JAF Chronology

1962
(Oct. 24) General Assembly for the establishment of Japan Automobile Federation (JAF).
Head office opened at Shiba Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Takeo Takanashi was appointed first JAF President.
1963
(Feb. 28) Merged with Japan Automobile Association (JAA) and legally registered as a corporation under the title Japan Automobile Federation (JAF).
Joined FIA and AIT, and registered as the motor sports authority (ASN) for Japan.
(Apr.1) Start of general business operations.
(May3-4) First Japan Grand Prix Auto Race.
1964
(Feb.1) Roadside assistance service started on the Metropolitan Highway (Shutoko)Route 1 between Nihonbashi and Suzugamori.
(May2-3) Second Japan Grand Prix Auto Race in Suzuka.
(June 27) Roadside assistance service started on the newly opened Hanshin Expressway.
(Oct.1) Started handling vehicle documentation processing (carnet).
(Nov.14) Night-time roadside assistance service introduced in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Establishment of Tokai Regional Headquarters (later renamed Chubu Regional Headquarters)
Establishment of Kanto Regional Headquarters.(Dec.1)
1965
(Jan.5) Started processing international driver's license.
(March) Launched a campaign against hikes in automobile taxes.
(Mar.4) Establishment of Kansai Regional Headquarters.
1966
(Feb.26) Genshichi Asahara appointed second President of JAF.
(May3) Third Japan Grand Prix Auto Race held at the newly opened Fuji Speedway course.
(June) Submitted to the Diet a petition calling for a reduction of auto taxes and small-car taxes.
(July30) First Touring Festival at Tateshina Heights.
1967
(July5) Establishment of Chugoku Regional Headquarters.
(Oct.7) Appointed member of the International Sport Committee at the FIA Autumn General Meeting.
(Oct.31) Membership topped 100,000.
(Nov.9) Reciprocal service agreement signed with AA (UK).
(Dec.6) Establishment of Kyushu Regional Headquarters.
(Dec.15) Roadside assistance service started on the Chuo Expressway.
1968
(Apr.25) Roadside assistance service started on the Tomei Expressway.
1969
(June) Launched a safe driving campaign titled 'JAF Safe Driving'.
(July27-29) Mobilage Jamboree '69
(Sep.9-14) Exhibition titled 'JAF and Motor Sports' held at the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Ginza, Tokyo.
(Oct.10) Elected FIA Committee Member at the FIA General Assembly.
1970
(Mar.14) Launched special roadside assistance service around the venues of Osaka Expo.
(Apr.17) Organized the Opposition League to the New Auto Tax and held a national rally in Tokyo.
1971
(January) Submitted a written appeal concerning the proposed second revision of the Road Traffic Act.
(Feb.25) Kentaro Uemura appointed third JAF President.
(June30) Started roadside assistance service on the Kyushu Expressway.
1972
(Apr.17-20) Hosted the first FIA Spring General Assembly to be held in Asia at the Kyoto International Conference Hall.
(August) Conducted a survey on the use of privately-owned cars; questionnaires carried in the August issue of JAF News.
(Sep.23) Japan Cart Grand Prix '72 held at Mutsu Bay, Aomori Prefecture.
(Nov.13) Started roadside assistance service on the Tohoku Expressway.
1973
(Jan.31) Membership topped 500,000.
(Apr.1) 10th anniversary of JAF.
(September) Declaration to promote ESM (Enjoy Self Mechanic) activities.
1974
(Jan.8) Filed a complaint on the sudden hike in gasoline prices following the Oil Crisis.
(July4) Submitted JAF's opinion and appeal concerning the transition to lead-free gasoline to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Environment Agency and the National Police Agency.
1975
(May20) Mikio Takahashi appointed fourth JAF President.
(July8) President Takahashi discussed the proposed tax increases with Finance Minister Ohira and other ministers.
