名義変更 is the name change on the 車検証 — the legal keeper of the car. Paying the seller is not enough. Until the transport office (or 軽協会) prints a new certificate, the previous owner is still the registered user for tax, parking tickets, and many accidents.
Japanese law expects a transfer within 15 days after you receive the car (道路運送車両法). Dealers often do the counter work with 委任状. Private sales dump that clock on you.
KMC JAPAN helps customers in Sasebo and across Kyushu find Japanese used cars, including affordable kei cars, compact cars, SUVs, minivans and hybrids. We sit in Ogori, Fukuoka and walk 名義変更 in English for cars we sell. We are not the 運輸支局. The branch that matches your address (and kei vs regular) wins if this page and the counter disagree.
Ask about a transfer View inventory
Which office?
- 普通・小型 (white/yellow-number regular plates in the usual sense of 登録車) — the 運輸支局 / 自動車検査登録事務所 that covers the new keeper’s address
- 軽自動車 — the 軽自動車検査協会 office for that area (not the same queue)
KMC is in Ogori. If your 住民票 / residence card is Nagasaki, Saga, or Kumamoto, that prefecture’s office does the name change even if the car sat in Fukuoka. Island map: buy in Kyushu as a foreigner. Fukuoka walkthrough: buying in Fukuoka as a foreigner.
SOFA / CFA Sasebo plates are not this process. Use the current VRO/PMV handout: Sasebo VRO. We cannot stamp Navy forms.
Who can be the new owner?
You need a real Japanese address as a resident (residence card). Short-stay tourists generally cannot complete a normal 名義変更. Company cars need the corporate registry trail. If you cannot be the registered keeper, stop before you bid — including auction proxy for Japan use.
Do 車庫証明 first (most regular cars)
For most 登録車, the transport office wants a parking-location certificate issued by the police that covers the garage — often a few days of wait. Many 軽 in small towns only need a parking notification; some cities still expect paper. Do not assume kei is “no garage.”
Drafts: kmcjapan.org parking certificates. Explainer: how to get a parking certificate in Japan. Prefecture stamp cash is extra.
Papers the counter usually wants
Lists vary by office and by whether a dealer files for you. Typical private / dealer pack:
- 車検証 (original)
- 譲渡証明書 — seller’s transfer form (often with registered seal)
- 印鑑証明書 — seller, issued recently (often within 3 months); buyer too if the office wants a registered seal
- 委任状 — if anyone (including KMC) goes without both parties at the window
- Garage certificate / notification as required for that vehicle class and city
- Residence card and proof of address (住民票 is still asked in some files)
- Seal or signature — many foreigners are told to sign instead of 実印; ask that office before you buy a registered seal you will not use
- Recycle ticket / 重量税 and tax questions the clerk raises on the day
Shaken must still be valid to run the car after; expired shaken is a different (and expensive) path: shaken cost 2026.
Plates, numbers, and tax
If you keep the same number, you may only swap the 車検証. If the car moves prefecture, or you want a new number, you pay for plates and sometimes a number-change line. Hope numbers and 図柄 plates are extra products, not the default transfer.
自動車税 is billed to the name on file (typically May). Mid-year private sales often settle unused months in the deal — get that in writing. Environmental performance tax (環境性能割) can appear on some transfers; the clerk’s calculation beats a blog. Yearly cost picture: cost to own a car in Japan.
Window 手数料 for a straightforward name change is usually a modest stamp amount; dealer 代行 is a separate invoice. We quote 乗り出し including our registration work on cars we sell — we do not publish a fake nationwide tariff.
Insurance the same day
自賠責 usually stays with the car through shaken. 任意 must start when you drive, in the name the insurer will accept versus the new 車検証. Complete guide: Japanese car insurance for foreigners. KMC does not sell policies.
Typical sequence with KMC JAPAN
- Agree the car and 乗り出し (auction hammer is not this: ¥300,000 auction real cost)
- You apply for 車庫証明 at the police for your garage
- We collect seller papers and file 名義変更 (or you attend with us)
- New 車検証 (and plates if needed) — then you drive, insured
English desk: English-speaking car dealer in Japan.
When you are the seller (leaving Japan)
Do not fly with the car still in your name. Transfer, export, or scrap: sell before leaving Japan. Domestic 買取: kmccar.com. Keep copies of 譲渡証明書 and the old 車検証 until the buyer’s new certificate exists.
Not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Confirm the day’s checklist with the 運輸支局 or 軽協会 that covers the new address. Offices change forms; the counter in front of you is the source.
