Transport In Japan
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Transport in Japan is modern and highly developed. Japan's
transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
sector stands out for its
energy efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a rat ...
: it uses less energy per person compared to other countries, thanks to a high share of rail transport and low overall travel distances. Transport in Japan is also very expensive in international comparison, reflecting high tolls and taxes, particularly on automobile transport. Japan's spending on roads has been large. The of
paved road A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, ho ...
are the main means of transport. Traffic in Japan drives on the left. A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities, which are operated by toll-collecting enterprises. Dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transport markets; for instance, seven
JR Group The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the Corporate spin-off, division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. ...
companies,
Kintetsu Railway , referred to as and officially Kinki-Nippon Railway, is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railw ...
,
Seibu Railway is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism, and real estate. Seibu Railway's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbrevi ...
, and
Keio Corporation is a private railway operator in Tokyo, Japan and the central firm of the that is involved in transport, retailer, retail, real estate and other industries. The Keio railway network connects western suburbs of Tokyo (Chōfu, Tokyo, Chōfu, Fuc ...
. Often, strategies of these enterprises contain real estate or department stores next to stations. Some 250 high-speed
Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...
trains connect major cities. All trains are known for punctuality. There are 176 airports, and the largest domestic airport,
Haneda Airport , also known as and sometimes abbreviated to ''Tokyo-Haneda'', is the busier of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary domestic base of J ...
, was by passenger traffic the 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 are
Narita International Airport , also known as Tokyo-Narita International Airport or simply Narita Airport, formerly and originally known as , is the secondary international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the only other one being Haneda Airport (HND). It is about e ...
(Tokyo area),
Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport (), commonly known as Kankū (; ), is the primary international airport in the Keihanshin, Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is located on ...
(Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto area), and
Chūbu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island (which also houses the ) in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. The airport covers about 470 hectares (1,161 acres) of land and has one runway. ...
(Nagoya area). The largest ports include Nagoya Port.


Railway

In Japan, railways are a major means of passenger transport, especially for mass and high-speed transport between major cities and for commuter transport in
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
s. Seven
Japan Railways Group The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the Corporate spin-off, division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. ...
companies, state-owned until 1987, 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 include several
track gauge In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges ...
s, the most common of which is narrow gauge, with of track of which is electrified.
Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
,
Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...
,
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
,
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
,
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
,
Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
,
Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...
,
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, and
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
have subway systems. Most Japanese people traveled on foot until the later part of the 19th century. The first railway was built between
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
's
Shimbashi Station is a major interchange railway station in Tokyo's Minato Ward, located centrally and a 10-minute walk from the Ginza shopping district, directly south of Tokyo station. Many train services such as limited express trains (except the Shōnan ( ...
and
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
's former
Yokohama Station is a major interchange railway station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It is the busiest station in Kanagawa Prefecture and the fifth-busiest in the world as of 2013, serving 760 million passengers a year. Lines Yokohama Station is served by t ...
(now
Sakuragichō Station is an interchange passenger railway station located in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the Yokohama Municipal Subway. Lines Sakuragichō Station is served by the Negishi Line from to in Kanagawa ...
) in 1872. Many more railways developed soon afterward. Modern Japan is home to one of the world's most developed transport networks. Mass transport is well developed in Japan, but the road system lags and is inadequate for the number of cars owned in Japan. This is often attributed to the fact that road construction is difficult in Japan because of its very high population density, and the limited amount of available usable land for road construction.