(Oct.22) Hosted an event titled 'JAF '75 Lecture and Movies' on the topic of building harmonious relations between automobiles and society.
1976
(Dec.31) Ranked tenth among auto clubs in the world in terms of membership.
1977
(July31) Membership reached 1 million.
(Oct.23) Formula-One Japan Grand Prix '77.
1978
(Aug.12) Hosted JAF Summer Festival '78 in Magome, Nagano Prefecture.
(Nov.13-15) AIT Board of Directors' meeting held in Tokyo.
1979
(July31) Membership topped 1.5 million.
(Sep.21) Nationwide survey on the use of seat belts.
1980
(Apr.1) Establishment of Tohoku Regional Headquarters and Fukuoka Branch.
(May26) Fifth AIT Asian Pacific Region General Assembly held in Tokyo.
(Dec.31) Membership topped 2 million.
1981
(March) Launched special roadside assistance service during Kobe Exportion Portopia '81.
1982
(June30) Membership topped 2.5 million.
(Dec.31) Ranked fifth in terms of membership among auto clubs in the world.
1983
(Apr.1) 20th anniversary of JAF.
(Aug.31) Membership topped 3 million.
1984
(Dec.1) Comprehensive roadside assistance service launched by Hakodate Branch, completing the nationwide network of uniform roadside assistance service.
1985
(Mar.17-Sep.16) Launched special roadside assistance service during Tsukuba Science Expo '85.
(Nov.30) Membership topped 4 million.
1986
(Oct.10-13) AIT International Traffic Committee meeting held in Tokyo.
(Dec.31) Ranked fourth in membership among auto clubs in the world.
1987
(Aug.31) Membership topped 5 million.
1988
(Sep.23) Conducted a survey on the use of child seats.
1989
(Jan.31) Membership topped 6 million.
1990
(June15) Masami Makino appointed fifth JAF President.
(June30) Membership topped 7 million.
1991
(July31) Membership topped 8million, becoming third largest auto club in the world in terms of membership.
(Sep.6) Held the First Safety Training in Makuhari.
(Oct.1) Launched the JAF Member Card with credit card functions.
(Dec.5) Vice President Kamakura appointed Vice President of FISA.
1992
(Mar.24) President Makino appointed President of AIT Asian Pacific Region.
(Apr.1) Establishment of Shikoku Regional Headquarters.
(May15) Filed a request to reduce expressway tolls for passenger cars.
(Aug.8-9) Held the Solar Car Race in Suzuka '92.
(Aug.31) Membership topped 9 million.
1993
(Jan.1) Launched the family member registration system.
(Apr.1) 30th anniversary of JAF. Establishment of Hokkaido Regional Headquarters.
(June18) Sadame Kamakura appointed sixth JAF President.
(Nov.30) Membership topped 10 million.
1994
(Jan.19) Published a commemorative journal titled 'The Path to 10 Million Members - JAF's 30 Years of History'.
(Apr.14-17) Held the F1 Pacific Grand Prix at Eita T&I Circuit in Okayama Prefecture.
(May20) Masaru Izumi appointed seventh JAF President.
(May25-27) Hosted the 12th AIT Asian Pacific Regional Assembly in Tokyo.
(Aug.31) The number of monthly roadside assistance calls exceeded 300,000 for the First time due to the record-breaking summer heat.
(Aug.31) The number of family members topped 500,000.
1995
(Jan.17) The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake hit areas around Kobe, causing huge damages to Hyogo Branch and other Branches.
Established an Earthquake Response Office inside the Kansai Regional Headquarters.
Sent rescue teams and financial assistance to afflicted areas.
(Apr.30) Membership topped 11 million.
(Aug.1) Offered special privileges to members who pay their fees through automatic bank transfer in the form of Seat Belt Insurance (insurance money: 1 million yen).
(Sep.28) JAF Central Training Center in Tama City, Tokyo was completed.
