{"id":1118,"date":"2026-02-26T12:18:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T12:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2026-04-07T16:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:15:12","slug":"american-samoa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/american-samoa\/","title":{"rendered":"American Samoa"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ll explain whether anyone with an American Samoan driver’s license is permitted to operate a vehicle in Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, all international driving permits (IDPs) issued in accordance with the particular format and the 1949 Geneva Convention.<\/span><\/p>\n

You must have a driver’s license in order to operate a vehicle lawfully in Japan. The country from which the driver’s license is issued and the country in which the driver resides determine the documentation required to issue a driver’s license rather than the driver’s nationality.<\/span><\/p>\n

American Samoa’s affiliation under the 1949 Geneva Convention has been formally announced by the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only the 1949 Geneva Convention is associated with Japan, and American Samoa is also associated with the 1949 Geneva Convention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Driving in Japan is therefore permitted if American Samoa issues an international driving permit (IDP) in accordance with the 1949 Geneva Convention in the correct format.<\/span><\/p>\n

Japan will not accept an international driving permit (IDP) that is not in accordance with the 1949 Geneva Convention in the correct format.
\n<\/span>Verify that the international driving permit (IDP) is in the correct format and complies with the 1949 Geneva Convention.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 1949 Geneva Convention’s specifics regarding the format.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It must be in the form of a small booklet, not a card or piece of paper.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The agent or organization issuing the international driving permit (IDP) must be acknowledged by American Samoa.<\/li>\n
  3. The classification needs to come from<\/li>\n
  4. You have to be at least eighteen.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The international driving permit is valid for one year from the date of issuance and one year from the date of your arrival in Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Only the top category of vehicles that can be driven are stamped on American Samoa’s international driving permits; other categories may not be stamped.
    \n<\/span>However, a car that isn’t stamped in Japan cannot be driven by anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The date of departure from American Samoa is listed as the “Issue Date” on the International Driving Permit, which is valid for a year after that date.<\/span><\/p>\n

    However, in Japan, the date the International Driving Permit is issued is known as the “Issue Date,” and it is valid for a year after that date. Please be aware that the validity period is interpreted differently.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"American<\/p>\n

    On the internet, you may come across a fake international driver\u2019s license that is presented as if it is valid to drive in Japan. These fake international driver\u2019s license is not valid to drive in Japan. For more information regarding fake international driver\u2019s license please click here.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’ll explain whether anyone with an American Samoan driver’s license is permitted to operate a vehicle in Japan. Indeed, all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,23],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-1118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-oceania","tag-a-e"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1118"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1424,"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions\/1424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdmrentaljapan.com\/international-drivers-license\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}