I will arrange an IDP, that is easy enough.

We want to enter with our car in Japan (with DBS ferry) through C5014 which is possible. But you should also leave together with your car again, because that is mandatory with the temporary import declaration. You can actually exit using a RoRo to Europe if you also go onto that RoRo as a passenger :)

But I thought I read about travellers who entered on C5014 and just shipped their car or motorbike out of Japan separately? (so car/bike on the boat, and the person leaving by airplane)

Ok, I have been in contact with Japanese Customs of Tokyo and Yokohama.
The person from Tokyo says it is possible to ship out a temporary imported (C5014) car via RoRo and not leave together with the car. But I need to arrange the export declaration before I leave.
See reply below:

Yes. But I recommend that you tell the customs officer in Hakata or Sakaiminato (where ferries arrive) that you plan to leave by ferry (to Korea or Russia).
You can always change your "plans" later.
If you say that you will use RORO or container, they are likely to reject you. Tokyo and Yokohama are different jurisdictions than Hakata or Sakaiminato, so they may not have the same opinions (because there are no clear rules).

Hi Chris,

Yes that was exactly my plan. I have read this before.

However, there is a field on the form that says expected port of export/departure (and date). So I'm not sure if I can leave that blank or fill in the ferry port, even though it will change. It is "expected" so it should not fix me to it hopefully.

I got the first message from a motorcyclist from Switzerland.
Today I received a reply from DBS Ferry. Here's the answer:

There was a guy "max" from Germany, who acted really "german" and did not want to get into Japan like everyone els before.

he wrote to all Japanese authorities, because he thought that he would import his bike "illegally" and wanted to do it officially with full insurance and so on.

Everyone told him not to do that because he would wake up the authorities and bring them to stop this way for all other bikers later.

I think exactly this happened.

Say thank you to Max.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ke-japan-74702

Yes, you were illegal. The insurance was not a waste, as most police officers
do not know much about international treaties. If you had had an accident,
it is most likely that the insurance would have paid out. As they themselves
do not know what vehicles are illegal. The only exception, might be in large
cities, or where someone was killed. Then there is a much higher chance of
then checking. I went into a prefectural police station and asked about Swiss
and German vehicles. They did not know and did not want to have to go look
up the answer.

So, we succesfully went through Japan using C5014 and shipping out of Kawasaki port! No Carnet needed at all!
We came in using DBS ferry with the car in Sakaiminato. That is how you can get C5014 Temporary Import declaration.

We and the car have not left Japan yet, but yesterday we did the customs and the car has been exported. That means the C5014 Temporary Import has been ended (still on the same form). And without paying any import tax!

With our car from the Netherlands we were driving legally in Japan, as far as I know. We never got stopped by police, but yeah we were driving a Toyota Hiace so we blend in haha. But there have been many police who noticed us and either did not make a problem out of it or maybe did not know what to do with it.
The customs where all laughing when they heard we were driving two months in Japan with our own Dutch license plate. Laughing hard as in they were thinking it should not be that way.
I think you could actually register your car with Ministery of Land transportation and get Japanese license plates. But why do that? Why make it difficult? And you would need to end that as well when exporting.

I emailed before with customs and got good replies in perfect English. At some point I mentioned on which date in which office I was going to be. They prepared everything for me, which was really nice. I think it costs a lot of time for everybody.
And for them it was also the first time to handle the ending of C5014, also by a tourist himself.

However, there are no shipping companies who are familiar with C5014 at all. This means they dont want to help you or will simply not reply.
That is why I insisted on doing customs myself.

But I think it will not work so fluently when you show up at a customs office with your C5014 form and wanting to export. I think it will go down poorly or at least cost a lot of time.
So start emailing some time before you come. Email addresses are on Japenese customs site for each district.

And yes in Sakaiminato just say you will ship out of Sakaiminato again. That will keep them happy. And in the end they just said if I were to ship out via other port without me, I just needed to pay import tax at that moment. Which was not true in the end.
Actually, import tax on a car that is not worth that much is not so much. So if your car is 5000 euro and you pay only 300 euro import tax, then that is also a viable option for those who cannot use C5014 or Carnet du Passage. Maybe the tax is lower on an older car.
And if it is a Japenese car you are bringing in, chances are that the value in Japan is much lower than you think. So this would save om thr import tax.
Anyhow, we did not have to pay anything at all. Only insurance which we did via DBS ferry contact.

Planning on shipping my car to Japan from Australia
 

Hi People,
i have read the thread about the pro's and con's of moving your car to Japan and i would just like to get peoples opinions about the different options discussed, as i am really trying to live in my Van well nissan elgrand, whilst traveling around Japan with my partner. But obviously we will not have a physical address.
Is it possible to get insurance, tax, vehicle registration, or and a temporary 1 year CDP without an address?

We would really like to know what you think about this idea?

Thankyou and i hope to talk with you soon.

If you have a 1 year visa for Japan, you will have to register as a resident someplace, whether or not you actually live there. You will then have a legal address where you can register your vehicle.
Whether you can get a CDP without an address is something you need to take up with the issuer in your home country.
Personally, if I were going to be in Japan a whole year, I would just by a used vehicle here and sell when I go home. It will be a lot cheaper than bringing one all the way to Japan.