Since 1965, first graders in elementary schools all across Japan have received special “Yellow Safety Badges” to wear as a traffic safety measure. This year, over 1 million Yellow Badges were distributed to the nation’s first graders. 

The Yellow Badges campaign was launched 60 years ago by what today is known as the Mizuho Financial Group. The project is conducted in cooperation with Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company, and The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Yellow Badges program, this year a new design was adopted featuring none other than Pikachu. Pikachu, universally recognized as Pokémon’s yellow ambassador of joy to children everywhere, was an obvious choice.

When the Yellow Badges initiative was started in 1965, more than 10,000 people were dying every year as a result of traffic accidents. The motivation for launching the project was a letter written by the mother of a child who had been killed in a traffic accident. Addressed to the Prime Minister at the time, the letter pleaded for action to be taken to prevent traffic accidents. The letter, which appeared in a newspaper, caught the attention of an employee of what is now the Mizuho Financial Group who came up with the idea of protecting children from traffic accidents by having them wear something that would make their presence stand out. The resulting “Yellow Safety Badges” not only function to attract the attention of drivers and local residents; they are also linked to traffic accident insurance, just in case. To date, the badges have been distributed to over 70 million first graders. 

The original Yellow Safety Badge

Unfortunately, in the years since the Yellow Badges program was started, although the number of traffic accidents has gradually come down, the percentage of accidents involving first graders has remained high. Surprisingly too, while most people recognize the role of the Yellow Badges, many people remain unaware that the badges are linked with accident insurance. This dilemma got the four partners involved in the Yellow Badges project to consider what they might do to further enhance the significance of the badges and to boost recognition  of their tie-up with traffic accident insurance.

It was a suggestion made by an employee of Sompo Japan Insurance that led to the idea of developing “Yellow Pikachu Badges.” Pondering what new measures might be taken to boost traffic safety for children on the occasion of the badges’ 60th anniversary, the employee suggested that collaborating with Pokémon – known for its iconic use of yellow – might be the answer. At Pokémon, the color yellow of course is associated most with Pikachu. Including Pikachu in the badges’ design would surely make people more aware of them, and children would definitely be excited and thrilled to wear a badge that featured Pikachu.  

And so the project to add Pikachu to the design of the Yellow Safety Badges was formally set in motion. Pikachu was already familiar to people of all ages, from the very young to the young at heart. Integrating Pikachu into the badges’ design, the project members believed, was sure to be greeted positively by families and local residents alike. And as the public became more aware of the use and meaning of Yellow Safety Badges, traffic accident awareness would surely spread throughout entire communities.
    
When The Pokémon Company was approached with the idea of making “Yellow Pikachu Badges,” consideration of the plan was entrusted to members  of the “My First Pokémon Project” which oversees the creation of ways for children to have their first contact with Pokémon. The members, having children of their own, had clear memories of their children having worn Yellow Safety Badges when they were younger.

Those memories aside, the members realized that never before had they been aware of how or why the Yellow Safety Badges initiative originally started. Learning for the first time that the badges had been created out of a strong desire and commitment to protect the safety of young children, the members were deeply moved. What’s more, never before had they known that the badges are linked to accident insurance coverage. Thinking that many parents were probably equally unaware of the badges’ background and benefits, the members felt sure that by tying up Pikachu with the Yellow Safety Badges, the badges would definitely become better known and appreciated. And so the idea of making “Yellow Pikachu Badges” was happily accepted – and the “Yellow Pikachu Badges Project” got underway.

The first design proposal called for Pikachu to be added only to the back side of the badges. Then one of the designers at The Pokémon Company suggested adding Pikachu’s silhouette to the illustration on the front side of a traffic sign depicting children at a crosswalk. Pikachu was cleverly added, finalizing the design of the “Yellow Pikachu Badges.”

Yellow Pikachu Badge envelope (left), front side (middle), back side (right) 

For even greater joy, it was decided to put an illustration of Pikachu on the envelopes in which children receive their badges. This way, the excitement begins from the moment children take their envelopes in hand. 

This year, with the start of the new school year in April, new first graders all around Japan could be seen wearing their new Yellow Pikachu Badges. Many happy comments have been heard from parents of the new first graders. Many say their child is thrilled to be wearing a Pikachu badge, while others have reported that going to school “together with Pikachu” has clearly motivated their child. Even people who aren’t raising young children have commented on the pleasure so apparent from this new initiative. 

At a ceremony in Tokyo where the new badges were presented, Pikachu surprised everyone with an appearance. As the children learned about traffic safety together with Pikachu, the occasion was one that will surely stay with them indelibly as part of their memories of starting elementary school.

The 2024 Yellow Safety Badges presentation ceremony in Tokyo

Throughout its 60 years in operation, the Yellow Safety Badges initiative has continuously been supported by the unchanging desire of parents and the public at large to protect children from traffic accidents. Today, The Pokémon Company is happy and proud to play a role in keeping the country’s young children both safe and happy.