Shinkansen (bullet train)

The
Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...
, or "bullet trains", as they are known colloquially, are the
high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...
trains that run across Japan. The 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 East E5 and E6 series trains, which operate at a maximum speed of . Shinkansen trains are known to be very safe, with no accident-related deaths or injuries from passengers in their 50-plus year history. Shinkansen trains are also known to be very punctual, following suit with all other Japanese transport; in 2003, the average delay per train on the
Tokaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the San'yō Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opening in 19 ...
was a mere 6 seconds. Japan has been trying to sell its Shinkansen technology overseas, and has struck deals to help build systems in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The first Shinkansen line opened between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964, and trains can now make the journey in 2 hours and 25 minutes. Additional Shinkansen lines connect Tokyo to
Aomori , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...
, Niigata,
Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...
, and
Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...
and Osaka to Fukuoka and
Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...
, with new lines under construction to Tsuruga and
Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
. A separate line heads out to
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
, albeit through a separate relay service. Japan has been developing
maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation'') is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance. Compared to conventional railways, maglev trains h ...
technology trains, and broke the world maglev speed record in April 2015 with a train traveling at the speed of . The
Chūō Shinkansen The is a Japanese maglev line under construction between Tokyo and Nagoya, with plans for extension to Osaka. Its initial section is between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in Nagoya, with stations in Sagamihara, Kōfu, Iida an ...
, 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.


Road

According t
Japan Statistical Yearbook 2015
, Japan in April 2012 had approximately 1,215,000 km of roads made up of 1,022,000 km of city, town and village roads, 129,000 km of prefectural roads, 55,000 km of general national highways and 8,050 km of national expressways. Th
Foreign Press Center/Japan
cites a total length of expressways at 7,641 km (fiscal 2008). A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access
toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...
s connects major cities on
Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...
,
Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...
and
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
.
Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...
has a separate network, and
Okinawa Island , officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is ...
has a highway of this type. In the year 2005, the toll collecting companies, formerly
Japan Highway Public Corporation , or JH, was a public company established after World War II to construct and manage highway networks in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it i ...
, 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 the
JR Bus JR Bus collectively refers to the bus operations of Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies in Japan. JR Bus is operated by six regional companies, with JR East and JR West operating two each while the others operate one each. JR Bus compani ...
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 billion
tonne-kilometre The units of measurement in transportation describes the unit of measurement used to express various transportation quantities, as used in statistics, planning, and their related applications. Transportation quantity The currently popular units ...
s 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 the
Great Seto Bridge The is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–1988, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku ...
and the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (opened 1997).


Road safety

Road fatalities have decreased in Japan, due in part to stricter enforcement of
drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...
laws: *2004 saw 7,358 deaths on Japanese roads, *2017 had 3,694 deaths for 125 million population, *2019 saw 3,215 deaths, the lowest it has been since 1948, with a rate of 25.4 deaths per million lower than many European nations, and close to the UK's rates. In
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, road safety is 13 killed per million.


