Public transportation here is great. There are buses and trains EVERYWHERE and they are clean, safe, and run on schedule. Bigger cities have extensive subway systems too, and everything is tied together amazingly well. It is usally only a short walk from a train station stop to a bus stop or subway station, so you can travel a long way and walk very little of it. There are also taxis by the dozen at any of these locations, as well.

Buses, subways, and even taxis are actually relatively cheap, but trains get pricey to say the least. A ticket on "The Sonic" gets me from Yukuhashi to Fukuoka City in just a little over a hour - but it also costs about $40 round-trip. Likewise, Kitakyushu is only 20 miles away and a round trip ticket is $13 for the fast train, or $8 for the slow one (the fast one is worth the extra $). So, you can obviously spend quite a bit of money getting around. BUT - I have no car note, no car taxes or plate fees, no car maintenance expenses, and no car insurance to pay every month.

To "encourage" you to use the trains despite the price, there are no free interstate highways in Japan either. The roads are there, and they're very nice, but they are all toll roads. To drive to Fukuoka City on the highway would cost you the gas money plus another $35, so it isn't any cheaper than the train. Quite an effective means of getting people to use public transporation. It gets worse though. When you buy a car, whether it is new or used, you'll have to pay the sales tax and get a license plate, get it insured (mandatory), and then you have to also pay an "inspection fee" called a shaken. Basically they have to look at your car and tell you if its safe to drive (even if its brand new) and in return you give them anywhere from several hundred dollars to a few thousand depending on the car's value and engine size - EVERY TWO YEARS. Curiously, the fee has nothing to do with the car's "safeness" either. Steve bought a used car for $1500 and has to pay an additional $1500 every two years. Once the car is ten years old you have to get it inspected and pay the shaken every year, as well. Even motorcycle owners have to pay it, although it starts at "only" $400 for them.

So, it becomes clear that car ownership is very expensive, which explains why there a lot of people here that don't drive at all, or drive small, cheap cars.

I still wish I had my Accord and my motorcycle, of course...

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