If you hold a driver’s license issued in Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco, or Taiwan, you can drive in Japan with your home-country license, an official Japanese translation of it, and your passport. An International Driving Permit (IDP) is not required. Carstay accepts registration with this method.
What you need to register
- Your home-country driver’s license (front and back)
- An official Japanese translation of the license
- A selfie holding your driver’s license
- Your passport (to be shown to the owner at pick-up; you must be within one year of your entry date into Japan)
- Valid translations are those issued by your country’s embassy or consulate in Japan, the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), Zipplus Inc., the Japan-Taiwan Relations Association, or the German Automobile Association (ADAC).
- Upload the images from “License information” in My Account. If the upload fields are unclear, submit the front of your license, the back of your license (or the translation), and a selfie holding both the license and the translation; we will review them.
- If corrections are needed, we will email you from [email protected]. Please make sure you can receive emails from this address.
If you can only obtain the translation after arriving in Japan
If your translation (for example, from JAF) can only be printed in Japan, register your license and selfie first and contact us using the form at the bottom of this page. In some cases we can verify your account in advance on the condition that you send us the translation no later than the first day of your rental. Please bring the translation, your license, and your passport and show them to the owner at pick-up.
Vehicles you can book
- If you registered with a license issued outside Japan and book as the main contractor, the campers available to you are those listed on the English car list: https://carstay.jp/en/car-list/
- If you are traveling with someone who holds a Japanese driver’s license, that person can book as the main contractor and register you as an additional driver. This allows you to drive vehicles under the co-use (car-share) agreement as well. The additional driver must register their own license (and translation) and complete verification; insurance does not apply to unverified drivers.
- To avoid problems on the day, message the owner via chat before sending a reservation request and let them know what type of license each driver holds.
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