Japan has a great public transportation system in its built-up city areas, but having a car will give you greater freedom when it comes to travelling around \u2013 especially when it comes to exploring some of the outdoor scenery beyond the urban landscapes. Car ownership is popular among both nationals and expats in Japan. Here\u2019s what you should know if you\u2019re thinking about buying your own mode of transport in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Considering its position as one of the most technologically advanced nations, it\u2019s perhaps no surprise that cars are a big thing in Japan. The Japanese are both big consumers and producers of four-wheeled vehicles. In fact, Japan is one of the world\u2019s foremost car manufacturers, with Nissan, Honda, Toyota, and Lexus among the most popular Japanese brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news for expats is that it\u2019s fairly straightforward to buy a car if you\u2019re a resident with a valid driving license. You can convert your existing license if you have one from many countries including the US, UK, Canada, and most of the EU. If you have a license from a country outside those listed for a simple conversion, you may have to retake your driving test. You can check the details here<\/a> or follow our own outlined process here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can buy a new car in Japan from:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will usually need to provide the following documents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t want to shell out on a new Japanese car, you can look at the sizable second-hand market in Japan. This can be a great way of saving money and picking up a relatively new model in good condition. Options include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Services like Lease Japan<\/a> can also provide extensive multi-year lease options for those who plan to be in Japan long enough for rental to be expensive but may not want to look into a multi-year loan. Leasing can help reduce headaches with handling maintenance, the Japanese <\/em>car inspection system (shaken<\/em>), or even provide options like a support line that can be called in the event of an emergency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether your purchase is new or used, you will need to register your car in Japan. Some dealerships will take care of this for you. You will generally need to provide the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you buy a used car that was registered in a different prefecture, you may also need to buy new number plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bear in mind that you will need to keep the following equipment in your Japanese car at all times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japanese Automobile Federation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n Shigeru-a24<\/a>, CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Japan has a great public transportation system in its built-up city areas, but having a car will give you grea […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":51340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,59],"tags":[781,783,785,784,786,782],"class_list":["post-51339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japan","category-life-in-japan","tag-car","tag-car-buying","tag-car-lease","tag-purchasing-a-vehicle","tag-used-car","tag-vehicle"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51339"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51384,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51339\/revisions\/51384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Where to Buy a New Car in Japan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Where to Buy a Used Car in Japan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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An Alternative to Buying – Car Leases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After the Purchase \u2013 What Do You Need to Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Useful Links:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![Shigeru-a24<\/a>,](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Honda_Cars_%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD_%E5%B1%B1%E7%A7%91%E4%B8%89%E6%9D%A1%E5%BA%97.JPG\"){kind=link}