Stationed here? Your SOFA licence is enough
The paperwork that stops most visitors does not apply to you. A SOFA licence stands on its own, and you are ten minutes from the start line rather than a flight.
The paperwork that stops most visitors does not apply to you. A SOFA licence stands on its own, and you are ten minutes from the start line rather than a flight.
A SOFA licence is a valid credential for a Tour on its own. No International Driving Permit, no JAF translation, no second document. Dependants holding one are covered on the same basis.
That puts you in a smaller group than you might think. Almost every other rider on the island has had to arrange a permit in their own country weeks before flying, and a good number of them got it wrong.
Everyone arrives on one of four routes through Japan’s licensing rule. Three of them are work — a licence gone and got, or a permit arranged at home weeks before flying, or an official JAF translation ordered and waited for. The fourth is the last one on this list, and it is already in your wallet.
Important: Bring the SOFA licence itself — not a photograph of it, not your base ID on its own.
The shop is in Kumoji, central Naha — the same downtown the Tour starts by driving through. The contact page has the address in English and Japanese, and a map link that resolves to the door rather than the street.
You are not flying in for this. That is the whole difference between you and the rest of the bookings we take, and it changes which of the two Tours makes sense: there is no reason to cram the long one into a trip that does not exist.
Your credential is settled. Two things about the kart are not, and neither is negotiable at the counter because both are limits of the machine: 130 kg maximum weight, 180 cm maximum height.
There is no separate age limit — a licence valid in Japan is the whole test. Vehicle insurance covering you in an accident is in the price rather than sold alongside it.
English and Japanese, and nothing is lost in the briefing or on the radio. If you have seen the Tokyo videos and assumed this runs on gestures, it does not.
These are open karts on open roads, so a bad forecast cancels the ride — and weather cancellations are free at any point up to your slot, with no deadline attached.
For a visitor that policy is a consolation. For you it is a strategy: book the slot you want, and if the sky looks wrong on the morning, move it. The rain is not costing you the trip, only the afternoon.
Kokusai Dori through the middle of Naha, the coast road along the airport runway, and on the 90 the bridge out to Senagajima with the planes coming in overhead. You have driven those roads. You have not driven them in a kart at eye level with the kerb, in cosplay, with someone photographing it.
You also live here, which the visitors do not. Come back with different people.
Not sure your licence works in Japan? That is the one thing worth settling before you book.
Read the permit rulesA SOFA licence is enough on its own — no permit, no translation. The same goes for dependants holding one.
There is no separate age limit. If your licence is valid in Japan, you are old enough to ride.
Yes. Maximum weight is 130 kg and maximum height is 180 cm. Both are limits of the kart itself, so there is nothing we can do at the counter for a rider over either one — check before you book.
Yes. Vehicle insurance covering you in the event of an accident is included in the price of the tour.
Cosplay rental, the guide, professional photos and video. Nothing on that list is an extra.
Free of charge up to seven days before your slot, for any reason. Inside seven days, contact us — we handle these case by case rather than by a flat rule.
Weather is separate and always free: if the forecast is poor, you can cancel or move your booking at any time up to your slot at no cost.
2-6-12 Kumoji 2-Chōme, Naha, Okinawa 900-0015, Japan. A container office at street level with the karts parked outside.
Open 9:00 – 22:00, daily. If you cannot find it, call +81-80-4694-0519.
The rest are on the FAQ, or emailinfo@gorillakartt.com.
¥12,000 per rider. Pick a day and a time — you are booking with us directly, not through a marketplace.
Book nowMore of these: routes, licences and the things people ask before booking.
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