When moving into a rental property, anyone who owns a car needs to complete the garage certificate procedure. To answer questions such as "Do I need to apply again?" and "What should I ask the landlord for?", this article explains the need for a garage certificate when moving into a rental property, the application process, and key points to keep in mind.
What Is a Garage Certificate?
A garage certificate (Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location) is a document submitted to the police station to certify where a vehicle is stored. In Japan, vehicles must be kept in a place other than the road, so this procedure is required whether you are buying a new or used car.
Do You Need to Reapply for a Garage Certificate When Moving to a Rental Property?
Yes. If your address changes because of a move, you must obtain a new garage certificate within 15 days of the address change. Even if you move nearby and the parking space does not change, you still need to file an application confirming that the straight-line distance from your home to the parking space is within 2 km.
Garage Certificate Application Process
1. Pick Up the Application Forms at the Police Station
Pick up the full set of application forms at the police station that has jurisdiction over the area where the parking space is located, or from a car dealer.
2. Prepare the Application Documents
The required documents differ depending on whether you own the parking space or rent it.
- If you own the parking space: Application for Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location, location and layout map, document proving the right to use the storage location, and identification
- If you rent the parking space (including rental housing): Application for Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location, location and layout map, Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location, and identification
The Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location must be requested from the landlord or the property management company.
3. Submit the Documents to the Police Station
Reception hours at the police counter are generally 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays (varies by prefecture). In Tokyo, the counter-application fee is 2,400 yen (2,300 yen if filed electronically). In some areas, revenue stamps are required, so it is wise to bring extra cash.
4. Receive the Garage Certificate
It is issued 3 to 7 days after the application is submitted. Since the storage-location sticker system was abolished on April 1, 2025, there is no longer a 500-yen sticker fee to pay at pickup, and no sticker is issued. The only document you receive is the Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location itself.
Points to Note When Applying for a Garage Certificate
The only document a landlord can issue is the "Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location"
The garage certificate itself can only be issued by the police station. What you can request from the landlord or property management company is the issuance of the "Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location" required for the application. If the property management company handles the process on your behalf, a separate agency fee will apply.
Apply With Enough Time to Spare
Because issuance can take up to one week, apply early by working backward from the car purchase or delivery date.
Related Reading
Is a parking certificate required for an apartment?
Even for rental properties, including apartments, you must obtain a parking certificate if you live in an area where it is required.This applies whether you rent a parking space at the apartment or use a nearby monthly parking lot.
When applying for a parking certificate for an apartment, you need to have the landlord or management company issue a "Consent to Use Storage Location" form (in some cases, a copy of the parking lease agreement may be accepted instead).
Four requirements for a parking certificate to be issued
1. There is enough space to accommodate the entire vehicle
The vehicle size listed in the application must fit within the dimensions of the storage location.If the vehicle is too large, the application will not be approved.
2. Within 2 km in a straight line from the principal place of use
The storage location must be within 2 km in a straight line from your address. If you plan to rent a parking space farther away, be sure to check the distance.
3. You have the legal right to use the storage location
You cannot apply unless the parking space is one you have actually contracted to use.False applications may be subject to penalties if discovered.
4. Access is possible and the location is not on a road
Using a road as a storage location is prohibited under the law. You may apply if the location is on private premises or vacant land and the owner has authorized its use.
Required documents to obtain a parking certificate for an apartment
- Application for Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location (enter the information shown on the vehicle inspection certificate)
- Application for Issuance of Storage Location Sticker — no longer needed. This form was required before the storage-location sticker system was abolished on April 1, 2025; today only the other three documents below apply.
- Layout map and location map of the storage location (show the relationship between your home and the parking space)
- Certificate of Consent to Use Storage Location or a copy of the lease agreement (issued by the management company)
What Documents Do You Need for a Garage Certificate When You Rent Your Parking Space?
