So upon realizing that my Ontario license was only 6 weeks away from expiring, I figured it was high time that I got a Japanese license.
Now, the way that it works, at least in Saitama Prefecture, is that there is one huge license bureau serving the entire prefecture (population 7,000,000). So, in Canadian terms, imagine that there is one bureau serving all of Southern Ontario. And, since it has to serve all of Southern Ontario, it’s located somewhere central so that it’s convenient for everyone. Somewhere central like… Fergus.
The entire experience was surreal from beginning to end. First off, it was somewhat like going to Disney World.. Since the license bureau is about the only thing in this little town, an entire industry had sprung up around it. As soon as you step off the train, you’re assaulted with ads for buses and taxis to the bureau, businesses offering cheap license photos, boxed lunch stores offering “having to spend all day in the license bureau” specials, and even a business that offered CDs to help last-minute studiers prepare for the knowledge exams.
Apparently, morning at the license bureau is kind of like Driving Survivor. First applicants do written tests, then eye tests, and finally driving tests. If at any point they fail, they get kicked off the island immediately. Now, luckily, I didn’t have to take these tests — Holding a Canadian license automatically passes the test for you (even so, I failed this part twice — once because I went to the entire wrong city, and once because my Canadian passport was insufficient proof that I used to live in Canada). So, I got to do a short-cut and get “injected” into the process at 2pm. I got sent to a room with at least 100 people in it, and I passed several other such rooms on the way to mine. Everyone was assigned a number and had to sit in that chair.
What followed was exactly like being back in Grade 7. That room was “home room”, and the other people were my classmates. At certain times, we’d all get marched off in single file to do some procedure. Almost like, “Okay class, now we’re going to take a field trip to get our pictures taken” or “Okay class, now we’re all going to go down and pay for our licenses”. “Okay class, now we have a special guest. It’s Mr. Okayama from the Traffic Safety Council to explain why it’s important to not run over little children”. I imagine that the people in the other rooms did the same tasks, but in different order, so as to make the process flow as smoothly as possible for everyone. Although it was inconvenient, I must admit that they processed a lot of licenses using very few staff members, without too much chaos. Everyone was handed their license as they left the room a few hours after we’d gone in for the first time.
Anyway, when it was all over, I did what any holder of a freshly minted drivers license would do: I walked a mile back to the train station, then I took the train home, and when I got there, since it was still light outside, I got on my bicycle and went for a ride.
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