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getting around in japan

The public transportation in Japan is SUPER cool. Usually when someone asks me what I like about Japan, it's usually in the first three things I'll mention.

There are traintracks everywhere, parallel, crossing, concentric. In any city, it's possible to get around entirely by train. In the countryside, well, there's at least a train to get one from the farms /into/ the city.

Trains are on time. It is almost possible to set one's watch by them. I've lived here a total of four years; trains I've been on have only been delayed twice.

Trains are clean. So are the buses. I rode buses home from school in L.A., and it always felt like the half-hearted attempts to clean them had been performed with some form of cooking oil and an unwashed t-shirt.

When there is no train, and the bus looks inconvenient, there are cabs. Lots of cabs. They're clean, too. Generally, the cabbies are polite, don't talk, and will not drive the long-way-around to increase their fare. My only other experience with cabs is from San Francisco, so you can draw your own conclusions about how that stacks up.

What am I forgetting?

...

I forgot planes. In the US, whatever passes for organization in the air transportation industry is a sad, sad joke. Unlike a lot of things that are different between the US an Japan, the tardiness, inefficiency, and lack of concern for the customer rampant in the USA's air transportation system can be readily identified and experienced without direct comparison against a similar thang.

However, once it's thrown into relief against the Japanese system, the contrast is fairly overwhelming.

Japanese planes are not as consistently timely as the trains, but they're surprisingly punctual. They can get delayed by weather, or people not getting on the plane after they've checked in. The weather tends to be the larger problem in my experience; strong winds and rain are common, not to mention a number of typhoons every year. I've been stranded at an airport before, once.

I think the biggest difference, and the one that I'm most appreciative of, is the way the care for the customer extends into the exchange. I hear the Automatic Ticketing Machines that deal with reservations, sales, or seating, are now used in the US. These things are ALL over the airports in Japan, and usually have a couple people standing by, watching like hawks to see if anyone needs help with them. They'll offer assistance before you have to ask for it. Maybe not so surprising in a department store salesperson, but this is airline staff. With human help, or just with the ATM, it's easy to get on your plane.

Alternately, if you're checking in earlier or later than you'd expected, changing flight is No Big Deal. The first time the counterperson offered to put me on a flight that was leaving in 20 minutes, instead of the one in 2 hours and 20 minutes, it seemed clear that my Japanese was faltering, or that my ears needed cleaning. In the US, if one wants to change their flight, it's going to be the absolute worst possible price, and a number of dirty looks from the staff. Honestly, who are we to throw a wrench into the well oiled machine that is United Airlines Domestic Service?

Most of my flights have been for work, and I've not entirely got the payment thing grokked, but it appears that there is no such disparity as exists between the 21-days-in-advance price and the that-day price. I'll wait for someone else to chime in about that. But every time I've had my ticked changed, it's been gratis, or less than 1500 yen to alter it.

Whew. I wrote a novelette. Suffice it to say, unless big things change in America's structuring of service, I'll probably stick to road trips there whenever possible.

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