September 17th, 2021 - Installing A JDM Light-Up "Jiko Shiki" License Plate On Project PRO.2 CR-X EF8

September 17th, 2021 - Installing A JDM "Jiko Shiki" License Plate On Project PRO.2 CR-X EF8

What Is A Jiko Shiki?

The Japanese jiko shiki (meaning: character light type) license plate has intrigued me since I first saw one back in 2004. For anyone who doesn't know, this is a road-legal license plate in Japan that is illuminated. They've been around since 1970. The plate's numbers are replaced with translucent green plastic that can be back-lit so that the letters glow in the dark. 

The license plate assembly comes in essentially two main pieces: the plate itself and the light assembly. The light assembly styles vary from traditional automotive bulb style, to electro luminescence (EL) types, and also various LED styles. 

From what I've been able to gather, only the plate comes from the government and the light assembly can be purchased from any number of different manufacturers, with some being endorsed or certified by the government. 

Types Of Character-type Plate Frames

I bought my first jiko shiki plate in 2005. It arrived as a set using a large light assembly using standard automotive bulbs. This style uses a diffuser to soften the light from the two bulbs so it appears more evenly distributed across the plate's numbers. The light assembly may or may not come with a diffuser to evenly spread the light. The plate attaches to the frame-like surround on hinges which locks in place when closed, sandwiching the diffuser (white plastic tray) between the light housing and the plate. The light housing attaches to the car. Due to the circumference of the bulbs, this style light assembly is quite thick, measuring approximately 35mm (1  3/8"). 

Deciding on running a tilt frame for my front plate, I wanted to run something a bit thinner, so I bought an EL light assembly from Japan. A much simpler design, for this light assembly, the plate sits on top and the bolts go through both the plate and light assembly to mount to the car. With a thickness of approximately 15mm (5/8"), this assembly would look much better when used in conjunction with the tilt plate frame. 

With LED lighting becoming more widely accepted/adopted, I became aware of their use as light assemblies for the character plates. There are several types and styles to choose from. I am still on the lookout for a set of AIR style. Measuring only 2-5mm thick, I believe they will be far better suited to my purposes with the tilt license plate bracket on the CR-X. 

This summer, I accidentally bought what I thought were a pair of AIR style plate frames, but when they arrived, they were a lot thicker than the AIR style with a somewhat diamond shape to their profile. Being thinner than the EL type, I decided I would keep them and see how they'd look.

The Installation

Preparing for a local Show And Shine this summer, I was putting some pieces back together on my CR-X and when I noticed something odd... I had never given much attention to this red plastic piece attached to the parking light connector on my CR-X. I mean, how often does a person remove their parking light and examine the wiring? This time however, something caught my eye: a small piece of wire sticking out of it. Then it dawned on me that this was a wire tap connector and the 18 gauge wire was the same as what was used on my license plate frame. It occurred to me that it could be to operate the light on a Honda Access Parking Pole accessory but since the pole would be mounted on the left side of the car it's not very likely to be for that. It seems much more likely that this was used for a jiko shiki license plate when my car was in Japan!

Armed with this newfound realization, and with the work to the Mugen front bumper replica humming right along, I decided that it was time to sort out the license plate wiring: 16 years is long enough for that plate to be sitting in my garage uninstalled..

I hit up Amazon for some supplies. I already had an assortment of heat shrink tubing in my toolbox, but I needed 18 gauge wiring (black and red). I got a spool of a few different colors for a decent price, as well as some harness tape (it feels a lot like hockey tape), and some plastic braided loom to protect it all. I also ordered another connector for the ground wire and some weatherproof male/female connectors so I could easily connect/disconnect the plate/light assembly from the car for bumper removal or to attach other accessories if I want to, like my EL "Honda" license plate holder. 

While waiting for Amazon to bring my supplies, I tested out the new LED plate frames to try and find the brightest and best condition of the two I'd purchased. 

