When on duty with flashing lights and a siren, the policeman says over the loudspeaker: “Sorry, we have to pass. Please drive carefully! Many Thanks.” Unthinkable in Zurich – everyday life in Tokyo (there with red instead of blue light – more on this here). Just like the white gloves of the taxi chauffeurs and their politely remote-controlled opening of the rear door, so that you can say thank you with hazard lights after changing lanes – and at night extremely tuned cars whiz across the autobahn without exceeding the speed.
Japan – the land of the 2021 Olympics and contrasts. A traditional high-tech nation. The land of the rising sun has been building cars since 1907. But we didn’t know them until the 1960s – or does the Nissan GT-R ancestor Prince Skyline tell you what? Then the export began with a perfection and vehemence that both Americans and Europeans were frightened. In 2020, Japanese brands sold a good 12.5 percent of new cars in Switzerland.
The golden driver’s license
The 125 million inhabitants of Japan bought an impressive 4.6 million cars, putting Japan (jp. Nippon, pronounced mostly «Nihon») in third place behind China (19.3 million) and the USA (14.6 million) and above Germany (2.9) lies: In Japan, as many cars are sold in 19 days as in our country in a year. And what the “Senator” status to the Swiss frequent flyer is the “Golden License” to the Japanese. The ticket rewards five years without a bus with a golden stripe.
So that it doesn’t turn blue again (beginners green), you have to avoid all ticket slips. They are white, blue or red – depending on the severity. Driving in Japan is very, very discreet. You keep to speed limits (Land 60, Autobahn 100, most recently on sections of 120 km / h). Less than the buses (plus 30 km / h equals CHF 500), decency and courtesy ensure. In return, pedestrians often bow after letting them cross the zebra crossing.
Switzerland of Asia
The traffic is almost as safe as Tokyo’s party miles in the middle of the night: In the international crime statistics, Japan and countries like Iceland argue for top places in security, ahead of Switzerland. In a comparison of accident statistics, Japan, like Switzerland, ranks in the top ten of the safest area countries and is around worlds ahead of China or Thailand in Asia.
In other respects, too, Japan is a bit like the Switzerland of Asia. We have the Alps, Japan is mountainous country. In rankings, Japan happily snatches away from us the victory in the best rail infrastructure among large countries. We are neutral, Japan was isolated for a long time. The latter can be seen on the street: nine out of ten new cars are Japanese (in Germany, for example, only six out of nine are German), car models that are mostly unknown to us.
Toyota is almost a monopoly
The cars are mostly called Toyota. The world number one in Japan is almost a monopoly: in 2020 over a third of all new registrations came from Toyota. Behind Toyota partner Suzuki, Honda, Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Isuzu and Toyota offspring Hino. Imports from Germany only come in eleventh place. Mercedes is even ahead of the luxury Toyota subsidiary Lexus – because Toyota even sells luxury sedans at home.
If you look for numbers, it gets complicated – because the market is divided into two parts. Because of the kei cars: City cars do not have to provide evidence of a parking space in cities to be registered and hold 40 percent of matriculations. Kei cars can be 3.40 meters long and 1.48 meters wide, have up to 64 hp and a top speed of 140 km / h and, as a combustion engine, have a displacement of 660 ccm. When it comes to kei cars, leaders Daihatsu and Suzuki each share a third of the market. They often have names that suggest cosmopolitanism, including Grandpa or Lapin (French: rabbit). In “normal” cars, Toyota accounts for an insane 49 percent, far ahead of Honda and Nissan. The ten best-selling car models in Japan in 2020 are shown in our picture gallery.
Hardly any electric, a lot of hybrid
The global SUV boom has not really caught the world’s third-largest automaker at home. The electric boom wasn’t either: only 0.6 (Switzerland 8.2) percent of new cars in 2020 were pure electric vehicles – but almost half (Switzerland one fifth) were hybrids. Burners are to be banned within two decades so that local brands can provide high-voltage electricity.
In a rental car through Japan? Only with courage or a knowledge of Japanese. Japan is enormously fascinating, but sometimes feels further away from us than the moon. So public transport. Not only because of the Shinkansen: you have to turn left (here is why) and in the country you will often only find street signs with characters. However: Those who dare will still be rewarded. Japan ranks 55th in terms of English skills (Switzerland 18th). But even without English, everyone is always extremely helpful on the “Gaijin” (German: stranger) from the “Suisu” (German: Switzerland).