Japanese Vehicle Documents｜3 Papers Every Import Buyer Must Receive

Published 2026-09-07 ・ 15 min read ・ Japan Vehicle Data

この記事の要点

• Every Japan car export involves three documents issued at different stages — the inspection certificate before purchase, then one of two export certificates after
• Which export certificate you receive (輸出抹消仮登録証明書 or 輸出予定届出証明書) depends on the car’s registration status when export processing began — and tells you something about its history
• Since January 2023, the inspection certificate is an IC-chip card — a photograph cannot show the region the car lived in, the owner, or the inspection expiry date
• The 自動車検査証記録事項 (chip printout) is your substitute, but over-the-counter distribution ended in December 2025 — ask your agent for a chip read via the viewer app instead
• Blank type designation numbers mean parallel import (or registered structural modification) — not a standard domestic vehicle
• The 改 (kai) mark in the model code field means a structural change was legally registered — find out what was changed

Every Japan car export involves three documents at three different moments

Buying a Japanese car means receiving paperwork at different points in the transaction. English guides often treat all of it as “the export certificate,” which causes two problems: buyers ask for the wrong document at the wrong time, and they misread fields that mean something other than what they assume.

The last two are alternatives, not stages. You receive one or the other, not both.

The inspection certificate (車検証) is the foundation. The two export certificates are what replaces it once the car leaves Japan’s registration system.

For a longer breakdown of what the electronic inspection certificate looks like since 2023 and how to read the chip data, see Electronic Shakken Japan 2023: What Changed.

Which export certificate you receive tells you whether the car was already off the road

The two certificates are not equivalent. Which one you get reflects the car’s status when export processing began:

What this means for you as a buyer: a car on 一時抹消 was already off the road before it entered the export pipeline — deregistered stock, long-term storage, or a non-runner. Not necessarily bad, but a different history from a car driven to the deregistration counter on its own plates on export day.

If you receive an 輸出予定届出証明書, ask your exporter how long the car had been deregistered before the export intent was filed.

The name-matching rule: if the exporter and the post-deregistration owner listed on the certificate are not the same party, the export procedure cannot proceed. This is a legal requirement, not a formality. Confirm name alignment before money moves.

If the certificate expires: the export certificate is valid only until the stated planned export date. If shipping slips past that date, the certificate must be returned to the transport bureau within 15 days. The car then needs the certificate reissued — or converted back to a 一時抹消 record before it can be re-registered domestically. Port congestion, a missed sailing, or an inspection failure can all trigger this. If your schedule slips, raise it with your exporter rather than assuming the document waits.

Since January 2023, a photograph of the inspection certificate cannot show you the region or owner

This is the change most English guides have not caught up with.

From 4 January 2023, newly issued Japanese inspection certificates for standard vehicles are electronic: an A6-sized card carrying an IC chip, replacing the A4 paper document. Kei vehicles followed from January 2024.

Before 2023: every field was printed. An agent’s photograph showed the region, the owner, the validity date — everything.

From 2023 onward: the card face shows only fields that rarely change. Critical fields moved into the IC chip:

The base location field is the one that matters most for assessing corrosion risk. A car registered in Akita or Hokkaido has spent winters on salted roads. A car from Osaka has not. This is now inside the chip.

What to ask for instead:

The 自動車検査証記録事項 (jidōsha kensashō kiroku jikō) is a paper printout of the chip contents. Until December 2025, transport bureau windows distributed this automatically at inspections with no card-face changes. That window-distribution ended. Your options now are:

1. Printing terminal at the transport bureau — available until December 2027. Your agent inputs the 4-digit security code printed on the card face, scans the chip, and gets a printout.
2. Government viewer app (車検証閲覧アプリ) — free, available for PC/iOS/Android from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The app can export a PDF of all chip contents. Your agent can send this to you.

Ask your agent: “Can you get the 自動車検査証記録事項 or a chip-read PDF?” Either confirms the region, the owner, and the validity date.

The fields that decide things: what to check before money moves

These appear on both the inspection certificate and the export certificates.

車台番号 — chassis number Your identity anchor. It must match across the auction sheet, the certificate, the export permit, and the bill of lading. Any mismatch stops everything.

原動機の型式 — engine model The engine type code. For US buyers: the EPA’s 21-year exemption route requires the engine to be identical or equivalent to the one originally installed. A car can clear NHTSA on age and fail EPA on an engine swap. This field is where a swap shows up — or doesn’t. On any JDM enthusiast chassis with a tuning history, this is not hypothetical.

型式指定番号 / 類別区分番号 — type designation and classification numbers A 5-digit type designation number and a 3–4 digit classification number. Together they identify the exact factory specification — transmission, turbo, leather, sunroof. Use them to confirm the true factory grade against manufacturer lookup services.

If both fields are blank: this means one of two things — either the car is a parallel import (imported into Japan rather than sold there), or it has undergone a registered structural modification that changed the type designation. Both are material facts about the car’s provenance. Ask your exporter which applies.

