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Mate of mine has just come back from Japan where apparently the public transport system is so good many people are now not buying cars. This seems to be having an adverse effect on the number of cars sold.
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nothing to do with the fact you need a licence to own and park a car then at home?
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Spent a fair chunk of October in Japan. There's plenty of cars about, the Japanese are car-mad! In some of the bigger cities a parking permit has to be obtained from the local council to say that you have space to park a car. The dealer has to see this before selling you a car. Japan is a very tightly regulated society with a complex beauracracy - almost 30% of the working population work for the government.
I have to say that places like Tokyo (where I've been several times) are not quite as congested as is made out by British TV programmes etc. For example my hotel in south-central Tokyo had a large car park that I never saw more than half-full, even though it was a leisure destinated (dolphinarium, swimming pool, IMAX cinema etc in the hotel building).
Of course a lot of Japan is much less densely populated and parking is far less of an issue.
Public transport is very very good, especially in the Kanto region. Very clean and efficient, much of which is down to the nature of the Japanese people (well behaved and of a cooperative spirit). Bullet trains are good (e.g. Tokyo-Kyoto, 500km in just over 2 hours - about £70 return and one train every 6 minutes during the day).
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> (e.g. Tokyo-Kyoto 500km in just over 2hours - about £70 return and one train every 6 minutes during the day).
Is it that expensive? We bought a Japan Rail pass - I think it was soemthing like £145 for a whole week of unilimited travel.
Tokyo to Miyajima, 900 km or so - 3.5hrs (if I remember correctly) was a journey that I truly enjoyed.
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JR pass is only available to non-Japanese passport-holders travelling as tourists - not really of much use to the average Japanese person.
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