How to get a garage certificate “Shakoshoumei” (車庫証明) in Japan. Explain 4 application forms to submit to a police station

When you own a car, you need to clarify that the car owner is you with the Vehicle Identification Number called “Shatai-bango” (車体番号). The number plates attached on the front and the back part of a car show the number proving you own this car.

No same vehicle identification number exists. Every single car has a unique number that specifies the owner and the car model. When issuing the number plates, garage certificate (Car storage location certificate) is needed for the procedure.

This certificate is what specifies where you park a car. For car registration, you need to disclose information about who owns the car and where the car is usually parked.

Where to receive garage certificate, “Shako-shoumei” (車庫証明)

When you register your car, you go through the procedure at Motor Vehicle Inspection and Registration or branch office of the transportation bureau in charge of a municipality, where you live.

However, garage certificate issuance is taken charge of by a place department.

When you request the issuance of a garage certificate, you should go to not a police department which takes charge of the area where you live but a place department that takes charge of the area where your contracted car park is located.

The area you can get a garage certificate, “Shakoshoumei” (車庫証明)

2km radius from where you live in the area where you can get a garage certificate.

Although your car park is located within 2 km from your apartment, if car park location is within the area of another city or prefecture, you should go through the procedure for a garage certificate at a police department that takes charge of the city or prefecture, where the car park is located.

Where to get application forms of garage certificate

Garage certificate is needed to be prepared before the car registration procedure and it is valid for about 1 month. Garage certificate’s expiration date is different depending on the regional motor vehicle inspection and registration office. The followings are application forms you need to prepare in advance.

These application forms are downloadable from the website or prefectural police department.

For example, if you live in Tokyo, you can download these forms from the website of the Metropolitan police department, “Keishicho” (警視庁), which takes charge of Tokyo.

However, these are written all in Japanese. I will try to create articles that explain how to fill in these applications for those who don’t understand Japanese. Anyways, you need to fill in these forms in Japanese so you need at least one Japanese friend who helps you fill in the forms.

Application form of Car storage location certificate

When you get this application form from a police department, this form is depulicate and pair of Application form of car storage location sticker issuance.

What you fill in here is car name, car model, and owner’s address and storage location.

Layout drawing of car storage location and car park location map

This is a document to notify where you park a car in the car park and where the car park is.

In the form of layout drawing of car storage location, you just draw a layout the car park and indicate where you park your car. In the form of a car park location map, you draw geographic images with outstanding landmarks to specify where your car park is located.

If you feel troublesome to draw these details, you can paste the location map you cut from google map.

Prima facie evidence of car storage location license or car storage location license certificate

These are the documents to certify if you have authority to use the car park. If the car park is one of the lands you possess, you need to fill in Prima facie evidence of car storage location license form, “Hokanjou Shiyoukengen Someisho” (保管場使用権限疎明書面(自認書)).

license agreement of car storage location, “Hokanbasho shoudaku shoumeisho” (保管場所承諾証明書)

If you rent a parking space from a car park owner, you just let a car park owner fill in car storage location license certificate, “Hokanjou Shiyou Shoudakusho” (保管場所使用承諾証明書). Depending on the car park owner, you are required to pay a fee.

Garage certificate procedure process

If you prepare the above forms, go to a police station, which takes charge of the area, where the car park is located.

Police station’s window is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays except for Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

You should take “Inkan” just in case you are required to stamp on some places.

What you do is just submitting filled application forms to a window and pay an application fee, which costs you around 2,000 yen.

After payment, you receive a receipt and notification bill. These are needed when you receive garage certificate. You just keep it in a safe place not to lose.

Then, all of your procedures are done.

Police inspection

A police station will send some officers to the car park shown in the layout drawing of the car storage location form to inspect if a car park shown in the form exists.

However, usually, car parks reported for the garage certificate procedure are recorded in the database of a police station. So, car park inspection is omitted in some cases.

When you can receive garage certificate

Garage certificate will take one day at the earliest, take two days usually, and take a week at the longest.

Especially, if you apply on Friday, the certificate will be issued after the next Tuesday at the earliest because a police station is out of service on Saturday and Sunday.

If you want to receive garage certificate until the day you specify, you should make sure a period that doesn’t include Sunday, Saturday and public holidays from the day you apply up until you receive it.

Go to a police station and receive a garage certificate

When you go to a police station, don’t forget to take a notification bill that you received when you paid an application fee. This is a kind of claim ticket in exchange for a garage certificate.

After you submit a notification bill, you pay a fee for car storage location sticker, which costs you 500 yen. This is what you attach on the rear glass.

Then, you receive the garage certificate and the number notification of car storage location sticker, you’re all done. Garage certificate and Vehicle inspection certificate needs to be filed together carefully.