Charcters on JDM plates?????????

[RiverSide]

Could someone please tell me what the character on the left of the numbers on Japanese rego plates mean?

I understand that the characters at the top of the plate denote the prefecture, I am simply curious what the single one means.

Thanks

ps. I put it here cause i figured you people living in Japan would know best......i apologise if this is not the appropriate place for this thread.

[DaiOni]

australian license plates are a combination of letters and numbers

so are japanese plates

[RiverSide]

So it has no reference to vehicle type/mass etc?

Means nothing then?

Thanks for your help by the way

[Rezz]

Yep, just wanna echo what Daioni said... number/hiragana combo... thats all no special meaning.

[Evo_Lee]

So it has no reference to vehicle type/mass etc?

Means nothing then?

that's the top numbers your refering to

- 500 (used to be 5x): depending on engine capacity, car weight and width which I don't know exactly but don't really care. As an example: most small sedans/hatches, coupes like integra, silvia, celica, roadster MR2/S, roadsters etc...early skylines, chasers, evos, sti, rx-7 I believe are in this class too.

- 300 (used to be 3x): same as above but larger, heavier class...NSX, Supra, GTO, GT-R, RX-7, Evo, Z32/33, RX-8, Chasers, Skylines, Stageas etc

- Yellow plates: kei plates... I don't take note of the numbers.

- 400: lorries, special vehicles

- 800 (used tobe 88): marked police cars and emergency services ambos, fire brigade

[yukz2daizzo]

that's the top numbers your refering to

- 500 (used to be 5x): depending on engine capacity, car weight and width which I don't know exactly but don't really care.  As an example: most small sedans/hatches, coupes like integra, silvia, celica, roadster MR2/S, roadsters etc...early skylines, chasers, evos, sti, rx-7 I believe are in this class too.

- 300 (used to be 3x): same as above but larger, heavier class...NSX, Supra, GTO, GT-R, RX-7, Evo, Z32/33, RX-8, Chasers, Skylines, Stageas etc

 

- Yellow plates: kei plates... I don't take note of the numbers.  

- 400: lorries, special vehicles

- 800 (used tobe 88): marked police cars and emergency services ambos, fire brigade

from what i heard here's how it goes, 2.1 liter engine and below is 500 plates, 2.2 and above is 300 plates, bus and trucks are 100. my wifes prelude is a 300 plate because its a 2.2 liter engine. thats the reason why r32 gts-t's and gts-4 has a 500 plate (and thats how u can tell if people just slapped in a gtr badge hehe).

the letter beside it doesnt really mean anything, except for us which is Y or E or A, which denotes (supposedly) tax free (but we still pay for it though, because the base commander "insist"). :bs!:

[Evo_Lee]

Yukio, as I said any of 3 main criterias I mentioned and also a few other things.

My Evo and a s14 are both 2.0L and have 300 plates...s13 and S15 are 500 plates...but it's no big deal. As you said only makes it easier to spot posers...but then I have seen RB26DETT in HNR32 with 500 plates.

Good that you mentioned it, I forgot about the 100 plates.

Also plates with a red diagonal line across the plates are dealer plates.

[yukz2daizzo]

oh, ok, i wasnt so sure about the whole 300 but thats what they give us here thats why. as far as the hnr32 with an rb26 i dunno, something illegal goin on, hehehe, my friend did the same thing with his hnr and he has to transfer plates to 300.

[Evo_Lee]

yes definitely illegal

[Demon Dave]

I thought the numbers, which denote tax code (right?) are also determined by the weight of the vehicle?

[yukz2daizzo]

i think so too, but coz us here on US base we have different coding just to make it less complicated, they made it simple, yellow plates and motorcycles pay 3,000 yen, 500 plates pay 5,000 yen or some small number like that then 300 plates pay 19,990 yen then 300 plates with 4.5 liter engine and up pays 47,000 something yen for a year.

[GTR-NUTTER]

hi all

sorry if this is a daft Q but can you just walk into a shop and get them made, with whatever you want on it or cant it be done.

K

[Evo_Lee]

I thought the numbers, which denote tax code (right?) are also determined by the weight of the vehicle?

From what I have observed I think 300 plates are starting from 2.0L up capacity, 1200kg+ weight and 1700mm+ width.

Because the early Evos and WRX meets all of the above except for width and they are 500 plates...or the old 7x plates.

[Demon Dave]

Yeah, I thought there was more to it than just engine size....my old GTS, 2.0L and a 33 number...

[Rezz]

Alright then... I've got "501", whats the "1" signify?

[Demon Dave]

Justin I don't think the 1 has any significance, more they ran out of possible plates and just tag the additional digit to it....

I think the basic numbers, 1, 3, 5 etc are used and then each prefecture can add numbers after that dependening on needs...

so a 55 code is the same as a 500 code since they both start with a 5.

Over here in Yamanashi I've seen 55 / 500 / 501 / 33 / 300 / etc

One question - what the deal with a Kei car that has a black plate with yellow writing...not a yellow plate with black writing. Seen a couple about but could never figure it out.

[Rezz]

One question - what the deal with a Kei car that has a black plate with yellow writing...not a yellow plate with black writing. Seen a couple about but could never figure it out.

Aaaah, I could be mistaken, but I remember someone saying the black plate with yellow writing is registered as a commercial vehicle...

[Demon Dave]

That'd make sense - taxi's and trucks tend to have green plates and white writing...

[DaiOni]

as for the 5xx etc numbers - I asked that question at the dealership - was told that only the number of digits and the first digit are important - and that you could, in fact, choose the other digits if you liked

it was a 50:50 japanese/english conversation - it sounded a bit weird to me, so not sure if something was lost in translation

[Demon Dave]

I wonder if that extends to the other numbers aswell? I recall a thread about this a while ago...since then I've noticed a few cars with what I would assume were personalized plates...maybe getting one is as simple as asking for it at the garage?