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department publishes a fairly detailed checklist of what to submit — and, just as usefully, what you can leave out — depending on whether you own or rent the space where your car will be parked. Since the storage-location sticker system was abolished on April 1, 2025, the old "Application for Issuance of Storage Location Sticker" is no longer part of the packet, whether you own or rent. The table below sets out what a renter actually needs to bring.
| Document | Who prepares it | How it applies if you rent |
|---|---|---|
| Application for Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location | You, the applicant (the person registered as the vehicle's user) | Always required. You copy the model, chassis number, and dimensions straight from the vehicle inspection certificate (shaken shōmeisho) |
| Location map and layout map of the storage location | You | The location map can sometimes be omitted, but the layout map cannot be skipped under any circumstance |
| Self-declaration document (自認書, jininsho) | You | Only if you own the land or building where the car will be kept. Renters do not use this form |
| Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location | The parking space's owner or manager | This is the renter's document. A copy of the parking lease, or — if there is no written lease — parking-fee receipts, can sometimes substitute for it |
| Document confirming your principal place of use | You | Requested only when the address on your application does not match where you actually live |
Source: Metropolitan Police Department, "Procedures for Applying for a Certificate of Storage Location (Applying at the Counter)" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.html and "The Principal Place of Use of a Vehicle and How to Confirm It" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_syousai/shiyouhonkyochi.html
That last row is the one renters — especially recently arrived foreign residents — tend to overlook. If you have just moved and have not yet updated your resident record (juminhyo), or if the address on the application does not match where you are actually living day to day, the police can ask you to prove where you really live. The Metropolitan Police Department's own examples of acceptable proof include a utility bill (electricity, gas, water), postal mail with a postmark, a driver's licence, or — for kei (light) cars only — the vehicle inspection certificate itself. If you apply in person, the clerk simply looks at the original document; if someone applies for you, a photocopy is attached instead. Many foreign residents in Japan pay utilities by automatic bank transfer and never receive a paper bill, so it is worth requesting one, or bringing your residence card and driver's licence together, before you go to the counter.
One more point that saves a trip: if your household owns several cars parked in the same lot — say, spaces 1 through 3 of a shared parking area — and you are filing all three applications at once, you only need one copy of the Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location and one set of location and layout maps to cover all of them, as long as the location described is identical. That also means you only have to ask your landlord once, not once per car.
If your utility bills or lease documents were issued only in your home country's language, keep in mind that the police counter works in Japanese: ask your utility provider or management company for a Japanese-language statement rather than relying on an English or other translation of the same document.
Source: Metropolitan Police Department, sample of the "Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.files/cf06.pdf and sample of the "Location Map and Layout Map of the Storage Location" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.files/cf04.pdf
By when should you change your parking certificate after moving?
After moving, any change to your storage location requires a new parking certificate — not just a change of 2 km or more. Under Article 7 of the Act on Securement of Places for Storage of Motor Vehicles (the Garage Act), you must notify the change within 15 days of the date the storage location changed; missing that window is a violation under Article 17 of the same law.Along with your other moving procedures, it is best to handle this early.
Related reading
How to Fill Out the Application, Location Map, and Layout Map Without Getting Sent Back
Renters are the ones most likely to be told to redo their paperwork, usually over the address fields on the application or the measurements on the layout map. Here are the specific points the Metropolitan Police Department's own sample forms flag as common mistakes.
Filling Out the Application for Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location
- The "applicant" field is not "whoever happens to carry the papers to the counter." It must be the name and address of the person who will actually be registered as the vehicle's user. For an individual, write it exactly as it appears on your residence certificate (juminhyo) or seal-registration certificate (inkan tōroku shōmeisho); for a company, exactly as registered.
- The "principal place of use" is where you actually live day to day — normally the same address as your residence certificate. A workplace does not count as an individual's principal place of use. If the vehicle is registered to a company, an employee's home or a company dormitory usually does not count as the company's principal place of use either.
- The storage location's address should be written as the official residential address (jūkyō hyōji). Where a plot has no formal residential address, use the lot number or the nearest one instead. It must be within 2 km, in a straight line, of your principal place of use.
