日本のナンバープレート
Japanese car number plates give information about where a car was registered and the classification of the vehicle.
The Chinese characters (kanji) of the town or city where the car was registered are displayed at the top of the plate followed by a hiragana character, and a serial number of 4 digits divided in to 2 sets of two numbers divided by a hyphen, with zero replaced by a dot.
For cars with engine capacity of 2,000cc or less the first digits start with a 5 - the so called "5 Series" for vehicles with engine capacity over 2,000cc, the first digits begin with the number 3 - the "3 Series".
The example below is for a car registered in Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.
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| Car with engine capacity between 1,000-2,000cc registered in Nagoya |
Vehicles with engine capacity over 1,000cc have a white plate, cars with less than 1,000cc capacity (Kei-cars; "light vehicles") have a yellow vehicle registration plate, as in the example below, which is registered in Kyoto.
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| Japanese car with engine capacity of less than 1,000cc registered in Kyoto |
Japanese vehicle registration plates are displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle and the rear plate has a covered seal issued by the prefecture. Plates should be removed and returned to a vehicle registration center when a car is scrapped. This involves time, a fee, queuing and a personal seal if you do it yourself. If you are buying a new or second hand car from a showroom or second hand dealer, they will usually take care of it free-of-charge for you as an inducement.
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| Close up of the prefectural seal (Aichi) on the rear plate of a Japanese vehicle |
Commercial vehicles have a green background with white lettering. From 1970 onwards, a "jiko-shiki" (字光式) illuminated green plastic plate is available. Since 1998, specific numbers for the plate can be requested when buying a new car if available and blue lettering was introduced in 2010.
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| Japanese vehicle registration plate for a car over 2,000cc engine capacity registered in Owari-Komaki |
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| Japanese vehicle registration plates at Toyota Automobile Museum |
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