Designator Appended after/before Call Sign

Rules

Currently, in Japan, no legal rules exist on a designator after/before a call sign, while the follows are our customs.

Portable and Mobile Operation — "/(Call Area)"

"/(call area)" — eg. JG1VGX/3

• Fixed Portable
  In this case, the station is not portable or mobile in reality, but a home station having a commercial power source.
• Moved
  The holder used to live in Area 1 had now moved to Area 3, and he wants to keep the original Area 1 call sign rather than getting a new Area 3 call sign.
• Staying at a boarding house, a weekend house, his/her parent's house, etc.
• Portable or Mobile
  In this case, this Area 1 licensee is in Area 3, in his/her holiday or biz trip. He/She would be portable or mobile with batteries or a generator.

NOTE: ANY of the portable/mobile stations MUST run 50W or less output, even if the licensee has the 1st or the 2nd class. In addition, on 23cm, mobile/portable operation must be 1W or less. More limitations exist in SHF and upper.

"/(one's own call area)" — eg. JG1VGX/1

Confusing fact about portable operations by 7K2-7N4 series licensees. e.g.

• 7L3BVB/1 — He/She is WITHIN his/her own call area (Area 1).
• 7L3BVB/3 — He/She is AWAY (in Area 3) from his/her own call area.

"/JR6"

• JG1VGX/JR6 (popular) ,
• JG1VGX/6 (for shorten) or
• JG1VGX/JS6 (rare, but strict...please remind that the first half of JR6 is not used in Okinawa).

"/JD1"

"JD1/"

"/7J1" and "/7J"

"/M" and "/CM"

"/MM"

"/AM"

QRP Operation — "/QRP" and rarely "/QRPP"

The station operating output 5W or less may add "/QRP." Furthermore, "/QRPP" means 0.5W or less.

Commemoration

"/SO2005"

"/60"

"/OKA50" etc.

• "/OKA50" ... Okinawahonto (AS-017)
• "/IEJ50" ... Iejima (AS-017)
• "/AGJ50" ... Agunijima (AS-017)
• "/KJP50" ... Kerama Is. (AS-017)
• "/UEO50" ... Kumejima (AS-017)
• "/MMY50" ... Miyakojima (AS-079)
• "/SHI50" ... Shimojishima (AS-079)
• "/TRA50" ... Taramajima (AS-079)
• "/ISG50" ... Ishigakijima (AS-024)
• "/OGN50" ... Yonagunijima (AS-024)
• "/HTR50" ... Haterumajima (AS-024)
• "/KTD50" ... Kitadaitojima (AS-047)
• "/MMD50" ... Minamidaitojima (AS-047)

Each Location

Contest — Designating "in the Hosting Prefecture"

• "/KM" ... Kumamoto Contest (Jan.)
• "/MG" ... All Miyagi Contest (Jan.)
• "/ME" ... All Mie 33 Contest (Jan.)
• "/MEJ" ... All Mie 33 Contest, Natives of Mie, outside Mie-pref. (Jan.)
• "/KT" ... Kyoto Contest (Feb.)
• "/GM" ... All Gumma Contest (May)
• "/NI" ... All Niigata Contest (May)
• "/KG" ... Kagoshima Contest (July)
• "/KJ" ... Kagoshima Contest, Natives of Kagoshima, outside Kagoshima-pref. (July)
• "/AT" ... All Akita Contest (Sept.)

Award

"/RS"

"/JI#"

This announcement first appeared on Feb 11, 2005 by JI3DST/JI3. "I" in "JI" stands for "Island." All examples extracted from J-Cluster are as follows. There is no regulations prohibiting these:

Reference

"/P"

"/Q"

"/JB" and "/JB8"

UNOFFICIAL made-up designators were used on Torishima I. in our past:

1. JA7QQ/JB during his stay 1961-1962
2. JA1BRK/JB8, JA1HQG/JB8, JA1KHG/JB8 and JA1WU/JB8 at "Torishima Island '63 Summer DX'pedition."

  

"JA#/(licensing country's call sign)" — eg. JA1/W1AW

NEVER, unfortunately (I'm sorry to say this).

He/She who wants to operate in Japan will have some ways.

^*: Examples of the Additional Rights — only available for W,DL,OH and EI licensees (any nationality) — are as follows:

Please also refer to "Amateur Radio in Japan," in http://www.jarl.or.jp/English/0-2.htm.

