Registered vehicles are the white-plate cars: Toyota Prius, Voxy, Nissan Serena, Honda Odyssey, BMW, Mercedes and any car with an engine above 660 cc. Ownership is recorded at the transport bureau (運輸支局) for your area, and in most areas you need a police parking certificate before the name transfer. This guide uses a Toyota Prius as the example, but every registered car follows the same route.
Who is the owner and who is the user?
Japanese registration records an owner (所有者) and a user (使用者). For a normal cash purchase you are both, and the car is registered at your home address. The user can be different from the owner: for example a company owns the car and an employee uses it, or a parent buys and a child in another city uses it. Tell us at the information step; the document list changes slightly.
Documents by situation
Individual buyer, cash
- Seal certificate 印鑑登録証明書, issued within 3 months. Get it at your city office after registering a seal.
- Registered seal 実印, stamped on the power of attorney.
- Power of attorney 委任状, so Yamaguchi Motors files the transfer for you. We prepare it; you stamp it.
- Parking certificate 自動車保管場所証明書 (車庫証明), issued within about one month, where your area requires it.
You do not need proof of income, an employer letter or bank statements for a cash purchase.
Company buyer
- Company seal certificate 印鑑証明書 of the registered company seal, within 3 months.
- Registry extract 登記事項証明書 showing the company address.
- Power of attorney 委任状 stamped with the company seal.
- Parking certificate for the parking place at the business address, where required.
The company is normally both owner and user. If an employee at another address is the user, the user’s address proof is added.
Owner and user different
- Owner side: seal certificate, registered seal, power of attorney as above.
- User side: certificate of residence (住民票) or seal certificate showing the user’s address, plus the parking certificate for the user’s parking place.
Finance purchase
- Registration documents are the same as a cash purchase.
- The finance provider may register itself as owner with you as user until the loan is repaid (所有権留保). Documents the lender asks for (identity, residence, income) are separate from registration. Financing page.
The parking certificate
A registered car needs a place to park that is off the public road, within 2 km of the place of use, big enough for the car to enter, leave and fit completely, and that you have the legal right to use. The police station covering the parking place issues the certificate. What you attach depends on the parking:
- You own the land or house: a self-declaration (保管場所使用権原疎明書面, 自認書). No landlord stamp is involved.
- You rent a space, or it belongs to your apartment building: a parking-use consent certificate (保管場所使用承諾証明書) issued by the owner or management company. Some prefectures also accept a copy of the parking contract or recent receipts; we check the rule for your police station.
- Everyone: a location map (所在図) and a layout map (配置図).
Some rural areas are exempt from the certificate. Fees and processing days are set by each prefecture (for example ¥2,400 and 3 to 7 days in Tokyo). Full explanation, examples and who does what: Parking guide.
What happens at the transport bureau
- We receive your signed power of attorney, seal certificate and parking certificate.
- Yamaguchi Motors, as the seller, adds the transfer certificate (譲渡証明書), our own seal certificate and the vehicle inspection certificate (車検証).
- We file the transfer registration (移転登録) at the transport bureau for your address, pay the registration stamp fee and declare the automobile tax.
- If your area is different from the current plate area, new number plates are issued. A preferred number (希望ナンバー) can be reserved in advance at extra cost.
- The new inspection certificate shows you as owner. The car is then prepared and delivered.
Timeline
Typical: 2 to 5 days for you to collect the seal certificate and parking documents, 3 to 7 working days for the police to issue the parking certificate, then 1 to 3 working days for the transfer and plates. Fresh Shaken, when included, is done in parallel. Most registered-car purchases are ready for delivery 2 to 3 weeks after full payment. We show the live status on your order page.
Costs that depend on your address
Registration stamp fees, number plates, automobile tax for the remaining months of the year, recycle fee transfer and the parking certificate fee are itemised on your invoice once we know your registration address. They are never hidden inside the vehicle price, and they are shown before you pay the balance.
Generate my document checklist See every document explained
Sources: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism vehicle registration portal; National Police Agency and prefectural police parking-certificate pages, checked September 2026. Requirements vary by prefecture and by your situation; Yamaguchi Motors confirms your exact list before registration.