Retro Info

Koreisha mark



IN JAPAN
• The Koreisha mark is an orange and yellow teardrop-shaped statutory sign that is set up in the Road Traffic Law of Japan to indicate "aged person at the wheel".
• Its official name is "aged driver sign" (kōrei untensha hyōshiki).
• It also called "momiji mark" (autumn leaf mark).
• Some people call it "kareha mark" (dried leaf mark) or "Ochiba mark" (fallen leaf mark), but they are not pleasant words(for Japanese).
• The law decrees that when a person who is aged 70 and over drives a car and if his/her old age could affect the driving, he/she should endeavor to display this mark on both the front and rear of the car.
• Drivers aged 75 and over are obliged to display the mark.
• Conversely, the green and yellow shoshinsha mark or wakaba mark denotes new drivers.
• Both marks are designed to warn other drivers that the marked driver is not very skilled, either due to inexperience or old age.

OUTSIDE JAPAN
• Outside Japan, owners of Japanese classic cars have adopted this symbol, regardless of the driver's age.
• Japanese car enthusiasts overseas also use the Koreisha mark to indicate that they are an experienced driver as opposed to the Wakaba mark which indicates that they are new or a learner type driver.








Wakaba mark




IN JAPAN
• The Shoshinsha mark or Wakaba mark introduced in 1972 is a green and yellow V-shaped symbol that new Japanese drivers must display on their cars for one year.
• A driver must display this mark on the front and back of the car for one year after they obtain a standard driver's licence.
• This obligation is only for a standard license, not for motorcycles, large vehicles, special cars and so on.
• Drivers who consider themselves beginners may continue to display the sign, even after the period of a year.
• Its official name is The Beginner Drivers' Sign (shoshin untensha hyōshiki?).
• Conversely, the orange and yellow "Fukushi mark" or "Koreisha mark" denotes elderly drivers.
• Both marks are designed to warn other drivers that the marked driver is not very skilled, either due to inexperience or old age.
• The Shoshinsha mark is commonly seen on topics/tutorials targeted at beginners (whether it involves driving or not), having the meaning "For beginners" or "Beginners are welcomed".

OUTSIDE JAPAN
• The mark is also used as the logo for the imageboard software Wakaba written in Perl by Turku, Finland-based programmer Dag Ågren and by the imageboard index iichan whose indexed imageboards use Wakaba as their software package which also features a markup language called Wakabamark.
• The mark is also increasingly being used by JDM enthusiasts in other countries, such as Australia, the U.K and U.S.A. to show their passion and interest in JDM culture.


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