In
1872, passenger service began with a steam locomotive that
linked Shimbashi station, in Tokyo, to the nearby city of
Yokohama. This set the stage for a nationwide rail
network. After 17 years, a railway system was
established that linked the main cities along the old Tokaido
(Eastern Sea Route) so that a person could travel from Tokyo
to Osaka by train. Now, along with the development of
automobile and air transportation, important railway services
have gradually shifted to long-distance intercity transport,
such as the Shinkansen and commuter lines. Commuter
lines carry people from their homes in the suburbs back and
forth to work.
Of
the total 1,142,000 km of roads in Japan, 73% is paved.
Construction of expressways (toll roads) began in the 1960's
and has faced many challenges: the nature of the terrain, high
concentration of factories and housing, high land prices along
the routes, and added reinforcement needed to withstand
earthquakes. Construction costs are the world's highest
and therefore, the tolls are also high.
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After
WWII and until 1951, the Japanese government was deprived of
its authority to permit passenger airlines by SCAP (Supreme
Commander of the Allied Powers). Because of this,
international and domestic airlines didn't start until 1953.
The
beginnings of a national railway system started in 1872 with
the connection by steam locomotive of Tokyo to Yokohama.
Seventeen years after this accomplishment there was a link
from Tokyo to Osaka by train, a trip that took 20 hours to
complete. With the introduction of diesel and electric
trains, time was shortened considerable to a mere 6 1/2 hours.
Later on the bullet train "Shinkansen" reduced it
even more by completing it in under 3 hours.
Not
stopping with the mainland, a connection was made by rail
linking Honshu to the northern island of Hokkaido. This
was accomplished by building the world's longest undersea
tunnel undersea tunnel, the Seikan Tunnel. Honshu was
also linked to Shikoku Island that same year with the Seto
Ohashi Bridge which was built over the Inland Sea.
Transportation
by rail has decreased with the invention of cars and
airplanes, thus a change to long-distance intercity
transportation and commuter lines. Commuter lines are
rails that take people to and from work in the suburbs.
Since the cost of living is tremendous in the city, people are
moving to the suburbs in order to find acceptable housing that
is a reasonable cost. The price they pay is more time
spent waiting while commuting to work and back.
In
Japan, there are nine cities that have subway systems with the
first one starting in 1927. Many subways also link with
commuter lines to reach out to the suburbs as well. Japan is
also looking into linking the publi and private transportation
systems. Further rail developments include a light rail
transit (LRT) which was initiated in Kumamoto in 1997, this is
the first one operated in Japan.
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MOTOR
VEHICLES AND GROUND TRANSPORTATION
In
1899, the first automobile was brought into Japan and by 1902
they were producing their own. Although the Japanese
manufactured cars, the majority were used commercially or for
public transportation. Private ownership didn't really
get popular until the 1960's. Three reasons made this
possible: rapid financial growth brought on by economic
development; smaller, more fuel efficient cars targeting
private owners; road improvements. In 36 years, from
1960 to 1996, car ownership increased from 1.5 million to over
72 million. Now it is common for families to have two
cars and truck use has increased in the delivery and
commercial area.
Toll
road construction began in the 60's and the first one
completed in 1965 linked Nagoya to Kobe. This road was
named the Meishin Expressway which was rapidly followed by the
Tomei Expressway which added Tokyo to the connection.
These roads, and the many other expressways linking suburbs to
the downtown areas, are managed by the Japan Highway Public
Corporation. The JHPC doesn't have an easy job because
there are many factors to take into account when constructing
roads in Japan. The terrain is not conducive to easy
road construction, high factory and housing concentration
-which causes heavy traffic in those areas, expensive land,
and certainly not to be forgotten, earthquakes -which require
added reinforcement in the roads. Because of these
factors, Japan's construction costs are the highest in the
world and therefore, the toll roads reflect that in their
usage fees.
Not
surprisingly, Japan's metropolitan areas are areas of
congestion with the high traffic volume and traffic safety has
been a problem since the explosion of private ownership in the
60's. Along with this congestion comes air pollution
from the automobiles' exhaust. Japanese manufacturers
are working on developing hybrid cars which are expected to
reduce pollution.
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AIR
TRANSPORTATION
International
and domestic airlines didn't get started in Japan until 1953.
This was due to the fact that after World War II, the Japanese
weren't allowed to have passenger airlines by order of the
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP).
Haneda,
Tokyo International Airport, was Japan's first commercial
airport and it first opened in 1931. Until the opening
of the New Tokyo International Airport in 1978, it was both a
domestic and international airport. With the opening of
the New Tokyo International Airport, Narita Airport, it
is about 65 km outside Tokyo. 38 countries, as of 1997,
with a total of 50 airlines used the airport. It is
Japan's largest airport and handles over 25 million passengers
per year and a little over 1.5 million metric tons of air
freight. These incredible numbers put it at sixth in the
world for passengers and first in the world for freight.
Kansai
International Airport, which opened in 1994 handles most of
the domestic flights and all of the international flights to
the Kansai regions. This airport, which replaced the Osaka
International Airport, Itami Airport, is actually on an
artificial island and operates 24 hours a day.