- For the "right to use" field: renters tick "belonging to another person" (他人, tanin) and attach either a copy of the parking contract, parking-fee receipts (if there is no written contract), or the Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location. If several people, including you, share the space, tick "jointly owned" (共有, kyōyū) and attach a consent document from every co-user.
- Choosing "new" or "replacement": tick "new" if this particular parking space has never been certified before. Tick "replacement" if a certificate has already been issued for a car previously kept there. If you have just signed a lease on a new parking space after your move, you will almost always tick "new."
- Double-check the model and chassis number for the classic look-alike mix-ups: the digit 0 versus the letter O, the digit 1 versus the letter I or L, and the digit 2 versus the letter Z. Once a certificate has been issued it cannot simply be corrected — a mistake here can mean starting the whole application over.
Filling Out the Location Map and Layout Map
- The location map must clearly mark both your principal place of use (home or office) and the parking space, connect them with a straight line, and state the distance between them. Include a recognizable landmark and the surrounding streets so the police can locate both points.
- The layout map must show the parking space's depth and width as a scaled drawing, the width of the road it opens onto, and the surrounding buildings, vacant land, and roads. If the space has a height restriction — a mechanical parking tower, for instance — that clearance must be noted too. Mark whether there is a shutter or other barrier blocking the entrance: "yes" (有) if there is one, "no" (無) if there is not. If the storage location is at your own home, draw the whole lot and mark exactly where the car sits within it.
- You are allowed to skip the separate location map only in narrow cases — when your principal place of use and the storage location are literally the same address, or when both the principal place of use and the storage location are unchanged from a previous vehicle you already had certified. The layout map, however, can never be omitted.
Source: Metropolitan Police Department, sample of the "Application for Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.files/cf01.pdf and sample of the "Location Map and Layout Map of the Storage Location" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.files/cf04.pdf
In practice, the layout map is almost always the reason an application bounces back, and almost always over measurements. The dimensions printed on a rental listing describe the marked-out parking bay, not the space that is actually usable once you account for support columns, walls, and wheel stops — and a car that fits neatly inside the painted lines is not guaranteed to fit inside what is left after those obstructions. Take a tape measure to the space yourself, before you sign the parking contract, and write down what you actually measured rather than what the listing says.
One more habit worth building if you are new to Japan: every measurement on this paperwork — the 2 km distance limit, the parking bay's depth and width, a mechanical parking tower's height clearance — is in metric units, with no imperial equivalent printed anywhere on the official forms. If you normally think in feet and inches, convert before comparing a car's specification sheet against a parking space's listed dimensions, rather than eyeballing it.
What is the Certificate of Consent for Use of Storage Location?
When using a parking space at a rental property, this is a document in which the landowner or management company certifies that you have the right to use the parking space. It is required when using parking spaces at apartments, condominium buildings, or contracted parking lots. In general, the owner or management company prepares it, and in many cases the tenant does not need to sign it.
Where to obtain it
- Management company: in many cases, it is issued at the same time as the lease or parking contract
- Police station: the form may be obtained at the counter
- Municipal or prefectural police website: in some cases, the form can be downloaded
Using a lease agreement instead
In some cases, a lease agreement can be used in place of the Certificate of Consent for Use of Storage Location, but only if the required information (parking space location, usage period, and size of the storage location) is included. You should confirm this in advance with the management company or police station.
For contract management in rental property operations, please also see the importance of lease agreements and how to handle problems.
Related reading
Who Actually Fills Out the Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location — and What Belongs to the Landlord?
The short answer, straight from the Metropolitan Police Department's own guidance: this form is filled out under the responsibility of the owner of the storage location, or a manager acting on the owner's behalf. It is not a document you, the applicant, write and submit yourself.
