Japanese Licence in Switzerland 2026: Kanji Needs an IDP

Switzerland is a rewarding drive for Japanese visitors, but it stacks three adjustments on the first day: a permit, the side of the road, and a sticker. Handle them before you turn a wheel and the rest is calm Alpine motoring.

The permit comes first

You arrange it at home. Article 42 of the Swiss licensing ordinance (VZV) accepts a foreign national licence, or an international permit under the 1926, 1949 or 1968 conventions shown together with it, but you may drive only the vehicle categories documented explicitly, understandably and in Latin script. A Japanese licence records its categories in kanji, so it needs a companion. Japan issues its International Driving Permit on the 1949 Geneva model, which Article 42 names, so that permit is the straightforward answer; a translation of the licence is the alternative. Get the IDP in Japan before departure, since you cannot obtain one in Switzerland, and carry it with the licence and your passport. If you settle in Switzerland, a Swiss licence becomes necessary after 12 months of residence.

The side of the road

Japan drives on the left; Switzerland drives on the right. Your first hour is when reflexes betray you — pulling out of the rental lot, joining a roundabout that now flows the opposite way, a glance to the wrong side at a junction. Take that opening stretch on quiet roads rather than into central Zürich, and stay deliberate at every turn until right-hand driving feels natural.

The motorway vignette

Switzerland charges one vignette of CHF 40 to use its motorways — there are no toll gates, so the vignette is the toll. It is valid from 1 December of the previous year to 31 January of the following year, with no short-term version. Buy it at the border, a post office, or online as an e-vignette tied to your numberplate before joining the first motorway; hire cars normally have one. Without it the fixed fine is CHF 200. Our Switzerland vignette guide explains where and how.

Limits, fines and alcohol

Towns are 50 km/h, roads outside built-up areas 80, motorways 120. The fixed-fine ordinance sets 6-10 km/h over at CHF 120 in town, CHF 100 outside built-up areas and CHF 60 on motorways, with larger excesses going to a prosecutor — see the speeding fine calculator. The drink-drive limit is 0.05% (0.01% on a probationary licence), above Japan’s 0.03%, so don’t relax into it.

On the high passes, engine-brake the descents and confirm winter tyres for cold-season trips. 112 covers emergencies. Full rules are on our Switzerland driving guide.

Sources

• Verkehrszulassungsverordnung (VZV, SR 741.51), art. 42 (recognition of foreign licences and 1926/1949/1968 permits; categories in Latin script; Swiss licence after 12 months’ residence): fedlex.admin.ch
• Ordnungsbussenverordnung (OBV, SR 314.11), Annex 1 no. 303 (speeding) and no. 6001 (no vignette, CHF 200): fedlex.admin.ch
• Federal Office for Customs and Border Security, e-vignette and adhesive vignette (CHF 40, validity): bazg.admin.ch
• WHO Global status report on road safety 2023, Switzerland profile (50/80/120 km/h; 0.05 and 0.01 g/dl) and Japan profile (0.03 g/dl): who.int, who.int
• UN Treaty Collection, 1949 Convention on Road Traffic (Japan a party): treaties.un.org