1996
(January) Included for the first time a special supplement - a national road map - to the newsletter JAF MATE.
(May21) Basic Philosophy and Management Guideline of JAF were approved at the Board of Directors' meeting.
(June26) Held the first meeting of JAF Motor Sports Roundtable, composed of representatives from various fields.
(July31) The number of family members topped 1 million.
(Sep.30) Membership topped 12 million.
1997
(February.19) Intoroduced disaster relief vehicles at Kanto, Chubu and Kansai Regional Headquarters.
(April.1) Opened a Web site on the Internet.
(April.1) Coverage of vehicles subject to road services was expanded to include vehicles weighing up to 3 tons, from 2.3 tons in the past.
(July.29) Established the Eco-Drive Promotion Headquarters (Executive Director: Masatoshi Matsunami).
(October.10) JAF Vice President (Kunio Nihira) assumed the post of WCTA (Vice President).
1998
(February.13) Established the ITS Promotion Project Team (Chairman: Executive Director Masatoshi Matsunami) inside JAF Headquarters
(April.1) Officially introduced the third Three-year Plan "Organizational Structuring for the 21st Century"
(April.1) Officially introduced an auditing company (Ota Showa Auditing Company)
(August) The number of road service calls for August topped 310,000, a record for a single month
(November) Membership exceeded 13 million
1999
(March) The number of road service calls processed reached 2.95 million, the highest in JAF's history (Fiscal 1998). A record 90.7% of members continued to subscribe to JAF (Fiscal 1998).
(April) The number of members and registered family members topped 15 million.
(May.12-14) JAF hosted the AIT & FIA General Assembly in Tokyo.
(June.22) Kunio Nihira assumed the post of the eighth president of JAF.
2000
(April 1) Revised membership regulations, setting up three types of general members: individual, family and corporate. Membership as of this date stood at 15.6 million (12.93 million individual members, 2.04 family members and 620,000 corporate members)
(April 1) Introduced and worked to promote the pre-driving "10 seconds car-checking campaign" launched by FIA as part of its road safety activities.
(April 1) The revised Road Traffic Law came into force in Japan, which mandates the use of child restraints. In a campaign conducted at Yomiuri Land, a theme park in Tokyo, JAF staff gave advice on its usage to drivers.
(June 14) Launched a unified, nationwide patrol deployment system that capitalizes on electronic technology at Kanagawa Office.
(July) Provided road service at the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit.
(September 13) Chubu, Kansai and Kanto offices dispatched road service staff and tow trucks to areas hit by rainstorm in the Tokai region to rescue stranded vehicles.
(November 1) Revised the registration rules for JAF sports qualifications, lowering the eligible age for domestic competitive driver permit A (License A) from 18 to 16.
(November 30) Membership topped 16 million.
(November) Mapped out the Road Service Reinforcement Plan (six-year plan), overhauled and integrated the unified road service system and compiled a facility improvement plan.
2001
(February) Heavy snow in the Sea of Japan side of Honshu and Tohoku region since January resulted in a rapid increase in the number of road service calls. JAF's Tohoku, Kanto and other related regional headquarters stepped up their support for regions suffering from heavy snow. In a survey conducted in early February, icy road conditions led to a whopping 10% increase in the number of road assistance calls after vehicles skidded off the road with their wheels falling onto roadside or in a ditch.
(March 12-23) In a survey conducted on non-members regarding the recognition of JAF, some 87% of the respondents knew about JAF.
(March 31) The number of road service calls processed in FY2000 topped 3 million (3,143,780) for the first time in JAF's history. This is equivalent to one call per 10 seconds.
(March) Tokyo Branch introduced low-pollution tow trucks (compressed natural gas vehicle) for road service.
(April 1) The Fourth Three-Year Plan was launched under the subtitle "Era of Change and Competition." It is based on three basic policies: (1) Offering quick and high-quality road service; (2) Establishing a strong organization by incorporating information technology and other steps; (3) Making an attractive organizational environment.