That said, not every field on the form comes from your landlord. Splitting the form up field by field makes it much easier to know exactly what to hand over when you ask for it.
| Field | What goes there | Where the information comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Location of the storage space | The parking space's address | The parking contract |
| Name of the lot and space number | The name of the parking facility if it has one, and the specific space number you have been assigned, if any. If there is no formal name, this is left blank | The parking contract |
| User (postal code, address, phone number, name) | Normally identical to what you wrote in the applicant field on your own application | You, the applicant |
| Period of use | Where you are using the space under a lease, this normally matches the lease term | The parking lease |
| Consenting party (postal code, address, phone number, name) | The owner or manager of the parking space. If the space is co-owned, every necessary co-owner must be listed | Landlord or management company |
| Date of certification | The date of issue, or a date a few days before submission | Whoever prepares the form |
Source: Metropolitan Police Department, sample of the "Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.files/cf06.pdf and "Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location (prescribed form)" https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tetsuzuki/kotsu/hokan/syako_tetsuzuki/jidousha_syomei.files/style06.pdf
There is no seal (hanko) column on this form at all. The current versions of both the Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location and the Self-Declaration Document that the Metropolitan Police Department distributes simply do not include a space for a registered seal. If you have run into a landlord who lives far away and cannot easily get a seal to you, that is not a reason for the paperwork to stall — the form was never designed to need one.
Three pieces of information, if you hand them over up front, will save you a second round trip: your name and address exactly as they appear on your own application, the specific parking space number you have been assigned, and the date by which you need the form back. The period of use almost always tracks the lease term, so your landlord or management company can fill that field in straight from the contract on file. Your own details, on the other hand, exist nowhere on their side — if you do not supply them, expect at least one extra email or phone call before the form comes back correctly filled in.
From a property manager's perspective, issuing these certificates is a recurring, not a one-off, task — a tenant who buys or trades in a car generates a fresh request even though nothing else about the tenancy has changed. Because the current form requires no seal, it is worth keeping a downloadable copy from your prefectural police website on hand as a template, and deciding in advance who within your organization — the building's management company, or the parking lot's own operator — is responsible for issuing it, so nobody has to look up the procedure from scratch each time a request comes in.
One reassurance for first-time applicants: once a Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location has been issued for a given car at a given parking space, you do not need a fresh one every year. A new request is only triggered by a real change — a different car, a different parking space, or a change of address — not by the mere passage of time. Treat it as a one-time step per vehicle rather than an annual renewal.
What You Need to Know about Obtaining a Storage Space Use Consent and Garage Certificate
Finally, here are two points you should know about garage certification.
Garage certification is not required in some areas for light vehicles
Although a garage certificate is always required if you own a car, there are exceptions.
If your car is a light car, you do not need a garage certificate in some areas and only need to report your parking space.
This is because the administrative bodies that manage regular cars and light cars are different.
In the case of a regular car, the application is submitted to the national government, while in the case of a light car, the application is submitted to the local government.
However, in some areas, all vehicles may require a garage certificate.
Check in advance whether your area is subject to this requirement.
A rental agreement can be substituted for a storage space use agreement.
If you are using a parking space in a rental apartment or condominium, you may be able to use a rental agreement in lieu of a storage space use agreement.
In such cases, the following four items must be included in the rental agreement.
Contractor's name and seal
Name and seal of the lessor
・Address of the parking space
・Period of contract
Note that if even one of these items is missing, the permit will not be granted!
Substitutions can be made even if the applicant for the garage certificate and the contractor of the rental agreement are different.
In this case, the applicant for the garage certificate must be listed in the name of the parking space user on the contract.
If you wish to use a rental agreement as a substitute, be sure to check with the police station.
