The Parking Certificate (Shako Shomei) Requirement

Shako shomei Japan is the police parking certificate you secure before registering an ordinary car.¹ Without it the Land Transport Bureau will not complete the registration or issue plates, so the parking contract comes before the car contract in practice.¹²

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (Keishicho) site and your local police station.

Overview

The 車庫証明 (shako shomei, "parking certificate") is the short name for the 自動車保管場所証明書 (jidosha hokanbasho shomeisho, "certificate of motor vehicle storage location").¹³ It is a police-issued document that certifies a specific off-road space for a specific vehicle.¹⁴

Who needs it and when it applies

Ordinary-car buyers need it before Land Transport Bureau registration. That covers new registration, transfer registration when ownership changes, and change registration when the address or office moves.¹

Kei cars follow a different path. The owner files a parking notification after acquisition or change in areas where the duty applies, rather than obtaining a pre-registration certificate.¹⁵ If only the lot changes with no owner or address change, the owner files a change notification instead of a new certificate application.¹

Formalities vary by prefecture and police jurisdiction. Forms, revenue-stamp fees, processing days, and kei-car designated areas all differ by local police, and monthly parking costs vary by market. Confirm the lot-jurisdiction station rules before you file.

What the certificate proves

The certificate proves that a specific vehicle has a secured, usable, off-road storage place.¹⁴ The legal basis is the Act on Securing Motor Vehicle Storage Places, the national Garage Act framework.¹

The 2km and usability conditions

The spot must be off-road, such as a parking lot, garage, or open lot.⁴ It must sit within 2 km of the 使用の本拠の位置 (shiyo no honkyo no ichi, "base of use"), meaning the home or office address on record.⁴

The space must connect to a road vehicles can use. Entry and exit must work without obstruction, and the whole vehicle must fit inside without protruding onto the road.⁴ The applicant must hold a valid right to use the spot as parking.⁴ Practitioner guides describe the 2 km test as a straight line from the registered address, not road distance (limitation: the police page states "within 2 km" without spelling out the method).⁶

Required documents

Tokyo asks for three document groups plus a base-location confirmation in split-address cases.³ Get the third-party paper first, since the landlord or manager controls its timing.⁶

Group	What to file	Owned vs rented
Application	Certificate application form	Same for both
Drawings	Location map plus scaled layout	Same for both
Use right	Self-declaration or consent proof	Self-declaration if owned; consent or qualifying lease copy if rented

Application forms from the police station

The core form is the certificate application, listed by Keishicho as Form No. 1 and downloadable from the prefectural police site with an English reference version in Tokyo.³ Forms are completed in Japanese with vehicle details such as model, chassis number, and dimensions. Buyers who lack the details copy them from the dealer specification sheet.⁶

Since 2021 the official forms accept a handwritten signature with no hanko seal required.⁶² Some managers still use seals on consent paperwork, so bringing a basic personal seal helps with corrections.⁶

Proof of right to use the spot

If the spot sits on your own land or building, file the 保管場所使用権原疎明書面 (自認書) (hokanbasho shiyo kengen somei shomen, jininsho, "self-declaration of parking-place use right").⁴³ If the spot belongs to someone else, file the 保管場所使用承諾証明書 (hokanbasho shiyo shodaku shomeisho, "parking-place use consent certificate") or a qualifying alternative such as a lease copy, qualifying rent receipts, or a public-corporation confirmation.⁴

The consent form must be prepared by the owner or manager. The applicant cannot prepare it.³ Family and shared cases follow the same split: a child using parent-owned land needs the parent consent, jointly owned spousal land needs joint signatures on the self-declaration, a condo lot needs the management association consent, an apartment lot can use the lease copy when parking use is stated, and a company dormitory needs the manager consent.⁴

Request the landlord consent paper before anything else

The consent form depends on a third party and mailing time, so request it as soon as the lot is chosen. Management offices often need several business days.⁶

Map and layout drawing

File the 所在図・配置図 (shozai-zu, haichi-zu, "location map and layout drawing").³ The location map shows the home and parking positions. The layout drawing shows the space number, width and depth in meters, and the adjacent road width.⁶

Simple accurate drawings are normal. A printed online-map screenshot with both points circled and the distance noted is accepted in practitioner experience (limitation: practitioner tip, not stated on the police page).⁶

Application process

File at the police station holding jurisdiction over the parking location, at the traffic-division certificate window.³ Jurisdiction follows the lot address, not the home or dealer address.³⁷

The flow looks like this:

Where and when to file

Tokyo reception runs weekdays 08:30 to 16:30, excluding weekends, holidays, and December 29 to January 3.³ Other stations keep similar weekday-only hours, typically described as 08:30 to 17:15 or 09:00 to 16:00 depending on the station; the Tokyo primary controls for Tokyo filings.³⁶²

Confirm jurisdiction by the lot address first

A spot in a different ward or city belongs to a different station. Look up the station by the parking address before you visit.³⁷

