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Japanese License Plates REAL or FAKE? Q&A

17K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  Ma71 
#1 ·
NOTE: Turn your VIEW setting to (Japanese Auto-Select) in order to read the Japanese text

Im sure most of you already know this info, but i figured i would post this for some of the new guys coming into the Club Roadster forum wondering about some of these JDM plates.


Japanese Plate Colors

The Yellow 40 & 50 Series Japanese Plates are for Small Passenger Vehicles rated up to 660cc (That's not our cars)(also these are Vintage now) from the older cars.

The White 500 Series is rated for cars with 660cc up to 2000cc (Thats most 4 cyl cars) (White plates are for newer cars like ours)

FYI: Engine displacement greater than 2000cc is a 300 Series (The big Boys, like Skylines, etc.)

Here is a pic of mine.
http://images8.fotki.com/v116/photos/4/44039/1407284/RSpeed028-th.jpg

Im still trying to score the illusive "back-lighted" Electric Version, in which the green numbers are see-through plastic. The plate is fitted with a frame and a small bulb behind it so the numbers can be illuminated at night. Whooo-haaa!! Now that would be fresh yO!! =D> Or maybe a Sapporo Prefecture to match my Beer Tab!!! "Yeah, Baby!~"

Anyhow, the Japanese characters next to the Series number (Top Left) would be the Prefecture the car is from. (Think of this like our counties in Florida, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, etc.)

For example, and ill post a BETTER pic later, mine is from the 長野 = Nagano Prefecture, 500 Series, and the numbers on the bottom are just standard issue.

HOW TO SPOT A FAKE

Remember the Black Lettered Plates with Black outline are 110% FAKE, the real Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) Plates have Dark Green characters on White plates, hard to see unless you are up close.

Also when spotting a fake, a DEAD give away is the bolt hole spacing, the knock-offs holes are usually predrilled at 7" apart for US spec cars (for the wannabies) while JDM plates are spaced farther apart. (about 8-1/4" or so)

And lastly look for the circular crimp mark on the top left bolt hole, there is always a circular crimp mark on the JDM plates, this is due to the registration.

Here are some more from Japan, next time your hunting for a plate, look for these Japanese characters at the top left, next to the series. Keep in mind there might be some slight differences as i dont have the suburbs listed.

足立 = Adachi
秋田 = Akita
青森 = Aomori
千葉 = Chiba-City (Konnichiwa to my friend Yokoo-san!) :mrgreen:
岩手 = Iwate
広島 = Hiroshima (Some Roadsters are made here) =D>
函館 = Hakodate
長野 = Nagano
松本 = Matsumoto
長崎 = Nagasaki
長岡 = Nagaoka
岡山 = Okayama
沖縄 = Okinawa
大阪 = Osaka
なにわ = Naniwa
和泉 = Izumi
大宮 = Omiya
沼津 = Numazu
栃木 = Tochigi
八王子 = Hachioji
練馬 = Nerima
多摩 = Tama
品川 = Shinagawa
山口 = Yamaguchi
山梨 = Yamanashi
札幌 = Sapporo (ummmmmmm Beer) \:D/

Hope this answers your questions, good luck finding an "Authentic" JDM plate (as it is Illegal for them to leave Japan, with STIFF penalties for exporters) and happy hunting on SleazEbay!

And if you need more info go here, this guy breaks it all down for you! =D> http://home.comcast.net/~markgoodwin3/Japan/regotypes1.htm

Or more about registration Here
http://www.tigerdude.com/japan/license/stickers.html

I dont claim to be an expert, so if you see a mistake, please let me know. Also if you are running a Japanese plate, maybe you can post a pic for everyone to see. thanks.


PhatMiata :twisted:
 
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#4 ·
Great info on the license plates!! Oh yeah- the fake ones frequently reverse the order of the words for "Nagano".... rendering it into a phrase that probably shouldn't be spoken aloud in cantonese :oops: :oops:

BTW- I think some of those geographical locations are like 'ku' or something like that? For example- I seem to remember Omiya, Hachioji, Narima, Chiba, etc are all within greater Tokyo. Is that right?
 
#5 ·
Hi, you guys are very familiar about JDM plate! All of informations above are correct! Some of us intend to combination of numbers by its meaning.
Illuminated plate is available only for rear. Rear plate is sealed by the office, so single kanji on the sel must be matched the upper kanji on the plate. As for the meaning of the upper numbers;

4x, 4xx = truck, van, not passenger car
5x, 5xx = passenger car
550 is the ordered numbers plate, for example 4040 or 8080 well known;)
88 is the special equipped car, for example police car, refrigerator car

All Japanese plates use only numbers, so we add meaning into combination of 4 degit numbers. Japanese hate 4 as the unlucky number because it means "death". Yellow base colored plate is K-car, under 660cc. Single hiragana character as ? means it's rent car.

Mak
 
#9 ·
Great info. on the Japanese plates. Way back when I use to tell my friends in the U.S. how cool those illuminated plates were. Some even modify them so they are blue. To have a Shinagawa number is the cool thing. I always explain to people here that Japan has prefectures that is like our counties. Yokohama city is in Kanagawa-Ken(Pref.). Chiba City is in Chiba Ken (Pref.) Tokyo is so big that they divided it into Ku's. Like Chiyoda ku, edogawa Ku. etc. When I lived in Narshino/Funabashi Chiba-Ken my number on my Miata was Narashino 11-65.

Jimmy
FujiRacing
 
#10 ·
Tokyo is so big that they divided it into Ku's. Like Chiyoda ku, edogawa Ku. etc. When I lived in Narshino/Funabashi Chiba-Ken my number on my Miata was Narashino 11-65.

Jimmy
FujiRacing
Tokyo is a prefecture in itself, Kus are translated as wards, and tokyo-to also has shis (cities) like Hachioji and machis (towns) and muras (villages).

And jesse, Omiya is no longer, it was combined into Saitama city, but has always been within Saitama Prefecture. Chiba is also its own prefecture. However, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa prefectures are generally considered part of the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area.

BTW What is NoNaga mean in Cantonese?
 
#13 ·
But does it make the car faster? :p Funny, I lived in Okinawa for a year and it STILL confuses me.
Nope dont make the car any faster, its just another way of modding your car, like the German cars you see with Euro tags, or old Vintage MGs, TR7's, Mini's at car shows with the Euro tags.

So does this mean you guys aren't gonna talk to me after I bought a copy off of ebay the other day? :( I just wanted one 'cause I thought it looked kinda cool. :p
Hahaha no way, we are all "one" with our Roadsters here, mod your car how you like. This post was a simple one to educate folks interested in that kinda thing. Some people buy fake ones thinking they are real, my post was just to point out the differences, and let the buyers become more aware. :mrgreen:

PhatMiata
 
#14 ·
Hahaha no way, we are all "one" with our Roadsters here, mod your car how you like. This post was a simple one to educate folks interested in that kinda thing. Some people buy fake ones thinking they are real, my post was just to point out the differences, and let the buyers become more aware. :mrgreen:

PhatMiata
Haha, I got a real one I bought from you on my bedroom wall anyway :mrgreen: Best of both worlds =D>
 
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