Press Releases
Further Measures to Address the Issue of Illegal Parking by the Diplomatic Missions
As further measures to address the issue of illegal parking by the diplomatic missions in Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided, in cooperation with the National Police Agency, to call specific attention of the missions to their vehicles which repeatedly violate parking regulations and to make claims for their payment of parking violation fines. In addition, regarding gasoline tax exemption measures implemented in accordance with Japanese laws and regulations as well as international laws, the Ministry also decided to confirm the payment of parking violation fines when it issues tax-exempt certificates to vehicles in question.
The Ministry has been continually requesting the Missions and their members to respect Japanese traffic laws and regulations including those related to payment of parking violation fines and has been expressing its concern to ambassadors and other senior diplomats of the missions which have a large number of illegal parking cases and unpaid violation fines. As a result of these efforts, the number of illegal parking cases by the missions has significantly decreased in the past three years from 2018 to 2020.
The Ministry will continue, in cooperation with the National Police Agency, to strongly request the missions in Japan to fully respect Japanese traffic rules and refrain from illegal parking and unpaid violation fees.
[Reference] Number of illegal parking committed by the Diplomatic Missions (Data by National Police Agency)
Year 2018: 3,948 cases, Year 2019: 2,615 cases, Year 2020: 1,137 cases