What street karting is now
You will have seen the photographs of a line of tiny open karts threading through Shibuya Crossing at night with the neon overhead, drivers in costume, everyone filming. It is a real thing you can book, the karts are ordinary street legal vehicles registered for road use, and the tours run through the middle of Tokyo on public roads with a guide leading from the front. For a lot of people it is the single most vivid hour of their trip, because you are down at road level in traffic in a city that most visitors only ever see through glass.
One thing has changed and it is worth knowing before you picture it. The company that made this famous traded as MariCar and rented out Mario, Luigi and Yoshi costumes, and Nintendo sued. The Tokyo District Court ruled against it in September 2018, the Intellectual Property High Court agreed in May 2019, and in December 2020 the Supreme Court of Japan dismissed the final appeal, leaving damages of ¥50 million. The company is now called Street Kart and it is no longer allowed to rent out Nintendo character costumes. Operators still hand out costumes, but they are generic ones. If your mental image of this is specifically Mario Kart through Tokyo, adjust it now rather than at the counter.
Papers first, and this is where most people fall down
These are road vehicles on public roads, so you drive them on a real driving licence, and that single fact turns away more would be customers than anything else. A tourist needs an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, which is what Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand issue. A permit from a country that only signed the later Vienna Convention is not valid in Japan no matter what it says on the cover. The permit is valid for driving here for one year from the date you entered the country, and you carry it together with your home licence, because the permit is only a translation of it.
If your licence was issued in Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco or Taiwan, the rule is different. You drive on your own licence with an official Japanese translation attached, which the Japan Automobile Federation issues online for ¥6,600 and takes five to ten business days to produce. Either way, you must sort this out before you leave home. No operator will take you without the right document, no operator can make an exception, and the permit is not something you can obtain after you arrive. Passengers do not need one, and most tours allow a non driving passenger only if the kart is built for two, so check when you book.
You get it from the motoring body or licensing authority at home, usually in a day and for a small fee. It cannot be issued to you in Japan. This is the one piece of paperwork on this whole site that has no workaround, so if street karting is on your list, do it the week you book your flights.
What it is actually like, and the safety picture
A kart sits very low, has no roof and no doors, and is not much bigger than the wheel of the lorry beside you. You drive in a convoy behind a guide who sets the route and the pace, usually through a mix of quiet backstreets and a few famous crossings, and the tour lasts one to three hours depending on what you book. It is slow by go kart standards, because it is limited to city traffic speeds, and the thrill is entirely about where you are rather than how fast you are going. Tokyo drivers are patient and the routes are chosen to be manageable, and most tours pass without incident.
That said, it is worth seeing the record clearly, because it is public. The National Police Agency counted 50 go kart accidents in Tokyo in the eleven months from 27 March 2017 to 26 February 2018. Of those, 43 involved foreign drivers, which is 86 per cent. Most were property damage and two left people injured. The pattern behind that number is not mysterious. Visitors are driving an unfamiliar vehicle, on the left, in a foreign city, following signs they cannot read, often while filming. In response the transport ministry moved to tighten the rules, including making seat belt use mandatory. If you go, the way to not become a statistic is to treat it as driving in a foreign city rather than as a ride at a theme park.
Drive it like a car, because it is one
Japan drives on the left. You are subject to every traffic law, and you are personally liable for what you do. Stay in the convoy, keep your distance and do not overtake the guide.
Put the phone away while moving
Filming while driving is how a lot of these accidents happen, and it is illegal. Mount a camera if you want footage, or hand the phone to a passenger, or stop where the guide stops.
Dress for the road, not the photographs
You are at exhaust height, exposed to weather and to fumes, and it gets cold fast at night and in winter. Closed shoes, a jacket and gloves in the colder months. Consider a mask if traffic air bothers you.
Not a drop of alcohol
Japan's drink driving law is effectively zero tolerance and it applies here exactly as it applies to any car. An evening tour means no drink beforehand, not one beer.
The other kind of karting
If what you actually want is to drive a kart properly, rather than to be in traffic in a costume, the answer is a circuit, and Japan has plenty of them. Indoor and outdoor kart tracks run in and around every major city, they hire by the session, and the karts are faster and far better than anything road legal. The important practical difference is that a closed circuit is private land, so an ordinary driving licence is usually enough and in many cases no licence at all is required, which makes this the option for anyone who does not have an international permit or is under the age for one.
Fuji Speedway has a rental kart operation alongside its racing circuit, and if you are going out there anyway it makes a good pairing with everything else on offer at that site, which is covered on its own page. For the wider motorsport picture, from the Tokyo Auto Salon to the drift rounds, see car culture in Japan.
Booking it
Book well ahead, and in the right city
Tours run in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and a few other cities, and the popular Tokyo evening slots go weeks out. Shibuya and Asakusa are the usual Tokyo starting points, and the route you get depends on where you start.
Confirm exactly which documents they want
Every operator publishes its licence requirements. Read them, take the originals, and take your passport. A photograph of your permit on your phone is not a permit.
Ask about insurance and what you are liable for
Find out what cover the tour carries, what the excess is and what you personally owe if you damage the kart or someone else's car. This is the question people skip and then regret.
Check the weather and the cancellation terms
An open kart in rain is a miserable hour, and operators cancel in bad weather. Know the policy before you pay, and book early in a trip so a washed out slot can be moved.
Think about whether it suits your group
Everyone driving needs their own permit, so a group where only one person has one does not work. Age limits apply, and anyone who is nervous in traffic will not enjoy this.
Common questions
Can I do it on my normal driving licence?
Only if it was issued in Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco or Taiwan, with an official Japanese translation. Everyone else needs an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, obtained at home before travelling.
Are there still Mario costumes?
No. Nintendo won its case and the courts ordered the operator to stop renting Nintendo character costumes, a result finalised when the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal in December 2020. Generic costumes are still offered.
Is it dangerous?
It is real driving in real traffic in a small open vehicle. Police figures recorded 50 kart accidents in Tokyo over eleven months in 2017 and 2018, with 86 percent involving foreign drivers, mostly damage rather than injury. Treated as driving rather than as a ride, it is manageable.
What if I do not have a permit?
Then a circuit kart track is your option, where a closed course means the road licence rules do not apply in the same way. It is also faster and better driving.