A few days later, supplies started trickling in from Amazon. First the wire and weatherproof connectors. I roughly measured out how much wire I thought I would need, then measured out another couple feet for safety's sake. Better to have to deal with too much wire than not enough. Once I had the length of wire I needed, I checked the plugs to see which end would be easiest to feed through the large hole in the Mugen bumper near the license plate mounting holes, and used that end for the light assembly. The other end would be for the main harness. 

I stripped and twisted the 8 wires for the connectors and harness/light assembly, making sure to slide on about 2" of shrink wrap tubing before doing so. I got out my soldering iron and soldered all the connections together. I waited for the solder to cool, then slid over the heat shrink and used a lighter to ensure a snug fit. Rinse and repeat for the harness side. 

After the harness was complete, I thought it best to test the harness and connectors before wrapping everything up.

The tape arrived next, and I taped both harnesses as tight and straight as possible. The tape didn't feel overly sticky, but it stuck to itself quite nicely while wrapping. The one mistake I made was that I should have waited until the loom arrived before soldering the light assembly to the connector. Now, with the connector attached, it will be impossible to slide the braided loom over the connector. Luckily this is the easiest piece to replace, and eventually will be swapped for AIR LED assemblies so I will have another opportunity to address this at that time.

The loom arrived next. I actually ordered 2 sizes but the larger of the two (1/4") was the perfect size for the wires and tape. I remember reading a lot of Amazon reviews saying that this product was not good because it was too difficult to install but I found it quite easy. Much like the fingercuff puzzle, you have to compress the braid to make the diameter expand so you can slide it on. If you try to pull it down the wires, it will contract and you won't be able to slide it on. Once installed I zip tied and used some more of that tape to protect the ends of the loom. 

Next up, was running the harness. Even at the time of this writing I'm still thinking of ways to improve the routing and make it more secure, but the general route is how I want it. The harness goes from the corner marker, or parking light, down under the corner of the fender, and across the front sandwiched between the headlight and air intake tube. It wraps around the intake neck and then down the front T-Bar, held in place with an OEM clip. I'm leaning towards removing the intake tube and zip tying or using Velcro to attach the harness to the hood cable. It follows basically the same path but runs underneath the intake tube. It would be a little bit cleaner look, and more out of the way, I think.  

I re-attached the front bumper and fed the connector through the front bumper. My light assembly is too thick to use the fasteners I want to use, so I had to substitute much longer ones which don't work with the tilt license plate bracket. So, I've had to remove the tilt bracket for now.

I loosely attached the plate to the bumper so I could work with the harness without fear of dropping or damaging the plate. There was more than enough wiring to connect the wires, and I secured the wiring to one of the grill vanes with a zip tie and tightened down the plate on the bumper. 

I'm still waiting for the last piece, the ground connector, to arrive from Amazon. There were some problems with shipping and a replacement package should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to finishing this little unexpected, late-in-the-season project. I will update this post once it's arrives and I've finished, but for now I've run a temporary ground wire to the negative post on the battery and managed to get out to take some pictures. I couldn't find anywhere sufficiently dark so I did my best in the lower level of a parking structure at a local mall, and took some more pictures in my garage. 

Update: September 20th, 2021)

As I was getting the temporary ground wire set up, I was going through a small bin containing connectors and other bits and bobs when I found another bulb and socket for the parking light, and attached to that socket was the electrical connector and a small amount of wiring, likely from a pair of corner markers I bought years and years ago. And what did I see attached to the wiring? Lo and behold, there was another vampire tap connector. 

I disconnected it and inspected it, and it was in excellent shape. If I'm being honest, it's in better shape than the existing on the positive wire. So I disconnected the temporary ground I hooked up yesterday and connected this instead. Tested the plate and it worked like a charm. I then zip tied the two harnesses together for more stability and reinstalled my parking light. Now I just need to get a thinner light assembly and reinstall my tilt bracket for the front bumper.

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.