Japanese service record book: what it shows, and what it can't

If you ask for the service history of a car in Japan, the papers you're after are usually the service record book: tenken seibi kirokubo, often shortened to "kirokubo" in a listing. It isn't a dealer's extra. Japanese law says the user of a car has to keep one in the car and write each periodic check in it. It's also narrower than many buyers expect. The law only asks for it to be kept for two years after each entry, it's written by whoever did the work, and it records checks, not the state of the car today.

What the law says has to be in it

Under Japan's Road Transport Vehicle Act, the user of a car has to keep the service record book in the car (Article 49). After each periodic check or service, they have to write in it, without delay:

• the date of the check
• the result of the check
• an outline of the servicing done
• the date the servicing was finished

The ministry's rules on vehicle checks add three more items:

• the registration number (or the chassis number, for a car without one)
• the total mileage at the time of the check or the major work
• the name and address of whoever did the check or the work (just the name, if the user did it themselves)

The law also has a word for major work: work that involves taking off the engine, transmission, running gear, steering, brakes or suspension, or that could affect how they work. Major work has to go in the book as well, unless a registered garage did it.

How often. A private car has to be checked once a year under the same Act (Article 48). Commercial vehicles and large trucks are checked more often.

How long it's kept. For a private car, each entry has to be kept for two years from the day it was written. After that, the law doesn't require the page to be kept at all.

What the shaken record now says about it

The data now kept from each car's roadworthiness test (shaken) also notes how the servicing was done when the car was tested. The body that supplies this data, the Automobile Inspection & Registration Information Association (AIRIA), describes three lines:

1. Where it was tested: at a designated garage, or brought to the transport bureau for the test.
2. Servicing at the test: whether the car was checked and serviced at the test and that was written in the record book ("recorded" or "not recorded").
3. Who presented it: for example a designated garage or a registered garage.

These are the three lines from the remarks section of the inspection record for our own car, a Toyota Prius α.

In Japanese, they are the three items AIRIA describes, for the test recorded on this document.

So the official record can tell you that the car was serviced at its last test and that the work went into the book. It doesn't tell you what was done, what was found, or anything about the years in between. For that, you need the book.

What the book can tell you

If the seller sends photos of the pages with entries, you can usually see:

• When the car was checked, and whether there are gaps longer than a year
• The mileage at each check, which should only go up and fit between the readings recorded at the shaken (our page on Japan car history checks explains where those come from)
• Who did the work: a maker's dealer, an independent garage or the user. The name and address are part of the entry.
• An outline of what was serviced or replaced at each visit

Reading the marks on a page

On the check pages, each item gets a mark rather than words. This is the key printed on Toyota's own record book form. Other makers' books may print a different key, so look for the one on the page you're sent.

Mark	Meaning	Worth knowing
✓	Checked, nothing wrong	In Japanese it's written as a tick-shaped character
×	Replaced	It doesn't mean "failed". A page with several × marks is a car that had parts changed
△	Repaired	Ask what was repaired, and whether there's an invoice
A	Adjusted	Play, gaps or angles set back to the standard
T	Tightened
C	Cleaned
L	Oil or fluid topped up
P	Skipped	The form marks some items as ones that can be skipped depending on mileage
○	Major work	The kind the law asks to be written in the book, such as work on the brakes or suspension (see above)
/	Not applicable	The car doesn't have that part

Some items also have small boxes for a figure: the standard value, what was measured, and the value after adjustment. On Toyota's form these include the thickness of the brake pads and linings and the depth of the tyre (tire) tread. A measured figure tells you more than a tick, so if a page has them, they're worth reading closely.

What the book can't tell you

• The years before the last two. The law only asks for two years. A book with only recent pages isn't necessarily hiding anything, and a thick one isn't proof of care.
• How well the work was done. The entries are written by whoever did the work. They aren't someone else's check on it.
• Bodywork. A dented panel, a repaint or a replaced bumper isn't the kind of major work the law asks to be written in. Whether a car has repair history is a separate question; see repair history and flood cars in Japanese listings.
• The state of the car today. A good record shows what was looked after. Rust under the car, the strut tops and the rear arches don't show up in a service entry.
• Whether you'll see it at all. "Record book: yes" in a listing means the book exists. Our founder's view is that some dealers won't show it; it's in Japanese used car listing terms.

If the listing says there's a record book but the photos don't show a page of it, that's a fair thing to ask about. We can ask the dealer in Japanese whether the book is with the car and for photos of its pages, and translate what comes back.

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How to check it yourself

1. Ask whether the car has its service record book, and whether the last shaken shows the servicing as recorded.
2. Ask for photos of every page with an entry. Ask the seller to cover the registration number and any owner's name and address. Leave the garage's name readable.
3. Line up the dates and mileages. They should run in order, about a year apart if the yearly checks were done, and fit between the readings from the shaken record or the export certificate.
4. Ask about the gaps. If a year is missing, ask where the car was serviced that year.
5. Ask what the outline of the last service means, item by item, if it isn't clear. If the dealer won't send the pages, write that down. It's an answer too.

Ask whether the book will go with the car when it's exported, and get the photos before the car is shipped, not after it arrives.

Questions buyers ask

The car is already here, and there's no record book. Is anything left to check?

Some. The law says the book stays with the car, so if it isn't there, it was left in Japan or lost along the way. Ask the importer for it first. If any photos of its pages exist, each entry carries the name and address of whoever did the work. The export certificate's remarks box has earlier odometer readings with their dates; see the Japanese export certificate. An auction sheet is a different kind of record, and one we don't read. Whether to go ahead without the book is your call, but now you know which pieces are missing.

Can the garage named in the book send me the previous owner's service records?

Don't count on it. Asked whether shops in Japan hand over a previous owner's service records, our founder said it depends on the shop, and the big ones don't, because the records are the previous owner's personal information. So the book that travels with the car is usually the record you'll get. Ask the seller for photos of its pages before the car ships, and treat anything a garage sends on top as a bonus.

Written by Yoshiaki Sagara, a paintless dent repair and detailing technician in Japan. He looks at cars for overseas buyers through Ninja Desk Japan. About us

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