Welcome

Welcome to our blog! This blog is dedicated to our experiences with the Japanese transportation system. But before we get to the nitty-gritty, perhaps we should introduce ourselves! The people writing this blog are from the University of Calgary attending Senshu University in Japan on a group exchange program. We made this blog in order to educate others (and ourselves) who are unfamiliar with Japanese transit and ways to get about. We are: Ken, Mandy, Alex, and David! Welcome!

Japan is infamous for its complicated subway and train lines, but the whole picture of Japanese transit is much more than this. We hope to fully explore all the options available, even down to walking and bicycling! We will talk about some of our group’s previous experiences in Japan as well. Throughout the various weeks we will cover such topics as: airports, airplanes, subways, trains, taxis, busses, bicycles, and walking. We hope that by covering these topics we capture a broad range of Japanese transit and can describe an accurate picture of what it is like to move about in Japan – in particular, daily life and daily commuting needs.

Airports (Week 1)
Because we will be arriving in Japan via airplane (can’t drive across the ocean, sorry) we will start out by discussing our immediate surroundings! So, our first topic will be airports and airplanes! Unfortunately, we are aware that there are certain parts of the airport where pictures are not allowed, so we try our best in this regard to get some good, accurate (and legal) pictures. We will divide our group of four into two groups to cover all the various aspects of the bustling Narita airport.
Group one will be covering the aspects of the food court, various stores, duty free shops, and souvenir stores. From this, the goal is to get an idea of the variation in stores, the quality of the goods that are sold, and how convenient it is to buy goods at these stores.
Group two is in charge of covering the various actual operations of the airport. This includes things such as the check in methods, flight scheduling, accessibility of the airport to non-Japanese speaking foreigners, and general traffic and quantity of people and flights. In addition to this, group two will be covering the shuttle system and various ways to get to and leave the airport. This includes trains that are directly connected to the airport.

Subways & Trains (Week 2)
After we are settled into our dorms and getting used to life in Japan, travel via subways and trains to get around will be very important. Therefore, we would like to cover this as our second topic to continue our research. Of particular importance will be the Suica card to pay for transportation, what it is for, the various uses it provides for you, how to get one, how to top one up, and how to use it.
As much as we would like to be together at all times, group one will be covering various details about the stations where the trains dock. This includes things such as station details, environment around the stations, stores around the station, and station vendors and popular restaurants. We will also try to discover why it is so popular to have vendors around the stations and how it has become a fundamental part of Japanese culture.
Group two will be covering the “how to” for actual usage of the subway and train systems. We will be covering things such as the train lines and maps (trying to decipher these puzzles), the women’s only car and why it is needed, what the station is like at rush hour (morning and evening), the various express lines and the advantages they give, and the hours of operation for the train system (what time does it shut down?). Also, we will be investigating if there is a rate change during different parts of the day (morning vs. afternoon vs. evening).

Taxis & Busses (Week 3)
Besides taking the most popular transportation method in Japan, there are various other ways to get around. In particular, there could be the possibility when the train is not an option. This could be when your destination is not accessible by train, but still farther than walking distance or it is not convenient to walk.
Group one will be covering the taxi system. Various topics include things such as taxi advertisements (are there ads on taxis?), accepted payment methods (cash only? Suica card accepted?), and etiquette for riding the taxis (not closing your door). In addition to this, we will explore if there are options for foreigners with limited Japanese speaking ability to ride the taxi (such as a phone system to talk to a translator).
Group two will be covering the bus system. Topics of importance will be things such as how accessible the bus system is vs. the taxi system, what are they good for, bus routes and prices, the distance covered or range of the bus system, and the bus scheduling and amount of time to wait between busses. In addition to the functionality of the bus system, we will be covering things such as what the bus stops are like (scenic and clean? Is there vandalism?), payment options (cash, non-exact change, Suica card), availability of handicap access.

Bicycle & Walking (Week 4)
Because this is our last week and we will be one big group, and we will probably be busy with exams and the end of our classes, we decided to do a topic that we would have a lot of experience with (and have some fun with the bicycles and old fashioned walking!). We will be covering walking around and bicycles, and where you can go with both.
For bicycles, we will research things such as cooperation with traffic, whether they are allowed on the sidewalks or if they are only allowed on roads, the possibility of bike rentals (their prices and their locations), if bicycles are on the road what kind of traffic light rules they obey (specialty rules for bicycles?), and if there are any designated routes for biking.
For walking, we will research what kinds of things are within walking distance, how pedestrians interact with traffic, overpasses and traffic avoidance, the famous large diagonal free for all crosswalks, and if time allows, elevators and escalators (what they are like, are there assistants for the elevators?) .
In general, there are a few things we will be focusing on during all of these weeks. We will try to keep these things in mind: distance able to be traveled easily, handicap accessibility, hours of operation, and safety of using the transit method. We hope you are looking forward to this as much as we are! Hopefully you’ll hang around and check out the results of our research! We will try to complete our Journey successfully!

Sources
Suica Card - http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html
Purchasing tickets at the subway station - http://www.odakyu.jp/english/route/guide/purchase.html
General train information - http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/index.html
Odakyu train line map - http://www.odakyu.jp/english/route/railmap/index.html