Loading page
About this tool
Japanese road rules for visitors: which side to drive on, speed limits, the 0.03% alcohol limit and which International Driving Permit Japan accepts.
This explainer covers what a visitor needs before driving in Japan: you drive on the left in a right-hand-drive car, signs are in km/h, and the country recognises only the 1949 Geneva Convention International Driving Permit — a 1968 Vienna permit is not valid here. It applies the Road Traffic Act drink-driving threshold of 0.15 mg of alcohol per litre of breath, about 0.03 g per 100 ml of blood, and shows the separate criminal liability the law places on passengers and on whoever supplied the car or the drink.
Open Driving in Japan Rules Explainer on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Japan accepts only 1949 Geneva permits, and the exceptions are named so you know before you fly.
0.03% blood alcohol is under half the European figure, and the tool shows how few drinks that is.
Passengers, the person who lent the car and the person who poured the drink each face their own charge.
Only one issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic. Japan is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention, so a Vienna permit is refused at rental desks and does not make you licensed. Drivers from Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco, Slovenia and Taiwan cannot obtain a 1949 permit and must instead carry an official Japanese translation of their licence issued by JAF or their country's designated body in Japan.
0.15 mg of alcohol per litre of breath, which is roughly 0.03 g per 100 ml of blood — under half the 0.05 limit common in Europe and Australia. There are two offences: driving at or above that threshold carries up to 3 years imprisonment or a 500,000 yen fine, while driving while actually impaired carries up to 5 years or 1,000,000 yen and can be charged at any concentration.
60 km/h on general roads where nothing is posted, dropping to 30 or 40 km/h on residential and urban streets. Expressways are 100 km/h by default, with designated sections of the Shin-Tomei and Tohoku expressways raised to 120 km/h, and there is also a 50 km/h minimum speed on expressways outside congestion.
Yes. Since the 2007 amendment to the Road Traffic Act, getting into a car knowing the driver has been drinking is a separate criminal offence carrying up to 3 years imprisonment or a 500,000 yen fine, as is serving the alcohol. Providing the vehicle to a driver who has been drinking carries the same range as the driver's own offence. This is why Japanese groups arrange a designated driver or a daiko chauffeur service as a matter of course.