Recommendations for: Shipping from China to Japan, German license-plate
 

Hi all,

does someone have a recommendation for a shipping company to get our Land Cruiser from China (Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing.. we are flexible) to Japan (any port)? Car fits into highcube container.

We heard a lot about German cars not being allowed to be driven in Japan.
We are giving it a try anyway, does anyone have a hint, too? Like, which port / customs agent is advisable to get a German vehicle into Japan? (Carnet etc. all at hands)


Many thanks for your help in advance :)

Cheers from mainland China bier
Henning

Your carnet has to be authenticated by the automobile club (JAF).
JAF | For Visitors Bringing Vehicles with Carnet de Passages en Douane
I heard (unconfirmed rumor) that they will not authenticate carnets from Germany anymore.
It seems word got back to them that Germans, etc. are driving illegally in Japan.
(This is why we always say not to volunteer information to authorities.)
If they decide to authenticate your carnet, you may possibly be able to drive. Customs probably won't check. However, it isn't legal so be prepared to suffer the consequences if you get caught.

So one month ago friends mentioned some Germans with a BMW entering Japan. Not sure how succesfull it was.

This was using the DBS ferry from Vladivostok.

Your route is probably already decided because of Chinese government?
DBS ferry from Vladivostok is like 1200 dollar or something for two people with car. You could also take it from South Korea to Japan.

We entered on a Temporary Import declaration,only possible when you come together with the car on a ferry like the DBS.
But if I did not use that, they say I had to pay like 320 euro import tax because I filled in car value of around 5000 euro and year 1994

So this could be an alternative to the Carnet. But as Chris says it may still be illegal.

Friends were stopped with there Dutch car by police saying it was not allowed. They spend some time to find out it was legal. With a German car that may end differently.
We are now 7 weeks in Japan and have not been stopped. We are driving a Toyota Hiace, that is almost like undercover in Japan :P
I guess a Landcruiser like an 80 or a 100 with not so much stuff on it may not cause some much attraction.

I can give you maybe some details on shipping out in some time, but not yet.

Thank you guys for the info, that helps significantly.

@Lovetheworld: Our route is not well-planned but we already left Russia to cross through Mongolia and now we're a few weeks in China. So the Vladivostok ferry is not an option anymore. We are still able to choose the Chinese exit border/port so we need to decide soon whether to take the risk to get into Japan or not.

We miss Japan and would love to be back. It's hard for me to fathom that first-world countries like Germany and Japan have signed different conventions on road traffic thus preventing this kind of cross-border traffic.

I'll keep you updated whether we risk it.


edit:
The first guy at JAF we just phoned did not know how to "Inspect & Register" a German-licenced vehicle in Japan.
Does one of you - by any chance - has experience with this procedure (time & cost)? We keep trying at JAF and MLIT in the meantime. Thanks a lot.


Cheers
Henning

It is basically impossible. There was is thread here someplace about it.
It would involve transferring the registration to a local, something you can't do while temporarily imported.

I think it should be possible to pay import tax and then import it. And then it will probably have to apply to Shaken (TUV/MOT check).
However I dont know how to do that and then to register it in your name, because you dont live in Japan I think it is difficult.
There was one guy with a Renault Twingo who drove there and imorted it because he then lived there. Search in this forum and ask him.

There are RoRo lines but they all go from Japan to China and then Europe. Other way is probably more practical with container.

Dear Henning,


I am planning my trip to Japan and therefore I have the latest information...


IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ENTER JAPAN WITH A GERMAN REGISTERED VEHICLE!


Sorry for shouting, but I hope this message sticks out ;)
There are a lot of stories here on the HUBB how Japanese custom officials waived German vehicles through, but this is history.


I am in contact with the DBS ferry and they would not let you enter the boat with a German registration. As you can read in other threads, the reason is the missing ratification of the 1948 convention.


My solution was to register my bike in a different country. If you can't do that: no entry to Japan! :(


Regards,


Robert

Hi Robert, October last year they still allowed a German car on the DBS ferry.
I think the only way is getting lucky and having to pay import tax, so basically importing it, getting Japanese license plate, and later re-exporting it, giving license plate back. But who knows.

Well, this seems to have changed. Japanese customs is aware of the situation now. DBS does not accept German vehicles anymore. This makes sense, because people would get stuck in the harbour.


I also learned that my international driving licence is not sufficient. Holders of a German permit need an official translation (can be done by the JAF).



