Can a South Korean Drive in Japan? — IDP Required, Side Switches Left

Can a South Korean licence holder drive in Japan? Yes, but only with the right document — and this is the corridor where the paperwork genuinely matters. Japan requires an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, carried with your Korean licence and passport. Your Korean licence on its own will not do, and you cannot obtain the IDP after you arrive, so this is something to settle in Korea before the flight. Skip it and you simply won’t be handed the keys.

The on-road surprise is the one Korean drivers underestimate: Japan drives on the left, Korea on the right. Everything inverts at once — the driver’s seat, which way you look first at a junction, the flow of every roundabout, the side you drift to when tired. The riskiest moments aren’t the open highway but the small decisions: pulling out of a convenience-store car park, turning across traffic, a reflex glance the wrong way. Take the first stretch somewhere quiet rather than straight into Tokyo or Osaka traffic, and stay deliberate until left starts to feel automatic.

Speeds are modest and signed in kilometres, as at home: 40 km/h in town, 60 on rural roads and 100 km/h on the expressways. Two Japanese particulars are worth budgeting for. First, the expressway tolls are expensive — long drives add up fast, so price them in. Second, much signage outside major routes is in kanji, so offline maps and a navigation app set to your language save a lot of stress. Speed cameras are widespread; about 10 km/h over the limit costs around JPY 9,000 (≈€55) plus a point. The alcohol limit is 0.03, the same as Korea’s, and enforcement is unforgiving. Fuel runs about US$1.35 a litre, and the emergency number is 110 for police.

Confirm your IDP type with the Driving Permit Checker, read the full rules on our Japan driving guide, and estimate any penalty with the Speeding Fine Calculator.