The Kei truck is infrastructure. To ensure it isn't taken away, I speak of the future of manual transmission vehicles.

The Kei truck in our family, which has been running for over 20 years, suddenly became temperamental one morning.
The way the engine started was a little different than usual.
Even though it was just that small change, a small ripple of unease spread deep in my chest.

At the repair shop, the mechanic told me quietly.

“Honda is withdrawing from the Kei truck market, so...
　If it breaks again, we might not be able to fix it.”

Those words pierced my heart before they even reached the car.

On the way home, while gripping the steering wheel and staring blankly ahead,
I saw a small, elderly person at a bus stop.
They were waiting in the cold wind for a bus that only comes once an hour.

——Ah.
Someday, I might end up like this too.

Giving up a car in the countryside is
not some “good choice for safety.”
It is closer to a quiet, certain “death sentence” where the breath of life is stolen from you.

At that moment, a small light clicked on deep in my chest.

There is no need to live in accordance with convenient cars.
As long as we have cars we can drive with our own bodies,
couldn't we avoid having things taken away from us?

——That's it.
We should go back to manual transmission cars.

And I had another idea.
If there were a world where we could “share” Kei truck parts
across manufacturer boundaries,

Kei trucks all over Japan could live much longer.
We, too, could remain much freer.

Today, I am writing down that delusion and proposal here.

■ Why are “dangerous driving incidents by the elderly” increasing?

This is sudden, but
lately, “accidents by elderly drivers” are in the news all the time.

It is as if the driving of older people
is treated as “danger itself,” but...
every time I see that scene, a sense of discomfort always lights up deep in my chest.

——Is age really the only cause?

I believe the answer is “NO.”

In reality, the bigger factor is
the structure where cars themselves “have become less suitable for the elderly.”

Modern cars are centered on electronic control,
are quiet, have no vibration,
and the reaction between the accelerator and the car body has more “latency” than in the past.

In other words——
the ability to handle a car with one's physical senses has been stripped away.

Even if young people can adapt to this,
it is very harsh for generations where changes in physical sensation are beginning.

Furthermore, according to National Police Agency statistics,
there is data showing that “over 70% of pedal misapplication accidents occur in AT (automatic transmission) vehicles.”
Therefore, in truth,

it is not that “the elderly are dangerous,”
but simply that “cars unsuitable for the elderly have increased.”

■ “Returning one's license” in the countryside is not kindness, but “the death of daily life”

In the city, returning a license is
often spoken of as “family kindness” or “for safety.”

But in the countryside, returning it
takes on a completely different meaning.

• Buses come once an hour (or twice a day in some places)
• Hospitals are 30–60 minutes away by car
• Supermarkets are over the mountain
• Walking in winter is a life-or-death struggle
• Taxis don't come
• Autonomous driving is still a dream

“Returning one's license” under these conditions

= Loss of daily life mobility
= Inability to participate in society
= Difficulty in visiting hospitals
= Isolation
= Acceleration of dementia

In other words,
“having your means of transportation for living taken away” = “the death of daily life.”

That day, seeing the small back swaying in the wind at the bus stop,
I understood that clearly.

■ That's when I had an idea... “We should go back to manual transmission (MT) cars”

On the way home, something lit up small somewhere in my chest.

“There's no need to adapt to convenient cars”
“If it's a car I can drive with my body, couldn't I avoid returning my license?”

Yes.

Shouldn't we go back to manual transmission (MT) cars?
MTs are operated with the body.
• Engine sound
• RPM
• Clutch weight
• The feeling of the friction point
• The breath of the accelerator

Everything is transmitted to the car as “sensations of the hands and feet.”

Moreover, if you make a mistake,
the engine stalls and it stops.

It doesn't run out of control.

For the elderly, the design that is actually safer
is not AT, but MT.

Furthermore,
because MTs mobilize all cognitive functions,
some doctors even say it is “good for preventing dementia.”

It is natural that cars handled with the body
preserve human ability.

And...
this is extremely compatible with Kei trucks.

■ The crisis of Japan where “Kei trucks” are disappearing

My family's Kei truck
is over 20 years old.

According to the mechanic,
Honda has withdrawn from the Kei truck market.

(Honda: Acty Truck production ended in 2021)

In other words,
there is a high possibility that if it breaks next time, it will be impossible to repair due to a lack of parts.

This problem
is not just Honda; looking at past history,
• Mitsubishi (withdrew)
• Subaru (withdrew)
it is clear.

Currently, the only two companies that can actually make Kei trucks in Japan
are Suzuki and Daihatsu.

Even though Kei trucks are infrastructure that supports Japan's rural society,
the market is shrinking rapidly.

The corporate logic of “we are withdrawing because they don't sell” and the regional reality of “we need you to keep them because they are necessary”
are completely out of sync.

■ And then, I arrived at another delusion

It is so simple,
but it hits the essence—
the moment I thought of it, I couldn't help but laugh.

If we do that:
• Impossible to repair due to lack of parts → Extinction
• Manufacturer withdrawal → Society is not affected
• Mechanic skills are passed down
• Rural Kei trucks live longer
• The elderly don't have to return their licenses
• The “culture of repairing and using” is revived
• Parts become cheaper
• Repair shop income also stabilizes

In such a future, there is not a single bad thing.

Moreover, in fact, the global automotive industry
is already moving in the direction of
“parts standardization (modularization).”
VW (Volkswagen)'s MQB

Toyota's TNGA
EV's skateboard platform structure
All of them are

“sharing the contents across manufacturers.”Only Kei trucks are being left behind.

That is precisely why—

I think the Kei truck era should choose the future of standardization.

■ This is not a “delusion” but a “proposal based on necessity”

We live in a society where,
due to the evolution of convenient cars,
human physicality and daily life are left behind.

But in reality,
there is no need for “people to adapt to cars.”

What is necessary for daily life is
• Not excessive electronic control
• Not a roaring engine sound
• Not the latest features

but “a means of transportation that can be handled with the body.”

As long as we have that,
the elderly, the countryside, and society can all be protected.

And Kei trucks have always
supported Japanese life.

I think my family's 20-year-old Kei truck
is surely saying the same thing.

“I still want to run. I still want to work.”

That is why I leave this delusion as a proposal.

■ Conclusion

For rural areas, the Kei truck is not just a machine.
It is a "tool for survival" and the very "breath of daily life."
That is precisely why

it is not something that should easily disappear.
The direction of sharing parts with manual transmission vehicles

will surely become a necessary concept in the not-too-distant future.
What I have left here today

is a small light for that future.
——To ensure it isn't taken away, I think.

To protect it, I imagine.
And to live, I speak about the Kei truck
.