President's Message

Since our founding in 1963, JAF has provided a variety of services to mobility users, first and foremost road services supporting safety and security. The number of members as of the end of November last year reached 20.658 million. We thank you for your support.

JAF’s environment faces a broad range of issues, including the declining birthrate and aging population, changes in mobility, and the increase in inbound tourism, but to meet everyone’s expectations we will continue to constantly evolve thorough dialogue and co-creation and engage in our operations with a view to supporting safe and secure local communities.

With regard to road services, the use of road services by JAF members is increasing, and we acutely feel the weight of our members’ expectations.

In October of last year, we opened the National Roadside Services Competition to the general public for the first time. The competition began nearly 50 years ago in 1978. It is held every two years to allow JAF road service teams to demonstrate the fruits of their daily training and to provide even higher quality services. Going forward, we will continue to use the competition to enhance customer satisfaction and further raise the skill levels of team members.

Additionally, we conducted our tenth survey related to protecting pedestrians at crosswalks without traffic signals. According to this survey, the stoppage rate was 56.7%, a record high since the survey began. However, the fact is that around 40% of cars do not stop, so we will continue to collaborate with related organizations to raise awareness.

We have long acted as the voice of members regarding the automobile tax, and last year was a major turning point. According to a survey on the automobile tax conducted last year by JAF, 98.8% of respondent indicated that taxes on automobiles were a burden. As a result of our requests and recommendations based on this feedback, progress has been made toward realizing a fair, just and simple automobile tax system, for which JAF has strongly advocated for many years.

As for motorsports, we have supported the holding of official JAF competitions around the country in the top category but also conducted auto tests and drift tests that can be enjoyed by people new to motorsports. While collaborating with regional motorsports clubs going forward, we will work to lend further vitality to the sport.

JAF will continue to engage in its various operations on the theme of dialogue and co-creation in order to realize a healthy mobility society, so we thank you for your continued support.

Masayoshi Sakaguchi
President
Japan Automobile Federation (JAF)