Foreign License Conversion
in Okinawa Prefecture

Police organization:

Okinawa Prefectural Police (沖縄県警察)

Test center:

Okinawa Prefectural Police Driver's License Center (沖縄県警察運転免許センター) — foreign license conversion handled at window No. 4 (4番窓口)

City

Tomigusuku City (豊見城市), Okinawa Prefecture — NOT Okinawa City or Naha. Address: 沖縄県豊見城市字豊崎3-22 (Toyosaki 3-22). On-site parking for approx. 300 cars / 50 motorcycles.

Access

By bus: the nearest stop '運転免許センター前' (Driver's License Center Mae) is about 160m / a 2-minute walk, served by Okinawa Bus route 27 (per the official center page). Separately, Ryukyu Bus routes 55 (Makiminato), 56 (Urasoe), 88 (Ginowan), 98 (Ryudai bypass) and 105 (Tomigusuku city loop) serve the nearby 'Michi-no-Eki Toyosaki' (道の駅豊崎) stop.

Test languages:

20 languages (nationwide standard since June 2024)

Reservation required

How to reserve

Reservation is mandatory (予約制). Book the document review (書類審査) by phone or in person at the Driver's License Center; bookings can be made from approximately 4 months in advance. The procedure is two-stage: document review on a booked day, plus a knowledge confirmation test (知識確認) held at 13:00 on the 2nd floor (試験A教室 / Test Room A).

Phone

098-851-1000

Reception hours

Reservation/inquiry line: Mon–Fri 08:30–11:30 and 13:00–16:30 (closed Sat/Sun, public holidays, Okinawa Memorial Day 慰霊の日, and year-end/new-year 12/29–1/3). Document-review reception: Mon–Fri (same closures), morning 08:30–11:00, afternoon 13:00–15:30. (Center general business hours: weekdays 08:30–17:00.)

No English-language service is provided. Applicants who cannot speak Japanese are asked to bring an interpreter (日本語が話せない方は通訳できる方の同伴をお願いします). If an interpreter cannot be arranged, phone-based or app-based interpretation may be used.

Fees are paid via Okinawa prefectural revenue stamps (沖縄県証紙); when buying stamps inside the center, cash (yen) only — credit/debit cards and cashless payments are not accepted. The official page does not state specific yen amounts for the foreign-conversion procedure.

There is a single conversion location for the whole prefecture: the Okinawa Prefectural Police Driver's License Center in Toyosaki, Tomigusuku City (window No. 4). The procedure is two-stage: (1) a booked document review (書類審査), then (2) a knowledge confirmation test (知識確認) held at 13:00 on the 2nd floor (試験A教室). Fees are paid with Okinawa prefectural revenue stamps (沖縄県証紙); when purchased inside the center, cash (Japanese yen) only — credit cards and cashless payments are not accepted.

We could not confirm the following from primary sources. Please check the official page before relying on them:

• Specific fee amounts in yen for the foreign license conversion (not stated on the official page).
• Exact required-document list — the prior memo's specifics (9 categories, photo 3cm×2.4cm, juminhyo issued within 6 months, proof of 3+ months residence after license issuance) were NOT surfaced/confirmed by the fetched official pages, so they are not asserted as verified.
• Whether the knowledge test and document review are strictly on separate days — the official page confirms a booked document review plus a 13:00 knowledge confirmation, but does not explicitly state they cannot be done on the same day.
• SOFA-status applicants (US military/dependents) applying via their base — not confirmed by any fetched source.
• Whether online reservation (web form/URL) is available — only phone/in-person reservation confirmed; no booking URL found.
• Country-specific additional documents.

Always verify on the prefectural police's official page before you go — addresses, reservation methods, and document requirements change frequently.

• Official page (Japanese) ↗ — open via Google Translate / DeepL
• Official source ↗ https://www.police.pref.okinawa.jp/docs/2015022800161/
• Official source ↗ https://aqua-driving.okinawa/bus-okinawa/

The 6-step process (eligibility → translation → appointment → document screening → 50-question test → practical test) is the same nationwide. See the main hub for the complete walkthrough, document checklist, and translation services.