Japanese license plates vs. USA license plates If you order custom made license plates for your mini-truck, it may be of some benefit to order them without mounting holes (allowing you to create mounting holes where needed and not have unused holes showing or having to fabricate an adapter). The Japanese license plates are different dimensions and have a wider mounting bolt spacing. The Japanese plates are approximately: 13" x 6.5" (330mm x 165mm) The mounting holes (there are only two and they are at the top) are approximately 8.25" (210mm), center to center, apart. The USA plates are approximately: 12" x 6" (305mm x 152.5mm) The mounting holes (4) are approximately 7" (178mm), center to center, apart The following facts were found on the Internet: Some Facts about Japan License Plates Vintage 1971-1998 License Plates The two digits, next to the Japanese Kanji prefecture, across the top generally denoted the vehicle class which went like this: 33, 34, 35, 36 … (Registered for Heavy Car, engine capacity over 2000cc) 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 54, 77, 78, 79... (Registered for Medium Car, engine capacity from 661cc to 2000cc). And for the yellow plates, it is different: 40, 41, 42, 43… (Registered for Light Truck, engine capacity up to 660cc) 50, 51… (Registered for light cars, engine capacity up to 660cc) It is noticed that the oldest ones start with the same double-digit and progress from there. Medium cars were the most common, so they cycled around to 54, and then started using plates from the 7 series. The other two series (3x & 4x) are quite scarce and never cycled through completely. How fast this occurred of course depended on the prefecture. Large cities like Osaka and parts of Tokyo would go through plates fast, whereas smaller places like Kurume, would take longer to cycle through. So, it is possible to estimate the age of the plate but it is very difficult to give an exact year. This is because 1971 to 1998 is a long time period. Current Version License Plates Current version of Japan License Plate started from 1998 with the new 3-digit after the prefecture. Now with the new system we have: 300, 301, 302 ... (Registered for Heavy Car, engine capacity over 2000cc) 400, 401, 402... (Registered for Light Truck, engine capacity up to 660cc) 500, 501, 502 ... (Registered for light cars, engine capacity up to 660cc)
my son got me one off ebay for my birthday...the black letters and yellow plate is the right one for these truck in japan. check out my pic's.
Sorry to bring up an old thread, but i found the license plate info for my truck and was wondering the correct color and style for it and if anyone knows of a place to custom make it? I assume it is a yellow w/ black lettering plate. truck is a toyota liteace, 1998cc engine, 1290kg gross weight? Nagano 44 Chi 61-68
Since its over a 1litre engine, it should be a white background with black letters. Anything under 1 litre is with a yellow background and black letters.
ah, thanks, i wasnt quite sure about that. i'll mark that down. also i have found sites that i can put the 44 and 61-68 in but i have no clue what the other charachters are on the plates. i assume the nagano is where it is from but no clue on the chi part.
was cruising ebay today, found these light up license plate holders... anyone have a clue how that works? are the plates over there made out of plastic or something?
found out the info today from some online contacts Nagano 44 Chi 61-68 長 44 ち 61-68 look right to anyone?