Road Transport Vehicle Act

• An owner whose registered vehicle is destroyed, dismantled other than for servicing or modification, no longer used as a vehicle, or no longer on the chassis it had when first registered must apply within 15 days for permanent deregistration (永久抹消登録) — counted, for a vehicle scrapped under the Act on Recycling of End-of-Life Automobiles (使用済自動車の再資源化等に関する法律), from the day the owner learns its dismantling was reported; an owner who simply stops using the vehicle may apply for temporary deregistration (一時抹消登録), and must then, unless an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) excludes the vehicle, notify the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) within 15 days if any of those things later happens to it, and before exporting it. An owner who means to export a registered vehicle must, within a period before the export date that such an Order sets, apply for provisional export deregistration (輸出抹消仮登録) and receive its certificate, unless it is a temporary export of a kind such an Order names, which is notified in advance instead. After permanent, temporary or provisional export deregistration, or on being told of a new registration number, the owner must without delay take off the number plate and its seal and destroy them as such an Order sets or hand them back.(Art. 15(1), Art. 15(1)(i), Art. 15(1)(ii), Art. 16(1), Art. 16(2), Art. 16(4), Art. 15-2(1), Art. 15-2(2), Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Once told the registration number, the owner must obtain the number plate (自動車登録番号標), fit it to the vehicle and have it sealed (封印) by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) — on remote islands a Cabinet Order (政令) names, also by a municipal head it names — or by a person entrusted with sealing; no one may remove the seal or the sealed plate except for a reason an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) allows, such as a special need for maintenance. The vehicle may not be used on roads unless the plate is shown in the position, and in a way that keeps the number readable — not covered, among others — that such an Order sets. An light motor vehicle subject to inspection (検査対象軽自動車), a two-wheeled small-sized motor vehicle and a notified light motor vehicle exempt from inspection (検査対象外軽自動車) must instead show, in the same way, a vehicle number plate (車両番号標) with the vehicle number (車両番号) assigned to it; the Act requires no seal on it.(Art. 11(1), Art. 11(5), Art. 19(1), Art. 60(1), Art. 73(1), Art. 97-3(1), Art. 97-3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A motor vehicle may not be used on roads unless its structure — dimensions, weight, turning radius and the like — and its devices — engine, brakes, lights, horn, mirrors, emission controls, an automated driving system (自動運行装置) and others — meet the technical standards for safety and environmental protection set by an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令); these are the safety standards (保安基準), and motorized bicycles (原動機付自転車) and light vehicles (軽車両) have standards of their own. No one may modify a vehicle that holds a valid inspection certificate, or a notified light motor vehicle exempt from inspection, so that it no longer meets the safety standards.(Art. 40(1), Art. 41(1), Art. 42(1), Art. 44(1), Art. 45(1), Art. 46(1), Art. 99-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A motor vehicle other than a light motor vehicle exempt from inspection (検査対象外軽自動車, the light motor vehicles an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) names) or a special small motor vehicle may not be used on roads unless it has passed the government's inspection and holds a valid motor vehicle inspection certificate (自動車検査証); it must carry the certificate and show the inspection sticker (検査標章) as such an Order sets. Its user (使用者) must present it for a new inspection (新規検査) before putting it on the road while it is unregistered — new, or back after temporary deregistration — or, for a light motor vehicle subject to inspection or two-wheeled small-sized motor vehicle, while it has no vehicle number; and, to keep using it after the certificate expires, for a continuing inspection (継続検査), handing in the certificate, which is given back with a new period only if the vehicle meets the safety standards (保安基準), and which cannot be taken while a temporary inspection is due and not taken. The user must also have the certificate's record changed within 15 days of a change in the details it records — for a certificate no longer valid, by the time the vehicle is next to be used — and present the vehicle for a structure-change inspection (構造等変更検査) when the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) orders one because the change is of a kind such an Order names and may leave the vehicle outside the safety standards.