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If you're out in Saitama, one of the prefectures that border on Tokyo, and stop to shop in a large supermarket; or, if you park your car in a local pay parking lot, you might notice one or more weather-beaten vehicles, including some with flat tires, that appear to have been occupying the space for some time. Like months. Or years.
This problem, of hochi jidosha (abandoned cars), reports Spa! (Oct 31), has been growing, with the number of vehicles left by owners increasing at the rate of 10% to 20% per year -- so says the Japan Parking Business Association.
Should you be cursed with somebody's car abandoned on your business property, however, don't touch it. Instead, consider calling Hiromichi Ichikawa, who operates a firm, Justice Support, that deals with such nuisances.
"We are getting 200 requests a month from operators of pay parking lots, supermarkets, airports and so on," says Ishikawa. "Not only are the cars taking up the space, but as it's treated as a violation of the civil code (as opposed to criminal), the police are reluctant to intervene -- in much the same way as cases of shoplifting. The law prevents the property owner from removing a car without the owner's agreement, and should that happen, the owner can claim damages. It's a case of turning a perpetrator into the victim."
Some property owners apply warning stickers to the cars' windows, threatening fines of 100,000 yen. But the regulations are vague and it's difficult to make the law stick. The fact is, a car is treated as another person's assets, and cannot be disposed of without going through a complicated routine.
"If they give their permission, then no problem" says Ishikawa. "But a lot of red tape is involved, such as first confirming the identity of owner through the inspection registration papers. In many cases, the car has been sold to another party, and the title obscured. Also, all the objects inside the vehicle must be listed up and stored. Then finally the car can be moved. The process typically takes from 30 to 45 days."
While most abandoned vehicles are clunkers, there are even cases of pricy cars becoming ownerless. In one case, Ishikawa relates, a Maserati worth an estimated 8 million yen was left in a parking lot.
"It turned out that its owner had died, and left behind large debts. He had no heirs (or the heirs declined to come forward) and in the end it was decided to sell the car for scrap. Who ever heard of such a thing?"
And did we mention there are also people living in such cars? Yes, even in Japan such unfortunates exist.
Other cases involve people who just want to get rid of their cars as quickly and cheaply as possible.
"The car might have been smashed up, and was not eligible for the shaken (compulsory safety inspection), so they take it to a garage to ask for an estimate, and never go back for it. Or, if it's a luxury car and the cost of repairs are excessive, the same thing might happen," says Yuichi Yamada, who operates a similar car-removal assistance business in Osaka.
"When the Shanghai World Exposition was held in 2010, a whole bunch of abandoned cars that had been moved to Osaka Port suddenly vanished," Yamada relates. "There were rumors that the price of scrap metal had soared in China and that the cars had been snatched by thieves and shipped to China."
Ishikawa says he knows one way to get around the headaches of the illegal campers.
"If you're a suburban supermarket with a large parking area, request the government to designate it an emergency disaster evacuation zone," he says. "Then the government will authorize clearing away illegally parked cars with no hassles."
© Japan Today
19 Comments
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ozziedesigner
Ishikawa says he knows one way to get around the headaches of the illegal campers.
"If you're a suburban supermarket with a large parking area, request the government to designate it an emergency disaster evacuation zone," he says. "Then the government will authorize clearing away illegally parked cars with no hassles."
Smart ! Some Japanese people are able to see outside the square and hence do very well for themselves. Well done
garypen
Why can't they just post a sign that says "cars parked illegally will be towed at owner's expense"?
If somebody parks there, they are agreeing to the rules set forth.
Maria
Here's a naive little sentence. Even in Japan, there is poverty, debt, desperation and homelessness, and there probably always has been.
cla68
If the abandoned car mysteriously catches on fire, it can then be declared a public hazard and junked much easier.
thepersoniamnow
Garypen
They just explained how that wouldn’t work in Japan.
This isn’t America.
ListenTheTruth
The Minpō, or Civil Code is, wait for it, 111 years old... Civil Law based Japan needs to revise some stuff, urgently, the property laws for example, as I am finding to my annoyance, really do not protect anyone at all other than those who take advantage, it is NOT in any way a level playing field. Landlords, beware!
garypen
No. They didn't. Pre-emptive warnings were not addressed. They only mentioned that cars are considered assets. AFAIK, cars are considered assets in most, if not all, countries.
Ah. The old "This is Japan. That the way things are done here" gambit. Can't argue with that.
NCIS Reruns
Japan's shaken inspection system is a racket, designed to get old cars off the road by making them too expensive to drive --- even if they're still usable. I just take taxis everywhere. In Tokyo it's still cheaper over the long run than insurance, parking, gasoline, maintenance, safety inspection, etc. --- not to mention buying the damn car. There's very little satisfaction in this country to owning a motor vehicle, and more people are wising up to that fact.
Arrrgh-Type
@NCIS Reruns
I agree with your statements regarding Shaken and the expense of owning a car in Japan, but please remember that not everyone lives in Tokyo. And in that case, car ownership is not so much related to satisfaction or enjoyment, but necessity.
Para Sitius
Just ask a guy with a tow truck to move it to another location for a 'small fee' and claim no knowledge if anyone asks where its gone.
1glenn
Some differences in culture will forever remain a mystery. Vive la diference!
Wakarimasen
Stop picking on Saitama.
gaijintraveller
Tow it to the local police station and hand it in as lost property especially if it is a Maserati.
Dan Lewis
@gaijintraveller - Well done! You have beat the Japanese system at its own game!!
Dan Lewis
It's an easy fix, really. Tow, push, pull it out to the street and leave it. Report it. Then it will be towed by the city.
Nippori Nick
What nonsense. Some guy drops a car off at your property and walks away and nothing you can do about it?
A surreptitious tow would be my answer.
Dan Lewis
Pull the plates, sell to scrap dealer.
Cannabidiol Doctor
The process for how these junk cars are dismantled is not very clear. There are a lot of costs involved and often, these scrap yards are not very honest.
According to research, the average cost to get rid of an old car is $2,000-3,000. This includes all the hidden costs that may not be considered in the beginning when calculating how much money can be made from selling an old vehicle.
In this section, we will talk about what it takes to legally sell an abandoned car in California and why places like cash for cars Los Angeles exist.
https://cashcashcars.com/areas-served/junk-car-removals-los-angeles-ca/