver.com X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly. NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2003 22:48:06 EST Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 12:55:05 +0900 Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:8813 On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 16:44:45 +0900, Scott Reynolds wrote: >On 12/5/2003 3:29 PM, Raj Feridun wrote: > >> You should be. What a pain in the ASS! They have you drive down these >> narrow winding lanes in their government issue, boat-sized sedans and >> if you should so much as SLIGHTLY rub a curb you're done. I was more >> lucky than anything else when I made it through on my second try. > >A lot seems to depend on where you take the test and the attitude of the >examiner. You seem to have been unlucky. My experience was much more >favorable than yours (which was a good thing, because I waited until my >Illinois license was just about to expire before doing the switchover). I've heard the same thing from a friend who lives in Yokohama. I think in the case of license centers the large urban areas that are much busier end up benefitting the applicants. Down here they may see a dozen foreign applicants in a week and they are strict as hell. >> I guess the whole reasoning behind the UK drivers not needing to take >> a road test is the driving on the left deal. I've driven in the UK and >> I can tell you aside from that fact driving in Japan bears NO >> resemblance. >That has nothing to do with it, as a matter of fact. People with >licenses from just about any EU country can switch to a J license >without having to take the road test. I think it has more to do with >whether or not the country has a reciprocal setup with Japan (whereby >they let people with a Japanese license obtain a local one without >having the take a road test). OK, thanks for filling me in.