March 23, 2017 · mccsokinawa.com
JCI Step-by-Step Purchase your JCI policy
through an insurance company such as ACE or AIU for about ¥13,000.
Pay your weight tax
boule/bigstock.com, evgeny atamanenko/bigstock.com
J
apanese Compulsory Insurance, better known as JCI, is auto insurance mandated by the Government of Japan (GOJ) which provides third-party coverage of up to ¥30 million for death, ¥1.2 million for injuries and up to ¥40 million for residual injuries. Part of renewing your JCI every year is a full car inspection. The inspection will ensure your vehicle is safe, and legal to drive in Japan. The process, collectively known as “JCI’ing” your car, can take hours or days. On the pain scale, it is said to rank slightly above doing taxes and just below a bad sunburn. The pain of JCI is small compared to consequences of letting your JCI expire. Driving with an out-of-date JCI can result in a suspended license for 30 days, a ¥500,000 ($4,500) fine and up to a year of prison. The GOJ vehicle inspection is a physical health exam for cars. The check includes everything from the suspension system for corrosion, to en-
inside
suring the condition of your vehicle’s interior is safe, muffler noise level is under 96 dB, carbon monoxide emissions are under 1 percent for cars under 10 years old, and hydrocarbon emissions are under 300 ppm. How long your JCI takes depends on the extent of repairs your vehicle needs to pass. Instead of going in blind, Typhoon Motors offers a pre-JCI vehicle check for $67 so you know if you have any issues needing repair before the big day. Sound daunting? It doesn’t have to be. In fact, you don’t even have to do it yourself if you drop your car off for Typhoon Motors One Day JCI. Drop your vehicle off by 10:30 a.m., and by 4:30 p.m. your car will be JCI’d and ready to go. You’ve got better things to do with your time than stand in line at vehicle registration. One Day JCI starts at $500. For more details on how Typhoon Motors can help, visit mccsokinawa.com/typhoonmotors.
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at the Joint Service Vehicle Registration Office (JSVRO) on Camp Foster (Bldg. 5638). Your fee will vary by the weight of the car (yen only).
Remove hubcaps
before you drive your car through the inspection line behind JSVRO. The inspection fee is $20 (cash). The inspection will take approximately 15 minutes.
If you fail
the inspection, you will be handed a list of everything you need to correct. Fix your issues, then do the inspection again.
If you pass
you receive a new vehicle title, the new JCI policy expiration date (two years inspection) and a new GOJ inspection sticker.
When does my GOJ inspection expire?
The date on your GOJ inspection sticker might look like this: 29-8-14. The year corresponds to the current era of Emperor Akihito, called the Heisei era. To convert a Gregorian calendar year to Heisei, subtract 1988 from the current year. The date of 29-8-14 is August 14, 2017.
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