Okay, I found the graph. The article is in Japanese but the graph has
Western dates, from 1950 to 2009 (as opposed to the Japanese date system):
<http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20100103k0000m040014000c.html>http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20100103k0000m040014000c.html
There was a slight increase in the late 1980s. The decline after 1992
is attributed to increased severity and enforcement of the drunken
driving laws and reckless driving laws, which seems likely to me.
The total number of accidents was 736,160 (29,987 fewer than 2008),
with 908,874 people injured. Drunken driving caused 264 fatalities,
compared the peak of 1,161 in 2000. (They only began recording this
category separately around 1992.)
In 1970 they launched the "first war against traffic accidents"
mainly with improvements to roads and traffic signals (it says here)
but also with seat belt laws. The "second war" to reduce accidents
began in 1988.
Other news articles on this subject say that roughly half of the
fatalities in 2009 were attributed to elderly drivers.
The minimum age for a driver's license in Japan is 18, and most
people do not drive before age 20, so accidents by young drivers and
teenagers are rarer than in the U.S. Driver education courses and the
test you have to pass to get a license are much more strict, and
expensive, than in the U.S. The fatality rate is lower per capita
than the U.S. I expect because people drive less, and speeds are
lower. Pedestrian fatalities used to be higher per capita than the
U.S., because urban roads are crowded and many do not have sidewalks.
- Jed
