As of the end of 2021, the number of people living in Chiba-prefecture is about 160,000 and that is the 2.6% of the population in Chiba. Chinese people occupy most of the number and Vietnamese and Filipino follows. Even though the public transportation is developed in Chiba, it is still useful to drive a car to move around. For people from overseas who are considering acquiring the driver’s license in Chiba, we picked up 7 driving schools corresponding to foreign languages.
Current circumstances of driving schools available in foreign languages.
For academy training and practical skills training are conducted in only Japanese basically, but some of the driving schools are independently preparing textbook in foreign languages and the written test is corresponded with English and Chinese. As of February 2022, English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Portuguese, and Tagalog are corresponded with the driver’s license written test in Japan (varies by the license center). It seems that the variety of languages are corresponded nationwide, but English and Chinese are available for written test in Chiba prefecture.
Driving schools corresponded with foreign languages.
According to our research, there is no big difference with other driving schools in Japan, but we found out that some driving schools are dealing with language barriers with instructor from foreign born and some advisors to help people from overseas. Here are the 7 driving schools in Chiba for people from abroad and who are uncomfortable with Japanese language.
Takanodai Driving School
“Takanodai Driving School” is an accredited (by Chiba Prefecture Public Safety Commission) driving school located in Hanamigawa-ku, Chiba.
**List of licenses you can acquire at Takanodai Driving School**
- Standard motor vehicle license (Automatic / Manual)
- Large-sized motorcycle license
- Standard motorcycle license
- Small-sized motorcycle license
- Special Large-sized motor vehicle license
Takanodai Driving School has commute course and training camp course. Academy training and practical skills training are both conducted only in Japanese, so it is necessary to communicate and understand Japanese to some degree. However, Takanodai Driving School prepares for English textbook for academy training, and you can take written test in English. Furthermore, they offer online written test preparation videos in English, called “Drivers Academy”. You can prepare for the written test anywhere and anytime with using the system. Even though Takanodai Driving School does not have instructor from overseas, it is proven that many people from abroad graduated the school so far.
Smart Driver School KAZUSA
“Smart Driver School KAZUSA” is one of the 28 driving schools in 13 prefectures nationwide owned by SDS Group, and located in Kimitsu-city, Chiba.
**List of licenses you can acquire at Smart Driver School KAZUSA**
- Standard motor vehicle license
- Class 2 Standard motor vehicle license
- Large-sized motor vehicle license
- Class 2 Large-sized motor vehicle license
- Semi-Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Class 2 Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Standard motorcycle license
- Large-sized motorcycle license
- Small-sized motorcycle license
- Special Large-sized motor vehicle license
- Towing License
Smart Driver School KAZUSA has commute course and training camp course. Academy training is available online and you can take lectures anytime you have a spare time. In addition, Smart Driver School KAZUSA has an instructor from Vietnam, and you can ask some questions and consultation. Written test is available in English and Chinese. For enrollment, Certificate of Residence (described both residential status and duration of stay) and Residence Card is necessary.
Eastern Driving School
“Eastern Driving School” is an accredited (by Chiba Prefecture Public Safety Commission) driving school located in Midori-ku, Chiba.
You can acquire Standard motor vehicle license (Automatic / Manual / Release of Automatic limitation). According to their official website in English, they have advisor to help people from abroad and support people who would like to enroll and practice practical skills to convert their driver’s license issued in foreign countries. For enrollment, Certificate of Residence or Certificate of Alien Registration is necessary.
Anesaki Driving School
“Anesaki Driving School”is an accredited (by Chiba Prefecture Public Safety Commission) driving school located in Ichihara-city, Chiba.
**List of licenses you can acquire at Anesaki Driving School**
- Standard motor vehicle license (Automatic / Manual)
- Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Semi-Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Large-sized motorcycle license
- Standard motorcycle license
- Small-sized motorcycle license
Anesaki Driving School is corresponding to textbook in English and Chinese.
Ichikawa Driving School
“Ichikawa Driving School” is an accredited (by Chiba Prefecture Public Safety Commission) driving school located in Funabashi-city, Chiba.
**List of licenses you can acquire at Ichikawa Driving School**
- Standard motor vehicle license
- Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Semi-Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Large-sized motorcycle license
- Standard motorcycle license
- Small-sized motorcycle license
As both academy training and practical skills training are conducted only in Japanese, you need to understand Japanese in the level of daily conversation. However, they have academy training textbook in English and Chinese, and practical skills training textbook in English.
Ichikawa-Chuo Driving School
“Ichikawa-Chuo Driving School” is an accredited (by Chiba Prefecture Public Safety Commission) driving school located in Ichikawa-city, Chiba.
**List of licenses you can acquire at Ichikawa-Chuo Driving School**
- Standard motor vehicle license
- Class 2 Standard motor vehicle license
- Large-sized motorcycle license
- Standard motorcycle license
On their official website, there is a column of received messages from graduates, those who are from China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tunisia, Vietnam etc. It is proven that Ichikawa-Chuo Driving School is chosen by many foreigners to acquire a driver’s license. For enrollment, Residence Card or Certificate of Residence or Special Permanent Resident Certificate or Certificate of Alien Registration is necessary.
SBS Driving School
“SBS Driving School” has ownership of “Keiyo Driving School” and “Anesaki Driving School” (mentioned earlier). We would like to introduce “Keiyo Driving School” this time.
“Keiyo Driving School” is an accredited (by Chiba Prefecture Public Safety Commission) driving school located in Inage-ku, Chiba.
**List of licenses you can acquire at Keiyo Driving School**
- Standard motor vehicle license
- Class 2 Standard motor vehicle license
- Mid-sized motor vehicle license
- Large-sized motorcycle license
- Standard motorcycle license
Even though the academy training and practical skills training are conducted in Japanese, the textbook for the academy training and the written test is corresponded with English and Chinese and it is possible to learn properly for people from abroad. For enrollment, Residence Card or Certificate of Residence or Special Permanent Resident Certificate is necessary.
Let’s put importance on whether the driving school prepares textbook in foreign language when you think about enrolling driving schools in Chiba.
On this article, we introduced the circumstances of driving school available in foreign languages in Chiba. For people from overseas, it is the best if they could choose a driving school available in foreign languages and has advisors and instructors who are fluent with foreign languages. However, according to our research, most of the driving schools in Chiba conduct academy training and practical skills training in Japanese. That means there are no big differences among driving schools in Chiba. If we had to choose, the key point is about preparation for textbook in English and Chinse.
What if you were NOT able to go to a driving school corresponding to English or other language support?
Most of the people from foreign countries struggle with written test preparation in Japanese. However, what should people do with the circumstances like below…
- There is no English corresponded driving school around you.
- Fees in English corresponded training or support are too expensive.
For those people, do not worry. We would recommend you the commentary videos in English by “Driver’s Academy in Japan” to boost your learning. With “Driver’s Academy in Japan”, you can learn and prepare for driver’s license written test anywhere, anytime with your smartphone or computers.
Check them out with sample videos!!!
We hope these commentary videos would help you learn deeply.