Police verification and collection

After filing, police verify the site in person over the following days.⁶² Known lots on file are sometimes checked against records without a fresh visit.⁶² Tokyo collection takes 3 to 7 days after application (as of 2026-07-17; confirm current figures with the lot-jurisdiction police station). Present the fee notice applicant copy at the window.³

Practitioner guides describe 2 to 7 weekdays or 3 to 7 business days (as of 2026-03-25).⁶² The March registration rush runs slower.⁶² Two station visits are the norm: one to apply and one to collect.⁶²

Certificate validity and use at registration

Submit the certificate at the transport branch office within about one month from the certification date.³ Practitioner phrasing puts the window at about 40 days or one month, so complete registration inside that window (limitation: "40 days" phrasing is practitioner-side; the police page says "about one month").⁶

Confirm details at pickup. Corrections after issuance are generally not possible.³ Early filing before the use right starts is accepted at most 7 days before the effective date for system reasons, with the scheduled issue date falling on or after the effective date.³

Costs and processing time

Official fees are prefecture-set revenue stamps, separate from dealer and landlord charges. Tokyo figures below are current as a dated set, with prefecture variation after that.

Official fees

Item	Amount	As of	Notes
Tokyo certificate application, window	2,400 yen	2025-04-018	Revenue stamp at the station
Tokyo certificate application, electronic	2,300 yen	2025-04-018	One-stop service path
Tokyo parking notification	No fee	2025-04-018	Includes kei filings
Tokyo certificate reissue	600 yen	2025-04-018	Window only
Osaka certificate application	2,200 yen	20266	Practitioner guide, prefecture-specific
Historical Tokyo sticker fee, abolished	500 yen	2016-07-269	No longer charged since April 2025

The table above covers each row with its own date. Tokyo window filing costs 2,400 yen (as of 2025-04-01; confirm current figures with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department). Electronic filing costs 2,300 yen (as of 2025-04-01).⁸

Notification filings carry no fee (as of 2025-04-01). Reissue costs 600 yen (as of 2025-04-01).⁸

Osaka processing is listed at 2,200 yen with a 3 to 7 business-day site check and one-month certificate validity (as of 2026).⁶ The older Tokyo split of 2,100 yen plus a 500 yen sticker reflects a July 2016 basis and no longer applies after the 2025 fee revision and sticker abolition (as of 2016-07-26).⁹

Ancillary costs

Management companies typically charge 2,000 to 5,000 yen to issue the consent form, with mailing taking several days (as of 2026-03-25; confirm current figures with your lot manager).⁶ Dealer proxy service typically adds 10,000 to 30,000 yen on top of the official fee (as of 2026-03-25).⁶⁷

The round rear-window sticker was abolished on April 1, 2025. No sticker is issued now.⁶ Do-it-yourself filing therefore costs about the official fee plus any consent issuance charge, while dealer handling trades two weekday station trips for the proxy charge.⁶

Monthly parking reality

Apartments without included parking force owners to rent a nearby 月極駐車場 (tsukigime chushajo, "monthly-contract parking lot").²¹⁰ That search often controls the whole purchase calendar, not the car choice itself.⁶²

Typical monthly ranges by area

Area	Indicative monthly band	As of	Notes
Central Tokyo	20,000 to 40,000 yen	plan band; see prose	Content-plan band, reads low vs market reports
Suburbs	10,000 to 20,000 yen	plan band; see prose	Content-plan band
Regional cities	5,000 to 10,000 yen	plan band; see prose	Content-plan band
National average	8,288 yen	2026-02-2611	Market report average
Tokyo average	31,077 yen	2026-02-2611	Market report average, central zones 37,000 to 47,000 yen
Tokyo 23 wards	30,000 to 40,000 yen	2025-02-2410	Easily exceeds 50,000 yen in the most central areas

Market reports put the national monthly average at 8,288 yen and the Tokyo average at 31,077 yen, with central and subcentral zones at 37,000 to 47,000 yen (as of 2026-02-26; confirm current figures with parking search sites).¹¹ A Tokyo guide puts 23-ward parking around 30,000 to 40,000 yen, easily exceeding 50,000 yen in the most central areas (as of 2025-02-24).¹⁰

The content-plan bands of central Tokyo 20,000 to 40,000 yen, suburbs 10,000 to 20,000 yen, and regional cities 5,000 to 10,000 yen read low against those market reports. Treat them as indicative starting bands only and check live listings for the target neighborhood.

Why the parking search becomes the bottleneck

The certificate requires a secured spot first.³ The consent document depends on a third party and mailing time, so the parking contract plus the police wait can stretch the chain to one to two weeks.⁶² Vehicle details such as size and chassis number must match the claimed space, so the final filing waits until the car is chosen even though the search and landlord conversation can start early.⁷

Buyer-agent experience puts full paperwork to handover at about one month after choosing the car at the fast end, because police timing, city-hall documents, landlord forms, dealer admin, insurance, and delivery share one calendar (as of 2026-08).⁷ That planning figure is not a statutory timeline.

