A very good video! I am a number plate nerd, so I thought I'd add a few details that's not covered. - Many people got the 2020 Summer Olympic vanity plate, which got a subtle logo on the top right, because it was the only way to get green on white plate on Kei-cars. - Illuminated plate was invented for the cold north, as the incandescent bulb would melt the snow off the plate. However, todays they use LED bulb so it's now mainly for aesthetic. - The transport office area displayed on top must always match with the address of the owner. You cannot have, say, Naniwa plate if your address is in Tokyo. If you move and the address is changed, the plate also needed to be change. - However, if the car is sold to another owner within the same transport office area, the car can keep it's plate. This is why there are some car out there with 1-digit classification car owned by somebody who wasn't even alive before the introduction of 2-digit classification. - A lot have already pointed out that 5-number cars not only required to have smaller engine than 2,000cc, but also being narrower than 1,700mm and shorter than 4,700mm. This is why cars such as Suzuki Swift now has 3-number. It used to be that 3-number got heavily penalised by yearly tax, but today it's mostly down to engine capacity. - Continuing from above, with some cars of the 80's (before 1989 rule change that lessen 3 number tax penalty), if they have >2,000cc engine, they would also have big, USDM-esque bumper that pushed the car over 4,700mm length. If the owner is paying a lot to have big engine, they want it to be more obvious than just having 3 on the plate. - 3 digit classification was introduced in 1998, but didn't become nationwide until 2003. Kei-car only went to 3 digit classification nationwide in 2005, so it is relatively more common than white plate 2-digit. - The classification number is not always sequential. If you selected to have the "desired number", the sequence would start from x30 and reverting back to x10 when it gets to x99. Kei-car sequence starts at x80. When some of the more popular numbers run out they introduced the alphabet to the classification as shown. - If someone requested 42-49 on their plate with the desired number system, the transport office nationwide will issue that plate no problem. Some would even issue it sequentially but some would not. - 尾張小牧ナンバー is just the meme.

I'm currently stationed in Japan as a member of the US military. There's a joke among US servicemembers that the "Y" on our license plates stands for "Yankee".

Gonna have to keep an eye out for rental cars at the next meet I go to 😂

From memory, Bato’s car in Ghost in the Shell has 39-23 plates. Nissan was a sponsor of the production so “San Kyu Ni San” seems suitably courteous.

The plate only changes if the car leaves the issuing authority's region. You can transfer ownership of a car with the same plate so long as the area of the owners is the same. If the owner moves regions, or the new owner is in a different area, then the plate must change. So in the case of the cappuccino, it means that it has never been registered outside of the area it was originally, not that the owner is the same as before.

I design liveries in gt7 and I used to use the white plate with red line 🤣 Now, I'm gonna use the regular plate. Thanks for posting this, I learnt something new today.

Japan being Japan is when even their number plates are an elaborate and thought out system

1:41 Ohhh darn.... So THATS why I saw an alphard with a blue plate that doesn't match the Japanese design that I know last year!

I just found this video in my recommendations. This video should have more views!

5:40 Only leading zeros are marked as a dot. A zero in the number plate that's not the first digit is written as a regular zero. 6:38 It isn't banned (source- I had a rental with 42-05), it's just that people don't want a plate like that due to how it reads

Very good explanation on the number plate system here! Here’s a few more obscure tidbits: “Y” and “A” kanas, as you mentioned, are reserved for civilian-purpose cars of US military servicemen on active duty. “E” is also reserved for military, but it also specifically means that the car has no local Japanese sales tax paid for, and when the serviceman moves out of Japan the car must be exported out as well. This almost always encompasses left-hand drive USDM vehicles from America imported to Japan by servicemen owners - though there are VERY rare exceptions to this rule (such as JDM cars that have already been legally exported to America, but brought back temporarily to Japan by their servicemen owners). In addition, the “よ” kana designates a car owned by a former US military serviceman not on active duty (whether retired or otherwise) who chooses to stay and settle in Japan.

Bro is Underrated fast and easy to understand 🗣️🔥

Thanks to the Shutokou Battle game, i learned what Japanese license plate number means.

So there is a dimension boundary and displacement boundary to differ small passenger cars (5xx) and regular passenger cars (3xx). The dimension boundary is 4700mm*1700mm*2000mm and displacement is 2L. If your vehicle goes over in one or more of the four metrics, your vehicle will be a regular passenger vehicle, which will subject to higher taxes.

I always wondered what the numbers mean but never got to research myself. Thanks for this video. Now I can spot rentals the next time I'm at Daikoku

日本のナンバーは複雑なのにも関わらずこんなに解説できる外国人がいるのにびっくり

Did not search for this video but it found me. Glad it did. Very informative.

One to add is JIETAI (Self-Defence Force) plates, which are 2+4 dark green numbers on a white background. You'll usually only see these if you live near a military base of some kind. There was a story that, before you could request custom number combinations, yakuza members would wait at the registration centre until 8888 was about to be issued, then barge in the line, which is why you'd see a lot of black Yakuza cars with only 8's on the plate. Speaking of which, you'd probably not want "893" (ya-ku-sa(n)) on your plate!

