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Transport in Japan is modern and highly developed. Japan'stransport sector stands out for itsenergy efficiency: it uses less energy per person compared to other countries, thanks toa high share of rail transport and low overall travel distances.[1] Transport in Japan is also very expensive in international comparison, reflecting high tolls and taxes, particularly on automobile transport.[2]Japan's spending on roads has been large.[3] The 1,200,000 kilometres (750,000 mi) ofpaved road are the main means of transport.[4] Traffic in Japandrives on the left. A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities, which are operated bytoll-collecting enterprises.
Dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transport markets; for instance, sevenJR Group companies,Kintetsu Railway,Seibu Railway, andKeio Corporation. Often, strategies of these enterprises containreal estate ordepartment stores next to stations. Some 250 high-speedShinkansen trains connect major cities. All trains are known for punctuality.
There are176 airports,[5] and the largest domestic airport,Haneda Airport, was by passenger trafficthe third-busiest in Asia and the fourth-busiest in the world in 2018, but not in the top ten in 2022. The largest international gateways areNarita International Airport (Tokyo area),Kansai International Airport (Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto area), andChūbu Centrair International Airport (Nagoya area). The largest ports includeNagoya Port.
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In Japan, railways are a major means of passenger transport, especially for mass and high-speed transport between major cities and for commuter transport inmetropolitan areas. SevenJapan Railways Group companies, state-owned until 1987,[6] cover most parts of Japan. There also are railway services operated by private rail companies, regional governments, and companies funded by both regional governments and private companies.
Total railways of 27,182 km (16,890 mi) include severaltrack gauges, the most common of which is1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge, with 22,301 km (13,857 mi) of track of which 15,222 km (9,459 mi) is electrified.[7]
Hiroshima,Saitama,Fukuoka,Kobe,Kyoto,Nagoya,Osaka,Sapporo,Sendai,Tokyo, andYokohama havesubway systems.[8]
Most Japanese people traveled on foot until the later part of the 19th century. The first railway was built betweenTokyo'sShimbashi Station andYokohama's formerYokohama Station (nowSakuragichō Station) in 1872.[9] Many more railways developed soon afterward.
Japan has one of the world’s most developed transport systems, with railways acting as the core of passenger transport. Car ownership is high, but road development has not kept pace with demand. This can be explained partly by the dense urban areas and limitation of land, making large-scale road expansion difficult.[10]
TheShinkansen, or "bullet trains", as they are known colloquially, are thehigh-speed rail trains that run across Japan.[11] The 2,387 km (1,485 mi) of 8 Shinkansen lines run on completely separate lines from their commuting train counterparts, with a few exceptions. Shinkansen takes up a large portion of the long-distance travel in Japan, with the whole system carrying over 10 billion passengers in its lifetime. 1,114,000 journeys are made daily, with the fastest train being the JR EastE5 andE6 series trains, which operate at a maximum speed of 320 km/h (200 mph). Shinkansen trains are known to be very safe, with no accident-related deaths or injuries from passengers in their 50-plus year history.[12] Shinkansen trains are also known to be very punctual, following suit with all other Japanese transport; in 2003, the average delay per train on theTokaido Shinkansen was a mere 6 seconds.[13] Japan has been trying to sell its Shinkansen technology overseas, and has struck deals to help build systems inIndia,Thailand, and theUnited States.[12]
The first Shinkansen line opened between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964, and trains can now make the journey in 2 hours and 25 minutes.[11] Additional Shinkansen lines connect Tokyo toAomori,Niigata,Kanazawa, andHakodate and Osaka to Fukuoka andKagoshima, with new lines under construction toTsuruga andSapporo. A separate line heads out toNagasaki, albeit through a separate relay service.
Japan has been developingmaglev technology trains, and broke the world maglev speed record in April 2015 with a train traveling at the speed of 603 km/h (375 mph).[14] TheChūō Shinkansen, a commercial maglev service, is currently under construction from Tokyo to Nagoya and Osaka, and when completed in 2045 will cover the distance in 67 minutes, half the time of the current Shinkansen.
According toJapan Statistical Yearbook 2015Archived 5 January 2013 at theWayback Machine, Japan in April 2012 had approximately 1,215,000 km (755,000 mi) of roads made up of 1,022,000 km (635,000 mi) km of city, town and village roads, 129,000 km (80,000 mi) of prefectural roads, 55,000 km (34,000 mi) of general national highways and 8,050 km (5,000 mi) of nationalexpressways.[15][16] TheForeign Press Center/JapanArchived 12 March 2011 at theWayback Machine cites a total length of expressways at 7,641 km (4,748 mi) (fiscal 2008).[17] A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-accesstoll roads connects major cities onHonshu,Shikoku andKyushu.Hokkaido has a separate network, andOkinawa Island has a highway of this type. In the year 2005, the toll collecting companies, formerlyJapan Highway Public Corporation, have been transformed into private companies in public ownership, and there are plans to sell parts of them. This policy aims to encourage competition and decrease tolls.