(Art. 58(1), Art. 66(1), Art. 59(1), Art. 62(1), Art. 62(2), Art. 62(4), Art. 67(1), Art. 67(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An inspection certificate is valid for one year for vehicles used in a passenger-carrying motor transport business, vehicles that carry goods and private vehicles an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) names, other than light motor vehicles subject to inspection (検査対象軽自動車), and for two years for every other vehicle. The first certificate is valid for two years for goods vehicles under 8 tonnes gross weight and private vehicles such an Order names that would otherwise get one year, and for three years for private passenger cars (other than those such an Order leaves out) and two-wheeled small-sized motor vehicles (二輪の小型自動車). The Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) may shorten a period where the vehicle may stop meeting the safety standards before it ends.(Art. 61(1), Art. 61(2), Art. 61(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) finds that a range of vehicles, light motor vehicles exempt from inspection (検査対象外軽自動車) included, may not meet the safety standards — for example because accidents with them are notably frequent — and gives public notice of a temporary inspection (臨時検査), their users must present them within the period notified, though a vehicle whose certificate expires before the period ends may be presented when it is next to be used; a vehicle given a new or structure-change inspection between the notice and the end of the period is not caught. A vehicle not presented loses its inspection certificate's validity when the period ends, and its user must return the certificate promptly. A light motor vehicle exempt from inspection that passes is given a pass sticker (臨時検査合格標章), which it must show for a period an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) sets.(Art. 63(1), Art. 63(2), Art. 63(4), Art. 63(5), Art. 63(6), Art. 63(7)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The user (使用者) must keep the vehicle meeting the safety standards by inspecting it and servicing it as needed: a daily check (日常点検整備) of lights, brakes and other items, by eye and the like, at times suited to its mileage and condition — once a day before the first run, by the user or the driver, for the vehicles on the three- and six-month lists below — and, except for a special small motor vehicle (小型特殊自動車), a periodic check (定期点検整備), each under technical standards an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) sets: every three months for motor transport business vehicles, private vehicles of 8 tonnes or more gross weight and others such an Order names; every six months for private vehicles used for paid private passenger transport (自家用有償旅客運送), private vehicles rented out as a business and others such an Order names; every year for the rest. What a check finds must be serviced, and periodic checks and servicing are entered in a maintenance record book (点検整備記録簿) kept in the vehicle. A user with vehicles of 8 tonnes or more gross weight or others such an Order names, in the number it sets, must appoint a maintenance manager (整備管理者) for each place the vehicles are based, and notify the Director-General of the District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局長) within 15 days.(Art. 47(1), Art. 47-2(1), Art. 47-2(2), Art. 47-2(3), Art. 48(1), Art. 48(1)(i), Art. 48(1)(ii), Art. 48(2), Art. 49(1), Art. 50(1), Art. 52(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A manufacturer or importer (自動車製作者等) that finds a type of its vehicles fails or may come to fail the safety standards because of their design or manufacture, and intends to fix them (改善措置), must first notify the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) of the condition and its cause, the fix and how users will be told, and must report how the fix is going; the Minister may direct a change to a fix that is not adequate. Where the Minister finds such a type may fail the standards because of design or manufacture, the Minister may recommend a fix to its manufacturer or importer, publish a refusal to follow the recommendation, and then order the fix if it is still not taken without good reason. The same rules apply to makers and importers of aftermarket devices (特定後付装置) a Cabinet Order (政令) names.(Art. 63-3(1), Art. 63-3(2), Art. 63-3(3), Art. 63-3(4), Art. 63-2(1), Art. 63-2(2), Art. 63-2(4), Art. 63-2(5)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 1 April 2026

