A user of a motor vehicle must maintain the motor vehicle so as to conform to the safety standards by inspecting it and carrying out maintenance as necessary.

①A user of a motor vehicle must inspect the motor vehicle by visual observation, etc., at an appropriate time judged from the distance traveled by the motor vehicle, its condition during operation, etc., in accordance with the technical standards prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, with respect to matters to be inspected on a daily basis, such as the lighting of lighting equipment and the functioning of braking equipment.

②Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, the user of a motor vehicle listed in Article 48, paragraph (1), items (i) and (ii), or a person who operates such a motor vehicle, must carry out the inspection under that paragraph once a day, before the start of its operation.

③If, as a result of the inspection under the preceding two paragraphs, a motor vehicle is in a condition in which it is likely to cease to conform to the safety standards or does not conform to them, the user of the motor vehicle must carry out the maintenance necessary on that motor vehicle in order to eliminate the likelihood of its ceasing to conform to the safety standards or in order to make it conform to the safety standards.

①The user of a motor vehicle (excluding a special small motor vehicle; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph, Article 49, paragraph (1) and Article 54, paragraph (4)) must inspect the motor vehicles listed in the following items, for each period set forth in the relevant item, in accordance with the technical standards prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism according to the time of inspection and the type, use, etc. of the motor vehicle:

②The provisions of paragraph (3) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the case referred to in the preceding paragraph. In this case, the phrase "the preceding two paragraphs" in paragraph (3) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "the preceding paragraph".

①The user of a motor vehicle must keep an inspection and maintenance record book in the motor vehicle and, when having inspected or maintained that motor vehicle pursuant to the preceding Article, must without delay enter the following particulars:

②The user of a motor vehicle (excluding a light motor vehicle exempt from inspection prescribed in Article 58, paragraph (1) and a special small motor vehicle; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph), when having performed specified maintenance (meaning maintenance or modification of a motor vehicle performed by removing the motor, power transmission equipment, running gear, steering equipment, braking equipment, shock-absorbing equipment, coupling equipment or automated operation device (meaning the automated operation device prescribed in Article 41, paragraph (2); the same applies in Article 99-3, paragraph (1), item (i)), or other maintenance or modification that is likely to affect the functioning of these devices (excluding the acts listed in that item), which is specified by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; the same applies hereinafter) on that motor vehicle, must without delay enter in the inspection and maintenance record book referred to in the preceding paragraph the particulars listed in items (iii) through (v) of that paragraph; provided, however, that this does not apply when the user has performed that specified maintenance as the necessary maintenance under Article 47-2, paragraph (3) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (2) of the preceding Article, or when a motor vehicle specified maintenance business operator prescribed in Article 78, paragraph (4) has carried out that specified maintenance.

③The retention period of an inspection and maintenance record book is prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

①In order to have matters concerning the inspection and maintenance of motor vehicles and the management of motor vehicle garages handled, a user of a motor vehicle must appoint a maintenance manager, for each base of operations of motor vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight of eight tons or more and are found to require particularly specialized knowledge regarding the inspection and maintenance of motor vehicles, and of other motor vehicles specified by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, in a number specified by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism or more, from among persons who meet certain requirements specified by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism concerning practical experience in the inspection and maintenance of motor vehicles and other matters.

②A person who must appoint a maintenance manager pursuant to the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to as a "user of large motor vehicles, etc.") must grant the maintenance manager the authority necessary for the performance of his or her duties.

A user of large motor vehicles, etc. must, when having appointed a maintenance manager, notify the Director of a District Transport Bureau to that effect within 15 days from that date. The same applies when the user has changed the maintenance manager.

The Director of a District Transport Bureau may, when a maintenance manager has violated this Act, an order under this Act or a disposition based on either of them, order a user of large motor vehicles, etc. to dismiss the maintenance manager.

①When a motor vehicle is in a condition in which it is likely to cease to conform to the safety standards or does not conform to them (excluding the case prescribed in paragraph (1) of the following Article), the Director of a District Transport Bureau may order the user of that motor vehicle to carry out the maintenance necessary in order to eliminate the likelihood of its ceasing to conform to the safety standards or in order to make it conform to the safety standards. In this case, the Director of a District Transport Bureau may give the user of that motor vehicle, which is in a condition of not conforming to the safety standards, instructions necessary for safety, or for pollution prevention and other conservation of the environment, such as restrictions on the method of use or route of that motor vehicle, concerning its operation until it comes to conform to the safety standards.

②When the user of a motor vehicle fails to comply with an order or instruction under the preceding paragraph and the motor vehicle is in a condition of not conforming to the safety standards, the Director of a District Transport Bureau may suspend the use of that motor vehicle.

③When the motor vehicle subject to the disposition under the preceding paragraph has come to conform to the safety standards, the Director of a District Transport Bureau must immediately revoke the disposition under that paragraph.

④In the case of ordering maintenance pursuant to paragraph (1), when the condition in which the motor vehicle is likely to cease to conform to the safety standards or does not conform to them is a condition arising from deterioration or wear that is specified by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and it has been found, as a result of confirming the presence or absence and contents of the inspection and maintenance record book and other matters concerning that motor vehicle, that an inspection under Article 48, paragraph (1) that is specified by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has not been carried out, the Director of a District Transport Bureau may recommend that the user of that motor vehicle carry out that inspection (excluding the part for which maintenance is ordered pursuant to paragraph (1)) and carry out maintenance as necessary.