Unified Dedication to Road Safety: Love as the Secret Key, Crossing Corporate Boundaries
In the picturesque setting of Shoko-ji Temple in Chino City, Nagano, the third Tateshina Meeting took place on July 18, 2025. This annual gathering brought together key figures from Japan's auto industry, including representatives from carmakers like Suzuki, Subaru, and Mazda, suppliers like Aisin and Denso, insurers like Aioi Nissay Dowa and Mitsui Sumitomo, and other related industries.
The focus of this year's meeting was the pursuit of zero traffic accident casualties, a goal achieved by Japan in recent times, with the number of traffic accident deaths now standing at less than 3,000. The meeting, which has been an annual event since 1968, is a testament to the industry's commitment to traffic safety.
The discussions and initiatives at the meeting centred around a comprehensive approach targeting three areas: vehicles, people, and traffic infrastructure. The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF), chaired by Akio Toyoda, led the meeting, emphasising the importance of advancing vehicle safety features, promoting behavioural changes among road users, and addressing the challenges related to the slow adoption and costs of new technologies.
Goro Okazaki, an automotive journalist and Director of the Toyota Mobility Foundation, gave a presentation on the history of safety technologies, regulations, and infrastructure development. He highlighted the high rate of traffic casualties globally (1.19 million deaths annually as of 2023) and in Japan—particularly among people aged 60 and over and young children.
The meeting also underscored the connection between motorsport activities and safety education. Motorsport drivers develop heightened awareness and hazard anticipation, qualities Toyota aims to embed in their vehicles to make them more stress-free, fun, and safer to drive. This approach aims to reduce driver fatigue and errors, thereby contributing to the overall goal of zero traffic accident casualties.
The Tateshina Meeting serves as a platform to discuss broader industry directions, including optimism about the recovery of brands like Daihatsu and the upcoming Japan Mobility Show. However, detailed announcements remained limited at the event.
The meeting concluded with Chairman Akio Toyoda, President Koji Sato, and other attendees lighting candles around the temple grounds. Chairman Toyoda began the meeting with a call to make safety the top priority and expressed hope that the safety meeting would help share the message of zero traffic accident casualties with the world.
The Tateshina Meeting, held every summer on July 17 and 18, is a significant event in Japan's auto industry. It represents a multi-faceted effort by Japan’s auto industry—especially Toyota—to reduce and eventually eradicate traffic accidents through a balanced focus on innovative vehicle technologies, infrastructure improvements, and fostering safer driving behaviours reinforced by lessons from motorsports as safety classrooms. The meeting, which was held after a four-year break, continues to embody the industry’s commitment not only to technological progress but also to human factors like leadership, humility, and connection among drivers and passengers.
The temple, built by Toyota and its dealers in 1970 to commemorate traffic accident victims and pray for their safety, remains a symbol of this commitment. This year marked the 53rd annual event, a testament to the industry's unwavering dedication to traffic safety. The article features comments by attendees with various perspectives on traffic safety, reflecting the ongoing conversation and collaboration within the industry.
The dialogue at the Tateshina Meeting elaborated on the involvement of finance sector in funding advancements in vehicle safety features, with institutions like Aioi Nissay Dowa and Mitsui Sumitomo investing in R&D projects to reduce traffic accident casualties.
The multi-faceted approach to traffic safety, as highlighted by the meeting, would not be complete without addressing challenges in transportation infrastructure, particularly inadequate road conditions, which can indirectly contribute to accidents. This issue, albeit not directly related to the automotive industry, is essential for furthering the goal of zero traffic accident casualties.