I just notice that in Initial D manga & anime, it actually using 5 numbers combinations (2 in the front & 3 in the back). Like the iconic 13-954 which in unusual irl but it gets the job done for THE iconic plate of the Panda 86 of Akina. Same case as Wangan Midnight anime since it also made by the same studio who made the 4th Stage (53-681 of the Devil Z) While the rebooted 3 movies of Initial D & its actual sequel MF Ghost are revert to the 4 numbers combinations but with 1 number in the front & 3 numbers in the back

That one japanese guy in your neighborhood seeing ur number plate having numbers 42 & 49:

There is another exceptional plate in Japan that I would like to add. It is mainly used when forwarding cars whose vehicle inspection has expired or whose vehicle inspection has not yet been passed. The four sides of the plate are surrounded by red lines. It is mainly offered specially to car dealers.

As I build a lot of model kits, I have always been curious about the Japanese plates and the breakdown. This is a great video just for that reason. Thanks for providing me some info and now when a kit has the ability to create you own plate numbers, I will be more aware of what I can do with them!

Great video. I've been collecting number plates for 30 years but got into the Japanese plates about 10 years ago. I got some books on them but they're very hard to follow. Your video really helped my understanding of these awesome plates. Been to Japan twice now. Great place, lots of platespotting, went to Daikoku PA, got a nice pair of Kei car plates in a rural car junkyard. Japan rocks. Arigato.

1:21 I have this license plate in my car in the game and I never thought it was such a big deal 😂

Nice video! very informative and enjoyable

This was both interesting and educational. The person behind this clip also has a really good and clear voice. Will most certainly watch more from this channel.

This videos production quality is really good keep this up❤️‍🔥

am using Google translate 1:42 This plate has several variations such as "gai"(外), "gai"with a circle, "dai"(代), and "ryo"(領). "gai"(外) is used by diplomats (外交官). The first two or three digits of the number represent the country to which it belongs. The plate in the video says 96, so it's the Mongolian diplomat's car. "gai"with a circle is used only by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. Upper left at 1:45. "dai"(代) is used by daihyobu (代表部) [I don't know how to say it in English]. and "ryo"(領) is used by consulates (領事館). These are so rare that even we don't know much about it. Great video, btw. Much respect from Japan🫡

Very informative. I've been to Japan now 20 times and always wondered about their plates. Thank you for helping me understand👍

This is very informativ, thank you very much. I was wondering for a long time about these plates, because they are quite popular on car meets outside of japan

lovely video. It's always the underrated youtubers that have the BEST quality videos. You my man earned a new sub. Keep it up 😍😍

It's a long time since I last visited Japan, so I don't know why this came up on my home page, but it was actually very interesting.

Wow!! Very interesting video😮! I really like Japan🇯🇵 and i really wanted to know smthg about licence plates. THANKS mate!! 10/10 video, good edit, good voice, good photos 10/10 😊

Was in Tokyo the week after I saw this video pop up and it had me paying attention to the plates I saw while walking around! The Shinagawa plates totally make sense haha. Great video!

Awesome breakdown! Really great in-depth knowledge right there. One little note on 4 and 9. AFAIK 49 is not related to "run over". Rather, 4 for "death" and 9 for "agony" are just generally not favored. For instance, hospital or even apartment rooms are typically nubered like 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, and then 110. Besides that you've provided one of the best clarification on the system and that's just amazing!

Hey! I loved this vid and I actually didn’t know your channel only had 1k subs. Keep up the great vids for the future!

great video dude, informative and straight to the point

Very interesting video!

That was fascinating, a really great video!

Brilliant Video. Informative and the right length. Thanks

great video, hope ur channel grows

I actually love sign plate lore. It's somehow interesting! Did you know that in Switzerland they just take the city/municipality as a two letter code and start counting up? So SH 180528 would be the 180528th number plate issued in Schaffhausen. Small municipalities didn't cross 9999 till today. You can keep your sign plate, take it with you to your next car and even sell it. Low and matching numbers often bring some good money. This system only works because Switzerland is small. Letters would be much more efficient.

Reminds me of my drive at Shutoko. I was resting at Daikoku PA when somehow I saw a hellcat parked with a わ plate, a rental. I couldn't believe my eyes since I never saw a US car being on a rental fleet. Was baller ngl.

First time on your channel, jeez you make some good content !

Great Info! You already had me at illuminated plates

Top notch content :)

I realized my car had 42 as the last 2 numbers on my plate....explains why i got some weird looks when parking haha. Great Video!

After watching this video, this is definitely some neat information I found interesting especially when I didn't know about Japanese license plates, also guess I will be using "42" and "49" for the Dodge Viper in one of the Japanese console racing games that I play.

Very informative and good video

This video is very useful Keep up the work

Nice video! I am from Quebec, Canada and out here number plates are pretty basic. Although business/rental cars are easy to spot. Kinda like the Kana text in japan, we have F at the start of license plates where the vehicle was registered as a business car or as a rental. Pretty neat!

