Transportation in Japan
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Rail transport
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 areas. Seven Japan Railway companies, once 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 23,670.7 km include entirely electrified 2,893.1 km of 1.435-m standard gauge and 89.8 km of 1.372-m narrow gauge, 89.8 km of which is electrified. Half of 20,656.8 km 1.067-m gauge and 3.6 km of 31 km 0.762-m gauge are electrified (1994).
Railway map (http://www.jistac.net/gif/jr.pdf)
Fukuoka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo and Yokohama have metro systems.
See also monorails in Japan, Shinkansen.
Road transport
Japan has 1,152,207 km of highways with 863,003 km (including 6,114 km of expressways) paved and 289,204 km of unpaved ways (1997 est.). A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities on Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Hokkaido has a separate network, and Okinawa Honto has a highway of this type; ferries connect Hokkaido to Honshu, and Okinawa Honto to Kyushu and Honshu.
Marine transport
Waterways are about 1,770 km; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas.
22 major seaports designated as special important ports by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport include Chiba, Fushiki/Toyama, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kitakyushu, Kobe, Kudamatsu, Muroran, Nagoya, Niigata, Osaka, Sakai/Senpoku, Sendai/Shiogama, Shimizu, Shimonoseki, Tokyo, Tomakomai, Wakayama, Yokkaichi, and Yokohama.
Japan has 662 ships of 1,000 GRT or over, totaling 13,039,488 GRT or 18,024,969 DWT. There are 146 bulk ships, 49 cargo, 13 chemical tankers, 16 combination bulk, 4 with combination of ore and oil, 25 container, 45 liquified gas, 9 passenger, 2 passenger and cargo combination ships, 214 petroleum tankers, 22 refrigerated cargo, 48 roll-on/roll-off, 9 short-sea passenger, and 60 vehicle carriers (1999 est.).
Pipelines
Japan has 84 km of pipelines for crude oil, 322 km for petroleum products, and 1,800 km for natural gas.
Air transport
Major airports include:
- Narita International Airport
- Tokyo International Airport or Haneda Airport
- Osaka International Airport or Itami Airport
- Kansai International Airport
- Chubu Centrair International Airport near Nagoya
- Nagoya Airport or Komaki Airport (J-Air)
- New Chitose Airport near Sapporo
- Fukuoka Airport
14 heliports are estimated to exist (1999).
The two main nation-wide airline groups are All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines.
External Links
- [Hyperdia (http://www.hyperdia.com/)] - Travel planning tool supporting English and Japanese
- [Jorudan (http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/e-norikeyin.html)] - Travel planning tool supporting English and Japanese
- [Toei Transportation Information (http://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/util/english/)] - English Tokyo subway information and multilingual mapsfr:Transport au Japon