When you buy a new car or a used car in Japan, you need to prepare various certificates and documents beforehand. You may know that you need to prepare certificates and documents before buying a car but you may be confused what kind of certificates and documents you actually need to prepare beforehand.
In this article, I explain what kind of certificates and documents to get, how to get these, where to get these. In order to buy a car smoothly, Let’s check what you need to prepare
Notice
- The types of documents and certificates you prepare are different between a ordinary vehicle and a light vehicle
- Preparing documents before buying a car is very important to proceed with the buying procedure smoothly.
- You complete car replacement procedure of your car insurance and contracting a car park as quickly as possible as the time you decide to buy a car.
Contents
- 1 Lists of documents and certificates which you need when you buy a car in Japan
- 2 Details of these necessary certificates and documents
- 2.1 Certificate of registered seal (印鑑証明/Inkanshoumei)
- 2.2 Registered seal (実印/Jitsuin)
- 2.3 Certificate of residence (住民票/Juminhyou) for only a light vehicle
- 2.4 Seal (印鑑/Inkan) for a light vehicle
- 2.5 Vehicle inspection certificate (車検証/Shakensho)
- 2.6 Mandatory vehicle liability insurance (自賠責保険/Jibaisekihoken)
- 2.7 A letter of attorney (委任状/Ininjo)
- 2.8 Certificate of garage (委任状/Ininjo)
Lists of documents and certificates which you need when you buy a car in Japan
If you buy a ordinary vehicle
Documents and certificates which you need when you buy a ordinary car in Japan are as follows.
You need to prepare “the certificate of registered seal” and “the registered seal” by yourself at a municipal office. A car dealership where you buy a car will prepare “the vehicle inspection certificate”, “the mandatory vehicle liability insurance”and “a letter of attorney”. You can request to get “a garage certificate” if you need.
| Necessary documents and certificates | Necessary documents and certificates in Japanese | How many you need | Where to get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of registered seal | 印鑑証明/Inkanshoumei | 1 | municipal office |
| Registered seal | 実印/Jitsuin | 1 | municipal office |
| Vehicle inspection certificate | 車検証/Shakenshou | 1 | Car dealership |
| Mandatory vehicle liability insurance | 自賠責保険/Jibaisekihoken | 1 | Car dealership |
| A letter of attorney | 委任状/Ininjou | 1 | Car dealership |
| Garage certificate | 車庫証明/Shakoshoumei | 1 | Police station or police department |
If you buy a light vehicle
On the other hand, Documents and certificates which you need when you buy a light car in Japan are as follows.
The certificates and documents you prepare or a car dealership prepares are the same as the case of buying a ordinary vehicle. However, you don’t need to prepare “the certificate of registered seal (印鑑証明/Inkanshoumei)” and “the registered seal (実印/Jitsuin)”. Instead of that, you are required to submit “the certificate of residence (住民票/Ju-minhyou).
| Necessary documents and certificates | Necessary documents and certificates in Japanese | How many you need | Where to get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of regidence | 住民票/Ju-minhyou | 1 | municipal office |
| Private seal | 印鑑/Inkan | 1 | Seal shop |
| Vehicle inspection certificate | 車検証/Shakenshou | 1 | Car dealership |
| Mandatory vehicle liability insurance | 自賠責保険/Jibaisekihoken | 1 | Car dealership |
| A letter of attorney | 委任状/Ininjou | 1 | Car dealership |
| Garage certificate | 車庫証明/Shakoshoumei | 1 | Police station or police department |
Details of these necessary certificates and documents
Certificate of registered seal (印鑑証明/Inkanshoumei)
When you buy an ordinary car, you need the certificate of registered seal because it needs to be registered to the government as a personal asset. For that reason, a seal affixed on the contract form must be checked if it is really possessed by you. The certificate of registered seal is for proving that your registered seal belongs to you. This is very unique and characteristic Japanese sign culture.
The certificate or registered seal has various personal information on it like the registered seal impression, the date of your birth, your name and address are printed on it. This is often used to the situation where you have to prove ownership of property that can be regarded as personal asset to the third party.
