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Comment by blakesterz | Hacker News Reader

"Most Japanese citizens live in very walkable cities where public transportation is convenient, safe, and affordable, and not many households own cars."

I want to believe that quote is true.

I know very very little about Japan and the people who live there. Internet says about 70% of people there own a car.

Doesn't that mean people who live in Manhattan (or other walk-able cities in the US) should have similar fitness levels? I also know little about fitness levels of people who live anywhere, but does it follow that if it's the walkable city making the difference, then people in Paris, NYC, London... any walkable city would have the same fitness level?

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I don’t know much about the rate of car ownership in Japan. But I do know that public transit in Japan is insanely good and the cities are definitely walkable and all of it is quite safe. Trains are always on time. You can see small children riding them on their own. You can get almost anywhere you want to go using them. It’s actually phenomenal and it makes me angry to come back to the states after being there for any period of time because I suddenly need to drive again. (That said groceries would be more problematic if living there and I’m sure there are places you need to get to via car if living there, but most of the time a train has been fine for me as a visitor or when I was living on a military base. Only needed a car to get to the gate to leave and then walk to the train station)

Trains in Japan are generally really great if it exist (not enough trains except big city). Buses aren't generally great, often delays due to traffic. Anyway, most Japanese people outside big city have a car.

Most articles about Japan focus on Tokyo, and if you are lucky, the Osaka-Kyoto area. Even with their huge population, they account for less than half the population of Japan.

For those of us living in smaller cities or rural areas, where public transportation is not so good or outright non-existant, having a car is a must. Same as any other country, really.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share suggests otherwise (compare tokyo/osaka to NYC, SF)

You are comparing an entire country with a single downtown. I will let you work out for yourself why that can lead to misleading results.

I will let you work out for yourself why that sounds condescending.

touche )

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