How much is the garage-certificate fee? Current amounts in Tokyo
Fees are set by each prefecture’s ordinance, so they are not uniform nationwide. The figures below are for Tokyo. They were revised on 1 April 2025, so they will not match articles that still quote the older amounts.
| Procedure | Fee |
|---|---|
| Proof of storage location (車庫証明, shako shōmei / garage certificate) — counter application | 2,400 JPY (approx. $16) |
| Proof of storage location (garage certificate) — electronic application | 2,300 JPY (approx. $15) |
| Notification of storage location (保管場所届出, hokan-basho todokede) | No fee |
| Reissue of the storage-location certificate (counter only) | 600 JPY (approx. $4) |
Source: Keishichō (警視庁, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department), 「保管場所手続に係る手数料」 (“Fees for vehicle storage-location procedures”) (revised 1 April 2025)
Three points follow from this table.
- Electronic filing is 100 JPY cheaper (about $0.67). Once you add the fare and time of two round trips to the police-station counter, the gap is more than that 100 yen.
- A “notification” (届出, todokede) carries no fee. For kei cars (軽自動車, light motor vehicles) and in areas exempt from the storage-location rules, the process may be a notification rather than a certificate. Which of the two you need changes the cost.
- Other prefectures charge different amounts. You apply at the police station that has jurisdiction over the storage location (保管場所, hokan basho — the off-street place where the vehicle is kept), so check the prefectural police site for the area you are moving to.
You do not always have to ask the landlord for a consent certificate
In a rental, the most time-consuming part of a garage-certificate application is obtaining a 保管場所使用承諾証明書 (hokan-basho shiyō shōdaku shōmeisho, certificate of consent to use the storage location). The landlord or the management company has to sign it; issuance can take days, and a fee is sometimes charged.
Read the Tokyo Metropolitan Police guidance, however, and a consent certificate is not the only document that can prove a right to use someone else’s land or building as a storage location.
| Who owns the storage location | Document proving the right to use it |
|---|---|
| Your own land or building | Self-declaration (自認書, jininsho) |
| Someone else’s land or building (a parking space at a rental property falls here) |
Certificate of consent to use the storage location |
| A copy of the parking lease (one that meets the requirements of the consent certificate) | |
| If there is no contract, receipts for parking fees and similar evidence | |
| A confirmation certificate issued by a public corporation such as the former Urban Development Corporation (都市基盤整備公団) |
In other words, a copy of the parking lease can stand in for the consent certificate. The condition is that it “meets the requirements of the consent certificate”. If the contract already states the location of the storage place, the user, the period of use, and the lessor’s name, you do not need a separate consent certificate.
Check the contract you already have first. Reverse the order and you will wait days you did not have to wait.
How to request it, from the management side
There are still cases where a consent certificate is required. At some properties the parking space is on a separate contract, or the lease wording does not meet the requirements. The request goes faster if you cover these three points.
- Ask the right party. The issuer is the lessor of the parking space. It is not unusual for the building’s management company and the parking operator to be different firms. Check the lessor field on the contract before you call.
- Ask first whether an issuance fee applies. Some management companies charge for issuing a consent certificate. The amount is often several thousand yen (typically a few tens of US dollars) and is not set by statute, so it varies by company.
- Have the vehicle details ready before you ask. The consent certificate records the location of the storage place plus the user and the period of use. If you request it before the car to be purchased is decided, the form will have to be rewritten.
From the owner or management-company side, conversely, issuing consent certificates is work that keeps recurring after move-in. A request arrives every time a tenant changes cars. Prepare a template and a fixed issuance flow and you will not have to look the procedure up each time.
Four requirements for a place to count as a storage location
Even with the paperwork in order, the certificate will not be issued if the place itself fails the tests. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police lists these four.
| Requirement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Place | A parking space, garage, vacant lot, or other place that is not a public road |
| Distance | No more than 2 kilometres from the location of the base of use (使用の本拠の位置 — home or workplace) |
| Access and size | The vehicle can enter and leave from a road the car can use, without obstruction, and the space can accommodate the whole vehicle |
| Right (権原, ken-gen) | You hold a legal right to use the place as a storage location |
In rentals, the third point — “the space can accommodate the whole vehicle” — is the one that most often trips people up. A car that overhangs the bay does not meet the requirement even if a contract has been signed. Measure the bay yourself before you sign. The parking size on the listing drawing is only a guide; columns and walls often shrink the usable dimensions.