The municipal office you registered your seal will issue the certificate of registered seal. A certificate issuance fee costs you 300 yen per sheet. A municipal office basically issues this ceritifate on only ordinary days but if you have “My Number”, you can get this certificate at a covenience store.
If you want to know more about registered seal, please check the article down below
And also, If you want to know about how to apply for “My Number”, please check the article down below
Registered seal (実印/Jitsuin)
In order to go through issuance porcedure of the certificate of registered hanko at a municipal office, you need to register your seal at a municipal office first. It takes you about a couple of minutes until your seal is registered to the database of a municipal office.
A seal that can be registered as “Jitsuin” at a municipal office is set condition of its size like the size of a circular seal impression’s diameter needs to be within a square sized from 8.0mm to 25.0mm. You can eazily find online shops on the internet that sell order-to-made seal.
When you register your seal at a municipal office, you are required to submit your ID.
If you want to know more about registered seal, please check the article down below
Certificate of residence (住民票/Juminhyou) for only a light vehicle
Because a light vehicle is not regarded as personal asset, you don’t need to prepare the certificate of registered seal. Therefore, when you buy a light car, Most of car dealerships require you to submit only “the certificate of residence”.
If you have the certificate of residence issued by a municipal office, you need to submit your ID (passport, Japanese driver’s license, certificate of alien registration and etc…)
If you know more about the certificate of residence, please check the article down below.
Seal (印鑑/Inkan) for a light vehicle
When you buy a light car, you don’t neet to submit the certificate of registered seal. Instead of that, you have to prepare your private seal which is usually used at a bank. There is no scale condition on a private seal unlike a registered seal. However, there is a case that a ready‐made seal may not be acceptable depending on the municipality, you have to check it to a sales staff of the car dealership beforehand.
Vehicle inspection certificate (車検証/Shakensho)
This is very important document to prove your car satisfies the car safety standards. This certificates has not only informaiton about a car but various personal information about the car owner. This certificate is issued by the district transport bureaus when you buy a car. If you buy a light car, this certificate will be issued by the light vehicle inspection association (軽自動車検査協会). However, mostly a car dealership will prepare this certificate beforehand so there is nothing you need to do for it.
Mandatory vehicle liability insurance (自賠責保険/Jibaisekihoken)
This insurance is “a compalsory insurance” that requires every car owner to buy. This insurance compensate for
a victim of an automobile accident. In short, this is for bodily injury liability so property damage accident compensation is not covered by this insurance. You can take up mandatory vehicle liability insurance at an isurance agent yourself but a car dealership also plays a role of insurance window and you can complete the procedure of this insurance at a car dealership.
A letter of attorney (委任状/Ininjo)
A letter of attorney (委任状/Ininjo) is very important document which is needed when you ask someone to proxy for your application. This is used to request a car dealership the procedure like a car registration or change of name. This document is also prepared by a car dealership.
Certificate of garage (委任状/Ininjo)
The garage certificate is a document to prove that you secure parking space for a car you are going to buy. You have to go through this procedure at the police station that takes charge of the district where there is your contracting parking space. You shall submit the following documents.
- Application form of Car storage location certificate (自動車保管場所証明申請書/Jidousha Hokanbasho Shoumei Shinseisho)
- Application form of car storage location sticker issuance (保管場所標章交付申請書/Hokanbasho Hyoushou Kouhu Shinseisho)
- Layout drawing of car storage location (所在図・配置図/Shozaizu, Haichizu)
- Prima facie evidence of car storage location license or car storage location license certificate (保管場所使用承諾証明書/Hokanbasho shiyoukengen Someishomen, Hokanbasho Shiyou Shoudaku Shoumeisho)
These application forms can be downloaded at a homepage of each prefecutres or you can receive these at a police station. Application fee costs you 2,100 yen and issuance fee costs you 500 yen
If you submit these documents, a police officer will come to your contracting parking space to make sure if there are a space to park your car. If it is no problem, the garage certificate will be issued at a police station. If you put something in a parking space, the garage certificate may not be issued in some cases. Just make sure if you put something in your parking space before applying for the garage certificate
If you know more about garage certificate applicaiton, you check the article down below.