Applicants are now required to submit a copy of their Japanese residence certificate, in contrast to the previous system that allowed short-term visitors to list hotels or other accommodations as their address.

The number of questions on the knowledge test has been increased fivefold to 50, available in 20 languages, with examinees required to correctly answer at least 90 percent.

The driving skills test has also been expanded to include assessments on how drivers negotiate pedestrian and railroad crossings on test courses.

Japanese nationals living abroad can convert foreign licenses by submitting their family register certificates.

Foreign nationals who newly obtained Japanese licenses are not permitted to renew them if they no longer have residence certificate.

The stricter rules were implemented in response to lawmakers criticizing the previous conversion test as being "too easy" to pass, as it allowed examinees to clear the knowledge test by answering seven out of 10 questions correctly, also available in some 20 languages.

The number of conversions from foreign licenses to Japanese ones has been growing recently, with the figure more than doubling over the past decade to 68,623 last year, according to the National Police Agency.

Of the foreigners who converted their driver's license, Vietnamese were the largest group at 16,681, followed by Chinese and South Koreans, the agency said.

Traffic accidents in which foreign drivers were apportioned the highest percentage of the blame hit a record high of 7,286 cases last year. The figure accounted for 2.7 percent of all incidents.

KPL