The follows are the descriptions of "how to QRV in JA" according to this tree:

+- A. Japanese Speaker
|  |- a. National Exam
|  +- b. Lecture Course
|
+- B. Others
   |- a. Reciprocol Agreement -- any nationality but licensed by W,DL,VE,VK,F,HL,OH,EI,OA
   +- b. Others
      |- I. Expo Visitor
      +- II. Others -- sorry, you have no chance

1. For Japanese speakers
   If you can understand Japanese language very very well, you're eligible to get a JA operator license through either of the following ways, like native Japanese amateurs. Any nationality is acceptable.
   1. A national exam
      Held by Japan Radio Insutitute — an incorporated foundation — as follows:
      
      

      Class	Cost	Repetition
      4th	¥5,000	Every month or every quarter, depending on the venues
      3rd	¥5,250
      2nd	¥7,450	Three times per year
      1st	¥8,950

   
   
   
   2. A lecture course
      However, an end-of-course exam exists:-) And only for lower classes at expensive cost. A course's contents and hours are defined by an ordinance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Musen Jujisha Kisoku, or Radio Operator Regulation) as follows:
      
      

      Class	Course Length			Remarks
      	Radio Engineering	Regulation	End-of-course Exam
      4th	(min.) 4 hours	(min.) 6 hours	1 hour	Typically 2 full days course in weekends
      3rd	(min.) 2 hours	(min.) 4 hours	1 hour	Typically 1 full day course, Only for 4th class licensees

      
      Currently, three organizations provide such courses. Since 2009, the ministry permit for nongovernmental enterprises to hold them, like following (b) and (c).
      
      

      Class	Cost		Venue	Tyipical Repetition
      (a) The Japan Amateur Radio Development Association (JARD) — an incorporated foundation
      4th	¥22,750		Nationwide	e.g. in Tokyo, biweekly
      3rd	¥12,750			e.g. in Tokyo, monthly
      (b) Radio Shonen (or Radio Boy) — a specified non-profit juridical person
      4th	¥16,750	Age 19 and older	Sapporo	Monthly
      	¥6,750	Under Age 19
      3rd	¥7,750	Age 19 and older		Bimonthly
      	¥4,750	Under Age 19
      (c) QCQ Kikaku (or QCQ Planning) — a stock company
      4th	¥18,000		Tokyo	Every month
      	¥8,000	"Special" for middle school age and under		Quarterly
      3rd	¥9,800			Monthly




2. Otherwise —
   1. Reciprocol Agreements
      If you have a license of the nine countries in the following table — but, nationality is ANY —, the reciprocol licensing agreement is available, according to Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications' Appended Table 1, Public Notice #326 of June 16, 1993.
      
      Additional privilage in a club station
      Especially, if you have a license of the following four countires, you may get some additional privilege in a club station, according to Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications' Appended Table 2, Public Notice #326 of June 16, 1993, under the control of a JA's 1st or 2nd class licensee.
      
      e.g. If you're an American Advanced class licensee, you will be restricted up to 200W output regardless of your 1.5kW skills in the home country, under the basic reciprocol agreement which considers you as a Japanese 2nd class licensee equivalent.
      However under the control of a JA's 1st class licensee in a 1kW — the Japanese legal limit — club station, you can QRO up to 1kW.
      (But in this example, some restrictions still remain: only in the US Advanced class sub-bands even inside Japan.)
      
      Anyway, if you want to become a member of a club station, without your own individual station licence in Japan yet, you have to get an "eligibility certificate" from the Bureau of the Ministry in advance, using a form of "Appended Table 3" in the public nortice, regardless of the execution/unexecution of the additional rights above.
      
      

