# 道路運送車両法 / Road Transport Vehicle Act — 第二条 (Article 2) - Law: 道路運送車両法 (Road Transport Vehicle Act), 昭和二十六年法律第百八十五号 - English title "Road Transport Vehicle Act": Ministry of Justice translation database, which lists the title - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第二条 (Article 2)（定義） — address `art-2` - Text in force since: 2026-04-01 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第二条（定義） — Definitions caption: machine translation, not official art-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2 **第一項** この法律で「道路運送車両」とは、自動車、原動機付自転車及び軽車両をいう。 art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-1 In this Act, "road transport vehicle" means a motor vehicle, a motorized bicycle, or a light road vehicle. machine translation, not official **第二項** この法律で「自動車」とは、原動機により陸上を移動させることを目的として製作した用具で軌条若しくは架線を用いないもの又はこれにより牽引して陸上を移動させることを目的として製作した用具であつて、次項に規定する原動機付自転車以外のものをいう。 art-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-2 In this Act, "motor vehicle" means an implement manufactured for the purpose of moving over land by means of a motor, that does not use rails or overhead wires, or an implement manufactured for the purpose of being towed by such an implement to move over land, other than a motorized bicycle prescribed in the following paragraph. machine translation, not official **第三項** この法律で「原動機付自転車」とは、国土交通省令で定める総排気量又は定格出力を有する原動機により陸上を移動させることを目的として製作した用具で軌条若しくは架線を用いないもの又はこれにより牽引して陸上を移動させることを目的として製作した用具をいう。 art-2/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-3 In this Act, "motorized bicycle" means an implement manufactured for the purpose of moving over land by means of a motor having a total displacement or rated output specified by Order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, that does not use rails or overhead wires, or an implement manufactured for the purpose of being towed by such an implement to move over land. machine translation, not official **第四項** この法律で「軽車両」とは、人力若しくは畜力により陸上を移動させることを目的として製作した用具で軌条若しくは架線を用いないもの又はこれにより牽引して陸上を移動させることを目的として製作した用具であつて、政令で定めるものをいう。 art-2/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-4 In this Act, "light road vehicle" means an implement manufactured for the purpose of moving over land by human power or animal power, that does not use rails or overhead wires, or an implement manufactured for the purpose of being towed by such an implement to move over land, that is specified by Cabinet Order. machine translation, not official **第五項** この法律で「運行」とは、人又は物品を運送するとしないとにかかわらず、道路運送車両を当該装置の用い方に従い用いること（道路以外の場所のみにおいて用いることを除く。）をいう。 art-2/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-5 In this Act, "operation" means using a road transport vehicle in accordance with the manner in which its equipment is used, whether or not people or goods are being transported (excluding use solely in places other than roads). machine translation, not official **第六項** この法律で「道路」とは、道路法（昭和二十七年法律第百八十号）による道路、道路運送法（昭和二十六年法律第百八十三号）による自動車道及びその他の一般交通の用に供する場所をいう。 art-2/par-6 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-6 In this Act, "road" means a road under the Road Act (Act No. 180 of 1952), a motor vehicle road under the Road Transportation Act (Act No. 183 of 1951), and any other place provided for use in general traffic. machine translation, not official **第七項** この法律で「自動車運送事業」とは、道路運送法による自動車運送事業（貨物軽自動車運送事業を除く。）をいい、「自動車運送事業者」とは、自動車運送事業を経営する者をいう。 art-2/par-7 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-7 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-7 In this Act, "motor vehicle transport business" means a motor vehicle transport business under the Road Transportation Act (excluding the light motor vehicle freight transport business), and "motor vehicle transport business operator" means a person who conducts a motor vehicle transport business. machine translation, not official **第八項** この法律で「使用済自動車」とは、使用済自動車の再資源化等に関する法律（平成十四年法律第八十七号）による使用済自動車をいう。 art-2/par-8 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-8 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-8 In this Act, "end-of-life automobile" means an end-of-life automobile under the Act on Recycling of End-of-Life Automobiles (Act No. 87 of 2002). machine translation, not official **第九項** この法律で「登録識別情報」とは、第四条の自動車登録ファイルに自動車の所有者として記録されている者が当該自動車に係る登録を申請する場合において、当該記録されている者自らが当該登録を申請していることを確認するために用いられる符号その他の情報であつて、当該記録されている者を識別することができるものをいう。 art-2/par-9 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-9 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-9 In this Act, "registration identification information" means a code or other information used, where a person recorded in the motor vehicle registration file under Article 4 as the owner of a motor vehicle applies for registration relating to that motor vehicle, to confirm that the recorded person is personally applying for that registration, and which is capable of identifying the recorded person. machine translation, not official --- ## Cites - art-2/par-2: 次項 → 道路運送車両法 第二条第三項 (Article 2, paragraph (3)), art-2/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-3 - art-2/par-9: 第四条 → 道路運送車両法 第四条 (Article 4), art-4 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-4 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 自動車損害賠償保障法 第二条第一項（定義） — https://japanlaw.org/en/automobile-accident-compensation-act/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/330AC0000000097/art-2/par-1 - 道路運送車両法 第二条第二項（定義） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000185/art-2/par-2 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 道路運送車両法 — the text in force from 2026-04-01 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326AC0000000185/20260401_508AC0000000002), retrieved 2026-10-13 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — 道路運送車両法 — its English title as the Ministry of Justice's translation database lists it (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/529), retrieved 2026-09-18 - claude-sonnet-5-5 — Machine translation, batch road-transport-vehicle-act-20261013T120733-001, translated 2026-10-13 - This site's parser, version 189 — 道路運送車両法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-13