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Certified Japanese Vehicle Title Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record the ownership and registration of a vehicle in Japan, including the registry annotations and endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
The shaken-sho is the registration
Japan's vehicle document is the jidōsha kensa-shō (車検証), the inspection certificate, which doubles as the registration and names the registered owner and the user separately.
There is no separate title. The shaken inspection expiry printed on it governs whether the car may be driven at all, and it is a central fact rather than a service record.
Owner and user, which are often different
The certificate shows 所有者 (owner) and 使用者 (user) as distinct fields, and on a financed or leased car the owner is the finance company while the user is the driver.
A translation that gives only one name misstates who holds the vehicle. We give both fields as labelled.
The garage certificate, and the seal
Registration requires a shako shōmeisho, a police certificate that the keeper has an off-street parking space, and transfers run on the registered seal with an inkan shōmeisho rather than a signature.
Those two documents accompany a Japanese vehicle file and have no US counterpart. We translate them.
Export, and the deregistration certificate
Exporting requires deregistration, producing an yushutsu massho kaririku shōmeisho — an export certificate — which is the document a foreign registry needs, and the original shaken-sho is surrendered.
A twenty-five-year-old Japanese vehicle imported to the US under the classic exemption will travel on that certificate. See our Japanese page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, and every seal, stamp and registry endorsement is translated with the text. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Japanese title?
There is none. The inspection certificate doubles as the registration and names the owner.
Why are there two names?
Owner and user are separate fields. On a financed car the owner is the finance company.
What is a shako shomeisho?
A police certificate that the keeper has off-street parking. Required to register.
What do I need to import to the US?
The export deregistration certificate. The original inspection certificate is surrendered on export.
Ready to get started?
Upload the document and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.