Exporting a used car from Japan is a Japan file plus a sea file plus your country’s file. Skip one and the car sits. This page is the map. Deep dives sit on the posts we already published; the last section is KMC JAPAN export service from Ogori, Fukuoka.

KMC JAPAN helps customers in Sasebo and across Kyushu find Japanese used cars, including affordable kei cars, compact cars, SUVs, minivans and hybrids — and we export them. Japan domestic 名義変更 is a different contract: transfer ownership.

Start an export with KMC JAPAN KMC export service

Export document folder and keys with a used car in a Japanese yard
The original export certificate travels with the invoice and BL. A JPEG in chat is not the pack.

Export certificate

Importers mean the 輸出抹消仮登録証明書 issued after 輸出抹消. Destination customs read chassis, engine, manufacture year, and first registration from this, not the USS headline. Full page: Japanese export certificate explained.

Keep the original in a tracked set. Some offices (UK IVA is a known example) may keep it. Age gates (Kenya vs Tanzania vs Uganda, etc.) live here: import guides.

Export documents

A normal KMC shipping set is not one sheet. Expect some combination of:

  • Export certificate (above)
  • Commercial invoice (chassis, Incoterm, ports)
  • Bill of lading (BL) once the ship is loaded
  • Auction sheet / photos if it was a hall car
  • Destination inspection certificates if that country requires them in Japan

We handle the Japan-side pack on cars we export — that wording is on our how-to-buy and car pages. You still hire a licensed broker at discharge. Auction vs stock: proxy bidding (export contract only). Scam test: no hall, no lot, no contract.

FOB, CFR, CIF, CNF

Letters on the invoice. Full table: FOB vs CIF vs CNF.

  • FOB (named Japanese port) — Japan-side as quoted; you take ocean freight and insurance unless we add them
  • CFR — Incoterms name for cost and freight to the named destination port
  • CNF — the used-car trade name for the same idea as CFR
  • CIF — CFR/CNF plus marine insurance as the policy states

Duty and inland after arrival are in none of them. Risk on classic FOB/CFR/CIF often passes when the car is on board in Japan. The signed quote wins.

RoRo vs container

  • RoRo — roll-on/roll-off; the usual used-car product from Japan. The car is driven or winched on. Good for running cars
  • Container — the car is boxed (sometimes shared). Different handling, different CBM maths, often used when RoRo does not serve the port or the buyer wants a closed box

Ask for one mode on the quote. Mixing “RoRo price, container hope” is how totals slip. Size still matters: kei vs Prado is not one stowage line — Africa shortlist if that is the market.

Shipping cost

There is no single worldwide dollar band. Stack FOB + ocean + destination. Planning tool: calculator (stored rates, not a customs bill). Explainer: how much to ship a car from Japan.

Typical sailing-plus-port talk on our how-to-buy page is on the order of 3–6 weeks, with Hong Kong and New Zealand often faster than East Africa. Auction hammer is not freight: ¥300,000 auction real cost.

Port fees

Two harbours, two invoices.

  • Japan load port — terminal / loading items may sit inside our FOB or as a named line. Kyushu loaders (Hakata, Moji, and others) are not automatically Yokohama; extra 陸送 is extra
  • Destination port — THC, storage, scanning, agency. Almost always your broker’s bill unless the quote says we prepaid a specific line. CIF does not mean “port free”

We will not publish a fake global port tariff. Ask which lines are in the KMC invoice and which stay local.

Inspection

Three different jobs, three different papers:

  1. Auction sheet — one-pass hall map, as-is. Symbols: sheet symbols. R/RA: repair history
  2. KMC photos / yard check — what we can see before it sails; not a 12-month warranty unless a contract says so
  3. Destination-required Japan inspection — KEBS-type, biosecurity, or other schemes when that country demands them. Not every market. Your import-guide page and the inspector’s certificate win

車検 (shaken) is for Japanese roads. After 輸出抹消 the car is not a Japan daily driver. Domestic shaken costs are a different article: shaken 2026.

Sequence (one car)

  1. Country + steering + age on the future certificate
  2. Stock or auction (export proxy + deposit)
  3. Pay FOB or the Incoterm you signed
  4. 輸出抹消 → export certificate
  5. Required inspection if any
  6. RoRo or container → BL
  7. Your broker at discharge

Personal car you already own (PCS / leaving Japan): sell or export before leaving, PCS military.

KMC JAPAN export service

We are the English export desk in Ogori, Fukuoka — not a Tokyo walk-in chain and not your destination customs. On an export job we typically:

  • Source stock or bid Japanese auctions as member
  • Quote FOB, CNF/CFR, or CIF on named ports
  • File 輸出抹消 and assemble the export certificate + invoice + BL pack
  • Book RoRo or container and point you at the calculator for a plan, then a real sailing
  • Tell you which port fees and inspections are in our invoice vs yours

Contact KMC export How to buy Inventory Calculator

English: English-speaking car dealer in Japan. Not legal, carrier, or customs advice. The contract, the hall, the ship, and the destination authority override this hub.