Originally posted by jeisan

makes me wonder, dont the japanese have drivers licenses? or are they just different than the ones here?
Well, not everybody has a driver's licence. Having a car is almost unnecessary in a city like Tokyo (where almost 1/4 of all Japanese live). I personally don't see the need for one. Once you know you have to pay for a permanent parking space about 300US$/month (as very few houses have garages, and no garden at all in central Tokyo) and it cost about 1000US$ to actually get the driver's licence, and you have to renew it (and pay a few hundred US$) every few years, it is really not surprising that less Japanese have driver's licence than in Western countries (especially in such a vast country as the USA, where people can drive as early as 14, while it's 18 in Japan and Europe).

But which countries really have proper ID cards ? In Europe, Austria, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden have made ID cards voluntary; Belgium, Germany, Greece and Spain require citizens to carry the ID with them at all times. The UK doesn't have any, but is planning to introduce them. Ireland, Denmark, Japan, the US and I believe Canada & Australia don't have any. What about other countries ?