FYI, to own a car in Japan, you must have a legal verified parking spot that you own. For most people, that probably means land in the same area as your home. So even without a garage, they should still be able to install an outlet on their own property.
edit: There's a culture difference with regards to driving that I explained in another comment just now. Reading some of the other comments further down makes me think that very few people commenting here understand the laws and culture behind driving in Japan.
Cool! I obviously didn't know that. So that use case is probably quite common in Japan (if the other factors line up, but I don't see why they wouldn't, frequently).
In the US and Europe having your own, dedicated place to put your car is probably more or less weakly coordinated with owning a car (maybe less in the US, where at least in some places owning a car is more of a requirement?). Just because being able to afford a car is probably weakly coordinated with being able to afford your own spot. But this regulation should make that even more so in Japan.
This is true. A police officer will visit your home and verify your parking spot before you are allowed to purchase a car here. It's also worth noting that many people live in high-rise buildings or other multi-tenant buildings where a private charger could be put to service for more than one vehicle.
Every Nissan dealership has a charger, and I've never seen any queue for it, but it's almost always occupied.
Yep, commenters here don't understand the cultural and legislative backgrounds of Japanese driving. However, that is not the issue here.
For some commenters the article (or its headline) serves the sole purpose of self-adulation: Keeping your bias working. Adding 'stats' to back your argument. Something to numb other peoples criticism in a discussion.
In that sense, any subleties of Japanese culture would actually hurt.
edit: There's a culture difference with regards to driving that I explained in another comment just now. Reading some of the other comments further down makes me think that very few people commenting here understand the laws and culture behind driving in Japan.