page_title: Vehicle registration plates of Japan
section_title: Out of country plates
hierarchical_section_title: Vehicle registration plates of Japan / Appearance / Out of country plates
caption_attribution_description: English: Japanese license plate for motorcycles (over 250cm³). The plate size is smaller than an ordinary vehicle plate. This license plate is registered to Matsuyama, Ehime. 2009 cloud-shaped Matsuyama motorcycle license plate
context_page_description: In Japan, the national government issues vehicle registration plates for motor vehicles through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Land Transportation Offices nationwide. However, the local municipality rather than the national government registers certain vehicles with small engine displacements.
  The number on the top line is a vehicle class code which begins with a 0 through 9 to indicate specific vehicle classification. This is signified by the length, width and height of the vehicle as well as engine displacement. Broadly speaking, passenger automobiles with engine displacements at or smaller than 2000 cc receive 5-series plates, while passenger automobiles with engine displacements larger than 2,000 cc or more receive 3-series license plates.
  Official vehicles of the Imperial household are exempt from the requirement to display such plates. Official vehicles of the Self-Defense Forces, foreign diplomats, and the U.S. military are required to display other plates.
context_section_description: Because the Japanese writing system, particularly the kana, is unique to Japan, standard-issue Japanese license plates are considered unacceptable for international travel. If motorists wish to take their vehicles abroad with them, the Ministry of Transport will issue them with plates with the hiragana and kanji scripts replaced by Roman letters. The hiragana prefix is replaced by a Kunrei-shiki romanization of that character. The kanji prefecture/office code is replaced by a two- or three-letter abbreviation, the first two letters representing the prefecture, the third (if present) representing the office within the prefecture. All the numerical portions of the plate remain the same.
  Using the example given above, the plate (足立500き21-41) would then read TKA 500 KI 21-41 (TKA for Tokyo Adachi).
caption: NHK announced in early 2009 that prefectures may now choose their own color scheme and possibly pattern. This is already being done with the motorcycle plates for Matsuyama, Ehime.
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