Flat tyre from a pothole in Japan: will you be compensated?

If a hole in the road damages your tyres or wheels, the road manager may pay compensation under Japan's State Redress Act. It isn't always the full amount; in one case the city paid 20%. Stop somewhere safe, report it to 110, photograph the hole and your car, and then contact that road's manager.

The steps when a hole in the road damages your car: 1 stop somewhere safe, 2 report to 110, 3 take photos, 4 contact the road manager, 5 site check and paperwork, 6 decision on compensation. Step 2, calling 110, is highlighted because it's needed for an accident certificate — Fig. 1 From the accident to the compensation decision. Without a police report, no accident certificate is issued

What to do first

There are three things to do on the spot.

Watch out for traffic behind you, stop somewhere safe, and call 119 if anyone is hurt
Call 110 and report it as an accident
From somewhere safe, photograph the hole and your car

Driving on with a flat can break the wheel as well as the tyre and make the damage worse. Rather than forcing the car on, consider calling roadside assistance.

Calling 110 is essential if you later want to discuss compensation, because a traffic accident certificate isn't issued for accidents not reported to the police. Applications can in principle be made within five years for accidents with injuries and three years for property-only accidents (Source: Japan Safe Driving Center).

Drivers involved in a traffic accident are required to report it to the police (Road Traffic Act Art. 72(1)). Report it even if no one else was involved, and note the police station and the officer's name.

Which photos to take

Holes get repaired over time, so their shape at the time of the accident won't last. To explain the situation to the manager, take these four photos on the spot. The time they were taken also becomes part of the record.

Four photos to take: 1 a wide shot showing the hole and the surrounding road, 2 a close-up next to a white line or kerb so its size is clear, 3 a landmark showing the location such as a utility pole number or intersection name, 4 cracks or damage on the tyre or wheel — Fig. 2 Four photos to take. Photograph the hole from the pavement or shoulder

The hole's size comes across when photographed next to something of known size, such as a white line, kerb or manhole cover. At night, also take a wide shot showing where the streetlights are and how far you could see. Don't step into a busy carriageway or onto a blind bend to take photos.

Keep the damaged tyre or wheel rather than throwing it away until the manager has checked. Ask the repair shop to photograph the damage before replacing anything.

Who to contact

Compensation is discussed with the manager of the road where the accident happened. The manager depends on the type of road (Road Act Arts. 13 and 15 to 17).

Road	Contact
Municipal road	Roads section of the city, ward, town or village office
Prefectural road	The prefecture's public works office, etc. (the city, inside designated cities)
National road	The national road office (state-managed sections), or the prefecture or designated city
Expressway	That expressway company's contact point

Even on the same national road, the contact differs by section. In Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, for example, city roads go to the city's maintenance section, National Route 41 to the state's Takayama National Road Office, and other national and prefectural roads to Gifu Prefecture's public works office (Source: Takayama City).

If you don't know which road it is, see National, prefectural or municipal road: how do you tell?

When is compensation paid?

Article 2(1) of the State Redress Act says the state or local government pays compensation when damage results from a defect in the construction or management of a road. A defect means the road lacks the safety it should normally have, and the Supreme Court has held that the manager is liable even without negligence (Supreme Court judgment of August 20, 1970).

That doesn't mean every dangerous condition is a defect, though. In a case on a road under construction where a sign had been knocked over by another vehicle just before the accident, with no time to put it back, the manager was not held liable (Supreme Court judgment of June 26, 1975). The questions are whether the manager could have known about the condition and had time to fix it (Source: MLIT).

How you were driving also matters. In a case where a driver going about 80 km/h on a prefectural road with a 50 km/h limit crashed on a dip in the road, the manager was not held liable (Osaka District Court judgment of February 22, 1979). Kanazawa City says damage caused by natural disasters such as heavy snow is not covered (Source: Kanazawa City).

Will you get the full amount? Why the share of fault matters

Even when the manager is held liable, if the driver was also at fault, compensation is reduced by that share. When a municipality settles an amount, it may be reported to the council as a mayor's discretionary decision (decided by the mayor in place of the council), and the shares may be made public.

City	Accident	City's share
Shiroi, Chiba	August 2021, front left wheel dropped into a hole in a city road, causing a flat	40% (paid ¥6,924)
Takayama, Gifu	February 2015, front left wheels and more of three cars damaged by a sunken hole in a city road	20% (all three cars)

In the Takayama case, three cars were damaged by the same hole within about half a day. The damage was ¥12,310 to ¥79,272 per car, and the city paid 20%, ¥2,462 to ¥15,854 (Source: Takayama City). Shiroi City put its own fault at 40% and the driver's at 60% (Source: Shiroi City).

Both shares were reached through talks between the city and the driver (settlement). Photos taken on the spot and the accident certificate are among the few records that can later show how big the hole was and how visible it was at the time.

Steps and deadlines for a claim

When you contact the manager, you'll be asked the date, time and place of the accident, your contact details and the damage. Some managers, like Takayama, check the site. You then submit the documents requested, and the manager decides whether to pay and how much.

Have these ready:

Traffic accident certificate (¥1,000 per copy; post office application forms are also available at police stations and police boxes)
Photos of the hole and car, and a map showing where the accident happened
Repair estimates and receipts
If you were injured, a medical certificate and records of treatment

Kanazawa City's accident report form also lists a location map of the site, photos, the accident certificate and medical certificate as attachments (Source: Kanazawa City form). Also note when you made contact, which office, the person you spoke to and what you were told.

Claims have a deadline. Under Article 4 of the State Redress Act the Civil Code applies, and the right to claim expires three years (five years for harm to life or body) after you learned of the damage and who was responsible (Civil Code Arts. 724 and 724-2). Even if you had the repairs done quickly, keep the photos and receipts and get in touch early.

FAQ

Q. Can I use my own car insurance? It depends on your policy. Alongside claiming from the manager, check with your insurer or agent.

Q. What if I only notice a cracked wheel after getting home? Report it to the police and contact the road manager as soon as you notice. The longer you wait, the more likely the hole is repaired and the harder it is to show the link to the accident.

Q. What if I was hurt on a bicycle or on foot? The contact is the same: the road manager. Okayama City's guidance also uses the same contact for damaged vehicles and injuries (Source: Okayama City). Get treatment first, and ask for a medical certificate.

Q. What if I just want to report where the hole is? So the next person isn't hurt the same way, tell the manager or the Road Emergency Dial (#9910). #9910 is free, open 24 hours, and also takes reports via LINE (Source: MLIT).

This article is general information. It does not judge whether any individual accident will be compensated or what the share of fault is.

For road users: read next National, prefectural or municipal road: how do you tell? / Who do you contact when you find a hole in the road?

For road managers Infra Intelligence is developing MICHIKARTE, a service that lets people record damage they find on the roads they use every day with a smartphone and passes it on to the local governments and others who manage those roads. See the MICHIKARTE page.

Last checked: October 22, 2026

A pothole gave me a flat tyre. Will I be compensated? Why the share of fault matters