The Samezu driving test course
The practical test for foreign license conversion at the Samezu Driver's License Center: the course, what changed in October 2025, and every way to practise on it.
Oybek
Took the practical test at Samezu and passed. Founder of DriveKata and MenkyoHub.jp.
Last checked: · 2 min read
Short answer
The practical test at Samezu (Shinagawa, Tokyo) is driven on the center's own course, not on public roads: at least 1,200 m with turns, a crosswalk, a railroad crossing, obstacles and curves, and you need 70 of 100 points. National rules require at least three routes of equal difficulty; test-takers and schools report that the route is announced on the day.
On this page
The Samezu Driver's License Center (鮫洲運転免許試験場) is at 1-12-5 Higashi-Oi, Shinagawa, about 8 minutes on foot from Samezu station on the Keikyu line. With Fuchu, it is one of the two Tokyo centers that convert licenses from every country, so it is where most people in central and south Tokyo take the practical test.
The courses
The test center does not publish route names, so "Course B" is DriveKata's name. It is in the app today as an exact replica you can drive as often as you like. Test centers outside Tokyo are next.
Course B
Available in the app
Test centers outside Tokyo
Coming next
What the examiner checks here
National rules require every route to include left and right turns, a traffic signal, a crosswalk, the railroad crossing, an obstacle, the loop's curves and a stop at a set place. DriveKata's Course B also has the S-curve, the crank and the slope. The scoring is national: start at 100, keep 70. The details are in the practical test, explained.
What changed on 1 October 2025
A crosswalk task was added to the practical test, and failing to signal (合図不履行) and improper turning (右左折方法違反) are now scored as strictly as on a new-license test. A Samezu YouTuber reports that the conversion course itself changed that day, so videos recorded before October 2025 may show an old route.
Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the 1 October 2025 revisionPractising on the real course
The Tokyo police open the Samezu and Fuchu courses to the public on some Saturdays and holidays:
| Cost | ¥2,000 + ¥200 insurance for 1 hour |
| Slots | 9:45, 11:15, 13:30, 15:00 |
| You need | Your own car, and a passenger with a license and at least 3 years of driving |
| Who | Tokyo residents, 17½ or older |
| Booking | Phone 03-6717-3086, weekdays, from one month ahead; Japanese only |
Slots are almost impossible to get. Driving schools, and practising the route and the checks at home, are compared in how to practise for the practical test.
Booking the test
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Walk into Samezu having driven it before.
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