JAA
JAA is a medium-sized player, averaging around 45,000 vehicles offered at auction every month.
Both JAA auction locations are popular with buyers, but HAA Kobe has a reputation for the more exotic and foreign.
JAA averages 4,000 to 6,000 vehicles every Wednesday, whereas HAA Kobe typically has 9,000 to 12,000 vehicles each Saturday.
Until recently, JAA also operated another auction location called JAA Tsukuba, although this was shut down at the end of May 2011 to coincide with the expansion of the JAA Tokyo facility.
If you visit Japan, HAA Kobe is where we will take you as it is the largest auction in the same region as our office. We will usually take you on Friday, which is the day before the auction.
The reason it’s best to go on the Friday is that it gives you a chance to have a good look at all the cars and prepare your bidding strategy for when they are auctioned on the Saturday.
Of course, that means that you will miss seeing the live bidding on the Saturday but, honestly, there isn’t much to see except some guys hunched over computer terminals while cars flash on the screens.
JAA Tokyo and HAA Kobe are just two of the over the 120 car auctions throughout Japan that OIWA sources used cars for customers all around the world from.