Depending on your home country, there are both cases where you can drive in Japan and cases where you cannot. For details ask the Driving License Center.
Akita Prefectural Police Headquarters Driver License Center (for exams)
Telephone：018-862-7570
More information
in case of changing a foreign country driver's license into a Japanese driver's license
After acquiring a driver's license in a foreign country and residing in that country for at least 3 months, it is possible to apply for that license to be changed to a Japanese driver's license if done so before the license's expiration date. At that time, in the case that driving skills, knowledge, and so forth are confirmed, and it is recognized that there are no impediments to your driving ability, you may be exempted from parts of written and/or practical tests. To see which countries are exempt, you can look at the National Police Agency's homepage.
National Police Agency homepage: "To those with foreign country driver's licenses"
For the application, a Japanese translation of the foreign driver's license provided by a foreign government office, an embassy or consulate of the home country in Japan, or the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), will be necessary.
※If your case does not fall under that outlined above, you must acquire a Japanese driver's license. At a driving school in Japan, you must take lessons and undergo practical tests, and take a written test at the Driving License Center. In Akita Prefecture it is possible to take the test in Japanese (with furigana included) or in English.
For questions regarding the test at the license center, ask the Akita Prefectural Police Headquarters Driving License Center examiner (telephone: 018-862-7570).
regarding foreign language textbooks when obtaining a driver's license in Japan
"RULES OF THE ROAD" (Published by JAF) is sold in English, Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese. Exam questions are mostly taken from this textbook.
JAF Akita Branch
Telephone：018-864-8492
