Connected car → Japan

How this pathway works in practice

For a Japanese launch, a connected-car module meets three separate regimes. The Radio Law requires technical conformity certification for the cellular or Wi-Fi function, and that certification is what allows the technical mark to appear on the housing. DENAN applies if any part of the assembly is mains-powered, which is usual for aftermarket units sold with a charger. Beyond both, the vehicle manufacturer imposes its own supplier requirements, and in Japan those tend to be documented in more detail than in other markets: a configuration management record that ties each radio variant to its certification number, and a change-notification procedure that must be followed before a component substitution is allowed.

The details that most often cause rework:

• Substituting a component after certification without notifying the manufacturer, which can invalidate both the technical mark basis and the supplier approval.
• Assuming a certified module covers the enclosure change made for the Japanese variant.
• Leaving the marking of the certification number until after the housing tool is finished.

We keep a variant matrix from the start, mapping every radio configuration to its certification basis, and we prepare the Japanese filings from that matrix so a late substitution does not become a re-certification.

Each mandatory item above is mapped to a test standard inside our accredited scope, then tested on the smallest sample that still covers every variant you intend to ship, so the importer of record can hand the file straight to the Japan assessment route without a second round of questions. The 6–8 weeks lead time counts from the day production-representative samples arrive, not from the day the quotation is signed, and the 2 key documents listed above are the ones most often requested at the border or at listing review.