Kurumagic started because buying a used car in Japan as a foreigner is harder than it should be — not because the system is broken, but because nobody explains it in plain English. Dealers translate selectively. Vehicle inspection (sha-ken / 車検) and the rest of the paperwork assume you already know the rules. Expensive add-ons often feel mandatory when they aren’t.
We’re an independent buyer’s agent. We're only paid by our clients, never the dealer. We sit on your side of the table working out the best deal: reading auction sheets, negotiating, and walking registration with you so you end up in the right car at the right price, with the paperwork done properly.
Based in Sapporo. We work with clients across Japan, and we’re comfortable with dealers well beyond Hokkaido because that’s where the work has taken us.
Canadian-American, but I’ve lived most of my life in Japan — long enough that Hokkaido feels like home. I’ve built real relationships with dealers here, and I work in Japanese when that’s what the job needs. Before Kurumagic, I helped family and friends buy cars more times than I can count. They kept asking how to avoid the usual traps. I liked being the person who could answer.
Kurumagic is that same help, with a clearer path behind it: your own Garage, document uploads we actually review, and a simple way to keep options and paperwork in one place so nothing important gets lost in a busy week. Language matters. So does staying organized when you’re buying a car in a second language.
I write the guides on this site myself. If something here is wrong or unclear, email me — I’ll fix it. Looking forward to helping you find the right car.
Buyer pays. No kickbacks. Most “English-speaking” car help is still selling inventory. We aren’t. You pay us, so the only win is the car that fits you — not whatever’s sitting on someone else’s lot.
We’ll talk you out of hiring us. If you can do this yourself, we’ll say so. The free guides exist for that. We’d rather keep the clients who actually need a partner than take money for a DIY job.
You get the real condition, the real costs, and the real tradeoffs before you commit — not a glossy story that falls apart at the lot. Clear beats pretty when you’re spending real money.
Plain English. Plain Japanese. Both languages, properly — not machine translation and not half-translated invoices. Nothing important should get lost in the kanji or the jargon.
We work nationwide from a Hokkaido base. Clients from Sapporo to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, and beyond use Kurumagic the same way: we find strong cars, you choose, and we handle the Japan side with you — paperwork, dealers, and the messy middle.
We’re based in Hokkaido, and we work nationwide. When the right car isn’t next door, we source it and ship it. You shouldn’t have to settle for what’s only nearby.
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