Road Traffic Act

• Bicycles are light vehicles (軽車両), so the rules for vehicles bind cyclists: they ride on the roadway, keep to its left edge except when overtaking or where unavoidable, and may not ride side by side with another light vehicle unless a sign allows two standard bicycles abreast. Cyclists are to try to wear a helmet, and those responsible for a child are to try to make the child wear one when riding. A cyclist who repeatedly commits dangerous acts a Cabinet Order lists, and whom the public safety commission finds likely to endanger traffic if they keep riding, can be ordered to attend a cyclists' course (自転車運転者講習) within a period of up to three months, and disobeying the order carries a fine of up to ¥50,000.(Art. 2(1)(viii), Art. 2(1)(xi), Art. 17(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 19(1), Art. 63-5(1), Art. 63-11(1), Art. 63-11(3), Art. 108-3-5(2), Art. 120(1)(xvii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A vehicle or tram approaching a pedestrian crossing or bicycle crossing must go at a speed at which it can stop before it, unless no one is clearly about to cross, and must stop and let pass anyone crossing or about to cross. Where a pedestrian is crossing at or near an intersection at a place with no crossing, it must not obstruct them.(Art. 38(1), Art. 38-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• No one may drive any vehicle, a bicycle included, or a tram while under the influence of alcohol; no one may lend a vehicle to, serve alcohol to, or urge to drink someone likely to drive that way; and no one may ask a driver they know has been drinking to drive them and ride along, except in a trolleybus or in a passenger-business vehicle in service or another vehicle a Cabinet Order names. No driver of a car, motorized bicycle or bicycle may, while moving, talk on a phone that has to be held in the hand, except in an emergency to help the injured or keep public order, or watch a screen fitted or brought into the vehicle, other than certain displays the Road Transport Vehicle Act (道路運送車両法) provides for.(Art. 65(1), Art. 65(2), Art. 65(3), Art. 65(4), Art. 71(1)(v-5), Art. 2(1)(viii), Art. 2(1)(xi)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A driver of a car other than a motorcycle must wear a seat belt, must not carry a passenger without one in a seat that must have one, and must not carry a child under six (幼児) who is not in a child seat, unless illness or another reason a Cabinet Order names makes that unsuitable; a young child too short for a belt does not count against the passenger rule. Riders of large and ordinary motorcycles must wear a helmet and carry no passenger without one, and riders of general motorized bicycles (一般原動機付自転車) must wear one; riders of specified small motorized bicycles (特定小型原動機付自転車) are only to try to.(Art. 71-3(1), Art. 71-3(2), Art. 71-3(3), Art. 14(3), Art. 71-4(1), Art. 71-4(2), Art. 71-4(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Driving a motor vehicle or a general motorized bicycle (一般原動機付自転車) needs a driving licence (運転免許) from the prefectural public safety commission (公安委員会) for that kind of vehicle, carried while driving. There are ten first-class licences (第一種免許), from large vehicles down to small special vehicles and motorized bicycles; a second-class licence (第二種免許) to drive a passenger vehicle carrying passengers for a passenger transport business; and a provisional licence (仮免許) for practice and tests. The minimum age is 21 for a large-vehicle licence and 20 for a medium one, or 19 for either for those a Cabinet Order names; 18 for semi-medium, ordinary, large special, large motorcycle and towing licences; and 16 for ordinary motorcycle, small special and motorized-bicycle licences.(Art. 84(1), Art. 84(2), Art. 84(3), Art. 85(1), Art. 86(1), Art. 87(1), Art. 88(1)(i), Art. 95(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 21 July 2026

  The text on this site

  Act Partially Amending the Act on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury on Others by Driving a Motor Vehicle, etc. and the Road Traffic Act

  自動車の運転により人を死傷させる行為等の処罰に関する法律及び道路交通法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 52 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 14 June 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, etc.

  出入国管理及び難民認定法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 59 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 21 May 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Basic Act on the Formation of a Digital Society, etc. to Promote Regulatory Reform for the Formation of a Digital Society

  デジタル社会の形成を図るための規制改革を推進するためのデジタル社会形成基本法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 63 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Road Traffic Act

  道路交通法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 34 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (extract)

  刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律　抄

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 24 March 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Road Traffic Act

  道路交通法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 32 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 November 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Road Traffic Act

  道路交通法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 34 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 21 June 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, etc.