(April 6) JAF received two trainees from overseas, from AA Uganda, who joined the Central Training for New Employees and underwent training at JAF Central Training Cetner (JCTC).
(April 7) Launched the Child Seat Street Campaign at the former International Trade Fair site in Harumi, Tokyo. Of 105 vehicles that took part in the campaign, some 32% passed the child-seat check.
(June 11) Started the Project to Compile JAF's 40th Anniversary Commemorative Journal (Chairman: Executive Director Mr. Matsunami).
(June 12) Simplified the admission procedures on JAF's Internet Website to encourage prospective members to join JAF.
(June 22) In the 44th Ordinary General Assembly's reelection of directors, Executive Director Tokio Maeda was elected to the post of Vice President.
(June 22) JAF conducted an Internet survey on auto users' views on automobile taxation including the government's policy on the financing of road construction, which received more than 10,000 hits. The results were announced to related governmental agencies, organizations and auto users.
(June 28-July 25) JAF's survey on auto users revealed that some 83% of users buckle up at the front seat, while only 9% do so at the back seat. Also, some 70.9% of the users felt financing the construction of new roads with auto-related taxes weighed heavily on them. About half of the respondents said the government should lower taxes or otherwise alleviate the burden of auto users if the taxes were not used for road construction as intended.
(July) The sweltering heat pushed up the number of road assistance calls to a record 290,132 for July.
(July) The number of family members exceeded 2.5 million (13,208,132 individual members / 2,531,315 family members / 625,226 corporate members)
(August) The total number of road service calls processed by JAF since its establishment broke the 55 million mark (55,038,890).
(August) The number of auto users who joined the "Eco-Drive Declaration" campaign topped 300,000.
(August 6) Set up the Committee to Examine Information Disclosure (Chairman: Executive Director Mr. Matsunami).
(October 26-November 7) Presented a booth named "JAF WORLD" at the 35th Tokyo Motor Show (at Makuhari Messe, Chiba-city, Chiba).
(November 9-10) The 8th Road Service Competition was held at JAF Central Training Center (JCTC) and other locations. Forty-two road service workers comprising 21 teams from eight regional headquarters took part in the event. The team from Chubu won the overall team competition.
2002
March Conducted a survey on JAF's recognizability; the rate of recognizability of JAF was 95.7%.
April 1 Introduced the traffic flow surveillance at the road service operations on Expressways for safety of customers and road service staffs.
Revised road service fees on Expressways. (Members: free, Non-members: 5,800yen)
May 31 Formed the Road Service Task Force across the country on the occasion of soccer matches of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan.
June 21 Held the 45th Ordinary General Assembly at Tokyo Prince Hotel. Kunio Nihira was reelected as President. Tsunehiko Kubo and Tokio Maeda were elected as Vice President. Masatoshi Matsunami was reelected as Executive Director.
September 6 "Rally Hokkaido 2002" was held as a round of FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship for the first time in Japan.
September 20 Launched the member introduction system through the internet website.
2003
April 1 Celebrated 40th anniversary of JAF
April 9 Membership topped 17 million. (individual member: 13.06 million, family member: 3.38 million, corporate member: 0.56 million)
May The total number of road service operations since its establishment topped 60 million.
June 20 In the 131st Board of Directors, Hiroshi Takikawa was elected as the ninth JAF President. Setsuo Tanaka, and Masatoshi Matsunami (concurrently with the post of Executive Director) were elected as Vice President. Tokio Maeda was reelected as Vice President.
October 1 Changed the design of a uniform of road service staff for the first time in 11 years; changed the basic color of uniform from dark blue to orange to be easily seen.
2004
January 5 Headquarters moved to Nihon Jidosha Kaikan Bld. located at Sibadaimon, Minato-ku, Tokyo for the first time in 36 years.