Great video, subbed!

Great video!

I love the fact that you can see on the plate that is it a rental.

This is very interesting! I love your video man :o

Yes I did find it interesting and informative

Subbed! Heading to Japan again soon and can’t wait to see what cool plates I can decipher

Nice video! Now I know a lot more about car plates in japan.

Really nice video! 👍

This was very interesting to learn considering I also live in S.A. and im currently waiting for my new japanese style plates

The blue plates are for Embassies and if the character is in a circle its the ambassador or offical flag car. The consulates have a slightly different format with a different character

I've seen so many 86s with the license plate "86", and as an GT86 owner back in the States, I love it!

*finally a proper explanation japanese plate number*

Very interesting !

Very good explanation Sir! Thank you very much!

great video, thanks

Great video! Subscribed!

Great video

Thanks for the explainer, I recently moved to Japan and while I knew some of the format, I also learned a few things! However, I will point out that the vehicle classification is based on size as well as engine capacity - I bought a Subaru Levorg, and while it's a 1.6 litre turbo engine, it has a 300 plate, not a 5xx plate. Also kudos for including a 北見 plate as an example - that's where I live!

Classification of 3 also applied cars with wider body over 1,700mm even engine is smaller than 2,000cc.

Awesome - thanks. Just got back from Japan, wish I'd seen this before we went.

Thanks mate 🤙 top Video, very informative keep it up 🇦🇺

Ty for the info going to japan next week!

I'm from SA and ordered a JDM style rego plate when they were released the other week. I chose the premium ones for my Skyline 370gt. The number and lettering I was issued was 23-AAA. (Ni San). Pretty chuffed with that!

i agree on what he said about the brake booster here 2:38 because i always wondered why mechanics never considered moving the booster after converting to RHD like the 2004 jeep Cherokee sport

The only custom plate I knew about was the .2-.3 one because it spells Ni San but thanks for the video, I had no idea about the rest !

Thanks, I do Liveries in GT7 and this is going to come in handy for my JDM liveries.

Was stationed in Japan for 2 years, knew a bit about the plates but you gave a really good explanation on the subject. We usually joked that we could always spot an American driver instantly from the English letter plate.

I noticed the white plate with red stripe on rally cars in Rally Japan. Now I know why they use that plate on rally cars.

Cool video, thank you!

Pretty cool and informative video! We rented a Honda N-Box on our previous trip to Niseko. I was wondering what the plates mean. Had to search for the picture of the rental and yup it definitely matches as you described it on the video

Verry nice video 🤯🤗

Interesting video!

Im so glad I clicked on this video! I learned so much :) I do have one question regarding the classification. If its exactly a 2l car would it be classified as 2 and over or 2 and under? Thank you for a great video :D

Holy shit this video is amazing I was expecting you to have at least 100k subs great job man definitely a new sub and watcher!

Brilliant video, very informative.

A cool play on words one was one I saw in Gero city on a firetruck, specifically, the ladder truck. They had the numberplate 845 (hachi shi go) which phonetically spells hashigo, or ladder in Japanese.

nice video. thank you.

Thanks for the video.

This is honestly the best video I’ve seen on Japanese plates so far 🔥 lately I’ve been seeing more Japanese plates in my area in the US as more imports have been coming in, and it’s been interesting to hear the stories behind them too 👀

I always wondered how people got the single digit plates. Also I learned about the Fuin button that affixes the back plate to the car

I dont know why youtube recommended me this video but I like it and i subscribed to you

The switch from number to letter is because with numbers each digit can only be 1 of 10 possibilities but letters can be 1 of 26 possibilities, meaning you can make more combinations with the limited amount of digits available.

That's means Japanese number plates are very simple. In my country, Indonesia, we have so many. For military vehicles we have 4 colours. Red-navy blue for the Navy, red-sky purple for the airforce, red-greenish brown for the Army & red-red for the military HQ all with yellow lettering. We have special plates for some governmental departments. For the police vehicles is black with yellow lettering. For civilians, consulate general & ambessy vehicles is white with black lettering, for public transportation is yellow with black lettering, for city government vehicles is red with white lettering. If your vehicle is 100% electric (not hybrid) you'll have blue stripe on your plate. If you just got a new car you can request a temporary white with red lettering plate that have a month of expiry date so you can drive it while waiting your plate from the DMV.

Good video, dude👍

Before this video I would put the temporary number plate on my car in video games because I thought it looked cool lol

So many Cappuccinos in this video, love it!

interesting video!

That Yellow FD, always beautiful

Here in California the format is 1ABC123, they are on the 9s right now which started in mid 2022 if i am correct, 8s and 7s are pretty common, you'll see a 6 and 5 every once in a while. But the 4s are extremely rare, one half of the 4s are also sesquicentennial plates, the early 3s have a different looking text that spells out California, the 2s are the iconic sunrise plate, and the 1s are blue on yellow