How to vet a Japanese used car exporter before you pay

Summary. Before you send money to a Japanese exporter, check five things: a licence number you can look up, a company that exists in the government registry, a bank account in the company’s own name, a written contract, and photos that prove the exporter really has your car. No check is perfect, and legal action across borders is slow, so spend your time before payment, not after.

This guide is for dealers and importers buying from Japan. Apply the same checklist to us at Hana Motors too.

Step 1: Ask for the licence number

In Japan, buying and selling used goods as a business needs a kobutsu licence (古物商許可). Cars are one of the 13 categories of used goods in the rules (Nagano Police). The licence is issued by a prefectural public safety commission, the one that covers the main office.

What you can do as a buyer:

• Ask the exporter for its licence number, the name of the issuing commission, and the licence holder’s name.
• Look at its website. Since 1 April 2024, a dealer’s website must show its name, the issuing commission and the licence number. There are exceptions: a business with 5 or fewer regular workers, or one with no website of its own, is exempt. Internet dealers must still show their name and what they sell (Nagano Police). Tokyo police say the same for online listings. So a missing number is a question to ask, not proof of a problem.
• Some commissions publish a list of dealers who trade through websites. Saitama lets you search by licence number. Not every commission is the same, and we did not confirm how each prefecture’s list works.

We did not find an official rule that says every car exporter must hold this licence in every case. Treat the licence as a strong signal to ask about, not as a legal verdict.

Step 2: Check the company exists

If the exporter is a company, look it up on the Japanese tax agency’s Corporate Number Publication Site. You can search by name, address or the 13-digit corporate number, and there is an English version. English names show only for companies that registered one, so you may need the Japanese name from the contract or invoice.

Check that:

• the legal name matches your invoice
• the address matches the website and the contract
• the company is not newly created just before your deal (ask when it started trading)

Step 3: Check the people and the place

• Ask for the business address and look at it on a map and street view. A bank-office or mailbox address is a question to ask.
• Ask for a video call and ask the person to show the office or yard.
• Ask for the names of recent buyers in your country who will talk to you. Contact them yourself using details you found, not details the exporter sends.
• Ask whether the company belongs to JUMVEA, the Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association. Governments such as the St Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards (2023) tell buyers to contact JUMVEA before buying. Membership is not a guarantee. Ask JUMVEA directly to confirm the member; do not rely on a logo on the exporter’s page.

For comparison, a real dealer applying for membership at the USS auction has to supply a licence copy, a commercial registry copy, a lease agreement and photos of its premises (USS membership page). A real business can show you documents like these.

Step 4: Match the payment account to the company

Our advice, not an official rule: the account that receives your money should be in the legal name of the same company as the invoice and contract. If the exporter asks you to pay a different company, a person, or a different country’s account, stop and ask why. Get the bank details in writing on the invoice, and confirm them by phone using a number you found yourself.

Step 5: Get a written contract

A short contract or signed invoice should state:

Check the chassis number with our vehicle code decoder. See also the Japan export certificate.

Step 6: Ask for proof of the exact car

Scammers often list cars they do not hold. Ask for:

• many photos from all angles, including the chassis plate, odometer and the engine bay
• a few photos you choose on the spot, such as one door handle or the dashboard with today’s date on paper
• the auction sheet if the car came from an auction, and the damage codes explained
• an independent inspection report from a company you can verify

Business Daily Africa lists slow replies to photo requests and mixed-up photo backgrounds as warning signs. Japancartrade, quoted there, suggests asking for plain extra shots to see if the seller really has the car.

Red flags

These come from consumer warnings and press reports we read, not from our own opinion about any company:

• A price far below the market. Low prices are used as bait (Business Daily Africa).
• An agent you cannot verify, or one who is not registered with anyone (Business Daily Africa).
• A large deposit first. The Bahamas Consumer Protection Commission (July 2024) described a case where sellers took a 50% deposit, issued shipping papers, then sold the same car to other buyers while it was at sea, and several people claimed it on arrival.
• Shipping papers that do not clearly name you as the owner or consignee. This is our reading of the Bahamas case, not a rule the commission published.
• Pressure to pay fast or to pay by a route you cannot trace.

Safe payment habits

1. Pay in stages and keep each part small until you have proof of the car and the export paperwork.
2. Pay only to the company account on the contract.
3. Use a bank transfer you can prove, not cash or a personal wallet.
4. Do not pay the balance until you have the bill of lading and see the shipment on the shipping line’s own tracking.
5. Keep every message, invoice and receipt.

Be realistic about recovery. A Japanese embassy view reported by Business Daily Africa (2016, updated 2020) was that car import fraud is treated as a civil matter in Japan, so a victim has to hire a lawyer, and legal costs can exceed the car’s value. We found only that one source for this, so check it with a lawyer if it matters to your deal.

Quick checklist

• Licence number, issuing commission and holder name received
• Company found on the corporate number site
• Address checked, video call done
• Bank account name matches the invoice
• Written contract with chassis number
• Photos of the exact car, including ones you asked for
• Paid only a small part first