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Public and Private
I rode many forms of transportation during my stay in Japan. On this website I will attempt to describe the different types of transportation available in Japanese. Obviously, like anywhere else, more forms of public transportation are available in cities such as Tokyo as compared to the country.
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| Notice how small this pickup truck is compared to those in the United States. These are quite common all over Japan. |
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The first thing I noticed about Japanese automobiles is that the majority of them are MUCH smaller than their American counterparts. This really makes a lot of sense when one considers the heavy population density in Japan. There is simply not a lot of space for large cars. Additionally, Japan is a very environmentally sensitive society, and driving large gas guzzling cars would be contrary to this philosophy.
The other thing I noticed when I was staying with my host family was the level of soophisticated electronics present in most private cars. An example of this was the incredible GPS and dvd player in my host family's car. I noticed these in many of the cars I observed, particularly those in Aomori.
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| Here is a photo of bicycles as far as the eye can see on the sidewalk of a street in a small town. The bicycles are even more numerous in large cities such as Tokyo. |
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Wherever I went I saw hundreds upon hundreds of bicycles. It is no surprise how fit the Japanese are as a whole when one considers how many ride bicycles and walk as their primary means of transportation.
One amazing thing I noticed was that the majority of bicycles I saw on the street were unchained. The trust and honesty of the Japanese people never ceases to amaze me.
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| Notice how pristine this Subway car is. One would never guess this is one of the busiest of all lines running into Shinjuku station. |
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There are several striking things about the Japanese Subway. The first is the absolute lack of graffiti anywhere. The second is how quiet the cars are. As I mentioned on my page about The Japanese People people are beyond considerate of each other and the cars are so quiet that people can, and often do sleep on them.
Another interesting thing I noticed was the presence of women only cars. When I inquired about this I discovered that it is not uncommon for women to be groped on the overly crowded trains. For this reason these special cars were created. I was on several VERY crowded trains and never witnessed or experienced any type of harrassment in the regular cars. |
