A truck that stopped at an intersection in Shizuoka Prefecture drew the attention of young pedestrians who quickly pulled out their smartphones to take photographs.
Elderly passers-by put their palms together in prayer and bowed toward the vehicle.
The truck’s side featured a striking painting of Mount Fuji, part of a campaign to promote the local charms of Fuji city in the prefecture.
Trucks adorned with similarly eye-catching paintings on their exteriors are being used nationwide to promote tourist spots, agricultural products and regional events.
They are quite different from “dekotora” (decoration trucks) that are often garishly decorated in line with drivers’ preferences.
Instead, the promotional vehicles’ style resembles murals seen at “sento” traditional public bathhouses.
In the campaign of Fuji city, located at the foot of Japan’s tallest peak, the driver’s seat side of one truck shows a print in “Fugaku Sanjurokkei” (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji), the series of landscapes by painter Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).
A photo of Mount Fuji is printed on the opposite side of the truck.
“Trucks from local transport companies are on duty nationwide, enabling us to show off the appeal of our town on a broad scale,” a Fuji city representative explained.
Seventeen Mount Fuji Trucks from 13 entities, primarily regional delivery providers, are operating.
Fuji city covers the painting costs, which run to several hundred thousand yen (thousands of dollars) per vehicle.
The trucking firms do not receive any advertising fees.
Masahiko Funamura, president of Fuji-based Funamurakousan Souko Co., said the company’s drivers gain a sense of “pride and safety” with Mount Fuji on the vehicles’ sides.
“Improving our industry’s public image is essential for procuring young drivers on a continual basis, as they are supposed to lead the next generation,” Funamura said. “The project is already proving effective from this standpoint.”
A range of sponsors are joining forces to release promotional trucks characterized by various patterns.
JA Zen-Noh Iwate, the Iwate prefectural branch of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, decorates trucks with anime characters to promote locally produced apples, especially among younger consumers.
The Iwate Butsuryu Unyu corporation is responsible for these vehicles’ operations.
“The eye-catching design has increased our company’s profile,” said the company’s president, Masami Teranagane.
Japan’s trucking industry is plagued by labor shortages stemming from the tightening of regulations on overtime work for drivers in spring.
The ratio of job openings to job seekers for drivers, including for buses and taxis, was 2.56 in July, far exceeding the overall average.
VOLUNTARY MOVES
Some private businesses have started painted-vehicle campaigns not only to overcome the workforce bottleneck but also to revitalize local communities.
Vehicles of N-etwork’s, a trucking company in Niigata Prefecture, feature patterns themed on the Nagaoka Fireworks event held each summer on the Shinanogawa river in the prefecture.
The company covers the cost of the artwork because it is a sponsor of fireworks show, one of the three most prominent in Japan.
The painted transport vehicles are used mainly between the prefecture and Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture.
The company has seen an increase in the hiring of young people.
“Our fireworks-designed truck program and other forms of contribution to local communities, combined with work style reform, are paying off,” President Masanori Araki said.
Currently, 20 percent of the company’s 70 or so drivers are in their teens and 20s.
Another company with painted trucks is Kawanoe Harbor Transport Co., which transports paper products and ingredients from Shikokuchuo city, Ehime Prefecture.
Shikokuchuo labels itself as “Japan’s No. 1 paper town” and is home to the national Shodo Performance Koshien calligraphy competition for high school students.
Kawanoe Harbor Transport’s trucks show specialized designs inspired by students from Tottori Johoku High School in Tottori Prefecture, which won the calligraphic contest in summer for the second straight year.
The company aims to play an aggressive role in reviving local communities through the endeavor.
AUTOMATIC PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
Decorated trucks are creating a niche industry.
At the Japan Truck Show held in Yokohama in May, Ricoh Digital Painting Co., affiliated with printer maker Ricoh Co., exhibited a machine that paint trucks automatically.
The equipment, consisting of ink-filled cylinders, moved from side to side for printing, attracting many spectators.
The machine can complete drawings on each side of a truck in three to four hours.
Ricoh Digital Painting plans to pitch the product to delivery companies and other businesses.
“With this printing machine, operators will not only be able to decorate their own trucks, but they can also solicit orders to paint other corporations’ trucks, all without requiring much manpower,” said Junichi Nagasaka, head of the company’s sales department. “That will help create a fresh source of revenue and re-energize the industry at the same time.”
