Talk:Vehicle registration plates of Japan

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Given the several mistakes in the artist's representation -- compare the real thing at this site, might it not be a good idea to attempt a new version? Would try it myself, except that I haven't yet learnt how to upload images here  :-( -- Picapica 14:47, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Hi Pica² and thanks for your comments on the image. I can't believe I forgot the hyphen! I know how it happened, but overlooking it so many times, that's incredible. Glad you pointed it out. The image now has a hyphen, and I reduced the size of the hiragana. However, I intentionally kept the color a mismatch to the hiragana, so that nobody can claim we're using their plate without permission. (In Japan, the news media often blur out number plates to avoid such claims.)

If the old image still appears on your screen, you can try (1) Reload; (2) Clear the cache and reload again; (3) Edit the article, change the image size (e.g. to 251 px) and click on Show preview. I look forward to any comments you have about the new one.

And of course if you want to draw your own, or upload a public-domain photo, please feel free --- this is Wikipedia, so I don't own the article.

Thanks once again for calling my attention to the error. Fg2 09:09, Oct 4, 2004 (UTC)

Nice one, Fg2! If I were going to be picky, I'd say make the hyphen shorter, though (see here). Now we just need to get the Japanese to change the image on their page! -- Picapica 12:42, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
P.S. Notice how the version issued for foreign travel (though I can't imagine many Japanese take their cars abroad) -- www.olavsplates.com/foto/j_tkt33mi5265_rear.jpg -- doesn't have a hyphen... ;-) -- Picapica 12:50, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
That's funny! Fg2 08:18, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] More Plate Images

I have created on the German version w:de:Kfz-Kennzeichen (Japan) all the registration plate versions. Feel free to use them also on the English version w:de:User:ThorstenS -213.42.2.26 07:04, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Thanks! You made it easy.

[edit] Display question

I've taken the liberty of amending the "other languages" links on ja:ナンバープレート to point to de:Kfz-Kennzeichen (Japan) and to this article (they formerly pointed to the general de:KFZ-Kennzeichen and en:License plate pages).

What I can't work out is why, on en:License plate and ja:ナンバープレート, the "old" image still displays, despite the fact that if you click on it you are taken to a page giving details of, and showing, the updated image. Would this be a browser problem at my end? -- the totally untechie Picapica 10:07, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I don't know either, but to cope with it, I add or subtract a pixel from the image size, and it works fine. I changed it from 250 to 251, and as a result, it displays correctly for me. Take a look and see if it displays right for you. Fg2 10:20, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

How odd! The critical dimension on en:License plate, where it is a "thumb", appears to be 180/181px, and now that I have changed it to the larger figure the image is displaying correctly. Cheers. -- Picapica 11:26, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I have alphabetized the list of Land Transportation Offices. I realize that the original list (for which, vielen Dank, ThorstenS) was in N-S geographical order, but I thought that alphabetical order would probably be better for research purposes. I have also changed Adachi to Tama as the issuing office in the main text, to accord with the revised illustration. - Picapica 20:58, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

LTOs: I have changed "Shonai" (which does not have a Wikipedia entry) in Yamagata Prefecture to Mikawa, since according to the Japanese article that is where code 庄内 is issued. As far as I have been able to make out, Shonai is the name of a "local core area" in Yamagata Prefecture covering a number of municipalities of which Mikawa is one. Clarification is welcome if I've totally got hold of the wrong end of the stick! -- Picapica 22:02, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Prefectures are divided into pieces for non-governmental purposes such as weather forecasting (that's just one example). These can be different from the districts, and different from the old han etc. Mikawa is in the Shonai piece, even though it's not on the Shonai Plain. The map in the Japanese Wikipedia shows it as being the coastal piece. Lots of other links in this list should be made more precise—prefectures to prefectures and cities to cities. I hope to get to work on that over the weekend... But if you like, have at it! Fg2 22:59, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Move

I moved the page to "Japanese license plates". Spelling in accordance with content of the article. SpNeo 08:28, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Meaning of "licence series"

Could somebody explain what exactly "series" in the sentence The number on the top line begins with a "5" or a "3" to indicate the series. means? I take care if the German wikipedia article and I like to clear the questions marks there. Thanks. -ThorstenS 07:10, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

  • Hi ThorstenS, The series are groups of numbers. The 3-series is for large passenger cars. In the 3-series, the number on the top line will begin with a 3. Thus, if the top number is 3, 33, 300, 330 or any other number, the plate is a 3-series and it's appropriate for a large passenger car. The 5-series includes top-line numbers of 5, 56, 500, etc. Plates with that top number are ordinary-size passenger cars. There are other series as well. In any series, the bottom number (the one that appears big on the plate) can be anywhere from 1 to 9999. I hope that helps clear up the issue. I made the change because a reader asked in English on the Japanese Wikipedia article, and I realized that in the English article I hadn't mentioned the connection between series and the number. Please ask again if you have more questions. Fg2 09:03, May 29, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] US Military Personally Owned Vehicles

I've added a sentence stating what the plates for personal vehicles owned by people in the US Military are (at least that I have seen through observation here). If there are any questions, ask me. (I live in Okinawa, and one of the plates on a van my family owns is 沖縄300Y3276 [if I recall correctly] if that helps.) CJewell [[User_talk:CJewell|(talk)]] 02:45, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Importance of place of registration

Is the place of registration part of the actual registration of the car? I have noticed the government records here in Ireland of a friend's car imported from Japan omits this and only says "599 SO 14-80" as the car's original registration. Is that sufficient or were they just too lazy to look up the kanji? --Zilog Jones 14:02, 30 May 2006 (UTC)