The second requirement, distance, is also easy to miss. If you rent a nearby space separately and it is more than 2 kilometres from the dwelling, it will not be accepted. When you pick a cheaper space away from the property, check the distance first.
What Changed in April 2025: The Storage-Location Sticker Has Been Abolished
As of April 1, 2025, the storage-location sticker (hokan-basho hyōshō) — the physical sticker that used to be issued alongside a garage certificate — no longer exists. This applies whether you are getting a full Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location or filing the simpler notification used for kei (light) vehicles: no sticker is handed over in either case, the 500-yen sticker-issuance fee is gone, and there is no longer any legal requirement to display a sticker on your car. A garage-certificate application now results in a single document — the Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location itself — and a notification results in no document at all. The underlying storage-location system, and the obligation to have a legitimate place to keep your car, has not changed at all; only the sticker has been removed from it.
According to the National Police Agency, the reason is that databases of storage-location information have improved enough that the sticker's original purpose — letting an officer quickly and simply confirm where a car is supposed to be parked — can now be achieved without a physical sticker at all. One practical side effect for anyone filing electronically: because there is no sticker to collect in person, the entire storage-location procedure, start to finish, can now be completed online.
Source: National Police Agency, "Outline of the Act Partially Amending the Act on Securement of Places for Storage of Motor Vehicles" https://www.npa.go.jp/laws/kaisei/houritsu/240524-02/01_gaiyou.pdf and Osaka Prefectural Police, "The Storage-Location Sticker Will Be Abolished as of April 1, 2025" https://www.police.pref.osaka.lg.jp/ochikakunokeisatsusho/keisatsushobetsujoho/12/2/koutuuka/20600.html
If you come across an article, forum post, or even official-looking guidance written before March 2025, be careful: anything describing "the certificate, the sticker number notice, and the sticker" as the three things you receive is describing the old system and is now out of date.
Your Garage Certificate Has a Shelf Life — Roughly One Month from the Date of Certification
A Certificate of Vehicle Storage Location is not valid indefinitely. The Metropolitan Police Department's own sample guidance states that it should be submitted to the Land Transport Bureau within roughly one month of its certification date; once that window passes, you are expected to apply again from scratch.
This is exactly the kind of detail that trips up a move into a new rental. If more than a month is going to pass between the day you lock in your new address and the day your new car is actually delivered, getting the garage certificate too early just means getting it a second time. The correct order of operations is: sign the parking-space contract → obtain the Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location → apply for the garage certificate → register the vehicle at the Land Transport Bureau. Since the certificate itself typically takes three to seven business days to be issued, work backward from your planned delivery date rather than applying as soon as you sign the lease.
Penalties for False Applications and Failing to Report Changes
Japan's Act on Securement of Places for Storage of Motor Vehicles — commonly called the "Garage Act" (shako-hō) — sets out real penalties for two kinds of dishonesty: applying for a certificate for a space you do not actually use, and failing to report it when your storage location changes.
| Violation | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Using a spot on a public road as your vehicle's storage location | Imprisonment of up to 3 months or a fine of up to 200,000 yen |
| Obtaining a garage certificate by submitting false documents or other false statements about your storage location | A fine of up to 200,000 yen |
| Continuously parking in the same spot on a public road for 12 hours or more (8 hours or more at night) | A fine of up to 200,000 yen |
| Failing to report a change of storage location, or reporting one falsely | A fine of up to 100,000 yen |
Source: e-Gov Japanese Law Search, Act on Securement of Places for Storage of Motor Vehicles, Articles 11 and 17 https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/337AC0000000145
One nuance worth flagging for careful readers: as of June 1, 2025, a reform to Japan's Penal Code merged the older penalties of "imprisonment with labor" (chōeki) and "imprisonment without labor" (kinkō) into a single category called kōkin-kei (custodial imprisonment). If you come across older reference material describing the first violation above as "up to 3 months' imprisonment with labor" (chōeki), that phrasing predates the 2025 reform — the substance of the penalty is the same. It is also worth knowing that when an employee commits one of these violations in the course of business, the company itself can be fined in addition to the individual responsible (Article 18 of the same Act).
