Article 87Provisional Licenses

①A person who, without obtaining a class 1 or class 2 license permitting the person to drive a standard motor vehicle, seeks to drive such a motor vehicle for practice, for a driver's license test administered to test the person on the points set forth in Article 97, paragraph (1), item (ii), or for a skills evaluation to evaluate the person's motor vehicle driving skills at a designated driving school as prescribed in Article 99, paragraph (1) (referred to as a "test or evaluation" in the following paragraph) must obtain a provisional S-MVL; a person seeking to drive a semi-mid-sized motor vehicle for practice or for a test or evaluation without obtaining a class 1 or class 2 license permitting the person to drive it must obtain a provisional SM-MVL; a person seeking to drive a mid-sized motor vehicle for practice or for a test or evaluation without obtaining a class 1 or class 2 license permitting the person to drive it must obtain a provisional M-MVL; and a person seeking to drive a large motor vehicle for practice or for a test or evaluation without obtaining a class 1 or class 2 license permitting the person to drive it must obtain a provisional L-MVL.

②A person holding a provisional L-MVL may drive a large, mid-sized, semi-mid-sized, or standard motor vehicle; a person holding a provisional M-MVL may drive a mid-sized, semi-mid-sized, or standard motor vehicle; a person holding a provisional SM-MVL may drive a semi-mid-sized or standard motor vehicle; and a person holding a provisional S-MVL may drive a standard motor vehicle for practice or for a test or evaluation. In such a case, a person holding a provisional license who seeks to drive a motor vehicle for practice must drive the motor vehicle with, and under the guidance of, a person who holds a class 1 license that permits the person to drive the motor vehicle (excluding a person whose license is suspended) and who has held that license for a total of three years or more (excluding any period during which the license was suspended), a person who holds a class 2 license that permits the person to drive the motor vehicle (excluding a person whose license is suspended and a person under 21 years of age), or any other person that Cabinet Order prescribes, who is riding on the passenger equipment next to the driver's seat.

④Notwithstanding paragraph (2), it is not permissible for a person holding a provisional license to drive a motor vehicle used for passenger services to transport passengers as a part of passenger motor carrier services.

⑤Notwithstanding paragraph (2), it is not permissible for a person holding a provisional license to drive a standard motor vehicle that is to be driven by a professional designated driver.

⑥The valid period of a provisional license is six months, counting from the date on which the person takes the driver's license test administered to test the person on the points set forth in Article 97, paragraph (1), item (i) in connection with that provisional license (referred to in Article 90, paragraph (1) and Article 95-6, paragraph (1) as the "fitness test"); provided, however, that if a person holding a provisional L-MVL obtains an L-MVL or class 2 L-MVL; if a person holding a provisional M-MVL obtains a class 1 license or class 2 license that permits the person to drive a large or mid-sized motor vehicle; if a person holding a provisional SM-MVL obtains a class 1 or class 2 license that permits the person to drive a large, mid-sized, or semi-mid-sized motor vehicle; or if a person holding a provisional S-MVL obtains a class 1 or class 2 license that permits the person to drive a large, mid-sized, semi-mid-sized, or standard motor vehicle, and does so before the end of that period, the provisional license loses its validity.