In May 2002 the Tokyo District Court rejected a suit by freelance journalist Yu Terasawa in which he claimed 1.2 million yen in compensation for driving license renewal fees.
Terasawa had filed the suit two years previously against the state, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and police-related organizations, claiming Japan's 74 million drivers are basically getting ripped off due to the extortionate fees for renewing a license.
Drivers who have remained accident-free and who have not committed any traffic violations are required to renew their Japanese license every five years. Those that have committed an offense every three years.
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