Air

In 2013, Japan had the fourth largest passenger air market in the world with 105,913,000 passengers. In 2013 Japan had 98 airports. The main international gateways are
Narita International Airport , also known as Tokyo-Narita International Airport or simply Narita Airport, formerly and originally known as , is the secondary international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the only other one being Haneda Airport (HND). It is about e ...
(Tokyo area),
Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport (), commonly known as Kankū (; ), is the primary international airport in the Keihanshin, Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is located on ...
(Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto area), and
Chūbu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island (which also houses the ) in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. The airport covers about 470 hectares (1,161 acres) of land and has one runway. ...
(Nagoya area). The main domestic hub is Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), by passenger traffic the third-busiest in Asia and the fourth-busiest in the world in 2018, but not in the top ten in 2022; other major traffic hubs include
Osaka International Airport , often referred to as , is the primary domestic airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including its major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is the airport closest to Osaka, being 11 km (7 mi) north of Ōsaka Station, Osaka Stati ...
,
New Chitose Airport is an international airport located south-southeast of Chitose, Hokkaidō, Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By both traffic and land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō. It is adjacent ...
outside
Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
, and
Fukuoka Airport — formerly known as Itazuke Air Base — is an international airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. The facility has two runways and covers 355 hectares (877 acres) of land. Fukuoka Airport is the principal a ...
. 14
heliport A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, powered lift, and various types of vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also hav ...
s are estimated to exist (1999). The two main airlines are
Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...
and
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival flag carrier Japan Airlines. the airline has approximate ...
. Other passenger carriers include
Skymark Airlines Skymark Airlines is a Japanese airline headquartered at Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. It operates scheduled services with a main base at Haneda Airport with another base at Kobe Airport where it is the dominant carrier. It a ...
, Solaseed Air,
Air Do , previously known as , is a Japanese regional airline headquartered in Sapporo, Sapporo, Japan. It operates scheduled service between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in cooperation with All Nippon Airways, from its hubs at New Chitose Airpor ...
,
StarFlyer Starflyer or Star Flyer may refer to: * StarFlyer, a Japanese airline * '' Star Flyer'', a sailing ship operated by Star Clippers of Sweden * Starflyer 59, an indie rock/shoegaze band from Riverside, California * The Starflyer, an alien antagonist ...
and
Fuji Dream Airlines is a Japanese regional airline headquartered in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. It operates a fleet of 15 Embraer E-Jets with bases at Fukuoka Airport, Kobe Airport, Nagoya Airfield and Shizuoka Airport. The airline commenced ...
.
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
and
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
, formerly
Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...
, are major international operators from Narita Airport. Domestic air travel in Japan has historically been highly regulated. From 1972, the three major domestic airlines (JAL, ANA, and JAS) were allocated certain routes, with JAL and ANA sharing trunk routes, and ANA and JAS sharing local feeder routes. JAL and JAS have since been merged to help compete with ANA. JAL also had a flag-carrier monopoly on international routes until 1986. Airfares were set by the government until 2000, although carriers had the freedom to adjust the standard fares starting in 1995 (when discounts of up to 50% were permitted). Today, fares can be set by carriers, but the government retains the ability to veto fares that are too high.


Maritime

There are 1770 km of
waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...
s in Japan; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas. There are some 994 ports in Japan as of April 2014. 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 major
seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...
s designated as special, important ports by the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法
: Chiba, Fushiki/ Toyama,
Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...
,
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...
, Kawasaki,
Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuk ...
,
Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...
, Kudamatsu, Muroran,
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
, Niigata,
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
,
Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...
/Senpoku,
Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...
/
Shiogama is a cities of Japan, city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 52,662, and a population density of 3,032 persons per km² in 23,270 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Shiogama is in n ...
, Shimizu,
Shimonoseki file:141122 Shimonoseki City Hall Yamaguchi pref Japan01s3.jpg, 260px, Shimonoseki city hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 248,193 in 128,762 households and a pop ...
,
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 31 July 2023, it had an estimated population of 167,372, with 83,836 households, an ...
,
Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: * Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan * Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama * Wakayama University, a national university in Wakayama, ...
,
Yokkaichi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 310,259 in 142162 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Yokkaichi is located ...
, and
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
. Japan has 988 ships of or over on its national ship register, totaling . 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.
Ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...
connect Hokkaido to Honshu, and
Okinawa Island , officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is ...
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).


Pipelines

Japan has 84 km of
pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...
s for
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...
, 322 km for petroleum products, and 1,800 km for
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
.


By region

* Transport in Greater Tokyo * Transport in Keihanshin * Transport in Greater Nagoya * Transport in Fukuoka-Kitakyushu


References


Further reading

* *Ericson, Steven J. ''The Sound of the Whistle: Railroads and the State in Meiji Japan'' (Harvard Univ Asia Center, 1996). *Kinzley, W. Dean. "Merging Lines: Organising Japan's National Railroad, 1906-1914" ''Journal of Transport History'' 27#2 (2006) *


External links


Hyperdia
- Travel planning tool supporting English and Japanese

- Travel planning tool supporting English and Japanese

- English information on Toei bus, subway, and trolley services and multilingual maps
Domestic aviation in Japan: Responding to market forces amid regulatory constraintsJapan Automobile Research Institute (JARI)


- English and Japanese website, the link refer specifically to 5 PDF chapters - as well as a reference chapter - on road history, statistics, maps, construction and advanced road technologies in Japan (graphics throughout, 41 total pages).
Japanese Trains
- Why the Japanese Train System so Efficient {{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Japan