Amateur Radio Operator (Classes 1-4): Photo Spec and How to Create It

Verbatim official spec

Below are the verbatim official specs from the Japan Radio Operators Examination Center for the Amateur Radio Operator national exam application, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) rules for the post-pass licence application — shown in the original Japanese.

• 「縦横比率 5：4。胸から上。顔の長さが縦の長さの概ね50％〜60％を目安。４カ月以内に撮影された写真であること。600 ピクセル程度×480 ピクセル程度。（日本無線協会、試験）」
• 「無帽で正面を向いていること。縁（白枠）がないこと。無背景であること。（日本無線協会、試験）」
• 「縦 30mm × 横 24mm。無帽、上半身、無背景、枠なし。申請前 6 ヶ月以内に撮影。（総務省、免許申請）」
• 「上三分身（顔の長さが縦の概ね 50〜60％）。（日本無線協会、試験）」
• 「免許申請用は紙写真であり、ピクセル指定はありません。（総務省、免許用）」

Why this spec matters

The Amateur Radio Operator (アマチュア無線技士) is a national qualification under the Radio Act (1950), with roughly 3.57 million cumulative licence holders as of the end of FY2023 — one of the largest radio operator qualifications in Japan. The class breakdown is Class 4 at 88.84%, Class 3 at 7.74%, Class 2 at 2.43%, and Class 1 at 0.99%, with operating privileges expanding step by step: Class 4 covers up to 50W on part of HF plus V/UHF, Class 3 up to 50W on all HF bands, Class 2 up to 200W on all bands, and Class 1 up to 1000W on all bands (FY2023 pass rate 24.9%, down 6.3 points year-on-year). The exam is run by the Japan Radio Operators Examination Center; from FY2022, Classes 3 and 4 use CBT-Solutions venue-based CBT, while Classes 1 and 2 continue with traditional paper exams. Note that around 84% of Class 4 holders qualify via the training-course (lecture) route rather than the national exam, but both routes use exactly the same photo spec. The most important point is that the exam-application photo and the licence-application photo differ: the exam application registers a JPEG of roughly 600×480 px at a 5:4 ratio, taken within 4 months, as electronic data with the Japan Radio Operators Examination Center; the post-pass licence application sends a 30mm × 24mm paper photo (within 6 months, with ¥2,050 of revenue stamps) to MIC or the regional Telecommunications Bureau. Our preset 30×24mm follows the licence spec, so if you reuse it for the exam application, the AI auto-resizes to 600×480 pixels (the ratio is close but the pixel count differs). Confusingly similar qualifications such as Electrician, Chief Electrical Engineer, and Electrical Construction Management Engineer are all power-side qualifications under the Electrician Act, Electricity Business Act, and Construction Business Act respectively — they share none of the scope, ministry, or application channel with Amateur Radio under the Radio Act (and have no connection to automotive "denso" wiring either).

How to create it for ¥200

A photo that meets both the exam application (5:4 ratio, 600×480 px JPEG) and the licence application (30×24mm photo paper) takes about two minutes with a smartphone and ¥200.

1. 1

   Take the photo on your smartphone

   Stand against a plain white or light-colored wall in a bright room. No hat, face the camera, framed as upper-third (face length about 50-60% of the photo height), neutral expression, eyes on the lens. The same spec applies to Classes 1-4 and to both the exam and training-course routes.
2. 2

   AI removes background and adjusts to 5:4 ratio

   Upload the photo. AI removes the background, detects the face, and auto-adjusts to the 5:4 ratio. You receive both the exam-application JPEG exported exactly to the official guideline (600px tall × 480px wide, 50–300KB) and the 30mm × 24mm print layout for the licence application — no manual resizing needed for either.
3. 3

   Exam = upload to the Japan Radio Operators Examination Center / Licence = print and mail to MIC

   After payment, a QR code and 8-digit user number arrive by email. For the exam application, upload the JPEG to the Japan Radio Operators Examination Center online portal or CBT-Solutions (Classes 3 and 4). For the licence application, print at 30×24mm using 7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart, etc. and mail to MIC or your regional Telecommunications Bureau (with ¥2,050 of revenue stamps).

What Ramune AI ID Photo offers

Even for a tight spec like My Number, you can finish the entire shoot → process → print workflow in your browser.

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