「改」 in the model code field — the modification marking If the 型式 (model code) field ends in 「改」(kai, “modified”), the car has a legally registered structural change — a different engine type, fuel system, brakes, transmission, or suspension. The modification has been inspected and certified.

Two readings:

• 改 present: the car was changed, the change was documented, and an inspector signed off on it. Find out what was changed.
• 改 absent, but the car is visibly modified: the modifications were either non-structural, or were never registered. On a swapped engine, an unregistered swap means the certificate’s engine field no longer matches the metal — which complicates an EPA declaration.

初度登録年月 — first registration date Month and year of first registration in Japan. This is not the manufacture date, and the manufacture date is not recorded anywhere on Japanese vehicle documents. The gap runs 1–6 months and can be longer for unsold stock. If first registration was 25+ years ago, 25-year US eligibility is already proven without needing the build date. Full explanation here.

使用の本拠の位置 — base location The place the vehicle is managed and used from. This determines the number plate district — and it’s the answer to “which prefecture did this car live in?” Since 2023, it’s in the IC chip, not printed on the card face. If the field shows ***, read the user’s address instead.

Several things buyers expect to find on Japanese documents simply are not there

Japanese vehicle documents cover registration, ownership, and inspection status — not the car’s physical history. Four things that buyers commonly expect to find are absent from all standard Japanese vehicle paperwork:

• Date of manufacture — not on any Japanese vehicle document. Why, and what to do
• Repair history — not on registration paperwork. That determination lives on the auction sheet — R vs RA explained here
• Rust condition — not on the paperwork. The auction sheet damage map carries rust as S and corrosion as C
• Mileage history — the export certificate shows the odometer reading at deregistration, but earlier mileage records come from the shaken inspection history, not from the certificate itself

The export certificate expires on the planned ship date — act if the schedule slips

The export certificate (both types) is valid only until the stated planned export date, and the application can be made up to six months in advance.

If the car does not ship by the planned date:

1. The certificate must be returned to the transport bureau within 15 days
2. A 一時抹消登録証明書 (temporary deregistration certificate) is then issued in its place
3. The car cannot legally be exported until a new export certificate is issued — or it must be re-registered domestically first

Causes of slippage: port congestion, a missed sailing, a documentation error, or a customs inspection failure. These are not rare events in used vehicle export.

Action: note the planned export date in your own calendar when you receive the certificate. If your shipping timeline changes, contact your exporter before the date passes — not after.

よくある質問

Q1. What is the difference between the 輸出抹消仮登録証明書 and the 輸出予定届出証明書?

Both are export certificates, but they apply to different situations. The 輸出抹消仮登録証明書 is issued when a currently registered, plated vehicle is deregistered for export. The 輸出予定届出証明書 is issued when the car was already on temporary deregistration (一時抹消) before the export process began. You receive one or the other — not both. Which one you get signals whether the car was on the road until shortly before export, or had been sitting deregistered for some time.

Q2. Can I still get a paper printout of the IC certificate data in 2026?

Yes, but the process has changed. Over-the-counter window distribution at transport bureaus ended in December 2025 for standard inspection procedures. Two options remain: printing terminals at transport bureaus (available until December 2027), where your agent enters the 4-digit security code to print the chip contents; or the government’s free vehicle inspection certificate viewer app, which can export a PDF of all chip data. Ask your agent specifically for the 自動車検査証記録事項 or a chip-read PDF.

Q3. Why are the type designation numbers (型式指定番号 / 類別区分番号) blank on some certificates?

Blank fields mean one of two things: either the car is a parallel import (brought into Japan without going through Japan’s official type certification process), or the car has undergone a registered structural modification that changed the type designation. Standard JDM-market vehicles sold new in Japan have these numbers filled in. If you see blank fields on what is supposed to be a domestic car, ask your exporter which situation applies.

Q4. What does the 改 (kai) mark mean on a certificate?

If the model code (型式) field ends in 「改」, the car has undergone a legally registered structural change — a different engine type, fuel system, brakes, or suspension specification. The modification was inspected and certified by the transport bureau. This is not the same as “unknown modifications” — it means the change was documented. What you need to know is what specifically was changed. For US buyers: if the engine type changed, confirm the field against EPA requirements for your import route.

Q5. What happens if the car doesn’t ship before the export certificate expires?

The certificate is valid only until the stated planned export date. If the ship date slips past that, the certificate must be returned to the transport bureau within 15 days. A 一時抹消登録証明書 is then issued in its place. The car then needs a new export certificate issued — or must be re-registered domestically — before it can leave Japan. Contact your exporter as soon as you know the schedule has slipped; do not wait until after the date.

Q6. The base location field (使用の本拠の位置) shows *** — what does that mean?

The *** notation means the base location is the same as the registered user’s address. Read the user address field (使用者の住所) to get the actual location. On a modern IC-chip certificate, both fields are inside the chip and not printed on the card face — you need the 自動車検査証記録事項 printout or a chip-read PDF to see either.