Swiss biker
 

Hello everybody.
The biker giving the Form C5014 was me.

This form is the easiest way to temporarily import a vehicle in Japan.
Another option is to pay the taxes. Please note that from April 2014 taxes had been raised to 8%.

Additionnaly, but this is another story, I am starting motorbike tours in Japan for bikers who doesn't want the hassles of moving their motorbikes.

As Sushi mentioned, Japanese speed limitation is very very low. Therefore, I recommend renting a 250 or 450 cc as it gives more opportunity to enjoy.

Sushi2831. I have few pictures for you if you are in need. ;)
I sold the BMW and bought back my old Pan European 1100 ST.

Japan Moto Tours | D'inoubliables balades à moto au pays du soleil levant.

Greetings

Alex

PS: Chris, thank for the form. It is very useful to me to have it in electronical format.

Importing car to Japan
 

My wife and I have spent a considerable amount of time to find a way to import our Land Rover Defender to Japan. Being Swiss (treaty of Vienna), this is more difficult than we thought and after talking to JAF in advance it looked more and more difficult, not to say impossible. The cost for inspection and registration in Japan were estimated at about USD 4'000 and we had to use our CDP.

Initially, we decided to do the difficult importation process as suggested by JAF via Yokohama port with a RoRo Vessel, which was the only possible way according to them. However, due to difficulties with shipment from Vladivostok we decided to take the risk and just turn up at the Japanese border via Sakhalin and the Heartland-Ferry (which is by the way stopping its service サハリン航路撤退へ…ハートランド� �ェリー : 新おとな総研 : 読売新聞（YOMIURI ONLINE） ) to Wakkanai.

When filling out the required documents for ferry transportation, we got this very interesting diagram, which in my point of view clearly shows that there is an option to import the car temporarily without a CDP.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byw...it?usp=sharing

I just wanted to share this here, because it may help others to realise that there are different ways to import cars/ motorcycles and from what I have understood the C5014 also does not require an inspection of the car.

Eventually, we could pass the border without any problems and we were thinking why we have spent so much time and energy on this topic. We were driving with our Swiss number plate and Japanese insurance.

Thanks for the head up on the Sakhalin route stopping. The article says 2015 will be the last year, but Wakkanai City it trying to find a way to continue it. They pay a large subsidy every year, but still it is not enough to keep the route operating.

As for being Swiss, the customs in Wakkanai does not care. Actually, no customs cares. But you will be technically driving illegally. There was a discussion about this on another thread, but I choose to stay out of the argument, having said what I have to say already.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ke-japan-74702

BBC News - Gunther, Christine and Otto: A love story

Then Japan. For seven years Holtorf had been running up against the same problem - Japan's refusal to recognise German car registration. That’s because in 1926, when the first multi-national agreement on car registration was drawn up, Japan refused to sign it. It did sign the follow-up agreement in 1949 – but this time Germany didn’t, on the grounds that it had signed and ratified the first.

Once again, German diplomats swung into action on Otto’s behalf, but this time they hit a brick wall even harder than North Korea’s. It seemed that nothing could be done.

But then Holtorf got wind that customs officials at Shimonoseki, a port served by a lorry ferry from South Korea, might turn a blind eye and accept Otto’s carnet de passage. He took the risk.

Swiss van from Korea to Japan
 

We will try to enter Japan with our Swiss registered van middle of next week (Busan to Hakata).

We have a Carnet de Passage en Douane (CPD), but if I understand well, to avoid inspection/registration, we better not talk about our CPD and use the c5014 form instead?

@schnema0: Where did you guys buy the Japanese insurance? (which one and what price?)
And could you clear custom before having a Japanese translation of your Swiss driving license? (And just go to the next JAF office to get a translation?)

Anybody else have fresh info for Swiss/German/Slovenian/Monaco vehicles to temporarily enter Japan?

Thanks!

