④ About the permit

Regarding the permit:

1 Valid for one year from the date of issue
2 Valid for driving specified vehicle types (ordinary cars, motorcycles, three-wheelers)
3 Valid for driving in Geneva Convention member countries (96 countries and 2 administrative regions)
4 Must be returned immediately to the nearest license renewal center or police station upon expiration or invalidation

Also, countries like China, Taiwan, Switzerland, and Germany are not members of the Geneva Convention, so even if you have a valid international driving permit, it’s best to double-check.

By the way, in Germany, you can drive for six months if you have both your Japanese driver’s license and its German translation, or your Japanese license and an international driving permit.

There’s a lot to know.

But will I be able to drive properly?

Since applying for the international driving permit was so easy and issued on the spot (I thought it would be as complicated as applying for a passport), I’m thinking I’ll get one each time I travel abroad from now on.

Well, whether I actually drive overseas is another story (I probably won’t, lol), but just in case my husband can’t drive for some reason, it’s reassuring for me to have a license.

That said, when I tweeted recently that I got my international driving permit,

“Be careful! People in America don’t drive defensively, so you have to be extra cautious. You think they won’t pull out now? → They do. You think they won’t cut in here? → They’ll try to get in even if they hit you. They think they have priority. They’re very assertive…”

I got replies like this ((((；ﾟДﾟ))))

Yikes. I think I’ll just drive on quiet country roads with no one around (lol).