Here’s How to Enter Japan with a Vehicle Without a Carnet de Passages

When planning a trip to Japan with your own vehicle, most people immediately think of the Carnet de Passages en Douane as the mandatory solution. However, there’s a free and equally effective alternative: the Temporary Import Permit. Although Japan has very strict rules for bringing in vehicles, knowing the right procedures lets you enter the country without problems and without spending exorbitant amounts.

In December 2024 we entered Japan with our Italian campervan, without a Carnet de Passages, together with our cat (by the way, want to know how to avoid quarantine? Find out here): this is our first-hand experience and we’re happy to share it with you, hoping it helps you plan your trip to Japan without a hitch.

In this guide we’ll explain what the Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD from here on) and the Temporary Import Permit (TIP) are, the procedures for entering the country with one or the other, and how to avoid spending money unnecessarily.

Carnet de Passages en Douane: what it is

The CPD is a document similar to a passport for vehicles, guaranteeing that your vehicle won’t be sold or abandoned in the country you’re visiting. Some countries require it as a guarantee, and to obtain it you’ll need to deposit a more or less substantial sum with an issuing company. In Italy the CPD is obtained through ACI, and the cost depends on the value and age of the vehicle. We won’t go into detail on how to get it and recommend contacting your nearest ACI office  . To give you an idea, for our vehicle, bought 4 years ago with a market value of €65,000, we were asked for €5,000!

Once obtained, the CPD is stamped every time you enter and leave a country, guaranteeing that your vehicle only entered that country temporarily. While the procedure is simple, it’s neither cheap nor fast.

Procedure with the CPD

If you decide to enter Japan with the CPD, know that before you can use your vehicle you’ll be required to have this document authenticated. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Book an appointment by email with the Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF)  nearest to your port of arrival.
2. On arrival, go by taxi or public transport to the JAF offices with the CPD, your International Driving Permit and the vehicle registration document.
3. Once authenticated, go back to the port and present the authenticated CPD to customs.
4. At this point you’ll finally be able to drive in Japan!

The cost of authenticating the CPD is 3,000 yen.

Some companies, such as Camellia Line (from Busan to Fukuoka), offer a paid service, on top of the authentication cost, to accompany you to the JAF and guide you through the procedure. Remember that only the CPD holder with the original document can complete the procedure at the JAF.

According to other travellers’ accounts, importing a vehicle via the CPD can take anywhere from 2 to 8 hours. Check carefully that all the data (e.g. chassis number) is entered correctly to avoid having to go back to the offices.

read also Trip to Japan 2025: Itineraries and Useful Info

TIP: what is it?

The simpler and, above all, free alternative to the CPD is, as mentioned above, the TIP, known in Japan as form C5014  . If you’re arriving in Japan from a country that doesn’t require the CPD (such as South Korea), this option is perfect for you. With the TIP, your vehicle can stay in Japan for up to a maximum of one year. If you exceed that period, you’ll have to pay import taxes.

Also, you’re not required to buy your Japan exit ticket in advance, and you can leave the vehicle in the country even if you need to temporarily leave yourself. If you’re asked for a date and port from which you’ll leave Japan, you should answer with your port of entry.

When you leave the country, you hand over the TIP to customs officials, who will confirm that you’ve left the country.

Temporary Import Procedure

The TIP is available at all international ferry ports (for example Hakata, in Fukuoka, and Shimonoseki). Here’s what you need to do:

1. Contact the ferry company in advance to let them know you’ll be entering Japan with the TIP or form C5014, to avoid problems.
2. On arrival, customs officials will check the vehicle’s documentation and your international driving permit (guide in Italian) and issue you the TIP.

In our case, the whole procedure, including passport checks, animal quarantine check, wheel disinfection and vehicle inspection, took 2 hours.

Update 05/2026: Currently you can only enter and leave Japan via TIP through the port of Hakata.

The problems we ran into

Although the TIP is fully recognised and legal for entering Japan, convincing the shipping company (Camellia Line in our case) to let us book the ferry ticket without a CPD was complicated, as they weren’t aware of this form.

So we contacted the relevant Japanese customs office directly (Moji customs), who promptly gave us this response:

When entering Japan you can use form C5014 for customs clearance and to carry out temporary import/export of cars.

After forwarding this email to the shipping company, we were able to book the ferry.

Below is the email address of Fukuoka customs, and the website where you can find the contact for the relevant customs office if you choose a different port:

• Fukuoka customs: moji-sodankan@customs.go.jp 
• Here you can find the list of customs offices by prefecture 

We recommend contacting them in advance, both to get a confirmation email and in case you find yourself in a special situation, for example if you need to ship by container from another country. Rules can differ slightly between districts, so they might not allow entry with the TIP.

CPD vs TIP: Which should you choose in the end?

The CPD makes sense if you’ve already had to apply for this document to enter a country that requires it (for example Iran). In that case it would be crazy not to make use of it, given the cost of obtaining it.

If, like us, you instead decide to cross countries where the CPD isn’t required, you can avoid this expense and enter with the TIP. The TIP also lets you ship your vehicle from Japan to any other country. Keep in mind that in this case shipping companies are usually not familiar with the TIP, so they may not help you and might even stop replying to emails. We recommend leaving plenty of time and contacting the customs office of the district you’ll be shipping from directly.

If it all gets too complicated, remember you can always head to nearby South Korea, where the CPD isn’t required and it’s easier and cheaper to ship your vehicle.

Insurance: mandatory for driving in Japan

Regardless of the CPD or TIP, remember that to drive in Japan you need, besides the Geneva Convention international driving permit, insurance. There are two types:

• Jibaiseki: mandatory, with a fixed state rate, covering only personal injury or death. The cost varies depending on the number of months, ranging from 5,840 yen for one month up to 8,950 yen for 6 months.
• Ninihoken: optional, also covers damage to third-party property. It’s an annual policy and the price varies depending on the driver’s age; it costs 53,000 yen for under-26s and 42,000 yen for over-26s.

Ours was provided by Camellia Line (and we had to pay in cash, in yen, on arrival), but if your company doesn’t provide it, some travellers have arranged it independently through this broker  , paying via PayPal.

Conclusion

If you follow the correct procedure, the TIP lets you avoid the CPD and save money. If you use the CPD instead, make sure to correctly complete all the formalities to avoid problems when your vehicle enters and leaves Japan.

If you want to know more about our whole experience, you can rewatch our videos on YouTube  , and don’t hesitate to write to us with any questions.