Transport in Japan

A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities, which are operated by toll-collecting enterprises.

[6] Fukuoka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, and Yokohama have subway systems.

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.

Shinkansen trains are known to be very safe, with no accident-related deaths or injuries from passengers in their 50-plus year history.

[10] Japan has been trying to sell its Shinkansen technology overseas, and has struck deals to help build systems in India, Thailand, and the United States.

[9] The first Shinkansen line opened between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964, and trains can now make the journey in 2 hours and 25 minutes.

[12][13] The Foreign Press Center/Japan Archived 12 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine cites a total length of expressways at 7,641 km (fiscal 2008).

[14] A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities on Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu.

Recent large infrastructure projects were the construction of the Great Seto Bridge and the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (opened 1997).

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).

There are 1770 km of waterways in Japan; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas.

The five designated "super" container ports are Yokkaichi, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, and Osaka.

The twenty-three major seaports designated as special, important ports by the Ministry 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, and Yokohama.

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).