Question Car seats in Japan- seat belt issues?

Hello Everyone...

I have posted before and you always provide great info! Several weeks ago I asked a general question about car seats in Japan... the info was great, but now I'm actually here and running into yet another question!! We're here with the US Navy with our 3 kids:

DD1 FF in Radian, about 45 lbs, 5 1/2 y.o.
DS FF in Radian, about 40 lbs, 4 y.o.
DD2 RF in MA, about 28 lbs, 2 1/2 y.o.

We LOVE our carseats, and even though our 5 y.o. is not required to be in one here (and neither is the 4 y.o., technically) we'd much much much prefer to follow the US safety rules & keep them all in 5 point harnesses as long as possible. (Especially when we heard that cars here are less solid than those in the US).

Today we were looking at a car to buy and after test-driving it, decided to try and install the carseats. We could NOT get ANY of the seatbelts to LOCK! I can't recall the technical names, but in the States the seat belts all LOCK solidly if you pull them out all the way and activate the locking mechanism -- other wise they hold tight in a sudden jolt, but are loose, and can't hold a carseat. These belts today seemed to just stay loose.. held tight when you yanked on them, but didn't ever fully LOCK.

so 2 questions:

1) is there any way to install carseats safely with that kind of seat belt?

2) does anyone have general info on cars here in Japan... do they have the right kind of seat belt?? any other Military wives who have car seats installed securely??

At home in the states, our seats were in SOLID-- try to wiggle them, and the car moved first. That's what I'm hoping for here!!

ANY INFORMATION would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

Thanks!
~Tiffany
mom to 3, now in Japan!

Some belts lock at the locking clip. If you clip them, and pull on the lap portion, do they pull out? My guess is that it's not a japanese requirement - so they just have emergency locking... but maybe if you give us the manufacturer of the car, we can at least tell you if the belts lock out by pulling out here in the US.

If you cannot get the belts to lock out - then you need to use a locking clip for the radians (gold double ended T thing) - I'm sure the ladies here have some video/photos of how you can use the locking clip. There should be some on your Radians. Your Marathon has an internal locking clip - so you should be fine with that one if you pull it tight and secure the locking clips.

Thanks Kate... I looked more closely in the car seat manuals and yes, the Radians do have the locking clip-- the Marathon has those black plastic lock-offs that do the same thing, right? I've never used the locking clip before! didn't even occur to me when we were actually looking at the car.

The car we're looking at is a Toyota Estima Lucida G series... I don't think Toyota sells it in the States. We tried everything to get the seat belt to lock and not be ELR. The seats are captains chairs & the belts come out of the wall, not the door. That is ok, right, just use the locking clip, or Marathon's built-in lock-off?

One additional question: It doesn't appear that the cars here have a tether anchor-- the Radians are fine without it, correct? and Forward facing you can't just find a place on the car, it has to be an official tether spot, correct? but for the RF'ing Marathon we can just find something to loop that extra strap around, right? What if there isn't something to loop it on, is it ok RF but not tethered?

This is all so confusing! at home we had our car and then bought carseats to fit! Now, it seems the other way and the cars are different!! I really appreciate this site and everyone who helps by answering posts!

Thanks in advance!
~Tiffany

Just to clarify some of the terms...

capeKO71 said:

Some belts lock at the locking clip. If you clip them, and pull on the lap portion, do they pull out?

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This is called a locking latchplate, because the seat belt locks at the latchplate (male end) while the shoulder portion still only locks in an emergency.

If you cannot get the belts to lock out - then you need to use a locking clip for the radians (gold double ended T thing)

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I think some of them silver, too.

Your Marathon has an internal locking clip - so you should be fine with that one if you pull it tight and secure the locking clips.

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Those are called lock-offs, and the manual will have instructions on how to use them.

From the OP:

That is ok, right, just use the locking clip, or Marathon's built-in lock-off?

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Yes - you'll use the locking clip to lock the seat belts for the Radians, and the lock-offs for the Marathon.

It doesn't appear that the cars here have a tether anchor-- the Radians are fine without it, correct?

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Yes, and the Marathon doesn't require a top tether, either, when installed with the seat belt. It is always encouraged, of course, but if your vehicle doesn't have tether anchors, the carseat still performs according to standards.

and Forward facing you can't just find a place on the car, it has to be an official tether spot, correct?

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Exactly - the D-rings are not designed to withstand the forces of a crash for FF; when used RF, the forces are considerably lower.

but for the RF'ing Marathon we can just find something to loop that extra strap around, right? What if there isn't something to loop it on, is it ok RF but not tethered?

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Yep, you've got it. The manual has instructions about how to locate an appropriate spot to loop the D-ring; if the vehicle doesn't have anything at all, it's also okay to leave it untethered. :thumbsup:

Yeah, you're going to have to use the lockoffs on the marathon and locking clips with the radians, most seatbelts here don't lock. I am so greatful for my decathlon, it has been a lifesaver, seriously. And there are no top tethers here, anywhere. You can tether your marathon, since it's rearfacing still, but the radians won't be able to be tethered.

I'm in the same situation in Thailand. Before I moved here, I hadn't realized that the same model of car can have such different features depending on what market it's manufactured for. My MIL's Camry in Canada: the seatbelts have the ALR mechanism for locking. The Toyota Camry in Thailand: only ELR, so we'd be using the lock-offs on my DD's MA for certain (we don't have a Camry, but the belts on our Fortuner are the same).

I hope that it's completely normal to get used to the carseat situation in a new country ...

this is why I really like to recommend the britaxes for military families... the built in lockoffs come in handy when overseas.

you'll definitely need the locking clips for the Radians.

you can only tether the seats if rearfacing because of no tether anchors.

Kat_Momof3 said:

this is why I really like to recommend the britaxes for military families... the built in lockoffs come in handy when overseas.

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I seriously have never regretting spending more on my kid's Marathon - and the real benefit of the lock-offs isn't something I really appreciated until we'd had the seat for over three years!

Now, I am a little sad that the Frontier doesn't have them ...

I know what you mean... I get why there are no lockoffs on the Regent... but the Frontier could have used one for the short beltpath, at least.

it's a narrower seat, so even putting them on for the long beltpath shouldn't have been impossible.

As long as that seat lasts, especially as a booster, I hate that it's not something I would quickly recommend to military families, because I don't think it would be easy to use overseas.