Luckily the friendly lady from DBS informed about me about all the pitfalls when entering Japan, this is great customer service. I will post all the details when I have managed to get there! :cool4:

@XBR-Robert, could you be more clear? Since when is this change?
As said there were a couple of vehicles (including us) that crossed in last October, and it included a German car. Of course everybody was served by the friendly Tatiana.
But maybe they decided there is a risk for them too, and they don't want to have this risk.

And why is your International Driving License not valid? Because you are from Belgium right?
The Germans need a translation, because of the same issue with the 1949 versus 1968 convention. But most other countries just get the same year as Japan (like we from the Netherlands) and can just use it.

Also maybe useful for you, we got our (Dutch) car into Japan by DBS ferry and by the C5014 temporary import, no Carnet needed, and even shipped out of Kawasaki port using a RoRo ferry. You have to export your car before you go out of the country yourself. And you have to do the customs yourself, but if you e-mail with them before you arrive to export to the car, they prepare it for you (even though they never do it)
For C5014 temporary import the requirement is to enter together with your car, which is only possible through DBS ferry and maybe one other ferry from South Korea to Japan.

Since 2018 the JAF does not confirm carnets anymore, so only change is to do temporary import of German ( Swiss, Slovenian and vehicles from Monaco ) vehicles.

So that means 4 weeks of time and around 3000 Euro of costs

see this website ( It is german but use google translate )
https://www.blindschleiche.ch/laenderinfos/japan/

We spent more than two months in Japan with our car and only paid 60 euro for insurance.

The 3000 euro pricepoint is very unclear unfortunately, as well as how they did the temporary import. I actually think they imported it (as in forever) and then exported it again, in which case you pay import tax which you probably don't get back.
And of course, I am sure there is cost for registration in the Japanese car system too, but that will never be 3000 euro.

We used the official Temporary Import method with C5014 form, and in that way you are exempted from paying import tax. Literally the only cost we had was insurance, which we arranged through Tatiana of DBS ferry, easy and cheap.
I did all the customs myself in Japan, so the only other cost left was of course for the shipping itself.

I think the C5014 is unrelated to 1949 or 1968 convention, it is just an import method. However, only possible when you come together with the vehicle into the country. So not an option for the topic starter, unless he goes to Russia or South Korea first, but of course very costly.

Also, the Japanese do a lot with temporary number plates (they have a diagonal red stripe) which exempts them from the MOT/TUV check. And it costs very little. I'm wondering if you could use that as a foreigner to simplify it, if you are only staying for some time.

Anyhow, you gotta think if it is really a good idea to bring your vehicle if you have to deal with all this stuff and costs. For us it was also one of the most expensive parts of the trip. However, we had our campervan and it saved a lot of money on hotels and stuff.
If you come with just a car or a bike, you might as well rent one if it is only for a few weeks or a month or so. Or do it partly, catch the bullit train to some region and rent something there.
If you have a big truck (like Unimog or bigger) it will not be easy in Japan.

And 4x4 is not needed. Yes you can find some offroad tracks, but it is useless, only dead ended tracks.

As mentioned above, it is for German Licence plate holders.

You are Dutch as it seems.
So you don't fall in this problem with this .

Germans do.
And if they want to bring their car in, they need to import it and get Japanese licence plates.......

And for that you need to do a very straight forward technical check with all the problems that occur on a used car

What I mean is that the Carnet du Passage is related to the convention of 1949 versus 1968 and cannot be used for German cars. This is clear.

Importing it, like the guys you linked the website from (blindschleiche.ch) is unrelated to the 1949/1968 convention issue.

We used the C5014 Official Temporary Import, and as far as I can see, that is also completely unrelated to the 1949/1968 convention issue.
So that way, you could at least save all that expensive import tax.
Inspect and register would than still be needed for a German car, but that will never cost 3000 euro.

It would be good if these guys specified the costs a bit more.

Because for an old car that is only worth 5000 euro, you pay only 314 euro of import tax if you import it forever! (with C5014 would be free)
So that is not too much. But if you come with pretty new motorbike from 2012 which is worth a lot more, than sure, you can pay something like 3000 euro, sure.

There was a German (motor)bike traveller who wanted to bring in his Honda Africa twin to japan legally, because he did not want to do what all others before did.

And he started calling up Customs and other authorities about that ( there is a tread somewhere in the HUBB Northern Asia section )

Fact is, he would have to import it, get a technical check, and all the insurance for it.

High costs because he then needs to fix it technically to a very good condition.
Costs more then the bike was worth.

End of the game: Customs got aware of the problem importing Bikes and cars to Japan and closed this hole....