January 27 Road Service Department at Headquarters, Business Coordination Department (Road Service) at Kanto Regional Headquarters and Road Service Team at Tokyo Branch Office got ISO 9001:2000 (Quality Management System) certificate.
April 1 Expanded vehicle category eligible for road service; launched road service for micro-cars.
April 1 Started printing "Show Your Card & Save" (international saving program) logo on membership cards for the convenience of members.
April Launched "Buckle Up Nippon" campaign to promote the use of seat belt and child restraint seat, coinciding with "World Health Day" of April 7.
June 18 Held the 47th Ordinary General Assembly. Hiroshi Takikawa was reelected as President. Setsuo Tanaka, Tokio Maeda and Masatoshi Matsunami were reelected as Vice President.
July 4 Launched PR campaign to promote the use of rear seat belt by using Street TV Screens in 8 cities across the country. The promotion image was aired 2534 times in total in 7 days.
September 3-5 The 11th round of World Rally Championship, "Rally Japan 2004" was held. The first ever winner was Petter Solberg of Subaru.
October 18-24 The 11th ITS World Congress was held. Vice President Matsunami made presentation on "Safety from a point of view as user" at a session. Also ran a booth at the venue of the related event "ITS Future Expo-Full of Dreams" and exhibited the Road Service Operation System equipped with GPS. Chubu Regional Headquarters accepted a study tour to Road Service Operation Center.
2005
March 25 Formed the Road Service Task Force to enhance road services around the site of Aichi Expo. Established Nagakute base.
April 1 Launched road service for motorcycles.
April 2 Ran TV commercials for the first time in 7 years: publicized our public-benefit activities and introduction of road service for motorcycles and Junior Membership (till the end of Sep.)
April 17 Held the first "Get in touch with and learn from Nature" event in the partnership with the Aichi Expo at Forest of the Sayama Hills with 45 participants. (Similar events were held in another 23 sites across the country till 25th September.)
June 11 Took part in "Team Minus 6%", a government-led national campaign to reduce CO2 emissions.
June 17 Published "JAF annual report on the public-benefit activities" to publicize JAF's role and significance as Public Service Organization.
July 20 JAF User Test for verification of strange sharp metal fragments on guardrails was covered by TV and press nationwide.
July 24 The first "Eco Driving Training" workshop advising how to get good mileage was held by Tokyo Branch Office at Narita city, Chiba.
August 17 Signing of memorandums on "Neighborhood Watch Program" was completed with each local police authority in all prefectures.
2006
February 28 Conducted JAF User Test to examine the effectiveness of rear seat belt at Tsukuba research laboratory of Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI).
April 20 Conducted JAF User Test to examine the affect of rear collision to the passengers at Tsukuba research laboratory of Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI). Observed by about 600 audiences.
April 20 Held a press conference announcing JAF's commitment to the world-wide road safety campaign, "Think Before You Drive" in collaboration with Bridgestone at Tsukuba city, Ibaraki Prefecture.
May 11 Conducted opposition campaign on the street against the incorporating of "Earmarked Funds for Roads" into general revenue together with other leaders of automobile and fuel industry. Visited headquarters of governing party and ministries, and submitted a special petition with the collected 8.27 million signatures for the campaign.
June 16 Held the 139th Board of Directors. Setsuo Tanaka was elected as the tenth JAF President. Michio Iwami and Hiroyasu Nagae were elected as Vice President. Masakazu Kume was elected as Executive Director.
July 1 Launched "flat tire emergency repair service" on site using flat tire repair kit.
July 7 Installed "Driver's Vision" at "Kuruma Plaza" on the 1st floor of Nihon Jidosha Kaikan Bld. (Minato-ku, Tokyo) where JAF Headquarters is located. "Driver's Vision" is a machine which diagnose traffic safety knowledge as if it were a video game.
November 30 The collected signatures against the incorporating of "Earmarked Funds for Roads" into general revenue topped 10 million.



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