Article 51Measures against Illegal Parking

①If a vehicle is found to be parked in violation of Article 44, paragraph (1), Article 45, paragraph (1) or (2), Article 47, paragraph (2) or (3), Article 48, Article 49-3, paragraph (2) or (3), Article 49-4, or the second sentence of Article 49-5, or if a vehicle is parked in a time-restricted parking zone where a ticket dispenser as referred to in Article 49, paragraph (1) has been installed, no ticket issued by that ticket dispenser is displayed on the vehicle, and it is found to violate Article 49-3, paragraph (4) (collectively referred to as "found to have been parked illegally" in Article 51-4, paragraph (1) and Article 75-22, paragraph (3)), an officer may order the driver of the vehicle or another person responsible for the management of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "driver, etc.") to change how the vehicle is parked or to move the vehicle from the place where that parking is prohibited, or to move the vehicle from the place in the time-restricted parking zone where it is parked.

③If unable to issue an order pursuant to paragraph (1) in a case as referred to in that paragraph (1) because the driver or other responsible person is not at the scene, the officer may change how a vehicle is parked or take other necessary measures, or may move a vehicle to another place on the road within 50 meters of the place where it is parked, but only so far as is necessary to prevent road traffic hazards or ensure that traffic runs smoothly.

④If an officer wishes to move a vehicle pursuant to the preceding paragraph but there is no place on the road to which it can be moved that is within 50 meters of where it is parked, the officer must report this to the chief of the police station having jurisdiction over the place where the vehicle is parked.

⑤Upon receiving a report as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the chief of the police station may move a vehicle to a parking spot, open space, place on a road other than as prescribed in paragraph (3), or other such place.

⑥After moving a vehicle pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the chief of the police station must store the vehicle as its custodian. In such a case, the chief of the police station must take the necessary measures to prevent theft and other accidents from befalling the vehicle, such as indicating the chief of the police station to be storing the vehicle or attaching a wheel-lock device to the vehicle, depending on the layout of the place where the vehicle is being kept, how the vehicle is being managed, and other considerations.

⑦After taking a vehicle into storage pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the chief of the police station must notify the user of the vehicle of the date on which it was taken into storage and the place where the vehicle is being stored, as well as indicating that the user must promptly collect the vehicle.

⑧If the chief of a police station cannot ascertain the name and address of the user of a vehicle or if it is found to be difficult to return a vehicle to the user in a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the chief must notify the owner of the vehicle as prescribed in that paragraph.

⑨If the chief of a police station cannot ascertain the name and address of the owner of a vehicle in a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the chief must issue public notice giving the place where the vehicle is being stored and any other information that Cabinet Order prescribes, pursuant to Cabinet Order.

⑩After issuing public notice under the preceding paragraph, the chief of the police station must publicly announce the date and details of the public notice via the Internet and through other means, pursuant to Cabinet Office Order.

⑪Beyond what is prescribed in paragraphs (7) through (10), Cabinet Order provides for the necessary particulars concerning the return of a vehicle that the chief of a police station has taken into storage pursuant to paragraph (6).

⑫If a vehicle that the chief of a police station has taken into storage pursuant to paragraph (6) remains unreturned one month after the date of a notification as under paragraph (8) or public notice as under paragraph (9), and the cost required to store the vehicle is unreasonable compared to the value of the vehicle as appraised pursuant to Cabinet Order, the chief of the police station may sell the vehicle and store the proceeds of the sale as the custodian thereof, pursuant to Cabinet Order.

⑬If there is no purchaser for a vehicle in a sale as under the preceding paragraph and the value of the vehicle as prescribed in that paragraph is extremely low, the chief of the police station may dispose of it.

⑭The proceeds of a sale undertaken pursuant to paragraph (12) may be allocated to cover the expenses required to conduct that sale.

⑮The expenses required for measures under paragraph (2) or (3) or paragraphs (5) through (11), including moving a vehicle, storing a vehicle, public notice, and other such measures, are borne by the driver, etc. or the user or owner of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to in this Article and the following Article as the "user, etc.").

⑯The chief of the police station must set the amount, due date, and place for payment of the charges payable by the driver or other responsible person or by the user or owner pursuant to the preceding paragraph, and must issue a written order to that person to pay them. In such a case, if the amount of expenses provided for in that paragraph is specified by prefectural regulations in consideration of actual costs, the amount payable is the amount prescribed therein.

⑰If a person ordered to make a payment pursuant to the preceding paragraph fails to do so before the due date, the chief of the police station must issue a written demand that fixes the due date for payment. In such a case, the chief of the police station may collect a fine for delinquency of up to the amount calculated as representing 14.5 percent per annum of the charges payable, and may collect a fee for the necessary costs of issuing the demand.

⑱If a person subject to a demand under the preceding paragraph fails to pay the charges, fines for delinquency, or fees referred to in the second sentence of that paragraph (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "charges, fines, or fees") by the fixed due date, the chief of the police station may collect the charges, fines, or fees based on the rules governing measures to collect local tax arrears. In such a case, charges, fines, or fees follow national taxes and local taxes in order of priority as concerns statutory liens.

⑲Charges, fines, and fees paid and collected are the revenue of the prefecture where the police station is located.

⑳If a vehicle stored pursuant to paragraph (6) (or the proceeds of a sale under paragraph (12); the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) remains unreturned three months after the date of a notification as under paragraph (8) or public notice as under paragraph (9), ownership of the vehicle vests in the prefecture where the police station is located.

（二十一）When a vehicle (limited to a motor vehicle registered under the Road Transport Vehicle Act; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) has been sold pursuant to paragraph (12), a vehicle has been disposed of pursuant to paragraph (13), or ownership of a vehicle has vested in the prefecture pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the chief of the police station must, pursuant to Cabinet Order, commission the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism or a person delegated pursuant to Article 105, paragraph (1) or (2) of that Act to effect the registration under that Act relating to those dispositions, etc. of the vehicle.

（二十二）The provisions of paragraphs (6), (7), and (9) through (20) apply mutatis mutandis to any load in a vehicle that has been taken into storage pursuant to paragraph (6). In such a case, the phrase "the user of the vehicle" in paragraph (7) is deemed to be replaced with "the owner, possessor, or other person with title to the load (hereinafter referred to in this Article as the 'owner or other such person')"; the phrase "the preceding paragraph" in paragraph (9) is deemed to be replaced with "paragraph (7) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (22)", and the phrase "cannot ascertain the name and address of the owner of a vehicle" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "cannot ascertain the name and address of the owner of a vehicle, and it is found to be difficult to return the load to a person other than its owner"; the phrase "paragraphs (7) through (10)" in paragraph (11) is deemed to be replaced with "paragraph (7) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (22) and the preceding two paragraphs"; the phrase "remains unreturned one month after the date of a notification as under paragraph (8) or" in paragraph (12) is deemed to be replaced with "is likely to spoil or deteriorate, or remains unreturned one month after the date of a notification to the owner of the load as under paragraph (7) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (22) or", and the term "cost" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "cost or effort"; the phrase "under paragraph (2) or (3) or paragraphs (5) through (11), including moving a vehicle," in paragraph (15) is deemed to be replaced with "under paragraph (6) or (7) or paragraphs (9) through (11) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (22), including", and the phrase "the driver, etc. or the user or owner of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to in this Article and the following Article as the 'user, etc.')" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "the owner or other such person"; the phrase "the driver, etc. or the user, etc." in paragraph (16) is deemed to be replaced with "the owner or other such person"; and the phrase "a notification as under paragraph (8)" in paragraph (20) is deemed to be replaced with "a notification to the owner of the load as under paragraph (7) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (22)".