Just for your information, the temporary import (carnet or C5014) is unrelated to the 1949/1968 treaty issue. The problem is that there is a law in Japan that exempts temporarily imported vehicles from having to do Japanese registration and inspection. It states that it applies to "countries that are part of the convention on road traffic". It does not say which convention (treaty) Japan is only part of the 1949 one, so officials treat is as only applying to 1949 countries.
That is the facts, and this is my assumption: While German, etc. vehicles can be temporarily imported, they cannot be legally driven. So, customs (or JAF or the ferry company) don't want to be involved in someone possibly doing something illegal. Up to now, authorities have not really made a big issue of it (because actual driving is not something they are in charge of).

XBR-Robert, What exactly did Tatiana of DBS tell you? Please show us the email so we know the details.

klausmong1, When you said JAF does not validate carnets anymore, did you mean for Germans only?
The JAF website still has Carnet information listed. (In fact, it says "If a temporarily imported vehicle is registered in a country that is not a party to the aforementioned treaty (as it were, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco Slovenia), it must be inspected and registered in Japan on arrival, even if imported under cover of CPD." This seems like a Carnet can be used, but they want to you to register it.)

Everyone, please be specific as to whether you heard a rumor or you have information directly from authorities. It helps figure out what information is actually correct.

Hi guys,

thanks for all hints and tips so far.

To give you a quick update, our car will arrive in a few days in Japan. We managed to ship it from China to Japan via container.

JAF agreed to authenticate our German Carnet, though they stated that we need to register it but they can't help here. Seems like a strict separation of responsibilities between JAF / customs / MLIT.

I'll keep you updated how far we get.

Cheers
Henning

Exactly, I mean German ( or Swiss, Slovenian and Monaco ) vehicles.

There are some posts in Europe from people who had this problem already.

Last year definitely, but I don't find the posts at the moment in the www.

I agree with Chris of Japan, we need to be exact. Although it is hard.

I have a contact in Japan who deals with cars a lot, in fact, I once went with him to local government for temporary license plate for one of his cars, and to the local office of ministry of transportation, to export a car and he showed me the inspection station. The inspection station where they do the (two yearly) check (like TUV / MOT) looked exactly the same as in the Netherlands. So getting it up to a state where your car would pass your yearly check in Netherlands or Germany would seem good enough. But you don't know the details.
I could ask my contact about price information on this. He could inform on the (local) ministry of transportation to see pricing for registration (older cars pay more).
But then still I'm afraid some important details could get lost in translation.

Good luck! Keep us updated. Which port will you enter?

At least it is good that you can use the Carnet to skip on the import tax.

If you need work done on the Land cruiser, don't go the Toyota dealerships. Because they don't want to work on your car usually. Better go to some 4x4 garage or something.
There is a very good one in Kyoto, but of course there are more.

Wow, a lot of posts since I last logged in :)


Well, first I contacted Yuri Melnikov in Vladivostok, he wrote:


"as you may know German registered vehicles can not be driven in Japan.
Ferry doen't take it aboard. You can talk about that with DBS ferry
agent in Japan: "Tatiana"


So I contacted Tatiana from DBS. She confirmed what Yuri had said and added this information (hoping she doesn't mind when I copy from her message, but this is very valuable information here):


"A. CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
Carnet de Passages en Douane for customs procedures

necessary for Japan customs procedures (please, send not later than in a week before arrival):
passport, International Driving Permit 1949, vehicle registration, Carnet copies (Cover, Cover's reverse side, 1st page, Back cover) and specify:
date of import to Japan
address in Japan (any hotel)
date of re-export
place of re-export


NB: First, it is necessary to get form V1000 (authentication of CPD for Japan) at Japan Automobile Federation. Our office can send the documents to JAF to get paperwork prepared, paperwork can be done only by holder of CDP in person with original Carnet appearing at JAF office (closest to Sakaiminato is Matsue JAF)
More information: JAF | For Visitors Bringing Vehicles with Carnet de Passages en Douane


Required fee:
port fee 11,320JPY /one way


B. INSURANCE

Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance
In Japan all vehicles are obliged to buy Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance (CALI), in case of accident it covers the person who was injured by driver. For other cases there is voluntary insurance which covers other costs and can be used for own vehicle.

It is illegal to drive without CALI.

It is possible to apply for insurance in advance and pick it up on arrival in terminal. Please, tell us if you would like to apply for insurance, we will send necessary documents.

C. Driving Permit

Japan recognizes only International Driving Permits issued on Convention on Road Traffic Geneva 1949 with exception to holders driving permits issued in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Slovenia, Taiwan who may drive using the national driving permit with Japanese translation (can be done at JAF for 3,000 jpy)."


