Foreign License Conversion
in Yamanashi Prefecture

Police organization:

Yamanashi Prefectural Police (山梨県警察)

Test center:

Yamanashi General Traffic Center (山梨県総合交通センター)

City

Minami-Alps City (南アルプス市)

Access

Address: 南アルプス市下高砂825番地 (Shimotakago 825, Minami-Alps City). The official site has a transit-access link (山梨県総合交通センターへの交通アクセス) but the specific nearest-station / bus details were not retrievable on the fetched pages.

Test languages:

20 languages (nationwide standard since June 2024)

Reservation required

How to reserve

Mandatory in-person pre-screening (事前審査) first — applicant must attend in person at the General Traffic Center 2F, Reception 01 (総合交通センター2階 受付01) during pre-screening hours; no online booking system was found. After pre-screening, the main review & interview (本審査・面接) and the aptitude test & knowledge/skill confirmation (適性試験・知識技能確認) are arranged by appointment (予約制); staff contact the applicant after pre-screening is completed.

Reservation page ↗

https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/police/p_menkyo/siken/siken_qa.html

Phone

055-285-0533

Reception hours

Pre-screening (事前審査): Monday–Friday 16:00–17:00 (午後4時から午後5時まで; excludes Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and the year-end/new-year period).

The knowledge test for license conversion is available in Japanese plus 20 foreign languages (学科試験は、日本語のほか20カ国の外国語の試験問題があります). There is no dedicated interpreter service, however: applicants who find communicating in Japanese difficult must bring their own interpreter (通訳ができる方を同伴してください). Interpreter accompaniment is permitted at the pre-screening and main-review/interview stages.

Aptitude & knowledge/skill confirmation (試験手数料): ordinary (普通) ¥2,500; large/medium/semi-medium (大型・中型・準中型) ¥3,900; moped (原付) ¥1,600. Vehicle-use fee ¥1,850 (when a skill confirmation is conducted). License issuance: license only ¥2,350; My Number Card license only ¥1,550; both ¥2,450. (Totals vary by license category.)

Process has four stages: (1) pre-screening (事前審査, mandatory, in person), (2) main review & interview (本審査・面接, by appointment), (3) aptitude test & knowledge/skill confirmation (適性試験・知識技能確認, by appointment), (4) license issuance. Knowledge/skill confirmation may be waived for applicants from designated reciprocal countries (特例国). Required documents include: valid original foreign license; an official translation of the license (made by the issuing foreign authority, a consular office, or an organization designated by the Public Safety Commission); passport(s) including expired ones; residence card (在留カード) for foreign nationals; entry/exit documentation; residence registration (住民票); and two application photos (3cm × 2.4cm, front-facing, no hat, no background, taken within 6 months). Eligibility requires holding a valid foreign license and having stayed 3+ months in the issuing country after obtaining it, plus being registered as a resident or temporary stayer in Yamanashi Prefecture.

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

• Exact public-transit access (nearest station / bus) to the General Traffic Center — only an access link exists, details not retrievable
• Whether any online reservation system exists (none found; appears in-person for pre-screening, by phone/appointment thereafter)
• The phone number 055-221-0110 from the prior memo could not be confirmed; the official page lists 055-285-0533
• General center reception hours 08:30–17:15 could not be confirmed on either fetched page
• Japan's minimum driving age of 18 for ordinary vehicles is general law but was not stated on the conversion page
• Precise total fee for each specific license category (only components published)

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.yamanashi.jp/police/untenmenkyo/index.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.