Out after 10 Years (21): Transportation in Japan

Japan is a populated country and more than 90% of its people live in urban areas. Everyone wants to be modern and not fall behind! Tokyo consists of 14 districts and has a population of over 14,000,000. I think I wrote the population was over 37,000,000 in one of the previous posts but that includes the suburbs or I am mistaken. I apologize. You might think it is a very noisy and polluted city with lots of traffic. Wrong! It absolutely is not!

Here is why Tokyo is a much calmer place in comparison with a city in North America, let's name none(!):

Many commercial vehicles, including the delivery trucks are electric. One might ask how much these little vehicles can deliver. You have to remember that there are no enormous supermarkets such as Wal-nasty-Mart or the Real Canadian Superasshole in Japan. All the businesses fall under either small or medium

Taxis are a comfortable  source of transportation but remember that they don't have  the best drives. You are in an Asian country!

SUVs such Land Cruiser are rarely seen in Japan. There is no need for them. Yet some might drive it. This one was on display in a showroom in Nagasaki. One like this goes for CAD $75,000 or more, here

1) There are not many vehicles on the roads: Japan, as much as I experienced, has a great and mostly modern public transportation system. You barely need a vehicle. Trains are regular, punctual and even comfortable. Bus and taxi is available and the subway provides the same quality service as above the ground train. There are bicycle lanes in many areas. Who would need a car?! 

2) Most of the cars are small and the majority of them are either electric or hybrid. One might ask what does the size of a car has to do with traffic?! Small cars require less power to drive. So having them in electric power is easier and consequently results in less pollution. It is very rare that you hear engine raving. Neither hybrid nor electric generates that type of disturbance. 

3) Driving is not that bad. I haven't been to many Asian countries but I know from the media that people are horrible in most countries in that continent. So, you need to keep in mind that you still are in Asia but in a higher version of that.

4) Driving is on the left side of the road. It takes a few days or for some people longer to get used to just seeing vehicles going in the wrong direction! As per driving, I wanted to rent a car but didn't due to lack of confidence and practice. Imagine that you spend thousands of dollars for a 2-week vacation and want to enjoy yourself and all of a sudden you see yourself in the middle of a traffic accident! Stick to the public transportation and you will be fine! 

5) Taxis. There are plenty of taxis available everywhere and many who seek comfort and don't care to spend ¥1,200 and up, use them but they are expensive and generally not a good choice for foreigners. The biggest issue is not being able to communicate clearly. I showed a taxi driver my address and he still took me to the wrong place.So, unless you know Japanese or can make him fully understand, skip the cabs! 

6) Bikes are an excellent choice. Electric scooters are available as well. I think they both are very good sources of travel in smaller cities such as Nagasaki that I went to but I didn't get any. They are not cheap and also you need to know how to secure them, if you're going, say, for a meal or shopping. So, perhaps I shall say that they are good sources if you want to see the outdoors, take pictures and have a sort of picnic.

(Photo, top: Trains, unlike mostly think, are not always contested and uncomfortable. They, as far as I remember, are equipped with a cooling and heating system. That is why they are the best way of transportation in the country) 

Who Shall be held Responsible?

The recent clash between Sikhs and Hindus has been the most entertaining and beautiful event, If I may call it, in the past 10 years or so. There is no doubt it was the Sikh extremist Khalestani separatists who started that and also there is no doubt that there are government who benefit from this, to name Pakistan, who adds fuel to this conflict through ISI, but who is responsible for this act of Barbaric violence? The answer is very simple: The Government of Canada.

One might ask: why? The answer to that is very simple: All that The Government of Canada cares about is money, revenue. For that, they have let flocks of dishonest people in in the past many years and there are many terrorist and extremists amongst them. I remember that there was a documentary about the Sikh extremists in British Columbia on CBC a few years ago. It clearly stated that the many members of the Liberal Party attend Sikh ceremonies and their gatherings to buy votes by themselves. It's a whole different world when you go to British Columbia. These guys are everywhere and dislike everyone: Police, transport, correctional services, you name it. I don't think the documentary said that The Conservatives were clean but there's no doubt that The Liberals have given them more room to maneuver. 

They have the pictures of the Sikhs who were arrested and killed by Indian security forces because of their acts of violence, on the walls of their Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) and the then Premier of British Columbia,k once I remember, left their ceremony as sign of disagreement.  

Malik Singh was acquitted of the Air India bombing chargesd. He was shot dead two years ago 

It's obvious that with Sikh cheap labour force many industries, including fruit and vegetable, trucking, fast food and so would not survive but whose fault is that? Canadians, the majority of them, they don't want to do those jobs. They want to be Hockey Player, Jail Guard, Police Officer, Firefighter and generally what pays well. The industries have to then use Sikh cheap labour or other foreigners but that is the nature of Capitalism: There are multi-million dollar businesses who need simple jobs to be done mostly buy unskilled worker who get paid minimum wage. 

Clark in 2017. She had a reaction to displaying the pictures of killed Sikhs

What would happen, if these businesses didn't exist in Canada, for example: Tim Horton's, Dollarama, McDonald's, Burger King, A&W, and so on? Nothing! Everyone would still be living! These businesses bring millions of dollars to the corporations and CRA and feed, moistly, foreigners!   

The last thing I would like to add is Hindus are not so innocent either. There is a clip of someone who was yelling something like: Let us attack all Sikh temples in India! We all know that Modi's government has treated the minorities unfairly in the past 10 years he has been in the office. What does that do? It provokes other people to react! 

(Photo, top: Khalestani separatist Sikhs in Ontario chanting slogans and pointing fingers at Hindus! What a great country that everyone brings their shit here!)