From small beginnings, the world of car sharing is starting to take off in Japan. Car sharing has struck a chord not just because it’s a new and appealing, low-cost solution to getting around. Whisper it: car sharing can actually make a great deal of sense.

In a major city like Tokyo where the cost of car ownership is high and driving can be a hassle, a car sharing scheme has two big things going for it: cost and convenience.

In Tokyo, in the first instance, to own a car means that you must be able to prove you have somewhere to park it. This means you need a registered off-street parking space and typically that can set you back €175 – €400 a month in rent, or more.

Factor in too all the taxes and running costs involved in running a car, not forgetting the shaken (Japan’s notoriously expensive MoT), plus the outlay in getting the car on the road in the first place, of course, and you’re looking at a pretty sizeable overall bill.  

To sidestep all that but also have regular use of a car, as you need it, is the buzz behind car sharing and in a highly urbanized environment like Tokyo, Yokohama or Osaka (where public transport is so good you actually quite often don’t need a car), it’s maybe no surprise to find that subscription numbers are fast on the rise.

One survey released in January this year claimed there was a 70% increase in membership versus 2012 to nearly 290,000.

Car sharing is something that’s unquestionably gathered pace post Lehman crisis as significant numbers of Japanese have given up their cars (or in the case of young Japanese, pretty much given up the whole idea of car ownership altogether).

For these young Generation Y Japanese, car ownership is seen as something desperately "uncool", passé and bad for the environment. They are far more interested in computers, the internet and mobile phones.

Other Japanese are giving up on their cars because they want to button down and save money, a complete reversal of the go-go 1980s and early 1990s when a car was seen as a status symbol in Japan, the Japanese economy was on fire and conspicuous consumption was absolutely the way to go.

But times change and today, car sharing is seen as a "smart" and responsible, eco-based way to keep mobile by car, at least in Japan’s major cities.

For Japan’s car makers, this is all shaping up as a pretty eerie, not to say sinister development. By the same token if it takes certain numbers of cars off the road, thereby reducing congestion and pollution, then some will see that as a highly positive development.

Japan’s car sharing market is currently dominated by two major companies, Times 24 and Orix, but competition is fierce and car sharing operators are expanding aggressively. Car manufacturers themselves, both domestic and import, are also getting in on the act.

Nissan for instance announced Japan’s first ever car sharing programme with ultra-compact EVs this September. In conjunction with the city of Yokohama, Nissan will offer up to 100 versions of the Renault Twizy – which in Japan gets to be renamed, rather tortuously, as the "Nissan New Mobility Concept ultra-compact electric vehicle".

Billed as the first of its kind in Japan, this new pilot service is called Choimobi Yokohama and is set to last for a year. It’s intended as a one-way car sharing service enabling these tiny EVs to be rented from and returned to any of the 45 car pick up/return stations in the downtown core of Yokohama – Japan’s second largest city.

The snag is you have to undergo a "safe driving course" before you can get on the road. Other terms and conditions apply while usage charges work out at ¥20 a minute (or €9.20 an hour).

Among the importers, BMW and Mini have actively been targeting car sharing. The companies have been collaborating with Times24, the largest car sharing provider, to offer free car sharing with 12 models between July 10 to September 30 this year from Times24’s flagship Yurakucho store in Tokyo. The BMW group sees it as a promotion: intending to give potential car buyers a convenient and economical way of experiencing new BMWs and MINIs.

Close by, Mercedes-Benz Japan signed an agreement with Orix – the second largest car sharing provider – in June. SMARTs, either petrol or electric versions, can be ‘shared’ at 20% below the regular price at ¥150 per 15 minutes (or €4.60 an hour). This aggressive pricing was made possible by MBJ supplying the cars at special bargain prices. Their intent is similar to that of BMW Japan, i.e. wooing prospective new buyers.

Likewise, Volkswagen Japan uses a captive company to run its own car sharing pilot program with two Beetle models starting August.

Back with BMW, the BMW Group has been supplying cars for Times24 since July 2010 and the fleet is now comprised of 201 BMWs and MINIs. In July 2012, three BMW ActiveE electric vehicles were supplied as a pilot for EV car sharing. Outside the manufacturer schemes, anyone can sign up for car sharing, of course.

On the Times24 site, it explains how, first, there is a ¥1500 (€11.50) fee to join and get your membership card. Thereafter, there’s a ¥1000 (€7.70) monthly fee either for individual or family (which includes ¥1000 of driving use). For students or companies, there’s no monthly charge.

Of the cars available, there’s an array of ‘basic’ cars such as the Mazda Demio (Mazda2), Honda Fit (Jazz), Nissan March (Micra) and so on, available for ¥200 yen (€1.55) for 15 minutes.

"Premium" cars (BMW 116i or Mini, for instance) are up for ¥400 (or €3.10) for the same 15 minutes.

So car sharing is not going to break the bank and according to Car Sharing Japan ­– another car sharing provider – 13% of car sharing users said they are now considering buying their own car.

That must come as heartening news for the domestic car industry as car sales have been in decline for some years now in Japan, having peaked at 7.7 million units back in the rip-roaring days of 1990.

Last year, the market came in at 5.4 million units, on the back of another round of eco-incentives, but every time these are phased out, so the market also drops off.

Car sharing then is definitely on the move in Japan. The cost of ownership as well as lack of parking spaces is making cars an unattractive proposition in the big cities. So for cost-conscious consumers, the schemes have obvious appeal.

On the other hand, Japan still has a strong, top end luxury market where cost, almost, doesn’t matter. Over the first six months of 2013, pure car imports grew 12.8% in an overall market that was down 8% to 2.7 million units.

So the new buzz in Tokyo could be to "car share" that new BMW or Mercedes. You get the pleasure of "ownership" but without all the costs that usually go with it. Clever…