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• 1 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

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• 1 April 2024

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• 16 June 2023

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• 1 January 2023

  Act Partially Amending the Road Transport Vehicle Act

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• 17 June 2022

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

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• 23 May 2022

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• 1 April 2022

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• 1 April 2022

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• 19 May 2021

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  Act No. 37 of 2021The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 25 amendments already in force

• A vehicle with a temporary operation permit (臨時運行許可), granted by the Director-General of the District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局長), a city or special-ward mayor or the head of a town or village a Cabinet Order (政令) names, and used for the purpose and on the route written in its permit, is exempt from the registration, number plate, inspection and certificate rules of Articles 4, 19, 58(1) and 66(1), but may be used only while it shows the temporary plate (臨時運行許可番号標) as an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) sets and carries the permit. The permit is given only for a test run, for driving the vehicle to be presented for registration or inspection, or another special need; it lasts no more than five days, except for a long delivery or other unavoidable case, and its permit and plate must be returned within five days of its end. Breaking the plate-and-permit rule or the return rule is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to six months or a fine of up to 300,000 yen.(Art. 34(1), Art. 34(2), Art. 35(1), Art. 35(3), Art. 35(6), Art. 36(1), Art. 73(2), Art. 108(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business that delivers vehicles and holds a dealer transport permit (回送運行許可) from the Director-General of the District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局長), valid for up to five years, is exempt from the same rules for vehicles it delivers in that business, while the permit is valid and it shows the permit's plate, carries its permit and keeps to the purpose written in it.(Art. 36-2(1), Art. 36-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a designated maintenance business (指定自動車整備事業者) has inspected and serviced a vehicle other than a light motor vehicle exempt from inspection or a special small motor vehicle, and its inspector (自動車検査員) certifies that it meets the safety standards, it gives the customer (依頼者), on request, a safety-standard certificate (保安基準適合証) and sticker (保安基準適合標章) — the certificate only for a vehicle under temporary deregistration or with its certificate returned, and neither for a vehicle due a temporary inspection it has not had. Submitting the certificate at a continuing inspection counts as presenting a compliant vehicle, and while the vehicle shows the valid sticker it is exempt from the inspection and certificate rules of Articles 58(1) and 66(1).(Art. 94-5(1), Art. 94-5(8), Art. 94-5(11)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A vehicle that fails a continuing inspection is given, unless its use needs to be stopped, a limited inspection certificate (限定自動車検査証) valid for 15 days. Within the old certificate's period, the vehicle may be driven on it to have the failed parts serviced or to apply again for the inspection.(Art. 71-2(1), Art. 71-2(3), Art. 71-2(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a disaster or other unavoidable cause keeps users in an area from taking continuing inspections, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) may give public notice extending the certificates of vehicles based there, and they are treated as extended.(Art. 61-2(1), Art. 61-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• No change to the certificate's record is needed where the user's or owner's address, or the place the vehicle is based, changed only because an administrative district or place was renamed.(Art. 67(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The rule that a change of ownership cannot be asserted against third parties until registered, and the Act's rules on compulsory execution against registered vehicles, do not apply to the large special vehicles provided for in the proviso to Article 2 of the Automobile Mortgage Act (自動車抵当法), a separate Act.(Art. 5(2), Art. 97(4)) (the provisions it rests on)

