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
Showing posts with label accidents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accidents. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Saturday, October 24, 2009
The Reasons why the Movie are Receiving Public Attention
In this post, I’d like to supplement the information relating to my last two posts.
In the 1980s, Japan became affluent enough for ordinary people to travel overseas. At the time, apart from foreign airlines, only Japan Airlines (JAL) covered international routes. I suppose that many people, especially those who went abroad for the first time, somehow felt relieved when seeing JAL’s “red crane" logo at the airport in other countries. Many Japanese believed that JAL was the most reliable and safest. Until about 15years ago, many educated women aspired to work for JAL as flight attendants. Partly because of this fierce competition, JAL’s flight attendants were beautiful.
In the evening in August 1985, JAL betrayed the public’s trust. A JAL’s airplane crashed into Osutaka Mountain on the way from Tokyo to Osaka. This evening flight between major two cities was very popular for businessmen/women. A president and board members of major companies died. 坂本九/Kyu Sakamoto, who was well known for the singer of Sukiyaki songs in Western countries, lost his life. Additionally, it was during summer school holidays. The flight was full and many children were on board. Although only four people miraculously survived, the death toll rose to over 500. Some passengers wrote letters to their families on the plane snaking between mountains when realizing that they were going to die.These remains moved people to tears.
Both JAL and the government announced the findings of their investigations on the crash, but there were so many inconsistencies in their reports. Their explanations never satisfied people, especially the families of the victims. About ten years after the crash occurred, the novel” 沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” written by a famous author 山崎豊子/Toyoko Yamasaki was published. This novel drew public attention back to the crash. Right after its publication, the novel became controversial. JAL insisted that the novel would lead to misunderstandings. Although some TV and film companies announced that they would attempt to adapt the novel for the screen, they weren’t able to make it happen. It's been said that they were forced to give up producing it because of great pressure and harassment by JAL and the big names involved.
With the times changing, today, the movie “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” was finally released. It’s been about ten years since the novel was published. In my opinion, if JAL had seriously examined their problems at that time, it wouldn't be standing on the edge of precipice now.
In the 1980s, Japan became affluent enough for ordinary people to travel overseas. At the time, apart from foreign airlines, only Japan Airlines (JAL) covered international routes. I suppose that many people, especially those who went abroad for the first time, somehow felt relieved when seeing JAL’s “red crane" logo at the airport in other countries. Many Japanese believed that JAL was the most reliable and safest. Until about 15years ago, many educated women aspired to work for JAL as flight attendants. Partly because of this fierce competition, JAL’s flight attendants were beautiful.
In the evening in August 1985, JAL betrayed the public’s trust. A JAL’s airplane crashed into Osutaka Mountain on the way from Tokyo to Osaka. This evening flight between major two cities was very popular for businessmen/women. A president and board members of major companies died. 坂本九/Kyu Sakamoto, who was well known for the singer of Sukiyaki songs in Western countries, lost his life. Additionally, it was during summer school holidays. The flight was full and many children were on board. Although only four people miraculously survived, the death toll rose to over 500. Some passengers wrote letters to their families on the plane snaking between mountains when realizing that they were going to die.These remains moved people to tears.Both JAL and the government announced the findings of their investigations on the crash, but there were so many inconsistencies in their reports. Their explanations never satisfied people, especially the families of the victims. About ten years after the crash occurred, the novel” 沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” written by a famous author 山崎豊子/Toyoko Yamasaki was published. This novel drew public attention back to the crash. Right after its publication, the novel became controversial. JAL insisted that the novel would lead to misunderstandings. Although some TV and film companies announced that they would attempt to adapt the novel for the screen, they weren’t able to make it happen. It's been said that they were forced to give up producing it because of great pressure and harassment by JAL and the big names involved.
With the times changing, today, the movie “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” was finally released. It’s been about ten years since the novel was published. In my opinion, if JAL had seriously examined their problems at that time, it wouldn't be standing on the edge of precipice now.
A Remarkable Japanese Movie is going to Be Released Today
A remarkable movie “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” is going to be released today, on the 24th of October. The movie is based on a best selling novel written by 山崎豊子/Toyoko Yamasaki. She used to be a journalist/writer at a major newspaper. Since she became an author, she has been known for writing her novels based on her years of investigations on some questionable incidents. These investigations include a lot of interviews conducted by her with some of the people involved. Although her novels are categorized as fictions, everyone knows that her stories contain some facts and truths that were never revealed to the public. On top of that, politicians and major corporations often appear in her novels. Although their real names aren’t used, their assumed names are so similar to their real ones that you can easily guess and identify who or what they are.
I read her long novel “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” right after it was published many years ago. This novel is well known as the semi-fictional tale of the terrible JAL(Japan Airlines) crash in 1985. However, as far as I remember, rather than focusing on this crash itself, the story focuses on bringing out deep problems hidden within JAL. Moreover, through laying bare the reality of the big corporation, the story makes you think about human essence. (If you want to know more about JAL, please see click here).
The main character of the novel is an employee of 国民航空 (This is an assumed name that indicates JAL). He was transferred to various countries in Africa and the Middle East. Through his over ten-year working in these countries, he came to realize how ruthless, absurd and greed his company（国民航空） was and began to question his company. When his company had a devastating plane crash, he was assigned to handle and support the crash-bereaved families. Through this assignment, he noticed that his company always gave priority to their profits and they ignored the safety of their flights. He thought that this crash was an accident waiting to happen. On top of that, he became aware of corruption, cozy relationships among politicians, bureaucrats and businesses. Although he received constant harassment from his company, he kept on fighting his company.
Since JAL is currently being required to restructure in order to receive a taxpayer-financed bailout, I’m wondering what JAL will think about this movie. On top of that, there is a phrase in this novel that has stuck in my head. The main character loves animals. One day, he went to a zoo. When he reached the exit of the zoo, there was a big mirror on a wall. The phrase “No animal in the zoo is more awful than the one in the mirror, mankind is the most awful animal on earth” was beside the mirror.
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