An automobile must not be put into operational use unless a contract for automobile liability insurance (hereinafter referred to as "liability insurance") or mutual automobile liability insurance (hereinafter referred to as "mutual liability insurance") as provided in this Act has been concluded for that automobile.

①An insurer providing liability insurance (hereinafter referred to as the "insurer") is to be a non-life insurance company as prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (4) of the Insurance Business Act (Act No. 105 of 1995) or a foreign non-life insurance company, etc. as prescribed in paragraph (9) of that Article that underwrites liability insurance.

②A person liable under mutual liability insurance is to be a cooperative that falls under one of the following items (hereinafter referred to as a "cooperative"):

①Once an insurance premium has been paid, the insurer must issue to the policyholder certificate of automobile liability insurance for the automobile.

②If any of the information appearing on the certificate of automobile liability insurance changes, the policyholder must have that change entered on the certificate of insurance.

③Upon receipt of a request to enter a change under the preceding paragraph, the insurer must enter the change on the certificate of insurance without delay; provided, however, that this does not apply if the insurer has made a request under Article 22, paragraph (3) or (4) but the amount requested has not been paid.

④If certificate of automobile liability insurance is lost or damaged or becomes difficult to decipher, the policyholder may require the insurer to re-issue it.

⑤Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism provides for the information that is to appear on certificate of automobile liability insurance and other details concerning certificate of automobile liability insurance .

⑥Article 6 of the Insurance Act (Act No. 56 of 2008) does not apply to liability insurance.

An automobile must not be put into operational use unless it has certificate of automobile liability insurance on board (or unless it has certificate of insurance into which a change has been entered on board, if a change is required to have been entered in the certificate of insurance pursuant to paragraph (2) of the preceding Article; the same applies in the following Article).

①A person seeking a disposition as prescribed in Article 4 of the Road Transport Vehicle Act or in Article 34, paragraph (1); Article 36-2, paragraph (5); Article 60, paragraph (1); Article 62, paragraph (2) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 63, paragraph (3) and Article 67, paragraph (4)); Article 67, paragraph (1) (only in relation to a change of user); Article 71, paragraph (4); or Article 97-3 of that Act; or seeking a disposition prescribed in Article 22-2, paragraph (3) of the Act on Comprehensive Special Zones (Act No. 81 of 2011) must also present certificate of automobile liability insurance to the competent administrative agency (or to the Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Association, if Article 74-4 of the Road Transport Vehicle Act apply; the same applies in the following paragraph through paragraph (5)); provided, however, that if a safety regulations conformity certificate has been submitted pursuant to Article 94-5, paragraph (8) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act and a person seeks a disposition as prescribed in Article 62, paragraph (2) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act or seeks a disposition as prescribed in Article 22-2, paragraph (3) of the Act on Comprehensive Special Zones, instead of presenting certificate of automobile liability insurance, the person may submit a copy of that certificate of insurance prepared in the way that Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism prescribes.

②In a case as referred to in the main clause of the preceding paragraph, a person seeking intends to receive any of the dispositions as referred to in that clause by entrusting the insurer, pursuant to Cabinet Order, may provide a vehicle registration agency as referred to in Article 7, paragraph (4) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act (in paragraphs (3) and (4), referred to as a "vehicle registration agency") with the information required to be given on a certificate of automobile liability insurance by electronic or magnetic means (meaning by using one of the means of employing an electronic data processing system or of otherwise making use of information and communications technology which Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism prescribes).

③If the information required to be given on a certificate of automobile liability insurance is provided to a vehicle registration agency pursuant to the preceding paragraph, a person intends to receive any of the dispositions as referred to in the main clause of paragraph (1) is deemed to have presented certificate of automobile liability insurance to the competent administrative agency.

④In a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the competent administrative agency is to confirm the necessary information by inquiring of the vehicle registration agency pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

⑤The competent administrative agency is not to make the disposition referred to in paragraph (1) if certificate of automobile liability insurance is not presented or a copy thereof is not submitted. The same applies if the coverage period appearing on the certificate of insurance that has been presented for an automobile other than a light motor vehicle not subject to inspection as prescribed in Article 58, paragraph (1) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act or appearing on the copy thereof that has been submitted does not fully overlap with the entire period running up to the day that the validity to be recorded in the automobile inspection certificate, the validity of permission for temporary operation, or the validity of permission for operation for forwarding the automobile to a certain location, expires.

⑥A person seeking to request the issuance of a safety regulations conformity certificate and a safety regulations conformity sticker pursuant to Article 94-5, paragraph (1) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act must present certificate of automobile liability insurance to a designated automobile maintenance facility as referred to in Article 94-3, paragraph (1) of that Act, and a person seeking to request the issuance of a certificate of inspection and maintenance pursuant to Article 22-2, paragraph (11) of the Act on Comprehensive Special Zones must present certificate of automobile liability insurance to a designated automobile inspection and maintenance facility as referred to in that paragraph.