• Penalties are in Chapter 8 (Articles 106 to 113). Using on roads a vehicle that is not registered, or that has no valid inspection certificate, and modifying a vehicle so that it no longer meets the safety standards (保安基準), are punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to six months or a fine of up to 300,000 yen.(Art. 108(1)(i), Art. 4(1), Art. 58(1), Art. 99-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A fine of up to 500,000 yen applies to using a vehicle without its number plate shown as required or without carrying its inspection certificate and showing its sticker, to not applying for transfer, change or permanent deregistration, and to exporting a registered vehicle without applying for provisional export deregistration. A fine of up to 300,000 yen applies to not having the certificate's record changed, disobeying an order to take a structure-change inspection, not taking a temporary inspection, and not notifying the scrapping or export of a temporarily deregistered vehicle; not taking off and disposing of the number plate and seal after deregistration is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to six months or a fine of up to 300,000 yen. A user who does not return the certificate within 15 days after the vehicle is destroyed, dismantled, no longer used as a vehicle or given another chassis, or taken off the road by temporary or export deregistration, faces a non-criminal fine (過料) of up to 300,000 yen.(Art. 109(1)(i), Art. 109(1)(ii), Art. 109(1)(iii), Art. 109(1)(ix), Art. 110(1)(i), Art. 110(1)(iii), Art. 110(1)(iv), Art. 110(1)(vii), Art. 108(1)(i), Art. 20(1), Art. 112(1), Art. 69(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Forging or altering a number plate, an inspection sticker or another plate or sticker the Act lists, or using a forged one, with intent to use it, is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to three years, a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen, or both; making or using, with that intent, something that looks confusingly like one, by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen; and using such a plate or sticker on another vehicle, by a fine of up to 500,000 yen. Defacing a vehicle's stamped chassis number or engine type, or making it hard to read, without the Minister's permission for a special need such as maintenance or an order to do so, is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 500,000 yen, or both.(Art. 98(1), Art. 106(1), Art. 98(2), Art. 106-5(1), Art. 98(3), Art. 109(1)(i), Art. 31(1), Art. 107(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Missing a daily or periodic check is not itself among the offences of Chapter 8 (Articles 106 to 113). Where a vehicle fails or may fail the safety standards for a reason other than a modification, the Director-General of the District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局長) may order its user to have it serviced and, while it fails them, give directions on how and where it may be used until it complies; where the defect is wear or deterioration of a kind an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) names and its records show a periodic check such an Order names was skipped, the Director-General may also recommend that check; and if the user disobeys while the vehicle fails the standards, its use can be stopped until it complies, the user must return the certificate and the owner must take off the number plate and have it held by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣). Disobeying the order is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen, and using the vehicle while its use is stopped by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to six months or a fine of up to 300,000 yen.(Chapter 8, Art. 54(1), Art. 54(2), Art. 54(3), Art. 54(4), Art. 69(2), Art. 20(2), Art. 109(1)(vii), Art. 108(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a vehicle other than a special small motor vehicle (小型特殊自動車) fails the safety standards because of a modification or a device fitted or removed, the Director-General of the District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局長) may order its user to have it serviced, and sticks a servicing order label (整備命令標章) on its front, which no one may damage or remove until the order is lifted. The user must present the serviced vehicle and its certificate within 15 days; one who does not, or disobeys, can have the vehicle's use stopped for up to six months, and may not use it after that period until it complies.(Art. 54-2(1), Art. 54-2(2), Art. 54-2(3), Art. 54-2(4), Art. 54-2(6), Art. 54-2(7)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Inspection is carried out for the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣), with the National Agency for Automobile and Land Transport Technology (独立行政法人自動車技術総合機構) checking whether vehicles meet the safety standards; for light motor vehicles, the Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization (軽自動車検査協会) set up by the Act does the inspection work, and its decisions can be appealed to the Minister. The Minister's powers may be delegated by Cabinet Order (政令) to the Director-General of the District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局長), and on to the Director of the Transport Supervision Department (運輸監理部長) or the head of a District Transport Office (運輸支局長).(Art. 74-2(1), Art. 74-3(1), Art. 103-2(1), Art. 105(1), Art. 105(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An inspection certificate is not given back after a continuing inspection, or for a registered vehicle after a structure-change inspection, unless the user shows that the owner has no unpaid automobile tax (自動車税) or light motor vehicle tax (軽自動車税), other than arrears due to a disaster or similar cause, or the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通大臣) — for light motor vehicles, the Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization (軽自動車検査協会) — confirms payment with the local government that levied it. It is not issued or given back while the motor vehicle tonnage tax (自動車重量税) due on the vehicle is unpaid, unless its payment has been entrusted under the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act (自動車重量税法), a separate Act.(Art. 97-2(1), Art. 97-2(2), Art. 97-2(3), Art. 97-4(1), Art. 74-4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where needed to achieve the Act's purpose, the competent authority (当該行政庁) may require owners and users of vehicles and the businesses the Act regulates to report, and where especially needed its officials may enter their premises and places where vehicles are to inspect vehicles and records and question people. Failing to report, reporting falsely or refusing an inspection is punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 yen.(Art. 100(1), Art. 100(2), Art. 110(1)(iii), Art. 110(1)(ix)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The Director-General of the District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局長) may order a certified maintenance business whose facilities or staff fall short of the standards, or whose operations break the rules an Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省令) sets, to put them right. Where it breaks the Act or orders or dispositions under it, or the limits or conditions of its certification, or becomes disqualified, the Director-General may suspend its business for up to three months or revoke its certification, and on the similar grounds Article 94-8(1) lists may suspend a designated business's issuing of safety-standard certificates for up to six months or revoke its designation; a hearing (聴聞) must be held before such a suspension. Running a specified maintenance business without certification is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen.(Art. 92(1), Art. 93(1), Art. 94-8(1), Art. 103(1), Art. 109(1)(xi)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Disobeying an order to fix a defect, or not notifying a fix or notifying it falsely, is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to one year, a fine of up to 3,000,000 yen, or both. Where an employee or representative commits one of these offences in a company's business, the company is also fined up to 200,000,000 yen; for most other offences of Articles 107 to 110, the employer is fined as the article sets.(Art. 106-4(1)(i), Art. 106-4(1)(ii), Art. 111(1)) (the provisions it rests on)