  出入国管理及び難民認定法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 59 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 10 June 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and the Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan

  出入国管理及び難民認定法及び日本国との平和条約に基づき日本の国籍を離脱した者等の出入国管理に関する特例法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 56 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 24 May 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Road Traffic Act

  道路交通法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 34 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 33 amendments already in force

• Emergency vehicles (緊急自動車) — fire engines, ambulances and others a Cabinet Order names, while on emergency duty — need not stop where the law requires a stop, though they must go slowly and watch other traffic, and a list of rules, among them lane, turning and no-overtaking rules, does not bind them. When one approaches, other vehicles must keep left and stop clear of an intersection, or elsewhere keep left and give way.(Art. 39(1), Art. 39(2), Art. 41(1), Art. 40(1), Art. 40(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A standard bicycle (普通自転車) may ride on a sidewalk where a sign allows it, where the rider is a child or another person a Cabinet Order names, or where the roadway or traffic makes it unavoidable, unless an officer says not to; it must then go slowly on the roadway side of the sidewalk and stop when it would get in a pedestrian's way. Light vehicles, bicycles included, may also use a side strip on the left of the road unless that greatly obstructs pedestrians or a marking forbids it, and must there go at a speed and in a way that does not obstruct pedestrians.(Art. 63-4(1), Art. 63-4(2), Art. 17-3(1), Art. 17-3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person holding an international driving permit under the Convention on Road Traffic (道路交通に関する条約), or a licence from a country or region that does not issue such permits but whose licensing a Cabinet Order recognises as equivalent, with a Japanese translation by a body a Cabinet Order names, may drive the vehicles it covers for one year from landing in Japan — unless they are within a period barred from a licence after a refusal or revocation in Japan, their licence is suspended or held back, or they are banned from driving. They may not drive to carry passengers for a passenger transport business or for a substitute-driving service (代行運転), and must carry the permit while driving. For a person recorded in the Basic Resident Register, coming back within three months of leaving Japan with a re-entry permit, a refugee travel document or a departure confirmation (出国の確認) does not count as a new landing.(Art. 107-2(1), Art. 107-3(1), Art. 88(1)(ii), Art. 88(1)(iii), Art. 88(1)(iv)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A specified small motorized bicycle (特定小型原動機付自転車), one whose size and structure meet Cabinet Office Order standards for not hindering other vehicles on a cycle path and not needing high skill, can be ridden without a licence, but no one under 16 may ride one and no one may provide one to such a person. One that also meets further Cabinet Office Order standards and shows that it does may use a sidewalk a sign opens to it, going slowly on the roadway side and stopping when it would get in a pedestrian's way.(Art. 2(1)(x), Art. 84(1), Art. 64-2(1), Art. 64-2(2), Art. 17-2(1), Art. 17-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person with a provisional licence (仮免許) may drive the cars it covers without a full licence, but only for practice or in a test, and for practice only with a qualified person beside them — such as someone who has held a licence for that vehicle for three years or more — under that person's guidance, and with learner plates front and back.(Art. 87(1), Art. 87(2), Art. 87(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a pedestrian road (歩行者用道路) or a road that vehicles cannot physically enter, the rules of Articles 10 to 13 on where pedestrians walk and how they cross do not apply to pedestrians.(Art. 13-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An ordinary car driven by a person 70 or over with an ordinary-car licence, by a holder of a licence with conditions for hearing loss or physical disability, or by a person a Cabinet Order names such as during pregnancy, may stop or park where stopping or parking is otherwise forbidden, where a sign allows such cars, if it has been notified to the public safety commission and shows the placard (高齢運転者等標章) the commission issues.(Art. 45-2(1), Art. 45-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A driver using an automated driving system (自動運行装置) is not bound by the ban on phone calls and screen-watching while driving, as long as the car is properly maintained, the system's conditions of use are met, and the driver is ready to notice at once when they stop being met and take over the controls.(Art. 71-4-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

