To get around the city, Yutaka Makino hops on his skateboard or takes the trains. Does he dream of the day when he owns his own car? Not a chance.
Like many Japanese of his generation, the 28-year-old musician and part-time maintenance worker says owning a car is more trouble than it's worth, especially in a congested city where monthly parking runs as much as ¥30,000 ($330), and gas costs about ¥100 a liter (about $3.50 a gallon).
That kind of thinking — which has been dubbed by automakers as "kuruma banare," or "demotorization" — represents a U-turn from the thinking of earlier generations of Japanese who viewed cars as status symbols. The trend is worrying auto executives who fear the nation's love affair with automobiles is coming to an end.