With his driver’s license renewal coming up, the thread’s original poster was torn over whether to switch to the “My Number driver’s license”—the version merged with Japan’s My Number ID card—and turned to 5ch for advice. Most of the replies were discouraging, raising concrete worries: the hassle of managing a PIN, the risk of losing both your ID and your proof of driving eligibility at once if the card goes missing, and a gap period with no valid license while waiting for reissue if you go integrated-only. Some posters even shared firsthand accounts of license center staff themselves not recommending the My Number license, suggesting opinion on the system is sharply divided.
What people said
1AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:51
Is switching to the My Number driver's license actually more convenient? Apparently you need some kind of PIN/password for it, but I don't really get how that works.
3AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:52
Don't do it. With a regular license you get it reissued on the spot, but with the My Number version you're stuck without a valid license for a week.
4AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:52
Don't you have to book an appointment for it?
5AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:54
I keep forgetting my My Number card's PIN almost instantly—what am I even supposed to do about that?
6AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:54
Wasn't the whole catch that it stops working as a valid ID (once something goes wrong)?
7AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:54
Better not to! If you lose your My Number card, having a separate license left means you've still got an ID.
8AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:55
Aren't you about at the age where you should be handing your license back? Why are you even renewing it?
9AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:56
Out in the countryside you can't live without a car, y'know.
10AnonymousNov 7, 2026 15:58
Renewed mine this summer. While I was standing in the first line for paperwork, a staffer from the license center came out and started explaining the My Number license. The subtext of the whole spiel was basically 'don't bother with this'—and pretty much everyone who renewed that day, me included, just went with the plain paper license.
11AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:00
I carry both—My Number card stays in my wallet, license stays in the car.
13AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:00
I doubt anyone actually goes My-Number-only for their license.
14AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:00
They should make some kind of backup 'proof of driving eligibility' card for when you lose it.
15AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:01
Mine hasn't hit 'full bit' status yet (slang for a license stacked with every vehicle class/endorsement), but it's a fairly unusual one and I like the card design, so I'm keeping the paper license too.
16AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:01
Not a single person in here recommending the My Number license, huh.
17AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:02
If you lose your My Number card, you won't be able to prove your identity anymore.
18AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:02
The only people who actually benefit are the ones who move house all the time.
20AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:04
The only real upside of going My Number is that the renewal fee's a bit cheaper, right?
23AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:08
They touted 'take your renewal course from home' as a perk, but you still have to show up at the license center in person to pick up the card—dumb design.
26AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:09
Re: #23
Exactly this. So dumb it made me laugh.
24AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:08
I think I renewed last year. After the officer finished explaining the My Number option, he basically said 'we don't recommend it.' No idea if that's still the case now, but apparently having both cards separately is the more convenient way to go.
25AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:09
'You can take the course online, but come to the license center in person for the eye exam'—how is that not just dumb.
27AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:09
Without the paper license, all you get is extra hassle.
28AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:10
You have to wait for the license to be issued either way, so you can just knock out the course during that wait. The 'benefit' is literally zero, lol.
29AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:12
Besides, current licenses already have an IC chip built in, so there's no real need to fold it into the My Number card anyway.
30AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:12
I asked to keep my old license and they refused. They probably hand those over to the police for some shady use.
31AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:13
Don't do it, or at least keep both. If the physical license disappears entirely, you risk being left with no ID at all.
32AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:14
Remember, they originally told everyone NOT to carry their My Number card around with them.
35AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:17
The only time I've actually used my My Number card was for inheritance paperwork—got a residency certificate printed out at a convenience store.
38AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:24
Renewing the My Number card is just one more annoying chore. Apparently if you're under 18 you have to redo it every 5 years, lol lol lol. So dumb.
39AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:24
I switched to the My Number health insurance card, and when my parent was hospitalized, just showing it skipped all the paper forms and extra procedures I'd normally have to deal with—that part was genuinely convenient.
40AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:27
Don't forget the My Number card itself has its own separate renewal cycle. If the My Number card expires, the license integrated with it stops working too.
41AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:27
Do the math and that's an enormous number of people showing up at city hall every year just to renew their My Number card. The cost of that alone must be astronomical.
49AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:39
Re: #41
A ton of people signed up all at once for the My Number points campaign, so their renewal dates are massively overlapping now too.
42AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:30
They've already sunk trillions of yen into this, so there's no recouping it at this point. Should've just stuck with paper.
44AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:32
Maybe 1 in 100 people actually go for it. Though at renewal they do split people into separate lines depending on which option they're doing.
45AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:32
Speaking as someone who's actually lost his My Number card—don't do it.
58AnonymousNov 7, 2026 16:50
The actual flyer police were handing out at the license center:
Background and Key Points of This Debate
The My Number driver’s license is an opt-in system that launched on March 24, 2025, allowing people to merge their traditional paper driver’s license with their My Number ID card, while still keeping the option to retain a separate paper license. The headline benefits are a partly-online renewal course and a slightly reduced renewal fee, but as posters in the thread point out, things like the eye exam still require showing up at the license center in person, so the online benefit is limited in practice. The downsides raised include the burden of managing the My Number card’s PIN, the risk of losing both your driving eligibility and your ID at the same time if the card goes missing, and a gap period with no valid license while waiting for reissue if you go integrated-only. Multiple firsthand accounts of license center staff not actually recommending the integrated option at the counter point to a gap between how the system looks on paper and how it plays out in practice. It’s also worth noting, since it’s a common misconception, that getting the My Number driver’s license doesn’t require giving up the paper license—keeping both is allowed.
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