• The prefectural public safety commission (公安委員会) installs and manages traffic signals, road signs and road markings, and through them prohibits and otherwise regulates traffic; it may leave short-term regulations to police station chiefs, and in an emergency police officers can impose the same regulation by directions on the spot. Police officers and traffic wardens (交通巡視員) may direct traffic by hand signals, which can differ from the signal lights where they find it especially necessary. No request for administrative review (審査請求) can be made against a measure an officer takes on the spot under this Act.(Art. 4(1), Art. 5(1), Art. 6(1), Art. 113-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A police officer who finds a driver driving without a licence, after drinking, while unfit through tiredness, illness or drugs, or against certain other listed rules may stop the vehicle and ask for the licence; where someone in or getting into a vehicle seems likely to drive after drinking, the officer may test their breath, and refusing or obstructing the test carries up to three months' imprisonment (拘禁刑) or a ¥500,000 fine. Where such a person is likely to drive in that state, the officer may tell them not to drive until they can drive normally and take other urgent steps to prevent danger.(Art. 67(1), Art. 67(3), Art. 67(4), Art. 118-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• To get a licence, a person applies to the public safety commission of their address and passes its test of aptitude, driving skill and knowledge (aptitude and knowledge only for small special and motorized-bicycle licences, aptitude and skill only for a towing licence). The commission must grant the licence to those who pass, within a year of the aptitude test (three months for a provisional licence), but may, under Cabinet Order standards, refuse a full licence or hold it back for up to six months for certain illnesses a Cabinet Order lists, dementia, addiction or past violations, among other grounds. A holder of a licence issued by a foreign country's or region's authority may be exempted from part of the test once the commission confirms, as a Cabinet Order provides, that they can drive that kind of vehicle without difficulty.(Art. 89(1), Art. 97(1), Art. 90(1), Art. 97-2(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A licence runs to one month after a birthday counted from the previous licence's expiry or another date the Act fixes: the fifth for a good or ordinary driver under 70, the fourth for one aged 70 and the third for one 71 or over, and the third for a driver with a poor record under Cabinet Order standards or under five years' licensing. To renew, the holder applies to the commission of their address between one month before the last birthday before expiry and the expiry date, takes an aptitude check and attends a renewal course; holders 70 or over must have attended a course on the effects of ageing, and holders 75 or over a cognitive function test (認知機能検査) and, for some with violations, a driving skills test, in the six months before, unless a Cabinet Order or Cabinet Office Order excuses them. The commission may refuse to renew where a required course was skipped or the skills test shows a problem, and a licence not renewed loses its effect.(Art. 95-6(1), Art. 101(1), Art. 101(5), Art. 101-3(1), Art. 101-3(2), Art. 101-4(1), Art. 101-4(2), Art. 101-4(3), Art. 101-4(4), Art. 105(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The public safety commission of the holder's address may revoke a licence, or suspend it for up to six months, under standards a Cabinet Order sets, when the holder breaks this Act or an order or measure under it while driving, is found to have an illness or physical disability a Cabinet Order lists, dementia or an addiction, helps or incites a serious violation, kills or injures someone by driving off the road, or would otherwise cause significant danger by driving. After most such revocations it fixes a period of one to five years in which no new licence can be obtained. Before revoking a licence or suspending it for 90 days or more for a violation of this Act, or revoking it for one of the serious offences below, it must hold a public hearing (意見の聴取), announced at least a week ahead, at which the holder or an agent may state their view and submit evidence.(Art. 103(1), Art. 103(7), Art. 104(1), Art. 104(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The commission may revoke a licence, and bar a new one for three to ten years under Cabinet Order standards, where the holder deliberately killed or injured someone or damaged a building by driving; committed in driving an offence under Articles 2 to 4 of the Act on Punishment of Acts Causing Death or Injury by Driving a Motor Vehicle (自動車の運転により人を死傷させる行為等の処罰に関する法律), which a separate Act governs; drove drunk or likely unable to drive normally because of drugs, or drove to obstruct others in a way that stopped another car on an expressway or otherwise caused significant danger; or failed to stop and aid victims after a crash that killed or injured someone. It may also refuse a licence to an applicant who has done any of these things, and then bars them for up to ten years. After a crash that killed or injured someone through one of the serious violations Article 103-2 lists — among them drink-driving, driving without the required licence and failing to aid victims — the chief of the police station for the place may suspend the licence provisionally until the 30th day from the crash, and must give the driver a chance to explain within five days.