Kei-car exemption rules

軽自動車 (kei jidosha, "light motor vehicle") means the 660cc or less class with yellow plates.⁵⁶ Kei filings use the 保管場所届出 (hokanbasho todokede, "parking-place notification") rather than the pre-registration certificate.¹⁵

Designated areas vs exempt areas

Notification duty applies in 126 designated cities including the Tokyo special wards and listed cities.⁵ Outside the list no kei police filing is needed.⁵ Tokyo designated coverage includes the special wards plus Hachioji, Tachikawa, Musashino, Mitaka, Fuchu, Chofu, Machida, Koganei, Kodaira, Hino, Higashimurayama, Kokubunji, Kunitachi, Komae, Higashiyamato, Kiyose, Higashikurume, Tama, Inagi, Nishitokyo, Ome, and Akishima.⁵

Kei owners who buy new or used file a new notification promptly after acquisition. Those who change lots or move in with a kei file within 15 days at the lot-jurisdiction station.⁵⁷ Failure to file a required kei notification, or filing falsely, carries a fine of up to 100,000 yen.⁵

Check the designated city list for the lot address

Kei exemption turns on where the car will sleep, not where the buyer lives. Check the national light-vehicle association list or the local station before assuming no filing is needed.⁵

Good to know

Start the parking search before signing tight delivery terms

The certificate sits before registration for ordinary cars, and the consent plus 3 to 7 day check controls the calendar.³⁶ Buyers who sign tight delivery terms first feel the wait most. Dealer proxy at 10,000 to 30,000 yen (as of 2026-03-25; confirm current figures with your dealer) saves two weekday trips but does not remove the parking-contract wait.⁶

Owned land still needs the police step

A self-declaration replaces the landlord consent attachment only.⁴⁷ An ordinary car on owned land still needs the pre-registration certificate, and a kei in a designated city still needs the notification.⁴⁷ Shared family land, employer parking, or company lots add ownership questions, so raise the real arrangement early.⁷

Moving means filing again at the new jurisdiction

A move or lot change triggers a change notification at the new lot-jurisdiction station within 15 days.¹⁵⁶ Kei movers into a designated area file a new or change notice within the same window.⁵ The name on the application must match the residence card and juminhyo exactly, including romaji spelling, or the file stalls.⁶

A false parking filing carries penalties

False ordinary-car filings, known as shako-tobashi, draw fines up to 200,000 yen in practitioner summaries, with serious cases described as reaching document-falsification penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment or 500,000 yen (limitation: practitioner figures; the police penalty page line items were not fetched as text).⁶ Kei false or missing filings carry up to 100,000 yen fines.⁵

See also

• Buying a Car in Japan: New vs. Used
• Compulsory and Voluntary Auto Insurance
• Annual Auto Tax (Jidosha-zei)
• The Disposal (Haisha) Procedure
• Gaimen Kirikae: Converting a Foreign License
• Jūminhyō: Japan's Residence Record Explained

References

Footnotes

1. 警視庁 (Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department). 「保管場所手続とは」. Updated 2025-12-19. https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_syousai/tetsuzuki.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. Relocation Japan. "Japan Car Ownership: Shako Shomei (Parking Space Certificate) Guide." Published 2026-06-29. https://relocation-japan.com/en/japan-car-ownership-shako-shomei/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. 警視庁. 「保管場所証明申請手続（窓口での申請）」. Updated 2026-07-17. https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷

4. 警視庁. 「保管場所（車庫）の要件と使用権原書面」. Updated 2025-12-18. https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_syousai/youken.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

5. 一般社団法人 全国軽自動車協会連合会 (Zenkeijikyo). 「軽四輪車の車庫の届け出: 保管場所届出義務等の適用地域」. https://www.zenkeijikyo.or.jp/kei/garage ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

6. 株式会社創挙 (Soukyo Motors). "Buying a Car in Japan: A Practical Guide to the Shako Shoumei (Parking Certificate) for Beginners and Foreign Residents." Published 2026-03-25. https://soukyo.co.jp/en/news/the-first-step-to-buying-a-car-guide-to-obtaining/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹

7. Kurumagic (Tre Mckee). "Shako-Shoumei: The Parking Certificate Walkthrough." Updated 2026-08. https://kurumagic.net/guides/shako-shoumei-parking-certificate-walkthrough ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

8. 警視庁. 「保管場所手続に係る手数料」. Updated 2025-04-01. https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_syousai/tesuryou.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

9. Drive in Japan (JPC Trade). "PARKING CERTIFICATE (SHAKO SHOMEISHO)." Fee table basis dated 2016-07-26 stated on page. https://www.driveinjapan.com/parking/ ↩ ↩²

10. e-housing (E-Housing Japan). "Your Simple Guide to Getting a Parking Spot in Tokyo." Published 2025-02-24. https://e-housing.jp/post/guide-to-getting-a-parking-spot-in-tokyo ↩ ↩² ↩³

11. コインパーキング経営のヒント (Coin-parking column). 「月極駐車場の料金の相場とは」. Published 2026-02-26. https://www.coin-parking.com/column/month-parking-cost/ ↩ ↩² ↩³