Road passenger and freight transport expanded considerably during the 1980s as private ownership of motor vehicles greatly increased along with the quality and extent of the nation's roads. Bus companies including theJR Bus companies operate long-distance bus services on the nation's expanding expressway network. In addition to relatively low fares and deluxe seating, the buses are well utilized because they continue service during the night when air and train services are limited.
The cargo sector grew rapidly in the 1980s, recording 274.2 billiontonne-kilometres in 1990. The freight handled by motor vehicles, mainly trucks, in 1990, was over 6 billion tonnes, accounting for 90 percent of domestic freight tonnage and about 50 percent of tonne-kilometers.
Recent large infrastructure projects were the construction of theGreat Seto Bridge and theTokyo Bay Aqua-Line (opened 1997).
Road fatalities have decreased in Japan, due in part to stricter enforcement ofdrunk driving laws:
InTokyo, road safety is 13 killed per million.[20]
Some long-distance express buses in Japan areAmtrak buses, operated by Nangoku Kotsu.
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In 2013, Japan had the fourth largest passenger air market in the world with 105,913,000 passengers.[21] In 2013 Japan had 98 airports.[22] The main international gateways areNarita International Airport (Tokyo area),Kansai International Airport (Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto area), andChūbu Centrair International Airport (Nagoya area). The main domestic hub isTokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), by passenger trafficthe third-busiest in Asia and the fourth-busiest in the world in 2018, but not in the top ten in 2022;[23][24] other major traffic hubs includeOsaka International Airport,New Chitose Airport outsideSapporo, andFukuoka Airport. 14heliports are estimated to exist (1999).
The two main airlines areJapan Airlines andAll Nippon Airways. Other passenger carriers includeSkymark Airlines,Solaseed Air,Air Do,StarFlyer andFuji Dream Airlines.United Airlines andDelta Air Lines, formerlyNorthwest Airlines, are major international operators from Narita Airport.
From the early 1970s under Japan’s “45/47 regime”, the government allocated route rights among the three major carriers of that time. JAL for international and trunk domestic routes, ANA for trunk and local domestic services, and JAS for local/domestic routes.[25]
Domestic airfares in Japan were subject to government regulation until around 2000. Discount fare schemes were introduced in the mid-1990s, allowing reductions of up to about 50%.[26]
JAL and JAS merged in 2002/2004, reducing the number of major domestic carriers.[27]
There are approximately 1,770 km (1,100 mi) ofwaterways in Japan; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas.[28]
There are 994 ports in Japan as of April 2014.[29] There are overlapping classifications of these ports, some of which are multi-purpose, e.g. cargo, passenger, naval, and fishery. The five designated "super" container ports are Yokkaichi, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, and Osaka. 23 are designated major/international, 125 designated as important, while there are also purely fisherman ports.
The twenty-three majorseaports designated as special, important ports by theMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism:Chiba, Fushiki/Toyama,Himeji,Hiroshima,Kawasaki,Kitakyushu,Kobe,Kudamatsu,Muroran,Nagoya,Niigata,Osaka,Sakai/Senpoku,Sendai/Shiogama,Shimizu,Shimonoseki,Tokyo,Tomakomai,Wakayama,Yokkaichi, andYokohama.
Japan has 988 ships of 1,000 gross tonnage (GT) or over on its national ship register, totaling 38,053,000 tonnesdeadweight (DWT). However, only 17% of Japanese-owned capacity is registered in Japan. UNCTAD estimates that 224 million dwt of tonnage is controlled by Japanese owners, making Japan the second largest beneficial owner of tonnage after Greece.[30]
Ferries connect Hokkaido to Honshu, andOkinawa Island to Kyushu and Honshu. They also connect other smaller islands and the main islands. The scheduled international passenger routes are to China, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan. Coastal and cross-channel ferries on the main islands decreased in routes and frequencies following the development of bridges and expressways but some are still operating (as of 2007).[citation needed]
Japan has 84 km (52 mi) ofpipelines forcrude oil, 322 km (200 mi) for petroleum products, and 1,800 km (1,100 mi) fornatural gas.[citation needed]
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