Yubin chokin, the savings function of Japan's post office, has perpetually been a thorn in the side of the Japanese banking industry, much the same way that postal insurance plans have been the thorn in the side of foreign insurance companies that have tried to make inroads in Japan's lucrative life insurance market. The privatization of Japan Post that former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi staked his career on has been slowed lately with the ascendancy of the Democratic Party of Japan, which is trying to roll back some of Koizumi's reforms.

Actually, a lot of people already have Yucho Ginko passbook accounts but may not use them much since most companies demand that employees open accounts in designated banks in order to receive salaries. In fact, a new Japan Post advertising campaign reminds viewers that their yucho accounts still beat bank accounts in a number of ways. The CM in question emphasizes that yucho accounts are pretty much the norm in the countryside, since banks still have not penetrated that far. But the ad then shows that city folk, personified by a new shakaijin (full-time employee) who just moved from his rural home town, should keep using their Yucho passbook accounts because they're more convenient and economical than bank accounts.