Japanese driving license test in Nepali: what Nepali residents need to know

Yes, you can take the Japanese driving license written tests in Nepali. As of October 2026, Nepali is one of the 20 languages for the learner’s permit test (仮免, karimen), the final test (本免, honmen) and the knowledge test for converting a foreign license (外免切替, gaimen kirikae), and Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi and Saitama police confirm it.

Two things catch many Nepali residents out: a Nepal-issued international driving permit (IDP) is not valid in Japan, and a Nepali license converts only after you pass both the 50-question knowledge test and the driving test.

Practice in Nepali for free: open the JapanHow practice app in Nepali. It is independent practice, not the official test.

About 334,850 Nepali nationals lived in Japan at the end of June 2026, up 11.2% in six months, per the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁). The largest communities are in Tokyo, Osaka, Chiba, Aichi and Fukuoka, so this guide covers those prefectures first.

What are the three ways to get a Japanese license?

1. Driving school (指定自動車教習所). You study at a designated school, pass the learner’s permit test, and finish the course. Graduates skip the driving test at the license center but still take the written final test there, so the center’s language rules apply. A driving camp (合宿免許, gasshuku menkyo) is the same course in about 14 days with lodging. See driving camps for foreigners.
2. Direct test (一発試験, ippatsu shiken). You take the learner’s permit and final tests, written and driving, at the license center without a school. Then you take a paid acquisition course (取得時講習) before the license is issued. It is cheaper on paper, but each retest costs the fees again.
3. Conversion (外免切替). If you held a Nepali license and stayed in Nepal for a total of at least 3 months after it was issued, you can convert it. Since October 1, 2025 you need a 住民票 (residence record), so tourists can’t convert, and the knowledge test has 50 questions with a 90% pass mark. Full steps: how to convert a foreign license.

The text questions are true/false, and each hazard-picture question has three true/false parts. The learner’s permit test has 50 questions in 30 minutes, and you need 45. The final test for a regular car has 90 questions plus 5 hazard-picture questions, worth 100 points in 50 minutes, and you need 90, per the National Police Agency (警察庁).

Can I take the test in Nepali where I live?

In May 2024 the National Police Agency told every prefecture to introduce the written tests in 20 languages, Nepali included, starting with the languages local residents need. Here is what each prefecture’s police say, as read in October 2026.

For conversion, Kyoto police state that the new 50-question knowledge test stays available in all 20 languages, and the NPA’s 2024 instruction covers it. Elsewhere, ask when you book.

Moped test (原付, gentsuki): Tokyo offers it in 5 languages, Nepali included (English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepali, Burmese). Osaka and Aichi offer it only in English, Chinese, Portuguese and Vietnamese, so not in Nepali.

Is there a driving school that teaches in Nepali?

We found no designated school that advertises its lectures in Nepali. Lectures are almost always in Japanese. What we did find:

• Tsuchiura Kita Inter Driving School (土浦北インター自動車学校), a camp school in Ibaraki, offers its learner’s permit test in Nepali, per its booking agent (updated April 27, 2026). Textbooks are in English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Portuguese, and lectures are in Japanese. Standard AT single-room prices for November and December 2026 were ¥231,000 to ¥297,000 including tax, and every date we checked on October 23, 2026 was full.
• i-drive, a camp booking agent, has a phone desk in English, Vietnamese, Chinese and Nepali (050-1752-7445). It says all the camps it offers are taught in Japanese.
• Japan License Connect, a school search site launched in June 2026, works in 7 languages including Nepali (press release, secondary source).

A few schools teach in English: verified English courses for a regular automatic (AT) car cost ¥367,280 to ¥572,000 including tax (see English driving schools).

Can I drive in Japan on a Nepali license or IDP?

No. Japan lets you drive on a foreign license only in two cases: with an IDP issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, or with a Japanese translation for licenses from six places (Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan).

• Nepal is not a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention, per the UN treaty records, and it is not on the Tokyo police list of Geneva countries (updated July 2, 2026).
• JAF says permits issued under other treaties, such as the 1968 Vienna Convention, are not valid in Japan.
• Nepal is not one of the six translation countries.

So a Nepal-issued IDP, or a Nepali license with a translation, does not let you drive in Japan. Until you have a Japanese license, don’t drive. More detail: international driving permits in Japan.

How do I convert a Nepali license?

Nepal is not on the list of 29 countries and regions whose licenses skip the tests, so you take the 50-question knowledge test (45 correct to pass) and the driving test. You need the documents everyone needs (住民票, ID, passports covering the 3-month stay in Nepal, photo, Japanese translation) plus Nepal-specific papers from Nepal.

Get these papers before you book: they come from Nepal and need two stamps. Saitama adds rules for every country: originals only, and papers issued abroad need your foreign ministry’s authentication or an apostille. Tokyo says that if your passport stamps don’t show the 3-month stay, you need other proof of the stay.

Translation. The National Police Agency accepts translations from your country’s embassy or consulate in Japan, JAF, ZIPLUS or the 訪日運転者支援協会 (ALADDIN). Tokyo’s document list names ZIPLUS for Nepali licenses. JAF charges ¥6,600 including tax for a conversion translation and says it may not be able to translate every license, so check before you pay.

Interpreter. Tokyo says applicants who can’t speak Japanese may need to bring an interpreter.

How much does it cost?

On the direct route, every retest costs the test and test-car fees again. Fees for the Nepal-side certificates and embassy stamps: check with the issuing office and the Embassy of Nepal in Tokyo.

Practice in Nepali with our free app

The JapanHow practice app works in Nepali:

• picture lessons on Japanese road rules
• 274 true/false questions in the official test format, and hazard-picture questions
• mock exams for the learner’s permit (仮免), the final test (本免) and conversion (外免切替)
• furigana (reading help) on Japanese terms, so you can recognize them on signs and forms
• progress saved in your browser; free, no account

It is independent practice made by JapanHow editors, not the official test, and the questions on the real test are different. The English version and the sign list are on the driving test practice page.

Start practicing in Nepali →