Number of vehicles: cars 36,621,085 (1990), trucks and buses 22,476,409 (1990)
Road information: total: 1,171,647 km; paved: 903,340 km (including 6,851 km of expressways); unpaved: 268,307 km (2001)
Japanese number plates issued to private vehicles are compulsory on
all vehicles over 660cc, and are white with a green
font. The top line of the number plate shows the name
of the issuing office and a vehicle class code. The
bottom line consists of a hiragana character and a
serial number, where leading zeros are replaced by
centered dots.
As Japanese number plates consist of the Japanese script, they are considered
unacceptable for use outside Japan. A motorist bringing
a Japanese-registered vehicle abroad will be given
an equivalent set of number plates using the roman
alphabet.
