Out After 10 Years (24): Car Dealerships in Japan

Japan is one of the main car manufacturers of the world. There's no need to elaborate on that. Everyone knows that, especially in North America where the life of the three main car manufacturers have been in danger since the Japanese (and Korean) car manufacturer's stepped in. I, however, do not like the latter and they are not subject of this post. 

With that in mind, one would think that there must be lost of cars and a lots of traffic in Japan. Wrong! Japan, in fact the cities that I visited last year, have the least amount of traffic and is very quite, peaceful and nice on the streets. That is because of the perfect and reliable public transportation available everywhere. Not to mention the Japanese culture. 

A small van in a Toyota dealership in Tokyo. These are very popular in Japan and many of them are fully electric. I do not think this one is. This vehicles goes for ¥1,874,500 which at the time was equal to CAN $17,683 and now is a little more expensive

I was not able to see all parts of Tokyo due to its size, of course, but didn't see many gas stations. Japan is a main importer of oil products and gasoline shall be expensive there. That could be another reason for not driving a car. Majority of the vehicles are either electric or hybrid. I also didn't see many car dealerships. I saw a few in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki but in comparison to a city like Calgary, there were not many and not as big. All of the dealerships were major Japanese car makers and most of the vehicles on the streets were Japanese but I also saw expensive BMW and Tesla. It would be interesting to know whether there are specific regulations or tariffs for imported cars to Japan. I mean why the hell do you need to import any vehicle to the country which is the third largest automaker of the world and has one of the most, if not the most, convenient and reliable public transportation systems? 

(Photo: Nagasaki is fairly small city compared to Tokyo and much less populated. This Toyota dealership displays a new model of Land Cruiser. It is sold between $80K and $90K, even more, here in Canada. I didn't see the price in there and I barely saw any SUVs or pickup trucks on the streets. Perhaps one only. Driving a pickup truck, if you don't do any business which requires a big box in the back is absolutely stupid, in my opinion and many more! Try to make Americans and Canadians understand!)