This year, my wife started saying things like, "That car is cute. She also asks me how much it costs.
I am not proud of it, but I am not interested in cars at all. I am not proud of it, but I am not interested in cars at all, so I do not know how much they cost. I thought that a mini car would cost about 1 million yen and a regular passenger car about 1.5 to 2 million yen, so I answered appropriately.
He had heard from a friend that it is much cheaper to get a driver's license with a provisional license than with a driving school, and he wanted to get a driver's license that way. It is true that it is cheaper, but taking a provisional license at a driving school is quite a hurdle. Therefore, most people go to a driving school and take only the practical test at the test center.
I was 36 years old when I got my license. My boss at work told me to get a driver's license, so I went to a driving school to get it. It was a kind of a half work order, so I went during working hours and I think I got my license in less than a month.
I remember that, aside from the written exam, the skills training was quite difficult. I remember that the prescribed 31 hours were not enough and I had to take a remedial class for about 2 hours.
To obtain a driver's license in the Philippines, a student must take a 15-hour course at a driving school, take a written test, and obtain a Student Permit (equivalent to a temporary license in Japan). After that, the student practices driving in a car with a driver who has the license. Once you have gained some confidence in your driving skills, you can take the written test at the test center and if you pass the test, you can proceed to the practical test.
Compared in this way, the process of obtaining a driver's license is similar in Japan and the Philippines. The difference is the cost.
The average cost in Japan is 300,000 yen, while in the Philippines it is about 12,000 pesos, or less than 30,000 Japanese yen. The cost in Japan is 10 times higher. Therefore, I can understand why my wife would prefer to take the test directly at a testing center rather than going to a driving school.
Even so, the possibility of obtaining a driver's license at the test center without going to a driving school is low.
The academic test can be taken in English, but there are very few driving schools that offer English-language instruction. There are none within commuting distance from our home. There is a driving school where one can take a driver's license at a training camp, but this is impossible for my wife because she is working.
If your Japanese level is good enough for daily conversation, you may be able to take the test at a regular driving school, so you may want to hurry up and learn the Japanese used at the school.
I promised my wife that I would buy her a car if she could get a provisional license, but that date will likely come a little later.