      Regulations for Foreigners' Operation in JA

      	Licensed by	Effective on	Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications' Public Notice
      			Obsolete	Obsolate	Effective
      Club Station Operation (Some Privilege Still Remain)	US	Sept. 21, 1970	#816 of Sept. 21, 1970 revised by: #345 of May 1, 1972; #974 of Nov. 30, 1972; #648 of Oct. 8, 1979; #513 of Aug. 4, 1980; #661 of Aug. 27, 1981; #207 of Mar. 25, 1985; #695 of Sept. 6, 1985; #293 of Apr. 26, 1986; #908 of Nov. 10, 1986; #994 of Dec. 22, 1986 (effective on Dec. 28, 1986); #81 of Feb. 18, 1987; #347 of May 14, 1987	#246 of Apr. 27, 1990 (effective on May 1, 1990), revised by: #480 of July 30 ,1992	#326 of June 16, 1993 revised by: #539 of Oct. 26, 1993; #303 of July 1, 1998; #24 of Jan. 11, 1999; #831 of Dec. 25, 2000 (effective on Jan. 6, 2001); #509 of Aug. 11, 2003 (effective on Jan. 13, 2004); #269 of Mar. 29, 2004
      	Germany	Nov. 30, 1972
      	Finland	Oct. 8, 1979
      	Ireland	Aug. 27, 1981
      Reciprocol Operating Agreements	US	Sept. 7, 1985
      	Germany	May 1, 1986
      	Canada	Nov. 16, 1986
      	Australia	Feb. 25, 1987
      	France	May 15, 1987
      	Republic of Korea	Aug. 1, 1992
      	Finland	June 16, 1993
      	Ireland	June 16, 1993
      	Peru	Aug. 1, 1998

   
   
   
   2. Otherwise —
      1. For expo visitors
         The Ministry SOMETIMES permits foreigner ham licensees issued by ANY country to operate a special-event station during a really BIG events. You can operate it in the scope of your home country license.
         
         

         Foreigners Operable Special Event Stations — 8 Times So Far

         Call Sign	Event	Term	Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' (ex. Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications') Public Notice
         8J1WJ	Boy Scouts World Jamboree	Aug. 2 - 10, 1971	#569 of Aug. 2, 1971
         8J3ITU	The 14th CCIR Kyoto General Meeting	June 7 - 23, 1973	#377 of June 7, 1973
         8N1WCY	World Amateur Radio Conference (in World Communications Year)	Sept. 19 - 25, 1983	#691 of Sept. 7, 1983
         8J1XPO	International Science and Technologies Expo in Tsukuba '85	Mar. 17 - Sept. 16, 1985	#175 of Mar. 15, 1985
         8N1APT	APT Amateur Radio Seminar	June 10 - 17, 1994	#338 of June 10, 1994
         8N3ITU	The 14th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Kyoto	Sept. 17 - Oct. 14, 1994	#473 of Sept. 5, 1994
         8N0WOG	Nagano Olympic Winter Game	Jan. 24 - Feb. 22, 1998	#650 of Dec. 17, 1997
         8J2AI	The 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan	Mar. 25 - Sept. 25, 2005	#277 of Mar. 9, 2005

      
      
      
      2. Otherwise — i.e. (1) no Japanese written exam, (2) without any licenses of the nine countries above and (3) not a very big expo visitor —, you have no chance.
         
         But on the last occasion, if you are (1) an English speaker and have (2) a US mailing address, you can take an FCC exam even inside Japan. Some JA-based VE teams are working:
         - ARRL/VEC Teams ... Michinoku (Sendai), Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Kobe
         - W5YI-VEC Teams ... Sapporo, Gumma (Maebashi) and Kyushu (Fukuoka)

As the result, an eligible person has three ways + one special way to operate and ID, in secluded Japan:

• Own Station
  "(his/her own call sign in Japan)" — eg. JA1$$$
  A foreigner who established his/her own individual station, contended with the obstacles.
  He/She —
  (a) has to prepare — in another word, "buy" — his/her own JAPANESE SPEC rig(s)^∗ or,
  (b) share a Japanese friend's eligible one(s)^∗∗.
  
  Where,
  • ^∗:
    Rig(s) which you broght from your home country — e.g. able to transmit on Japan's fire/amburance frequencies 146-148MHz — must not be permitted.
    
    
  • ^∗∗:
    (i) His/Her station address must be same to the friend,
    (ii) the friend must submit a "sharing agreement" to a District Bureau of Telecommunications, and
    (iii) the rig(s) must match to your operating output power range (e.g. American Technician class licensee — Japanese 4th class equivalent — doesn't share Japanese 2nd class licensee's QRO rig(s)...Promise to attenuate during your operation?...Never permitted!).
  
  
  
• Club Member
  "(club's call sign)/(operator's call sign)" — eg. JH1YDR/W3ACE
  A foreigner who joined a club station as a member.
  Member's call sign (or name) is omissible.
  
  
• Guest Operation
  "(host's call sign)/(guest-operator's call sign)" — eg. JO3EIP/DJ3KR
  A foreigner who is guest-operating a Japanese friend's station — both an individual s tation and a club station.
  Guest operator's call sign (or name) is omissible.



• Big Special Event
  "(special-event station's call sign)" — eg. 8J2AI