　
Inspection/registration has nothing to do on whether or not you have a CDP.
It is a matter of Japan only signing the 1949 convention on road traffic, while Switzerland, Germany, and some others only the 1968 convention.
If you enter by c5014 form, you are supposed to exit by ferry. If you "change" your plans later, I think it is not a problem. If you tell customs you will leave Japan by means other than ferry, they will probably reject you. This is what I was told last year at Sakaiminato. Situation may differ at Hakata.

About entering with your Swiss vehicle: JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) will validate your carnet and tell you that you are not supposed to drive without inspection/registration. Most motorcyclists will say, "OK, I will have it trucked to the next port or inspection station". I don't know if that will work for a van.
Up to now, customs has never had a problem with what you do after you leave the port. (They are only concerned that the vehicle can be legally imported, not whether or not you can drive it).
There is a chance that any insurance you get may not actually pay out if you are in an accident. However, I know that companies don't ask what the "nationality" of the vehicle is. So, maybe they would pay out. Your insurance document should satisfy the police though if they pull you over and check your papers.

Whatever you end up doing, let us know! So many times people ask for advice and never tell us what actually worked or didn't.

I just did read some information, that vehicles from Germany, Switzerland, Monaco and Slovenia will not get any proof for a carnet from the JAF anymore.

Just as an information

Where did you see that?
JAF hasn't updated their website to say that....

Got that from the homepage from a Swiss traveler who was there last year.

He has information that is now not possible anymore.

His homepage is written in german

https://www.blindschleiche.ch/laenderinfos/japan/

Hmm...
It says "allegedly" (unless Google translated it wrong). I wonder where he got the information.
Hearing from someone who actually contacted JAF about it would be even better information.
Maybe Cyberol can clear that up when he contacts JAF regarding his Carnet validation....

Tis 4 countries signed some agreement in 1964 ( I think ) and not the other one from 1949.

So this is why this 4 countries have different problems to solve ( I think I got the years right )

You got the dates wrong (1949 Geneva, 1968 Vienna), but that really doesn't matter. :innocent:
Yes, this issue has come up many times over the years.
Travelers from 1968 Vienna-only countries could have their Carnet verified by JAF and customs would let them in (all carnets are valid for customs clearance). However, technically they are not allowed to ride in Japan. If it is true that JAF will not longer issue the document verifying that the carnet is authentic, that would be a major change. Without that document from JAF, it will be difficult for travelers from non-1968 countries to get in and ride at their own risk.
JAF's website does not say it will not verify carnets any more. I don't know is this is just a failure to update or the information on that traveler's site is wrong.

If a temporarily imported vehicle is registered in a country that is not a party to the aforementioned treaty ~ it must be inspected and registered in Japan on arrival, even if imported under cover of CPD.
From JAF For Visitors Bringing Vehicles with Carnet de Passages en Douane

There's an intermediate solution for some countries in Japan now... just got word about Estonian driving licenses (1968, not 1949) - from April 1st, you can get a translation of your license into Japanese from a JAF office or the Estonian embassy in Japan (but, curiously, NOT the Japanese embassy in Estonia!) and legally drive in Japan, rent a car, etc.

The cost is apparently around 25 euros from JAF or 30 euros from the embassy.

It's a purely bilateral agreement between Japan and Estonia, outside the scope of the 1949/1968 conventions. But I think there's a good chance Japan will do the same with other countries not falling under the 1949 convention, especially the big sources of tourists. One of the tourism-boosting measures before the 2020 Olympics, perhaps?

@AnTyx, so you have to make a translation locally of your driving license?
An international driving license document is not valid?

You need an official translation if you don't have a 1949 Geneva format IDP.
JAF|For foreign nationals with a driver’s license issued in Switzerland, Germany, France,Belgium, Monaco, Estonia and Taiwan or Taiwan

Note that while the same treaty covers both licenses and driving of temporary imported vehicles, this translation service has nothing to do with ability to drive a temporarily imported vehicle.