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On October 31, 1994, the Shonan Automobile Inspection and Registration
Office started operation in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, as the 89th
Transportation Branch Office in Japan.
Recently, the number of cars markedly increased in the jurisdiction of the
Sagami Automobile Inspection and Registration Office of the Kanagawa Transportation
Branch Office of the Kanto Transportation Bureau, which has control over the
mid-western part of Kanagawa Prefecture (the number of vehicles subject to inspection
at the end of fiscal 1993: about 1,180,000 units). Therefore, it became difficult
to handle efficiently the increasing amount of inspection duties with the existing
inspection facilities. After the Shonan Office opened, the area covered by the
Sagami Office was divided into two (Shonan Office: about 59,000 units, and Sagami
Office: about 59,000 units). As a result, inspection duties can now be handled
more smoothly, which is also more convenient for the users.
The chinese characters for "Shonan" are written on the number plate of a
car whose main place of use is in the jurisdiction of Shonan Office. This "Shonan
number plate" had been the center of attention among local residents as well
as the mass media, even before the Shonan Office opened.
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