Last December, a spectacular car accident happened in Japan. Since the multiple pileup involved 12 luxury sports cars like Ferraris, it drew international attention and was reported worldwide (click here). Although news reports gave few details about the cars' drivers, beyond quoting police officials as saying their ages ranged from 37 to 60, many people assumed that the drivers must be super rich. After a while, a magazine reported that some of the drivers whom it visited were not that rich, rather seemingly ordinary people. Although I didn't know if the information was accurate, I thought that it was likely. Can you guess why?
People between their 40s and 60s were raised when Japan was a developing country. After they started working, they would usually work very hard to purchase and do what they wanted. Men from that generation would get their driver licences as soon as they turned 18. They would be eager to ride around in a high-end car. Cars tended to be considered as a status symbol for men. Women would want men to cruise around. For some women, the matter of what kind of cars men have would be a important criteria for judging men. On top of that, the generation tends to like getting expensive but unique things because they experienced the bubble economy when they were young. Taking this into account, given the aforementioned drivers' ages, it's likely that the drivers earned money the hard way and took out loans to buy a luxury car in order to make their dreams true.
According to an official survey, roughly speaking, over 95% of the men from 30 to 64 have a driver's licence. As for women, about 90% of those from 30 to 49 have one (50-54:83.5%, 55-59:74.7%, and 60-64:67.2%). It was very common for this generation to get their driver's licences around 20. In contrast, it's been said that people in their teens and 20s have less interest in cars. They, especially those living in large cities, even have less intention to get their driver's licences. According to the aforementioned official survey, driver's licence holder ratios by age and gender are that 81.5% for men from 20 to 24, 93.4% for men from 25 to 29, 72.4% for women from 20 to 24, and 87.5% for women from 25 to 29. Another survey announced recently shows that the driver's licence holder ration of 20-year-old people is 56.7%, which is 4.9% increase over the previous year.
It's been difficult for young people to get a stable job with a good salary. It's been said that young people only buy what they need now even if they can afford to buy extra things. Unlike older generations, they don't see cars as a status symbol for men. Under these circumstances, I expect that more young people will become indifferent to cars.
Anyway, a Toyota TV commercial series has been drawing great attention (Please see the YouTube videos. I think that the English subtitles added by somebody are good enough to understand the story. I think that you can see English subtitles only on YouTube site). This is because it's a live-action version of Doraemon, a popular Japanese animation. In the animation, other than Doraemon, main characters are school children. The Toyota's commercial series portrays their lives in 20 years, in other words, the characters who have turned 30. Popular actors and actresses who match the image of original characters play the 30-year-old characters (Jean Reno plays Doraemon). Remarkably, the story line of the commercial series is focused on making young people feel like they need to get their driver's licences. The commercial shows how seriously Toyota takes the current situation.
【My previous blog articles related to the topic】
Things in which young Japanese people are less interested
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/03/things-in-which-young-japanese-people.html
Japanese young people having no desire for purchase
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/03/japanese-young-people-having-no-desire.html
