On 10 October 2006, an amended law took effect allowing municipality names to be used in the place-name designation on vehicle registration plates, and the introduction of local plates began. The Nikkei Stock Average closed at ¥16,477.25 that day.
On 10 October 2006, local vehicle registration plates bearing regional names were introduced, allowing areas without a vehicle registration office to use registration numbers displaying their place names.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism amended the regulations to ease the system in response not only to the administrative needs of government offices but also to local requests. Regulatory relaxation was a topic of public interest at the time.
Design plates also became recognized as one form of local vehicle registration plate, with examples including motifs such as the Galaxy Express from Iwate Prefecture and dinosaurs from Fukui Prefecture, adopted by individual municipalities.
The Nikkei Stock Average closed at ¥16,477.25 on 10 October 2006.