When I got out of airport security in Japan on my very first day, I was surprised that I would be immediately taking a number of trains to get to my college. What surprised me even more was that the train station was underneath the airport!
I was so lucky to have a student from my new school come to pick me up and get me to the school because I would have been totally lost without her. The first thing we had to do was get a train card called a Passmo and charge it with enough money to get us to the school. We transferred to four different trains before we arrived at the station nearest the school. But the school was still 20 minutes away if we walked!
Because Japan is 70% mountains, most cities and towns are built in the few valleys and flat areas available. This means that big cities, like Tokyo and Kyoto, had to be built straight up to make room for all of the people and businesses. With so much space being taken up by houses and shops, there isn’t enough room for everyone to have a car. To purchase a car, you have to actually show proof that you have land that you can park it on. Not to mention getting a driver’s license can take up to $4,000 to take the classes to pass the exam! My driver’s license classes in Washington state only cost $400.
Because of the small amount of space and huge cost of cars, most people will use three alternatives to car transport. Number one is bicycles. I see many parents riding their young children to school every day, not to mention the number of students who bike to school themselves. Number two is walking. In Japan, walking from one place to the next is considered normal and routine.
