Border-crossing wizard

Pick your passport, your destination, and your vehicle. We return the required paperwork, customs notes, and gotchas with primary-source citations. Covers the US, Japan, Korea, and Canada.

⚠️ Not legal advice. Traffic and insurance laws change. Verify with the official source before you drive. Full disclaimer.

Headline

IDP under 1949 Geneva Convention required (NOT 1968 Vienna)

Driving documents

  • Home driver licence (physical card).
  • International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 GENEVA Convention. Japan does NOT accept 1968 Vienna Convention IDPs.
  • IDP valid for 1 year from issue, but you may drive in Japan only during the first 1 year of your stay.

Customs & border

  • Visa or visa-exempt entry per your nationality.
  • Japan Customs Declaration Form (C-5360) at airport entry.
  • Currency over ¥1,000,000 (or equivalent) must be declared.
  • Cannabis: ILLEGAL regardless of medical or recreational legality in your home country. Penalties include imprisonment.
  • Prescription medications: if controlled (containing stimulants, narcotics, codeine), require a Yakkan Shoumei import certificate from MHLW.

Vehicle requirements (rental)

  • Original home driver licence (rental companies will not accept just the IDP).
  • Credit card in the name of the primary driver — almost never debit, never prepaid.
  • Passport (often required at pickup; always required at airport pickup).
  • Rental confirmation + return-flight ticket (some agencies for non-US/non-EU citizens).

Sources

Why this matters

The single biggest "I didn\'t know" at the airport rental counter is the IDP question. Japan does not accept 1968 Vienna Convention IDPs — half of Europe ships them by default. Swiss, German, French, and Italian licence holders cannot use an IDP in Japan at all; they need an official Japanese translation instead. American licence holders driving into Canada need no IDP at all; Canadian holders into the US, likewise.

The wizard above codifies these distinctions and links each one to the official authority publishing the rule. If your combination is not yet covered, treat the result as a starting point and verify with the destination embassy.