(Art. 103(2), Art. 103(8), Art. 90(2), Art. 90(10), Art. 117(1), Art. 117(2), Art. 117-2(1)(i), Art. 117-2(1)(iii), Art. 117-2(1)(iv), Art. 103-2(1), Art. 103-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The penalties are in Chapter 8. Driving any vehicle, a bicycle included, while drunk — with 1.0 mg of alcohol per ml of blood or 0.5 mg per litre of breath or more, or otherwise likely unable to drive normally because of alcohol — or while likely unable to drive normally because of narcotics, cannabis, opium, stimulants or a substance a Cabinet Order names, carries up to five years' imprisonment (拘禁刑) or a fine of up to ¥1,000,000 (Article 117-2); driving with less alcohol but at or above a level a Cabinet Order sets, and driving without the licence the vehicle needs, carry up to three years or ¥500,000 (Article 117-2-2). A foreign licence holder who drives more than a year after landing in Japan counts as unlicensed; those who lent the vehicle, served the alcohol or knowingly rode along are punished only where the driver then drove drunk or over that level, with up to five, three or two years depending on the act and the driver's state (Articles 117-2, 117-2-2, 117-3-2).(Art. 117-2(1)(i), Art. 117-2(1)(iii), Art. 117-2-2(1)(i), Art. 117-2-2(1)(iii), Art. 117-2(1)(ii), Art. 117-2-2(1)(iv), Art. 117-2-2(1)(v), Art. 117-2-2(1)(vi), Art. 117-3-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• After a traffic accident, the drivers and crew of the vehicles or trams involved must stop at once, help anyone injured and prevent further danger, and the driver must report the time and place, the dead and injured, the damage and what was done to a police officer at the scene, or at once to the nearest police station. A driver of a vehicle other than a light vehicle who fails to stop and aid victims after a crash in which someone was killed or injured faces up to five years' imprisonment or a ¥500,000 fine, or up to ten years or ¥1,000,000 where the deaths or injuries came from that person's driving (Article 117). Other failures to stop and aid — by a cyclist, or after a crash with no one hurt — carry up to one year or ¥100,000 (Article 117-5), and failing to report the accident up to three months or ¥50,000 (Article 119).(Art. 72(1), Art. 117(1), Art. 117(2), Art. 117-5(1)(i), Art. 119(1)(xvii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Driving faster than the limit set by signs or by Cabinet Order carries up to six months' imprisonment or a ¥100,000 fine (up to three months or ¥100,000 if through negligence). Talking on a hand-held phone or watching a hand-held screen while driving a car, motorized bicycle or bicycle carries the same six months or ¥100,000, and up to one year or ¥300,000 where it causes danger. A pedestrian who disobeys a traffic signal or a police officer's hand signal faces a fine of up to ¥20,000 or a petty fine (科料).(Art. 22(1), Art. 118(1)(i), Art. 118(3), Art. 118(1)(iv), Art. 117-4(1)(ii), Art. 121(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Chapter 9 lets a minor offence be settled without prosecution: an infraction (反則行為) is an offence of Chapter 8 listed in Appended Table 2 (別表第二) and committed by the driver of a vehicle or tram, and the infraction penalty (反則金) is an amount a Cabinet Order sets for its kind within the table's caps, which vary by kind of vehicle. It does not cover a driver who had no licence allowing that vehicle (a suspended licence counts as none, a valid international or foreign permit counts as one, and the condition does not apply to specified small motorized bicycles and light vehicles), was drunk, drugged or over the alcohol level, caused an accident by the infraction, or is under 16. The table leaves out speeding by 30 km/h or more over the limit (40 km/h or more on expressways and motorways) and driving a large vehicle loaded to twice its weight limit or more, so those cannot be settled this way; cyclists are within it, as the table sets caps for light vehicles (軽車両), which include bicycles.(Art. 125(1), Art. 125(2), Art. 125(3), Appended Table 2, Art. 2(1)(xi)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A police officer (or, for parking infractions, a traffic warden) gives the driver a written notice (告知) of the infraction and of where and when to appear, and the chief of the prefectural police then sends a written notification (通告) to pay the infraction penalty. A driver who pays within 10 days from the day after the notification, or who paid provisionally within 7 days from the day after the notice and is then notified, is not prosecuted or sent to the family court for it. Until the notification has been sent and the 10 days have passed, the case cannot be prosecuted or sent to the family court, unless the notice or notification could not be given because the driver's name or address was unknown, the driver might flee, or refused the papers.(Art. 126(1), Art. 126(4), Art. 127(1), Art. 128(1), Art. 128(2), Art. 129(1), Art. 129(3), Art. 130(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where no one responsible is there to be ordered to move an illegally parked vehicle, police officers or traffic wardens may move it up to 50 metres, and where there is no place within that distance the police station chief may move it elsewhere, such as a car park, and keep it; the driver, user or owner is charged the cost of moving and keeping it. Where a motor vehicle, a motorized bicycle or, among light vehicles, only a towed vehicle over 750 kg — never a bicycle — is parked illegally and left so that it cannot be driven away at once, a police officer, a traffic warden (交通巡視員) or a contracted parking checker attaches a tag, and the public safety commission may order the vehicle's user (使用者) to pay an abandoned-vehicle penalty (放置違反金) set by Cabinet Order within the caps of Appended Table 1 (別表第一), after giving them a chance to explain in writing. No order is made if, within 30 days from the day after the tag, the driver pays the infraction penalty or the case is prosecuted or sent to the family court, and an order already made is cancelled when that happens.(Art. 51(3), Art. 51(4), Art. 51(5), Art. 51(6), Art. 51(15), Art. 51-4(1), Art. 51-4(4), Art. 51-4(6), Art. 51-4(8), Art. 51-4(16), Art. 51-12(8), Art. 6(1), Appended Table 1) (the provisions it rests on)