Foreign License Conversion
in Shizuoka Prefecture

Police organization:

Shizuoka Prefectural Police (静岡県警察)

Test center:

Three centers handle gaimen kirikae: 東部運転免許センター (Eastern Driver's License Center), 中部運転免許センター (Central Driver's License Center), 西部運転免許センター (Western Driver's License Center)

City

Numazu (Eastern) / Shizuoka City, Aoi-ku (Central) / Hamamatsu, Hamana-ku (Western)

Access

Eastern (東部, 沼津市足高字尾上241-10): ~5 km north of JR Numazu Station; ~20 min by Fujikyu (富士急) city bus bound for '東部運転免許センター'. Central (中部, 静岡市葵区与一6丁目16-1): ~6 km north of JR Shizuoka Station; ~30 min by Shizutetsu (静鉄) bus bound for '中部運転免許センター' from north exit bus stop 9. Western (西部, 浜松市浜名区小松3220): ~12 km north of JR Hamamatsu Station and ~6 km past the Tomei Hamamatsu IC; take the Enshu Railway Nishi-Kajima line (西鹿島線) from Shin-Hamamatsu Station to Enshu-Komatsu Station (遠州小松駅, ~20 min), then ~15 min on foot.

Test languages:

20 languages (nationwide standard since June 2024)

Reservation required

How to reserve

Reservation/appointment-based. Applicants first attend the in-person orientation/reception held every Wednesday at the relevant license center, where documents are checked; the document review, aptitude test (適性試験), knowledge confirmation and skills confirmation are then scheduled by appointment. The official page notes 「免許切替までには、数ヶ月程度の日数を要することがあります」 — conversion can take up to several months. No online/web booking form was found.

Phone

Eastern (東部): 055-921-2000 / Central (中部): 054-272-2221 / Western (西部): 053-587-2000 / Prefectural Police HQ (運転免許課): 054-271-0110

Reception hours

Orientation/reception: every Wednesday (毎週水曜日), excluding public holidays and Dec 29–Jan 3; applicants must arrive by 9:30 AM (late arrivals are directed to the following week).

No foreign-language support is provided. The official page states 「日本語による会話が困難な方は、通訳を同伴してください」 — applicants who cannot converse in Japanese must bring their own interpreter.

No fee (手数料) amounts are published on the Shizuoka Prefectural Police gaimen kirikae or license-center pages reviewed; fees were not confirmed.

Shizuoka operates three separate license centers (Eastern/Central/Western) that each handle gaimen kirikae, rather than a single center. Required documents include a copy of the residence certificate (住民票) without the My Number, showing all registration details; the valid foreign license plus a Japanese translation; a passport documenting cumulative stay of 3+ months (「外国の運転免許証を取得後、通算して3月以上滞在していたこと」) in the issuing country after the license was obtained; an ID photo; and, if applicable, a prior Japanese license or driving history certificate. Document review and questioning take time, and the whole conversion can span several months.

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

• Exact conversion fees (手数料) — not published on the official pages
• Whether any online/web reservation system exists (none found; appears to be in-person Wednesday orientation only)
• Specific phone-reservation hours for each center
• Whether Shizuoka's residence-verification policy is genuinely stricter than other prefectures, versus the standard nationwide 住民票 requirement

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.pref.shizuoka.jp/police/shinse/menkyo/gaikoku/kirikae.html
• Official source ↗ https://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/police/shinse/menkyo/center/index.html
• Official source ↗ https://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/police/shinse/menkyo/center/menkyocenter.html

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.