Owning and operating a car in Japan involves numerous expenses. These include compulsory inspections (shakken) every two to three years, various taxes, mandatory and optional insurance, high parking costs in cities, and expensive toll expressways. Gasoline isn’t cheap either.
Shaken is an emissions and safety inspection, which cars in Japan have to undergo every two years, except new cars, for which the first inspection is not due until three years after purchase.
The shakken typically costs between 100,000 and 200,000 yen, and besides the actual inspection includes a weight tax (typically 8,000 to 50,000 yen) and a mandatory insurance (about 30,000 yen).
The older the car the more the shakken and therefore used cars are often sold cheap or exported for a profit to countries with less strict emissions regulations.
