From Kathmandu, Nepal to Tokyo, Japan (Narita Airport) - March, 2014

What to do in Nepal:
- Call / write EE in advance: what and where to ship?
- Visit them in Kathmandu next to the well-known Kathmandu Guesthouse
- They measure your bike and make an offer
- Pay a deposit, then they order a crate and prepare the paperwork (takes about 3 days)
- Drive to the airport warehouse together with them. There you dismantle your bike, they fix it on the crate, the customs officer checks it and signs your carnet - 2h at the airport, that’s it.

Exchange rates in March, 2014
1€ = 1,37$ = 134 Nepalese Rupee
1$ = 0,73€ = 97 NPR

Shipment cost: 1.630$
Flight ticket (3 flights in total): 480$
+ 3,5% credit card fees

Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin ‘93 and luggage in a crate
82 x 34 x 46 inch / 209 x 87 x 117 cm / 356 kg
http://mxrtw.tumblr.com/post/78921994308/there-she-goes-shipping-camilla-by-plane-from

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What to do in Japan:
- You need 3 magic papers: A Japanese translation of your driving license (important for customs!), an authentication of your Carnet de Passage (important for customs!) and a motorcycle liability insurance (CAREFUL! There are tricky laws, please see details below)

- The Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF) issues the translation (3.000¥) and the authentication (free) at their offices: Call in advance, send a fax of your documents and pick up the papers some hours later. Below the text there is a contact who can help you.
- Now you are allowed to drive vehicles according to your license and get the bike out of customs, however ..

- Germany and Japan signed different treaties on international traffic laws; therefore you need to register your motorcycle to legally ride it and get a proper(!) insurance. It isn’t worth the money and time in my opinion. If you want to take the risk of driving without an insurance, you can get an “insurance” called Jibaiseki at motorcycle dealers, but it has an ultralow coverage and is basically just to fool the police in a road check (mostly, they don’t know about these laws). They will not offer it to you when you tell them that it is a German bike. Only show them a paper with "Jibaiseki Hoken", your name, motorcycle, chassis number, engine number and duration of the insurance. There are links to this subject below.

- If you ship your bike by airplane and it arrives at Tokyo Narita Airport: Don’t be scared of the customs procedure, it was easy, didn’t take long and all the staff was friendly to me. I got the help of John from Apexmoto (details below) to pick up the bike with a transporter. - Drive to the customs zone at Tokyo Narita airport (entrance: 35.771771, 140.383596) and don’t forget to bring money and your papers: Passport, delivery document, Japanese driving license, Carnet de Passage, Japanese authentication of the CDP, maybe the traffic insurance papers + everything else you have.
- At the entrance, you get a permission / stamp card for the customs zone. You have to fill in your information and stamp it at the offices you visit, don’t forget it.
- Right after the entrance on the left side, there is the office of the warehouse company IACT. Go there and pick up your original delivery documents with your copy and passport. They will also show you the way to the customs building.
- On the 2th floor in the customs building, you can clear your papers. They were friendly, respectful and curious about my journey, stamped the Carnet, made copies and called the cargo airline in advance to introduce me.
- Go back to the IACT office at the entrance and pay for eventual storage and handling cost. In my case, I (unfortunately) stored the bike 4 days in the customs zone and just paid 5.660¥ in total for everything (normally, it’s much more). The payment counter is just next to the counter where you pick up the original delivery document.
- Once this is done, they show you where you can pick up your bike. In my case, just down the street.
- We had to uncrate it at the spot to fit it in the transporter, which is normally not allowed. However, they saw our problem and were okay with it; they also disposed the destroyed crate for just 500¥ (normally, ..). Interestingly, nobody wanted to check the bike.
- Drive to the exit, give back your stamp card, finish.

Exchange rates in March, 2014
1€ = 1,37$ = 142¥
1$ = 0,73€ = 103¥

Japanese driving license: 3.000¥
Storage (4 days) and handling: 5.660¥
Disposing of the crate: 500¥
Don’t forget about the transport, accomodation and other costs!

Additonal links:
- Sums up my import story: http://www.gaijinriders.com/showthread.php?11428-Hello-from-a-German-RTW-rider!
https://www.facebook.com/mxrtw/posts/288404774648827
https://www.facebook.com/mxrtw/posts/10200936515493947

- Sums up the result: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/northern-asia/inspection-temporary-import-bike-japan-74702#post460727 (the whole thread is worth reading)

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If you search for a good accomodation in Tokyo area, I recommend Anna’s and Eiki’s Airbnb without a doubt. They perfectly speak English and Japanese, are warm-hearted, offer a beautiful tatami-guestroom for a reasonable price and Eiki knows what to do at JAF to get the translation and authentication (+ very helpful!). In addition, he also cooks a range of traditional Japanese meals for you - a perfect welcome to Japan in my opinion! The only disadvantage, it’s outside of the city center in Tokyo Machida, but Eiki gives you lifts to the train station (consider time and costs for the train rides in to the city center!).

Eiki Somekawa & Anna Wakaki
https://www.facebook.com/somekawa
keki...@gmail.com
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2368586

If you need anything that has to do with your motorcycle, I recommend to call John from Apexmoto in Yamanashi (top workshop, I saw how they work). They offer lots of quality services and are very helpful. Being an Irishman, John perfectly speaks English and his Japanese wife Saori of course perfect Japanese. They also sell proper insurances and can organize the registration (“Shaken”) if you want / need. In addition, they also might rent you a motorcycle or buy/sell one for you (the most clever way, methinks).

John & Saori Gavin, Pete Wilkinson
http://www.apexmoto.jp/
N 35.622206, E 138.666345

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Hope it helps! As always, please inform me if there is a mistake or you have other questions and suggestions. mxro...@gmail.com