Japanese import mileage records: line up the readings and see the gaps
Sources checked 4 October 2026
A Japanese car's odometer readings are spread across several papers: the inspection record sheet, the export certificate, the service record book and the listing. Each has a date. Put them side by side and two things become easy to see: how far the car went each year, and whether any reading is lower than the one before it.
That's all this tool does. It doesn't decide whether a car has been clocked. A reading that goes down has more than one possible explanation, and a replaced meter is one the industry's own rules recognise. What it gives you is the question to ask the seller, with the dates to point at.
Nothing you type leaves your screen, and nothing is kept once you close the page.
If the boxes above don't appear, the worked example below shows the same sum done by hand, and the table lists where each reading comes from.
| Japanese | In English | Where you'll find it | What it records | How to put it in | Our guide | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 新走行距離計表示値 | new odometer reading | The remarks of the inspection record sheet, or the ministry's reader app | The reading at the latest shaken test, with its date | One row: the date and the reading | /check/inspection-record-sheet/ | denshishakensho-portal.mlit.go.jp |
| 旧走行距離計表示値 | previous odometer reading | The same remarks, on the next line | The reading at the test before that, with its date | One row: the date and the reading | /check/inspection-record-sheet/ | denshishakensho-portal.mlit.go.jp |
| 走行距離記録最大値 | highest recorded reading | The same remarks, only where it applies | Printed where a reading has gone down at a test: the highest earlier reading and its date | One row of its own. The tool will then show the later drop | /check/mileage-check/ | denshishakensho-portal.mlit.go.jp |
| 輸出証明書の備考 | export certificate remarks | The remarks box of the export certificate | Earlier readings from past tests, each with a date | One row for each reading and date | /check/export-certificate/ | |
| 定期点検記録簿 | service record book | Each entry in the book | The reading at each check, with the date and who did the work | One row for each entry you can read | /check/maintenance-records/ | |
| 走行距離 | listing mileage | The listing on Carsensor or Goo-net | Carsensor: the total distance since the car was first registered new. Goo-net shows it rounded, in units of ten thousand km | One row, dated the day you read the listing. It's rounded, so allow for that | /check/japanese-listing-translator/ | carsensor.net |
| 実走行 | actual mileage | A Goo-net listing | Goo-net's category for a reading it treats as the car's real distance | Enter the listing figure as above | goo-net.com | |
| メーター交換車 | odometer replaced | A Goo-net listing | Goo-net: the record book shows the meter was replaced, and a sticker saying so is on the car | Readings before and after a replacement don't line up. Enter the before and after figures from the record book as separate rows, and expect a drop | goo-net.com | |
| 走不明 | mileage unknown | A Goo-net listing | Goo-net: no record, so the reading can't be taken as the car's real distance | Enter what readings you have. The listing figure alone tells you little | goo-net.com | |
| 改ざん車 | odometer tampered | A Goo-net listing | Goo-net: records show the reading was wound back or the meter altered | The dealer has already told you. The readings won't give the real distance | goo-net.com | |
| 走行距離計が取り替えられている旨 | notice: odometer replaced | A dealer's display, under the industry's fair trade code | A member dealer has to say so, with the readings before and after, where papers record the replacement, and put a sticker on the driver's side centre pillar | Enter the before and after readings as separate rows | /check/mileage-check/ | aftc.or.jp |
| 走行距離数に疑義がある旨 | notice: mileage doubtful | A dealer's display, under the same code | A member dealer has to say so where it's doubtful whether the reading is the real distance | Enter what readings you have, and ask the dealer what the doubt is | /check/mileage-check/ | aftc.or.jp |
| 走行距離計が改ざんされている旨 | notice: odometer tampered | A dealer's display, under the same code | A member dealer has to say so where the reading clearly isn't the real distance, and put a sticker on the driver's side centre pillar | The readings won't give the real distance | /check/mileage-check/ | aftc.or.jp |
Data checked 4 October 2026 · 13 rows
The readings tell you how far the car went, not how it was driven or looked after. If they line up and you'd like the car itself seen, send us the listing.
