License Plate Hunting  Adventures in Japan © 1998 Joseph P. Sallmen
Zoinks! ...  I'm Lost! Where am I going ?		And where does this go???

Spotting an Okinawa plate in Tsukuba - How 'bout that!

As one for an interest in license plates, I set out on an exciting expedition to get a couple of Japanese license plates for my collection.  Well, to make a long story short, getting plates (or better put, attempting to) was sure an adventure in itself.  It seems that getting plates the official route is definitely a no-go.  People everywhere sounded helpful, but if you know anything about Japanese bureaucracy, it is very hierarchical and rules oriented, so few have the authority, much less the courage, to do anything that isn't normally done.   Furthermore, I was travelling in a country where the language and customs are very different (and license plate collecting is totally unheard of).  In fact any kind of collecting is pretty much unheard of.  This sure gave me a communications barrier which was a real challenge at times to overcome.  But I have a few interesting stories to tell, to say the least.

In order to communicate license plate collecting to the locals, I generally showed some photos of my license plate collection and said that I collected license plates as a hobby, in whatever Japanese I could muster up.  Some caught on, but many didn't (in most cases, they usually thought I was trying to register a vehicle and needed to get license plates).
 

I began my inquiry in Nara, where on my map, I noticed the Prefectural Office.  This isn't some place where the average tourist would go, but I did go up to the police man and asked him about license plates.  He directed me to an area which was not within walking distance of the station.  It sounds like I was on the right track, but rather than take a bus and sacrifice valuable time, I decided to spend the nice sunny day exploring many of the interesting temples and of course the largest wooden structure in the world.  Besides, even if I was lucky enough to find the DMV given those terse directions, there was no guarantee that I would be successful in getting anything, so wisely I dropped the matter until another day when I would have more time.

Motoguzzi (Italian Bike) seen in Nara. Hey - this looks like Matt's Bike!	Beetle seen next to Nara Park Note the older (single Kanji) Nara license plate.

My next inquiry was at the hotel, in Otsu.  This was the beginning of my bicycle trip around Lake Biwa (which took 6 days).  I asked the front desk where might the DMV be located.  They suggested I visit the Koban (police box) who might have a better idea.  After showing pictures of license plates from my collection, I tried to tell them that I collected license plates and wanted a couple of Japanese plates for my collection.  They spoke very little English.  I was about to show the landmark ALPCA article on Japanese plates which appeared in the Dec '85 Newsletter, to better communicate this concept, but at a police station I didn't think that would be a good idea.  At any rate, they sort of caught on and called up some official (in the Shiga prefecture Land Tranportation Office I'm sure) who actually spoke very good English.  He told me that "under current Japanese law, it is not possible to collect license plates".  The police at the Koban told me that it would be better if I visited the main police station in Otsu.  Time was a wasting and I wanted to get on with my bicycle trip.  Besides, what makes me think I'll get any further over there??.  So I dropped the matter for the time being.

Next stop was the junkyard.  Do they give out plates?  HA!  It appeared all plates were taken off the cars, since even in larger scrap yards, I didn't see a single car with plates. They told me the plates are cut up, according to official instruction.  There I showed them the Dec '85 ALPCA article, and they actually could identify all the prefectures the plates shown were from (in cases where the article didn't).  So that was helpful.  The older fellow there actually spoke reasonable English (he had been to Vancouver and Toronto during WW2).  How about that!

Richard G. suggested that I try the local town hall (Yakuba), since in smaller towns, people would be more friendly than in bigger cities.  "Big cities are bad news" I was told.  Makes sense, but finding the Yakuba was a challenge in itself, since not being able to read any signs in Japanese Kanji, I wouldn't know from the outside if this was the town hall, a library, an earthquake research center, an art history museum or even an abortion clinic for that matter!  Entering the building to see what's up, and if necessary asking the people inside was what I did.  Trial and error usually got me there.
 

Directions eventually got me to the town hall in Makino-cho, a small town on Lake Biwa which I was passing through on my bicycle trip around the lake.  The front desk did direct me to the department which handled the town registrations (mopeds, scooters and other smaller vehicles which don't normally go the distance).  Once I got there, they naturally assumed I wantedto register a vehicle.  After showing them the picture of license plates, and explaining to them that I wanted a few for my collection, they finally understood, but told me kindly that they simply couldn't give any out, even after consulting with their supervisor..  I then asked them if I could then take a few pictures.  They decided that would be okay.  They pulled out a box of turned-in plates (which is probably worth several hundreds of $$$ in the western plate-collecting world).  In this box I could find four types based on color, which are explained on my  Japanese license plate page.  But it was frustrating to look at this box of plates, realizing I couldn't have a single one of them!  If I couldn't get plates from here, what makes me thinkI could get them from anywhere else?

At the North of Lake Biwa (half-way through my bicycle trip), I saw an older man at a gas station taking off the license plates off his wrecked car.  I was tempted to go up and ask him for one of the pair, but I didn't have the guts, with my shaky Japanese.  I'm sure the idea of a foreigner suddenly coming up to him asking him for one of his license plates wouldn't go over too well anyway.  So I stood there and helplessly watched as the man took the plates, hopped into his car and drove off (presumably to the Land Transportation Office to turn them in).

And last, but not least, I even asked a couple of junk dealers for older license plates.  In both cases, even after showing them pictures of license plates, they thought I needed to register a vehicle, and so directed me to the Town hall or City Ward
office.  In my second attempt I knocked on the door of a dark dingy house with junk tied up everywhere outside.  Since I was carrying my bicycle helmet, he thought I wanted to register my bicycle and simply told me "oh no, just for cars and motorcycles".  But wanting to help, he got out on the street and started nattering on and on giving me all sorts of directions and explanations, which were basically incomprehensible to me.  The whole incident got rather lively, to the point that we drew stares from curious onlookers.  I got the impression he doesn't get out too often.
 

Two sides of Japan: the good and the ugly

Japan is a very throw-away society, so piles of abandoned  refuse like this are common place.  It ruins the scenery. Good luck finding any license plates, however. Beautiful Ishimadera temple gardens - Near Otsu

So as you can see, I didn't get anywhere.  I've heard stories of people getting  plates out of Japan (one fellow got over 400 plates from DMV offices, and I don't know how he did it!).  Of course he had more time to be persistent, but it might have been done when the rules were more lax.  Just to give you an example, getting a Japanese drivers' license used to be easy (you simply produced your out of country license and applied for it).  With the crazy driving habits of many immigrants, they've tightened up the rules in the last few years.  Now it is very difficult.  You must pass a very strict road test.  Make one small mistake and you don't pass, unlike over here.  My brother took 4 tries before he passed, and he STILL didn't get a Japanese license because his Canadian license had expired by then!  He found it easiest to simply get an International license at that point.  I'm sure likewise the bureaucracy the surrounds the issuing of license plates has been tightened up in a similar manner.

In closing, I'd like to point out that my brother, who has been living in Japan for 3 years now, tells me that issuing of driver's licenses and license plates is handled by two separate departments.  The license plates he thought, would be issued at the police station, not where you go to do your road test.  So maybe I was being directed to the "DMV" back in Otsu.  Too bad I didn't have time to find out.

A German plate covered up by a Japanese plate from Naniwa, photographed in Osaka.
I assume the German plate was never official, since this was seen on a Suzuki car!

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