A Japanese auction sheet is the inspector’s report on a single car: a header of facts, an overall condition grade, an interior grade, and a hand-drawn map of the body with coded marks for every scratch, dent and repair. Read together, those four parts tell you a car’s real condition before you ever see it in person.
1. The header — the basic facts
The top of the sheet lists the model, chassis code, year/registration, mileage, transmission and drivetrain, displacement, colour and equipment. Cross-check the mileage and year here against the listing — and note any *** beside the mileage, which can mean the reading is unconfirmed.
2. The overall grade
A single number (or letter) summarising condition, from S/6 down to 1, with the R family for repaired cars. This is the headline verdict — see auction grades explained for the full scale.
3. The interior grade
A separate letter (A best, down to D/E) for the cabin: seats, dashboard, smell and wear. A car can be a strong 4.5 on the body but a B or C inside if it saw heavy use — worth knowing before you bid.
4. The body map and its marks
The diagram of the car is where the detail lives. The inspector writes a letter for the type of fault and a number (usually 1–4) for its severity, low to high. The common marks:
| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A | Scratch (kizu) — e.g. A1 is a small scratch. |
| U | Dent (ukubomi), often with a number for size. |
| W | Wave / repair ripple in the panel (a sign of past bodywork). |
| S | Rust (sabi). |
| C | Corrosion. |
| X | A panel that needs replacing; XX means it has been replaced. |
| B | A larger dent with a scratch. |
| P | Paint mark / paint imperfection. |
The number is the severity
A “1” is small and cosmetic; a “3” or “4” is significant. So A1 (small scratch) is nothing to worry about, while U3 (a sizeable dent) is something to price in.
5. Inspector’s notes
Short Japanese notes often appear for things the codes don’t capture — warning lights, aftermarket parts, timing-belt replacement, repair history. These are easy to miss and easy to mistranslate, which is exactly where buyers get caught out.
You don’t have to memorise any of this. Paste the codes — or describe the sheet — to the AskJapanCars assistant and it decodes the grade, the interior, every map mark and the notes into a plain verdict, then flags the risks worth knowing. For a car carrying repair history, weigh it against whether buying from Japan is safe.
What does A1 mean on an auction sheet?
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A is a scratch and 1 is the lowest severity, so A1 is a small, cosmetic scratch — typically nothing to worry about.
What does the body map show?
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It’s a diagram of the car where the inspector marks the location, type (scratch, dent, rust, repair) and severity of every blemish, so you can see exactly where a car’s flaws are.