It is a little-known fact that Japan's car market is propped up by the government's strict inspection policy ("Japan's carmakers: Time to partner or perish," Asian Business, May 25). Three years after purchase, every new car has to go through an expensive inspection process, and once every two years after that. Furthermore, vehicles older than 10 years have to pass the inspection every year. As a result, most car owners in Japan write off their cars after 10 years and buy new ones. Hundreds of thousands of perfectly fine automobiles are demolished every year. This practice has been used to boost car sales in Japan and give carmakers advantages to compete in the international market.

Koshiro Yamaoka

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