Japan GNSS · 6 of 6 · law stated as law, practice stated as practice
Bringing GNSS equipment to Japan: the rules, the plugs, and what it costs to live here
Most of a GNSS kit crosses the border without a question. The parts that transmit do not. This page separates the two, then covers the things that have nothing to do with satellites but decide whether your first week works: the surveying law, the drone rules, a data SIM, the mains voltage, and where to find out what it costs to live and work here.
Radio law: receivers yes, transmitters only with a mark
Japan's Radio Act defines a radio station as equipment that emits radio waves, and explicitly excludes equipment whose purpose is reception only. A GNSS receiver, an antenna, a logger, an L6 decoder: none of these is a radio station, so none needs a licence or the Giteki mark (技適, the technical conformity certification). You can bring a survey-grade receiver in your luggage and use it.
Anything that transmits is different. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules built into a receiver or data collector, LTE modems, and especially the UHF radio links bundled with base-and-rover kits in other countries all fall under the Act. Equipment without the mark is not to be operated in Japan, and the UHF radios that are common abroad are generally not usable here as they are. The practical answer for base-rover or NTRIP links is mobile data, which is everywhere, rather than a radio modem.
Two easings exist. Since 21 May 2016, visitors may use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices that meet FCC or CE standards for up to 90 days after entry; that covers the laptop and phone you arrive with, and in practice the Bluetooth link of a receiver you also arrive with, for that window. And since 20 November 2019 there is a notification-based special scheme for experiments with equipment that lacks the mark, aimed at research and development; it requires filing, and it is not a general exemption. If you are staying and will operate transmitting equipment, plan to buy marked equipment or confirm the scheme that applies before you switch anything on.
Surveying law: who must be registered
Under the Survey Act, basic surveys (by GSI) and public surveys (by national or local government) must be carried out by surveyors registered with GSI as 測量士 (surveyor) or 測量士補 (assistant surveyor). The national examination has no nationality, age or education requirement, so a foreign engineer can sit it. Private surveys for a private client are outside that requirement in law, though clients and tenders routinely ask for the qualification and for registration as a surveying business. None of this restricts you from measuring for research, agriculture, robotics or your own records; it governs what can be submitted as a survey result to the state.
Drones
If your work involves a UAV: aircraft of 100 g and above must be registered and carry remote ID, and flights in densely inhabited districts, near airports, above 150 m and in several other categories require permission under the Civil Aeronautics Act. This site has a map tool that answers, for a given point, whether one of those zones applies; it is the question to settle before the survey plan, not after.
Data, power, and the small things
| Item | What to know |
|---|---|
| Mobile data for NTRIP | Data-only SIMs and eSIMs are sold to visitors without a residence card; voice contracts require identification. Coverage on all major networks reaches most rural roads and fields; mountains and some coastlines do not. Test your NTRIP client on the SIM before the field day. |
| Mains power | 100 V. Eastern Japan including Tokyo is 50 Hz, western Japan including Osaka is 60 Hz; the boundary runs roughly through Shizuoka and Niigata. Plugs are type A (two flat pins), type B with earth is less common. Most GNSS chargers accept 100 to 240 V; check the label before plugging in anything that does not. |
| Shipping equipment in | Receivers and antennas are ordinary goods for customs. Lithium batteries follow the airline rules you already know. |
| Time | JST, UTC+9, no daylight saving. Useful when aligning RINEX epochs and logs. |
What it costs to live and work here
An engineer who stays more than a few weeks needs numbers that have nothing to do with GNSS: rent, utilities, a mobile contract, food. The sister project of this site, kurashigram, measures prices in Japan from primary sources and publishes them as tables; at present it is in Japanese and covers food and consumer goods, and an English edition built around rent, utilities and mobile plans is in preparation. We link it here because the two questions, where to measure and what it costs to be there, arrive together, and because the answer should be measured data, not an impression.
Sources
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Use of mobile phones, Wi-Fi and other terminals brought in from overseas (90-day exemption from 21 May 2016) and Giteki mark Q&A. Radio Act definition of a radio station (reception-only excluded). Nikkei xTECH, experimental use of unmarked equipment from 20 November 2019. GSI, Surveyor and assistant surveyor examination and registration. Civil Aeronautics Act provisions as summarised on this site's drone tool.
Before the first field day, on KUON GEO
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