Japan stands out for its yellow license plates which are almost square shaped and appear on the front and rear of the vehicles- often not centred in the middle of the vehicle but to one side. Like some other East-Asian countries, Japan has cylindrical utility poles. Often there will be a unique yellow and black vertical line marking on Japanese utility poles. On rare occasions, the marking’s lines will be going diagonally like Taiwan and South Korea. Urban Japan has narrow, residential roads that will often lack a footpath. Japanese houses are most commonly two-storey and will be quite large and densely packed together. A small number of neatly trimmed hedges and small, well-manicured trees may appear in front yards. The northernmost of Japan’s main islands, Hokkaido, stands out for its red and white arrows pointing down. Hokkaido (and northern Honshu) also contain a unique type of vegetation that I can only describe as cabbage-esque. In Japan, looking at how cramped the buildings and streets are can be useful in determining how far north or south you are. As a general rule, the southern cities are more closely packed together in terms of roads and buildings whilst the northern cities are slightly more open. If you see a palm tree and are in Japan, then you might be on a far southern island. Often in Japan you will notice signs referring to prefectures. Prefectures are akin to states and they total 47. Japan has a unique landscape. Some parts of Japan consist of mountainous terrain and dense forests with winding roads meandering through the forests, while urban Japan is normally very flat with very well maintained roads and the odd tree along the side of the road. Japan has unique yellow and black vertical stripes on many of its poles. On rare occasions, the stripes are diagonal in Japan. In Taiwan and South Korea, they also have the yellow and black markings on some poles however these countries have diagonal stripes, not vertical like the standard Japanese stripes. The red and white striped arrow pointing downwards indicates that you are in Japan, most likely on the northern island of Hokkaido or possibly on the main island of Honshu, near mountains. Also in Hokkaido and Northern Honshu, there are an abundance of these boxes near houses. The boxes don’t always come in this light colour but it is the most common colour. Japanese cars have yellow license plates, front and back. These plates are almost square in shape. Japanese cars drive on the left side of the road. Most Japanese cars have a boxy shape. Japan’s northern most island- Hokkaido (and sometimes northern Honshu) house a unique cabbage looking vegetation. Japan uses the yellow coloured, diamond-shaped warning signs that are common in North and South America as well as Australia and New Zealand. White, metal poles most commonly hold up street signs in Japan. Sometimes the poles will just be silver. Japanese directional signs are blue with white lettering. A white railing is common throughout Japan. There are a number of common house styles in Japan. The first of these is the house with a compacted square-based pyramid for a roof. Japanese houses are often two-storey and sometimes also have a roof for its lower storey. Japanese residential streets are typically very narrow. The houses generally have small yards with a few neatly trimmed hedges or small trees a common sight. Japanese residential roads often have no footpath. The best way to region guess in Japan is to look at the small plates that are affixed to the utility poles. There are 10 distinct plates used in Japan. In the Chubu region in Japan, utility poles’ plates have curved edges.  Yellow guardrails are a common sight in the southern Japanese prefecture of Yamaguchi. The islands of Shikoku and Kyushu often have long, dry looking grass that has fluffy tops. Criss-crossing style walls are common throughout Japan, it is found between roads and steep inclines. Okinawa stands out due to the high number of small, lion statues appearing on the fences of residential houses. Unique stickers and patterns are found on poles in Japanese prefectures. There are two scrips used in Japanese writing. The first script can be easily confused with Chinese and appears on the top section of the sign. The second Japanese script appears on the bottom section of the sign and comprises very minimalistic strokes and characters comprising just 1 or 2 strokes such as ノ, シ, い and く.


Most common bollard that you will find, with white on the front, yellow on the back.

Road Signs:

Japan has prefectural roads which appear as a hexagon, and national highways which appears as a rounded triangle:


Since 1998, the most common license plate in Japan is green text on white background, where the first two letters on the top indicate the prefecture.