If your household drives a kei (light) car rather than a standard-sized one, remember that the two systems are administered separately — national government for standard vehicles, municipal government for kei vehicles — and, depending on where you live, a kei car may only require the simpler notification described earlier in this article rather than a full certificate. Whichever route applies to you, the abolition of the sticker, the roughly one-month validity window, and the penalties above apply equally to both.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. Do I need a garage certificate even if I only moved nearby?
Yes. You must apply within 15 days of the address change. Even if the parking space remains the same, you are still required to file an application confirming that it is within 2 km of your home.
Q. What should I do if the landlord refuses to issue the Certificate of Consent to Use the Storage Location?
In some cases, a copy of the lease agreement can be used instead. Check with the police station that has jurisdiction over your area.
Q. Can someone handle the garage certificate application on my behalf?
You can ask an administrative scrivener, some real estate companies, or a car dealer to handle it for you. However, an agency fee will apply.
Q. How much is the application fee?
In Tokyo, the counter-application fee is 2,400 yen (2,300 yen if filed electronically), and since the storage-location sticker was abolished on April 1, 2025, there is no additional fee to pay at issuance. Because fees vary by prefecture, confirm the amount with the police station in your jurisdiction before applying.
Q. How much does it cost to obtain a parking certificate?
A. The amount varies by prefecture; certificate issuance fees generally run around 2,000 to 2,500 yen (2,400 yen at the counter in Tokyo). There is no additional storage-location sticker fee, since that sticker system was abolished on April 1, 2025.
Q. What should I do if the management company refuses to issue the Consent to Use Storage Location form?
A. In some cases, a copy of the lease agreement may be accepted as a substitute. If an alternative is not accepted, please consult the police station.
Q. If I use a mechanical parking system, do I need to write the height in the application?
A. Yes. For mechanical parking systems with height restrictions, you need to include the height limit in the layout map.
Q. How many days after application does it take to receive the parking certificate?
A. It is generally issued 3 to 7 days after the application is accepted. During busy periods, it may take longer.
Q1. Is a parking certificate required even for kei cars?
In prefectural capitals, municipalities with populations of 100,000 or more, and areas within a 30 km radius of major urban centers, a parking certificate (storage location notification) is required even for kei cars.
Q2. By when do I need to obtain a parking certificate after moving?
Within 15 days of changing your address. If you miss the deadline, it becomes a violation of the Garage Act, so you should complete the procedure promptly.
Q3. Can a management company refuse to prepare the consent certificate?
Yes. It may be refused if there is no parking use contract or if the parking space cannot be confirmed. You should check the status of your parking contract when moving in.
Q4. Can I use a parking space located more than 2 km from my home?
Because it does not meet the requirement for obtaining a parking certificate (within a 2 km straight-line distance), you cannot obtain a parking certificate for that parking space. You will need to find another parking space.
Q. When applying for a garage certificate on a rental, is the landlord’s consent certificate always required?
Not necessarily. Tokyo Metropolitan Police guidance lists, among the documents that can prove a right to use someone else’s land or building as a storage location, not only the certificate of consent to use the storage location but also “a copy of the parking lease (one that meets the requirements of the consent certificate)”. If the contract already states the location, the user, the period of use, and the lessor, it may be usable as it stands. Check the contract you already have first.
Q. How much is the garage-certificate fee now?
In Tokyo, a counter application is 2,400 JPY (approx. $16) and an electronic application is 2,300 JPY (approx. $15) (revised 1 April 2025). Notification of a storage location has no fee; reissue of the certificate is 600 JPY (approx. $4). Fees are set by prefectural ordinance, so the amounts are not uniform. Check the prefectural police site for the area you are moving to.
