Getting a Foreign License Conversion Appointment in Tokyo
Getting a Japanese driver's license based on your foreign driver's license is called a driver's license conversion (外国免許切り替え) — gaimen kirikae (外免切り替え) for short in Japanese. For those who have to take the shortened written and practical driving test in Tokyo*, the first step is getting a document check and written test appointment (done the same day) at the Samezu (鮫洲) or Fuchu (府中) test centers. You can book this appointment online, but slots are scarce, disappear in minutes, and the reservation site does not send you a push notification when something opens.
Our Gaimen Hunter watches the Tokyo reservation site and notifies you when a slot that matches your preferences shows up on the reservation site.
From watching the reservation site since late July 2026, we got a few insights into appointments at the Tokyo test centers.
How far out do openings appear?
Openings in our data cluster around ~60 days ahead. Across 742 new-slot appearances since 2026-07-24, the median lead time is 54 days; about 32% land at exactly 60 days. There have been occasional drops with shorter lead times as well, interestingly.
We treat a slot as a likely cancellation when it appears with a days-out much lower than the other new slots that same day. From late July through early October 2026, 57 of 742 new slots (7.7%) looked like cancellations by this rule.
Appointment Slot Snapshot
- New slots since 2026-07-24: 742
- Likely cancellations (same-day outlier; short spike days excluded): 57 (7.7%)
- Median days until no longer seen: 10 days
- Median lead time for new slots: 54 days
Tuesday and Wednesday together are about 17% of new slot appearances, but they often have shorter lead times than the ~60-day drops that still dominate Thursday through Monday.
How long do slots stay listed?
The median time until we no longer see a slot on the open list is about 10 days (mean ~12; P90 ~28). Plenty still disappear the same day they show up.
Likely cancellations still get jumped on quickly — often the same day — while ordinary ~60-day openings can stay listed for days or weeks.
What appointments are in high demand?
Among location and start-time pairs, Samezu 13:00 leaves the open list fastest (median 3 days visible), while Fuchu 08:30 lingers the longest (median 15 days). Afternoon sessions tend to go faster than early morning.
New slots vs unclaimed inventory
When we look at every open slot we see each day, it helps to split them into two groups:
- New slots — Slots we didn't see the day before
- Unclaimed slots — Slots still sitting on the open list day after day.
The dates annotated on the charts above appear to be drops of new appointment slots that occasionally happen.
Overall, it appears that appointment slots are not really scarce if you don't care about waiting for 60 days. If you want something sooner or in the afternoon, though, you have to constantly watch the reservation site. But of course we live in a technological age, so it's better to let our machine, Gaimen Hunter, do that for you. We will notify you or sign you up for free when a slot to your liking pops up. Check it out!
Further reading
* Lucky folks who can get a conversion without taking the tests can go ahead book their appointments easily on the reservation site. They don't appear to be scarce.