Japanese license plates
In Japan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the national government issues license plates for motor vehicles through Land Transportation Offices nationwide. However, certain vehicles with small engine displacements register with the local municipality rather than the national government. Broadly speaking, passenger automobiles with engine displacements less than 2000 cc receive 5-series license plates, while passenger automobiles with gasoline engines having displacements of 2000 cc or more receive 3-series license plates. Additional criteria include length, width and height of the vehicle. Official vehicles of the Imperial household, the Self-Defense Forces, foreign diplomats, and the U.S. military in Japan are exempt from the requirement to display such plates.
Ordinary private vehicles have white plates with green text, while commercial vehicles have green plates with white text. Lightweight private vehicles have yellow plates with black text, while lightweight commercial vehicles have black plates with yellow text. Private, two-wheeled vehicles with engine displacements exceeding 250 cc have white plates with green text; commercial two-wheeled vehicles with engine displacements exceeding 2000 cc have green plates with white text. Private, lightweight two-wheeled vehicles with engine displacements of 250 cc or less have white plates with green text; commercial, lightweight two-wheeled vehicles with engine displacements of 250 cc or less have green plates with white text.
White plates can have the following hiragana:
さすせそたちつてとなにぬねのはひふほまみむめもやゆよらりるろ
and for rental vehicles
れわ
Green plates can have the following hiragana:
あいうえかきくけこを
The illustration shows what a plate might look like. The top line contains the name of the issuing office (Tama, shown, is in Tokyo) and a vehicle class code. The bottom line contains a hiragana character and a four-digit serial number divided into two groups of two digits separated by a hyphen. Any leading zeros are replaced by centered dots.
Please note that, to avoid any claims of invasion of privacy, the artist has deliberately selected a leading hiragana character that is not compatible with the color scheme. This would represent a forged plate in Japan!
Here is a list of land transportation offices and their markings in Japanese.
Aichi Prefecture
- Mikawa : 三河
- Nagoya : 名古屋
- Owarikomaki : 尾張小牧
- Toyohashi : 豊橋
Akita Prefecture
- Akita : 秋田
Aomori Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture
Ehime Prefecture
- Ehime : 愛媛
Fukui Prefecture
- Fukui : 福井
Fukuoka Prefecture
- Chikugo : 筑豊
- Fukuoka : 福岡
- Kitakyushu : 北九州
- Kurume : 久留米
Fukushima Prefecture
Gifu Prefecture
Gunma Prefecture
- Gunma : 群馬
Hiroshima Prefecture
Hokkaido
Hyogo Prefecture
Ibaraki Prefecture
Ishikawa Prefecture
- Ishikawa : 石川
Iwate Prefecture
- Iwate : 岩手
Kagawa Prefecture
- Kagawa : 香川
Kagoshima Prefecture
- Kagoshima : 鹿児島
Kanagawa Prefecture
Kochi Prefecture
- Kochi : 高知
Kumamoto Prefecture
- Kumamoto : 熊本
Kyoto Prefecture
- Kyoto : 京都
Mie Prefecture
- Mie : 三重
Miyagi Prefecture
- Miyagi : 宮城
Miyazaki Prefecture
- Miyazaki : 宮崎
Nagano Prefecture
Nagasaki Prefecture
Nara Prefecture
- Nara : 奈良
Niigata Prefecture
Oita Prefecture
- Oita : 大分
Okayama Prefecture
- Okayama : 岡山
Okinawa Prefecture
- Okinawa : 沖縄
Osaka Prefecture
Saga Prefecture
- Saga : 佐賀
Saitama Prefecture
- Kasukabe : 春日部
- Kumagaya : 熊谷
- Omiya : 大宮
- Tokorozawa : 所沢
Shiga Prefecture
- Shiga : 滋賀
Shimane Prefecture
- Shimane : 島根
Shizuoka Prefecture
Tochigi Prefecture
- Tochigi : とちぎ
- Utsonomiya : *宇都宮
Tokushima Prefecture
- Tokushima : 徳島
Tokyo
Tottori Prefecture
Toyama Prefecture
- Toyama : 富山
Wakayama Prefecture
- Wakayama : 和歌山
Yamagata Prefecture
Yamaguchi Prefecture
- Yamaguchi : 山口
Yamanashi Prefecture
- Yamanashi : 山梨
External link
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (English page)
Categories: License plates