The transportation system in Japan is very well organized and almost always on time. Most commuters use public transportation, especially in larger cities. Buses, subways and trains are very handy for getting around Japan. You may want to avoid using public transportation during the rush hours (7:00 AM to 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM).
Railroad/Commuter Stations are the hubs of Japanese cities since the railroad came to Japan in the Meiji Period. The Yokohama to Tokyo railroad opened in 1872. No country is as well connected by rail as Japan, and in no country are the trains so well maintained and on time.
One aspect of the efficiency of Japanese rail systems is the mechanized ticket buying machines - there are also automated machines which can tally up the extra owed at the end of a trip for those who may not have bought the right ticket initially. It is interesting to note, however, that many stations with automated ticket sales still have a human ticket taker and narrow wickets through which the rush hour crowds must pass.
*POST-WAR BUILDINGS
The immediate aftermath of the war [World War II] was chaotic, and the first necessity was the creation of stability and the distribution of resources - food and housing. The next priority was purging war criminals, and the punishment of those most responsible in the war effort. Even teachers and principals whose propaganda activity had been marked were purged. But the most lasting reforms were economic and social.
*MERRY (CORKY) WHITE: author/content expert
is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Boston University and Associate in Research at Harvard's Edwin D. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. A graduate of Harvard College, and recipient of master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University, she also studied in Japan and the United Kingdom.
She served as administrator of the East Asian Studies program at Harvard University and as Director of International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has been consultant to a wide range of educational and corporate institutions and to the U. S. Congress. Her research and publications have focused on Japanese education, internationalism, family and social issues. Currently, she is conducting research on population issues in Japan.
Recent publications include: The Japanese Educational Challenge: A Commitment to Children (Free Press, 1987, paper, 1988); The Japanese Overseas (Free Press, 1987, paper, Princeton University Press, 1988); The Material Child: Coming of Age in Japan and America (Free Press, 1993, paper, University of California Press, 1994); and, with Sylvan Barnet, Comparing Cultures (Bedford Books, 1995).
*TERMINAL CULTURE
Corky writes:
"Stations are commercial hubs. Many stations have department stores adjacent or built over them, and indeed many train lines were built by department stores, which established their terminals as convenient locations for nearly captive shoppers. This has been called terminal culture--no fatal implications intended."
*ENVIRONMENT IS BENIGN
In general, the crime rates over time in Japan have been low and stable. There are fewer crimes of violence, and a lower rate of all felonies, than in any other advanced society. Even under conditions of high urban population density, walking in a large city at night poses no threat and raises no anxieties, even for women. In fact, in most kinds of crime, the rates have actually fallen in Japan over the past decades.
There are however certain areas where public concern is high and rising. First, the possibility of political or religious terrorism. After the subway gas attack by Aum Shinrikyo in 1995, people are on the alert and the police very vigilant. This crime was a terrible shock to people accustomed to considering urban life civilized and safe. A pocketbook marketed in 1995 revealed this concern. It is see-through plastic, and the ads say, "Let others see what's in your bag, and put their minds at rest."
Juvenile delinquency is said to be on the rise. Comparisons may be inappropriate, but it is striking that even today's rates of delinquency in Japan come nowhere near the American rates. The arrests of juveniles in Osaka one year, for example, are about the same as the arrests for one day in Manhattan.
Drug abuse is also said to be increasing. Most drugs are amphetamines, as drugs like heroin and cocaine are rarely found.
The annual number of murders is about 2,000, or 1.9 per 100,000 population, while the rate in the US is about 10 in 100,000.
*MT. FUJI
Mt. Fuji, a dormant volcano, is Japan's tallest peak at 3,776 meters (12,388 feet). Regarded as sacred, it is climbed by some 400,000 each year during July and August.
*YOKOHAMA
Yokohama began as a small fishing port, but by the time Japan opened to Western trade, in the late 1850s, Yokohama was an important port. The first railway line in Japan went from Yokohama to Tokyo, constructed in 1872.
*POPULATION
Hiratsuka: about 250,000 (as of 1992)
Japan: about 124 million (6th most populous nation in world)
Population Density (as of 1989):
Japan: 324 persons per square kilometer
US: 27 persons per square kilometer
Population Growth Rate (average for 1980-86):
Japan: 0.7%
Europe: 0.3%
World Average: 1.7%
Population Growth Rate for Japan (1991): .35%
[figures from Japan A Pocket Guide, 1992 edition Foreign Press Center, Tokyo, Japan, 1992]
*HIRATSUKA: HISTORY
Although it is not clear when people started living in Hiratsuka, the ruins show there was life almost 2,000 years ago.
It was probably around the 13th century that the population of Hiratsuka started growing, when the new government (Bakufu) was established in Kamakura, only 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Hiratsuka. Because of Hiratsuka's location, it became a base for both land and water transportation, and started functioning as a stage for travelers.
These characteristics of Hiratsuka continued in the Edo era (17th - 19th centuries) until the modernization of Japan started in 1867 with the collapse of Edo Bakufu. Up to this period, the major industries were farming and fishing.
Once the industrialization began, it changed Hiratsuka rapidly. In 1887 the train station was built and the center of the economy moved to this area. In 1905 the gunpowder factory of the navy started operation, which would eventually lead to the tragic bombing of the city in the Second World War. Cotton-spinning also became the major industry when a factory opened in 1917.
During the period of WW2, most of the factories were producing munitions supplies. When Hiratsuka was bombed in 1945, 70% of the city burned to ashes. After the war, new factories were built where the gunpowder factory used to be. Today the northern part of the city is an industrial area that produces rubber, automobile, machinery and chemical products.
People in Hiratsuka began celebrating Tanabata in 1951, hoping that the city would recover from the devastation of WW2 as soon as possible. Now it is one of the largest festivals in Japan, and attracts millions of people from all over the country.
*BAKUFU
Bakufu, "tent government", refers to the type of military dictatorship begun by Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1192 and lasting until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The Emperor ruled in name only; the real power was in the hands of the shogun.
*GEOGRAPHY: Hiratsuka
*HIRATSUKA WHARF
*SAGAMI RIVER
*THE WHARF
Hiratsuka is located on the Sagami Bay about 25 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of Tokyo. It is also located on Tokaido, for hundreds of years one of Japan's busiest roads connecting Tokyo and Kyoto. On the eastern border of Hiratsuka runs the Sagami River, which has played a very important role in trade among river towns for centuries. The fact that Hiratsuka was also a relay point for marine transportation in those days made the city even more important as a junction of river and marine transportation.
*TOKYO
Tokyo is the capital city of Japan, with a population of 8,154,400. Formerly known as Edo, it grew from an insignificant fishing village in the late sixteenth century to the largest city in the world a century-and-a-half later. It became the seat of governmental power in 1603 under the shogun Ieyasu.
*KYOTO
Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan, is a repository of Japan's cultural heritage. Its countless treasures include over 200 Shinto shrines, 1600 temples, three palaces, exquisite gardens, villas, museums, and theaters.
*INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE
*TIME 7:30PM...YESTERDAY
time difference: Japan is 13 hours ahead than Boston during the summer when Boston is on daylight savings time; during standard time, 14 hours ahead. If it is 9 a.m. on Monday morning in Boston, during standard time, then it is 11p.m. on Monday night in Japan. As people start their day in Boston, people in Japan have finished their day. If it is 9 p.m. Sunday night in Boston, during standard time, it is 11a.m. on Monday morning--the next day--in Japan.
