Motor vehicle inspection certificate

The certificate issued for a motor vehicle that has passed the inspection the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) carries out: a card on which the chassis number, the user's name and other particulars a Ministerial Order (国土交通省令) sets are written, and on which those particulars, the certificate's period of validity and other particulars a Ministerial Order sets are also recorded electronically (Road Transport Vehicle Act, Article 58, paragraph (2)). Apart from light motor vehicles (軽自動車) a Ministerial Order leaves out and special small motor vehicles (小型特殊自動車), a motor vehicle may not, as a rule, be driven unless it has been inspected and a valid certificate has been issued for it (Article 58, paragraph (1)). It is issued to the vehicle's user when a new inspection finds the vehicle meets the safety standards (保安基準) (Article 60, paragraph (1)). Other than for a light motor vehicle, it is valid for one year for a vehicle carrying passengers in a motor vehicle transport business, a vehicle carrying goods and a private-use vehicle a Ministerial Order specifies; for any other vehicle, light motor vehicles included, it is valid for two years. The first certificate of some vehicles is valid for longer, and the Minister may shorten the period where the vehicle may stop meeting the safety standards before it ends (Article 61, paragraphs (1) to (3)). A user who wants to go on using a registered motor vehicle, or a light or two-wheeled small motor vehicle given a vehicle number, after it expires must have the vehicle inspected again (継続検査) (Article 62, paragraph (1)). The certificate must be kept in the vehicle, and an inspection mark (検査標章) displayed, when it is driven (Article 66, paragraph (1)). Neither rule applies to a vehicle driven under a permit for temporary operation (臨時運行) or a delivery operation permit (回送運行) for the purpose the permit states, or to one displaying a valid safety standards conformity mark (保安基準適合標章) from a designated maintenance business (Articles 34, paragraph (1), 36-2, paragraph (1), and 94-5, paragraph (11)).