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Automobile Related


You must not assume that laws and customs regarding driving a car are the same as that in your country. You should study the Japanese law before you start driving in Japan.


       Index   ・ Driver's license: 'untenmenkyo shou' related
                　  ・ Car Rental
                　  ・ Buying a car
                　  ・ Fundamental Traffic Rules
                　  ・ Automobile Insurance system in Japan
　             　   ・ Word List


shikaku Driver's License: 'untenmenkyo shou' related

      yellow Plaese visit the Tsukuba City Web page : http://tsukubainfo.jp/Main/Driving

      yellow Changing to a Japanese driver's license (Ibaraki Menkyosho Center)
          http://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/kenkei/03_menkyo/02_siken/document/change.p

      yellow Information on the Japanese Translation for changing a Foreing Driver's License to
　　　　Japanese.
         License. : http://www.jaf.or.jp/e/switch.htm


      yellow Regarding the start of English written tests :
          http://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/kenkei/03_menkyo/01_info/englishtests.html (Japanese)

shikaku Car Rental

Most Japanese car rental companies do not provide English websites, and service in English is not usually available.

List of car rental company in Tsukuba : http://www.kek.jp/RSO/living/CarRental.pdf pdf

Try for example;

Okada Jidosha, Tel: 029-867-3202 / 4925 Oda, Tsukuba

     02 Car over 1000cc 3,500yen/day, plus insurance cost 5,000yen (1 day - 31 days)

     02 Car over 1000cc from 65,000yen to 70,000yen/month
        The charge includes Insurance cost.

     02 Car 660cc or under 60,000yen/month
         The charge includes Insurance cost

shikaku Buying a car

1 If you plan to drive through Tokyo and its vicinity, I would suggest a car with an automatic

     transmission. Traffic jam can be so bad, you will appreciate the automatic transmi-ssion,

     unless you want to exercise your left leg desperately.


2 Be aware of narrow Japanese roads. I would not recommend you to buy a big car like old
     American full size since you will experience all sorts of difficulties through narrow roads,
     parking space, etc. Stay significantly below, say, 200cm wide and 155cm tall car if you want to
     park your car without running around to find a parking that will accomodate your car.


3 Get the one with driver's seat on the right side like any Japanese cars in Japan. Remember that
     toll booths and parking meters will be on the right side of a car in Japan.


4 Do not assume that driving a used car is cheaper than driving a new car. There are cases that

     this might not apply. Due to the regulation that you should regularly (every one or two years for

     most cases) get safety inspection to have the "Motor vehicle inspection certificate" ( called '

     sha-ken-show ' ) of your car validated. Cost for this can be rather high and, at some point, you
     would rather get rid of your old car and get a newer one.


5 Buying a car requires quite a bit of paperwork.


    (a) 'Sha-ko-show-may' certificate: You have to get a certificate that you do have a parking
         space for the car from a local police station. This involves an affidavit from the owner of the

         parking space (unless you own the space), map to find the parking space so that a police

         officer can go and check if you do have the parking space. It will take approximately a week

         to get the certificate.

         'Sha-ko-show-may' : http://www.kek.jp/RSO/eng/living/shako-showmay.html


    (b) Paperwork at the local land transport office, 'rick-uhn-kyock', for the transaction of the
         ownership. When you buy a car, either used or new, from an automobile dealer, they would

         do almost all the paperwork for you. However, if you would like to do all the paperwork

         yourself, which you have to do yourself in any case if you buy a car through a private deal,
         expect that you would be spending a lot of time running around to get all sorts of certificates,

         including a certificate of your residency, affidavit of your signature to be the real one from an

         embassy of your country. The latter can be substituted by your 'han-ko' (a personal stamp)

         certified by the local authority. You must get the 'han-ko' made for you since a mass 

         produced 'han-ko, can not be used for it.


        Do not expect that the office people for all these deal can understand you unless you speak
        Japanese well ( which may not be even sufficient).



shikaku Fundamental Traffic Rules (Links by Kanagawa Pref.Police)


      1 Basic driving rules
      2 Driving on Expressways
      3 Traveling safely through intersections
      4 Type and meaning of Traffice signs

      5 Don't drive if you drink.

 car


shikaku Automobile Insurance system in Japan

This is a must if you own a car. The amount of money you will have to pay to compensate for what you might have caused in a traffic accident can be more than anyone can afford even if you were a millionaire. Below is a brief introduction to an auto-insurance system in Japan.

Automobile insurance in Japan is operated under two different systems, compulsory automobile liability insurance (referred to as “CALI”, for short) and voluntary insurance. These pdf-files explain the outline of the CALI and voluntary insurance.
              http://www.nliro.or.jp/english/automobile.html

When you sell the automobile to other person, your 'ji-buy-se-ki' payment will be retured to you for the remaining period if any.



shikaku Word Lis

     The word list used when purchasing a car point