⑦Notwithstanding Article 94-5, paragraph (1) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act, if certificate of automobile liability insurance is not presented as under the preceding paragraph; or if the coverage period given in the certificate of automobile liability insurance that has been presented as under that paragraph does not overlap with the entire period that runs from the day on which the certificate of insurance is presented until the day that must be entered, when a safety regulations conformity certificate is submitted pursuant to Article 94-5, paragraph (8) of that Act, as the date on which the validity of the automobile inspection certificate provided for in Article 61, paragraph (1) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act expires (in the next paragraph, this period is simply referred to as the "validity of the automobile inspection certificate"), a designated automobile maintenance facility must not issue a safety regulations conformity certificate or safety regulations conformity sticker.

⑧Notwithstanding Article 22-2, paragraph (11) of the Act on Comprehensive Special Zones, if certificate of automobile liability insurance is not presented as under paragraph (6); or if the coverage period given in the certificate of automobile liability insurance that has been presented as under that paragraph does not overlap with the entire period that runs from the day on which the certificate of insurance is presented until the day that must be recorded, when a person applies for an extension of the validity of the automobile inspection certificate pursuant to Article 22-2, paragraph (1) of the Act on Comprehensive Special Zones and attaches a certificate of inspection and maintenance, as the date on which the validity of the automobile inspection certificate expires, a designated automobile inspection and maintenance facility must not issue a certificate of inspection and maintenance.

①If an insurer issues certificate of automobile liability insurance pursuant to Article 7, paragraph (1) for a light motor vehicle not subject to inspection, a motorized bicycle, or an automobile registered in a contracting state (meaning an automobile registered in a contracting state as provided in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Special Measures for the Road Transport Vehicle Act to Coordinate with the Implementation of the Convention on Road Traffic (Act No. 109 of 1964); the same applies hereinafter), the insurer must issue an insurance sticker to the policyholder.

②An insurance sticker must indicate when the coverage period expires, pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

③The validity of an insurance sticker is the same as the coverage period.

④If an insurance sticker is lost or damaged or becomes difficult to decipher, or in a case as prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the policyholder may request the insurer to re-issue the sticker.

⑤Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism provides for the format for insurance stickers and other details of insurance stickers.

①A light motor vehicle not subject to inspection, a motorized bicycle, or an automobile registered in a contracting state must not be put into operational use unless it displays an insurance sticker pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

②It is prohibited for an insurance sticker to be displayed on a light motor vehicle not subject to inspection, motorized bicycle, or automobile registered in a contracting state other than that for which the sticker is issued.

③It is prohibited for an insurance sticker whose validity has expired to be displayed on a light motor vehicle not subject to inspection, a motorized bicycle, or an automobile registered in a contracting state.

Articles 7 and 9-2 apply mutatis mutandis to mutual liability insurance. In such a case, the term "insurer" in those provisions is deemed to be replaced with "cooperative"; the term "insurance premiums" is deemed to be replaced with "mutual insurance premiums"; " the term policyholder" is deemed to be replaced with "mutual insurance policyholder"; the term "certificate of automobile liability insurance" is deemed to be replaced with "certificate of mutual automobile liability insurance"; the term "insurance sticker" is deemed to be replaced with "mutual insurance sticker"; the term "coverage period" is deemed to be replaced with "period of coverage under mutual insurance"; the phrase "Article 22, paragraph (3) or (4)" in Article 7, paragraph (3) is deemed to be replaced with "Article 22, paragraph (3) or (4) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 23-3, paragraph (1)"; the term "liability insurance" in paragraph (6) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "mutual liability insurance"; and the phrase "Article 7, paragraph (1)" in Article 9-2, paragraph (1) is deemed to be replaced with "Article 7, paragraph (1) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 9-4".

①To apply Articles 8 and 9 to an automobile for which a contract for mutual liability insurance has been concluded, the term "certificate of automobile liability insurance " in Article 8 (including the heading), the heading of Article 9, and paragraphs (1) through (3) and paragraphs (5) through (8) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "certificate of mutual automobile liability insurance "; the phrase "paragraph (2) of the preceding Article" in Article 8 is deemed to be replaced with "Article 7, paragraph (2) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 9-4"; the term "Insurer" in Article 9, paragraph (2) is deemed to be replaced with "cooperative"; and the term "coverage period" in paragraphs (5), (7), and (8) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "period of coverage under mutual insurance".

②To apply Article 9-3, paragraph (1) to a light motor vehicle not subject to inspection, motorized bicycle, or automobile registered in a contracting state for which a contract for mutual liability insurance has been concluded, the term "insurance sticker" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "mutual insurance sticker".

③Article 9-3, paragraphs (2) and (3) apply mutatis mutandis to mutual insurance stickers.

Article 5, and Article 7 through the preceding Article do not apply to automobiles put into operational use by the State or any other person that Cabinet Order prescribes, for the activities or purposes that Cabinet Order prescribes; nor do they apply to automobiles put into operational use only in places other than roads (meaning places made accessible to general traffic, including roads as defined in the Road Act (Act No. 180 of 1952) and motorways as defined in the Road Transportation Act (Act No. 183 of 1951); the same applies hereinafter).