V-Strom is available in Japan now, but it wasn't (or had just been released here) when I wrote that post a few years ago. The Kawasaki KLR 650 I am 100% sure is not sold for the Japanese market. In fact the Kawasaki website has it marked as 海外向けモデル (model for overseas).
Do you have any more details on what paperwork you friend got a the embassy? I had never heard that was possible. My only experience is with the local bureaucracy, and the change in the foreigner registration system a few years meant a short-term visitor could could no longer register (before is was possible but not necessary for short visitors). Without residence papers 住民票, you normally can't have a vehicle in your name.
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