3.31.11 (part 1)

Transportation

It is not enough to say that the public transportation system in the Kanto area (Tokyo and surrounding prefectures/counties) has a complex train and subway network. The capital effectively runs on the system. You could say that trains and subways are even part of the culture. It is evident on a day-to-day basis in that you always have the train schedule and route in the back of your mind because it gets you home. Without a running system, you cannot get home, as we saw on 3.11 when all public transport stopped after the earthquake.

Just speaking about the most comprehensive system, now, the Japan Rail (JR) lines cover the whole area. Have a look: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/info/map_a4ol.pdf

Be aware that this shows only the JR lines; so-called "private rail lines"* do not appear, nor do subway lines. The color-coded map only hints at the complexity. The colors show the route; not shown is the time taken from departure to destination. Looking at Ofuna station in the bottom left of the map, for example, you see that there are three lines (orange, dark blue, light blue) that connect to Tokyo. The Ofuna-Tokyo trip takes between 45 and 60 minutes, depending on line taken and time of day. While today service on the basic lines is back to 90% of normal, the commuter lines are still out of commission.

Next: commuter train lines

*Until 1987, JR was "JNR" or Japan National Railways, a state-owned entity. Although JNR was broken up by region into private companies, the other private railways are still referred to as "private" railways in usual conversation. JR lines in the Kanto/Tokyo area are run by "JR East."