Menkyo Helper
Drive Coach: your own practice road test
Pick the situations you want to practise. Drive Coach finds a circuit near you that has all of them, you drive to its start, and the app guides you by voice like a Japanese examiner — then shows what you did well and what would have cost points.
How it works
Choose the situations you want — railway crossings (踏切), hills, signalled right turns, stop signs and more — and how far you are willing to drive. The app proposes practice circuits around your GPS position, each with a safe place to start. Every course ends by pulling over, like the real test.
An examiner in your ear
Directions are spoken in your language, like the instructions of a Japanese examiner (検定員). Along the way the app checks what the examiner scores: your speed against the limit, a full stop at stop lines and railway crossings, and signalling early enough before a turn or a lane change.
Camera coach (optional)
Fix the phone on a headrest mount behind the front passenger seat, turned toward you. The camera watches your head and mirror checks, follows cars, pedestrians and traffic lights, and listens for your blinker. Everything runs on the phone: nothing is recorded or uploaded.
Your result
After the drive you get a score like the real test, with each mistake explained: what happened, where, and how many points it would cost. Anything the phone could not see is never counted against you.
Drive safely and legally
A qualified supervisor must sit in the front passenger seat (with a learner's permit: the 練習中 plate and a driver who has held a licence for at least three years). Do not touch the phone while driving — everything is by voice. Follow signs, signals and your supervisor first: the app is a coach, not the examiner.
Price
Drive Coach is part of Premium (unlimited). Free, with or without an account: 1 minute of Drive Coach a day — judging your driving, the sample drive and the practice course drive together.
Try it in the app
Open Drive Coach, choose your situations and get a practice course near you.