Heading to America

Actually, from the end of July to early August, my family and I are going to San Francisco, USA. My husband has a business trip there, and the plan is for me and our two daughters to join him once his work is done. After that, a colleague of my husband who is fluent in English will show us around San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Once we arrive, things will somehow work out, but getting there means I have to handle the heavy suitcases and take care of our 4-year-old eldest daughter and 1-year-old youngest daughter all by myself through the airport procedures and boarding. I wonder if I can manage… The eldest is fine, but the youngest tends to run off the moment I look away…

Also, will the kids be able to endure a flight of over 10 hours? Well, I guess we’ll manage somehow.

That nightmare again…?

This time, since we have kids, we plan to get around mostly by rental car. “We’ll probably rent something like a Mercedes-Benz GLS,” I overheard my ex-husband say the other day, and I thought, “Well, there will be two other adults besides me, so maybe I don’t need to get an international driving permit.” But then my husband said:

“Even if you say that, you’ll regret not getting it later! This time, definitely get it!”

So I went to get my international driving permit recently.

The reason is that a few years ago when we traveled to Germany, my husband told me, “You absolutely have to get an international driving permit!” but I stubbornly refused because I was scared, and I regretted it after returning home. (I wrote about that experience in this article)

→【Past article】How I foolishly missed the chance to drive the Romantic Road in a Porsche.

That said, since this is my first time applying for an international driving permit, I did my homework carefully to avoid any back-and-forth, which is unusual for me, so I’ve summarized the process here.

① Search online for “International Driving Permit + Region”

I currently live in Hyogo Prefecture, so I first searched “International Driving Permit Hyogo” online to find out where I could apply. On the Hyogo Prefectural Police website, there was a list of license renewal centers where you can apply (Akashi, Kobe, Itami, Himeji, Yabu – five locations).

You can also apply at police stations, but since they don’t issue the permit on the same day, I decided to go to a license renewal center.

② Check reception hours and required items

The reception hours were “9:00-11:00 and 13:00-16:00,” closed during lunch, so I planned to go shortly after 1 pm.

The required items were:

1 Passport (or equivalent travel document)
2 Driver’s license
3 One photo for the international driving permit
*Passport-sized photos are not accepted
4 Personal seal (inkan)
5 Black ballpoint pen

Regarding the photo, there’s a regulation that it must be “5 cm tall by 4 cm wide,” so I didn’t want to bring a photo that might be rejected for the wrong size. I decided to have it taken on-site. Also, I thought, “They’ll surely lend me a black pen,” so I only brought my passport, driver’s license, and personal seal on the day.

③ Follow the staff’s instructions for the procedure

I planned to arrive just after 1 pm, but I got off at the wrong station—not the nearest one (Seriously, why?)—and ended up walking about 20 minutes to the center, arriving around 1:30 pm.

When I entered, the receptionist asked, “Are you here for license renewal?” I replied, “I’m here to get an international driving permit.” Then they said, “Please line up over there,” and when I went to the designated spot…

No one was in line (laughs).

It was super quiet.

At the counter, the person in charge asked me to show my passport, driver’s license, and photo. They also asked, “Which country and for how long will you be staying?” I answered, “About a week in the United States,” and they handed me the application form. When I said I wanted to take the photo there, they said, “Please go take it over there,” which was a relief.

The process was:

Receive application form → Pay the international driving permit application fee (2,350 yen) at another counter → Take and receive the photo on the spot (700 yen) → Fill out the application form → Submit the form with the photo at the counter

After that, the international driving permit was ready immediately. They asked if my address and name were correct, and once confirmed, I wrote my name in Roman letters on the permit, then stamped it with my seal (a Shachihata stamp was fine) for the signature, and the issuance was complete.

The whole process took about 15 minutes.

Maybe it was a quiet time, but it was incredibly quick and easy.