After some clarifications, it is clear that she will take care of the issue, I'll have to provide the copies in time and make a taxi drive on the day of arrival between the customs and the JAF office in Matsue.




As to the question about my driving licence: the bike will be registered in Belgium (once I overcome the beaucratic hurdles), but I still have a German licence.

@XBR-Roberts: the e-mail is very generic, and everybody will receive it when e-mailing with Tatiana. The important thing is Yuri and Tatiana saying they don't take in German cars anymore, so that changed since end of last year.

If you have your bike registered in Belgium (on your name!) than you should be fine I guess. The driver license translation is not an issue at all, but it costs time, you have to send in the stuff some time in advance.

Quick question to you Japan-experienced guys:

I've read in other threads that it was easy to get Jibaiseki (compulsory insurance) in any dealer's shop even without Shaken and without Japanese license plates, just by providing the VIN number.

We've been rejected in several shops now, no one could proceed without Shaken (they claimed they don't even know how to issue without Shaken).

Any hint how to get Jibaiseki easily? We're around Hokkaido, the car is still on the ship.

Domo arigatou gozaimasu! :)
Henning

These guys are used quite a lot:

Travellers | Apexmoto Inc

At the time they didn't really respond to my e-mail quickly and I used the one Tatiana offered at DBS ferry, but that is not relevant I think, maybe they will not work with you?

Anyhow, other people used Apex before without issues. They may have some knowledge on getting a German car in.

Thank you, @Lovetheworld. Apexmoto does not issue Jibaiseki Hoken for German-registered vehicles, for obvious reasons.

We've just found help in a small local insurance agency. I think it was the 6th or 7th attempt.

I will post updates and information for future travellers from Germany/Switzerland/Monaco/Slovenia as soon as we got our little bad boy out of the container and on the road.

Enjoy your weekends folks
Henning

We made it, we're on the road. In Japan. In our German-licensed vehicle. Shipped from Tianjin, China, to Hokkaido:


Quick info wrap-up if anyone need it urgently, I'll provide more details once we settled in:

Chris was totally right and his statement motivated me to persevere: JAF, Customs and Traffic Police are each taking care of their specific duties - and don't look at the bigger picture. This lack of interaction helped us a lot ;)

- JAF authenticated our Carnet in Sapporo on the spot (no fee). We emailed CDP upfront to them, they mentioned via email that we need to inspect (Shaken) etc., we confirmed. On the authentication sheet there is nothing mentioned whatsoever.

- JAF translated my German drivers' license for a small fee. Also sent it upfront via email then they can issue it on the spot.

- Jibaiseki: Mandatory insurance was harder to get as expected. First Toyota dealer rejected us after he investigated with JAF. He was only willing to issue it after Shaken. The next dealers were all happy to help but did not know how to issue Jibaiseki for foreign license vehicles, even when we mentioned to just use VIN (chassis no.). In the end a small agency in Sapporo was able to issue it, only for 3 months as requested by us. Cost around 60EUR iirc. They checked their little "Jibaiseki Handbook" (no joke) and it was mentioned that tourist are eligible to drive thus they can obtain Jibaiseki. German/Monaco license issue not mentioned. Success.

- Airport: When entering Japan it helps (at least it helped us) to mention that you have "unaccompanied items" (personal belongings in the car). We didn't provide detailed item list of car's content to customs' officer, that led to confusion later.

- At the port: On the first day meeting with Customs Agent (assigned by our Chinese shipping company, contacts on request).
Required documents: Passport, Carnet, Carnet-Authentication by JAF, Customs-Slip from airport AND quickly generated item list of our personal stuff in the car including items' value.
Then meeting with first customs' team: only responsible for naked car, checked Carnet, "no issue, move on" - but car is not empty, so next team:
Second customs' team was very worried about personal stuff in the car. In the end, they agreed for a quick inspection on the next day.

Second day at the port: 8 (!) people inspected our car, scanned through all cupboards and checked our item list. No issues. Carnet stamped, done.


Thanks to everyone for tipps and motivation.
I will provide more structured info later.

Cheers
Henning

Hi guys,

As promised, we compiled our info about how we successfully shipped our German car to Japan here:

https://toyotoro.com/toyororo

I hope it helps and motivates fellow Germans/Swiss/Monacan to try it.

After four months in Japan we’ve now shipped to Malaysia and are sweating like a pig here :)

Cheers
Henning


https://toyotoro.com/wp-content/uplo...EBEF29C57.jpeg