Appearance
| Class | Engine (cc displacement) | Plate color | Text color | Plate dimensions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private vehicle | >660 | White | Green | Medium or large |
| Commercial vehicle | >660 | Green | White | Medium or large |
| Lightweight Private (Keicar) | <660 | Yellow | Black | Medium |
| Lightweight Commercial | <660 | Black | Yellow | Medium |
| Microcar | 0–49 | Sky Blue* | Blue | Extra small |
| 2 wheel | 0–49 | White* | Blue | Extra small |
| 2 wheel | 50–89 | Yellow* | Blue | Extra small |
| 2 wheel | 90–124 | Pink* | Blue | Extra small |
| 2 wheel | 125–249 | White | Green | Small |
| 2 wheel | ≥250 | White, green border | Green | Small |
* These plates are issued by municipal governments.
- Large
- 44x22 cm (17.3x8.7 inch)
- (for over 8 tons vehicle, or capacity of 30 people or more)
- Medium
- 33x16.5 cm (13x6.5 inch)
- Small
- 23x12.5 cm (9x4.9 inch)
- Extra small
- about 20x10 cm (7.8x3.9 inch)
- (differs according to each municipality)
| Private vehicles | Commercial vehicles | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact or Large vehicles and motorbikes (displacements <250 cm³) | ||
| keicar | ||
| 2-wheeled vehicle =>250 cm³ |
Please note that, to avoid any claims of invasion of privacy, the artist of these pictures has deliberately selected an invalid combination of characters.
The illustration shows what a plate might look like. The top line contains the name of the issuing office (Tama, shown, is in Tokyo) and a vehicle class code. The bottom line contains a hiragana character and a four-digit serial number divided into two groups of two digits separated by a hyphen. Any leading zeros are replaced by centered dots.
White plates can have the following hiragana:
さすせそたちつてとなにぬねのはひふほまみむめもやゆよらりるろ
and for rental vehicles
れわ
Green plates can have the following hiragana:
あいうえかきくけこを
A license plate in Japan thus follows this format: KK?*H##-## (e.g., 足立500き21-41), where KK is the name of the issuing office in kanji, H is a hiragana, ? is a 5 for vehicles less than 2000 cc and a 3 for vehicles greater than 2000 cc (other numbers are less common—1 for large trucks, 2 for buses, etc.), * is a number from 0 to 99 (pre-1971 license plates will omit this), and # is a number from 0* to 9 (*leading zeros are replaced by centered dots).
Read more about this topic: Vehicle Registration Plates Of Japan
Famous quotes containing the word appearance:
“To educate the wise man, the State exists; and with the appearance of the wise man, the State expires. The appearance of character makes the state unnecessary. The wise man is the State.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
“What! Would you make no distinction between hypocrisy and devotion? Would you give them the same names, and respect the mask as you do the face? Would you equate artifice and sincerity? Confound appearance with truth? Regard the phantom as the very person? Value counterfeit as cash?”
—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)