Our own car, done by hand
Our own car, a Toyota Prius α, has two readings on its inspection record sheet. Here they are, with the sums the tool does:
| Date | Reading | Since the reading before |
|---|---|---|
| 8 August 2022 | 108,700 km (67,543 miles) | |
| 29 July 2024 | 155,100 km (96,375 miles) | 46,400 km over 721 days: about 23,506 km a year (14,606 miles) |
Neither reading is lower than the one before, and there's no "highest recorded reading" line on the sheet, which is the line the ministry prints where a reading has gone down at a test. That's as far as the papers go. How those 46,400 km were driven isn't on any of them; what two hard years did to our car is on high-mileage Japanese imports.
Where a drop can come from
- A replaced odometer. The industry's fair trade code says a member dealer has to show that a meter was replaced, with the readings before and after, where papers record the replacement, and put a sticker on the driver's side centre pillar. Goo-net's own listings call this a meter-replaced car. Before and after a replacement, the readings don't line up, and that's expected.
- A doubtful reading. The same code has a separate notice for a car where it's doubtful whether the reading is the real distance.
- A tampered odometer. And another where the reading clearly isn't the real distance, again with a sticker on the centre pillar.
- A typing or copying error, including km and miles mixed up. Check the paper before anything else.
The tool can't tell these apart. The papers sometimes can: a replacement should be written in the record book. So for a drop, ask the seller in writing which of these it is, and for the page that shows it.
Gaps between readings
A private car in Japan has its first shaken three years after it's registered new, and then every two years, so readings from the shaken are usually about two years apart. The tool notes any gap of more than two years, which is a question worth asking: where was the car, and was it on the road? Our page on Japanese import mileage checks explains what the readings can and can't show.
What the tool doesn't do
- Say whether a car has been clocked. It shows where a reading is lower than the one before. Only the papers, and the seller's answer, explain why.
- Fill in years with no reading. It works out an average between two readings. What happened in between isn't on paper.
- Check a reading against the car. For that, ask for a photo of the instrument panel with the ignition on, dated, and compare it with the latest reading.
- Read the papers for you. Which box holds which reading is on the Japanese inspection record sheet and the Japanese export certificate; the listing words are in the listing translator.
How to use it
- Collect every reading you can, each with its date: the two lines on the record sheet, any in the export certificate's remarks, each record book entry, and the listing figure with the date you read it.
- Put them in, in any order. The tool sorts them by date.
- Choose km or miles for what you've typed. Japanese papers are in km.
- Read the notes. A drop or a long gap is a question for the seller, not an answer.
- Keep the papers. In the UK, a car's MOT history starts with its first UK MOT, so the Japanese readings are the only record of its years in Japan.
Sources
All read on 4 October 2026 unless stated.
- MLIT, Items printed in the remarks section of the electronic vehicle inspection certificate (in Japanese): new odometer reading, previous odometer reading and highest recorded reading, each printed where it applies
- Automobile Fair Trade Council (AFTC), Fair competition code for advertising in the car industry, 2023 revision (PDF, in Japanese): Article 12 (the notices for a replaced meter, a doubtful reading and a tampered meter) and Article 12-2 (the sticker on the driver's side centre pillar)
- Goo-net, Equipment abbreviations and terms (in Japanese): its four mileage categories
- Carsensor, How to read the listing items (in Japanese): mileage as the total since first registration
- MLIT, Validity of the vehicle inspection certificate (in Japanese), checked 3 October 2026: three years for a new private car, then two
- Automobile Inspection & Registration Information Association (AIRIA), New items provided (PDF, in Japanese), checked 3 October 2026: the highest recorded reading, kept where a reading has gone down at a test since December 2017
- Our own car's inspection record sheet (recorded 17 June 2025), for the worked example
Found a reading you can't explain? A Remote Check is where we ask the dealer about it in Japanese and translate the papers they send.