In Japan, At What Age Can People....

[JBaymore]

The cultural orientation to "the car", and hence the early administration of driver's license tests in the USA has much to do with the lack of any real effective mass transit system in American, particularly when compared to Japan.

In the USA, other than living in a large metro area, you pretty much can't get anywhere from anywhere easily without a car. You pretty much need a car for anything you want to do. Add to that the US zoning law tendencies that typically do not allow businesses in residential neighborhoods... and you need a car to go shopping for almost anything.

One of my greatest pleasures when in Japan is the reliable, safe, and plentiful trains, subways, and buses. And also the abilty to walk out of where I am living, and easily buy the makings for dinner without having to drive 20 minutes to a shopping plaza / mall.

best,

.................john

[KikiBunny23]

heh Alabama=8+ a lot of people here work on family farms so they learn to drive at an early age. We can get by driving on the raods at 13-14+ without getting in trouble by a cop.
Legal age? 15=permit 16=license

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by JBaymore

In the USA, other than living in a large metro area, you pretty much can't get anywhere from anywhere easily without a car. You pretty much need a car for anything you want to do. Add to that the US zoning law tendencies that typically do not allow businesses in residential neighborhoods... and you need a car to go shopping for almost anything.

I think that while this is partially true, it also falls into the "misconceptions of Japan" trap...

Big cities in Japan have very efficient public transportation systems, I agree. However I think that people jump to conclusions. When I lived in the US, there was never a time when I lived outside bicycle distance of shopping/etc. Everywhere I lived or visited long term there had crappy public transportation, if any at all... But on the other hand, even with zoning issues I was never more than 20 minutes by bicycle away from groceries, shopping, etc.

The thing is, no one wants to ride a bicycle. No one wants to walk - unless they`re forced into by living in a big city where it would be too hard to keep a car. If people actually wanted to move around other than in their cars, I think that things would change...

Obviously, there are going to be exceptions where you really CAN`T go anywhere without a car - but the exact same thing can be said for Japan. Not everyone lives in a big city. One of our friends lives in an area where it would take 2 hours by bicycle to shopping - And there is one bus a week (Saturday morning at 8am, returning at 6pm). Despite being a fairly large residential area the only shopping within bicycle distance is a little shop run by an old woman which stocks snacks and ice cream. He was just telling us that they finally made a convenience store within 20 minutes by car.

My own husband is from somewhere similar. He`d never ridden a bus or train until he went to high school - no one in that area could survive without a car.

[Atakicat]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

My own husband is from somewhere similar. He`d never ridden a bus or train until he went to high school - no one in that area could survive without a car.

This sounds like my hometown of Arlington.. It's vastly spread out, and like wikipedia says, The largest city in the U.S. without a public transportation system of any kind.

[Henbaka]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

The Japanese course exam is actually very hard. They rate with extreme detail - one tiny screw up on the test and you fail. The thinking is that if you can`t even remember to do it properly when you`re being tested on it, then there is no way they can trust you to follow the rules when you`re not. Hence, if you don`t actually take real classes and get a lot of serious practice under your belt, the chance of passing the test is extremely low. That`s something that drives foreigners in Japan mad when they try to just breeze through the test - they don`t realize that "I`ve been driving for 10+ years!" doesn`t mean anything if you can`t even follow the rules properly in a test environment.

My aunt is a driving instructor in the US, and I have to say - having gotten my license in Japan through the regular Japanese route of driving school then test... I am seriously SHOCKED that they allow 90% of the people over there (the US) to get a license.

Well, it doesn't surprise me

And kinda.. the city where I'm from has a fail rate over 50% (less than 50% of everyone that takes the test pass it on their first try), so it's actually kinda the same - one miss and you're out. Hell - I failed the driving test for my car license 4 times (only one for motorcycle)... a couple of times for infractions that wasn't the biggest in the world if you know what I mean.

[JBaymore]

Nyororin,

Any statement that is a "generality" is just that, and you can find exceptions to any generality. Some US cities do have pretty good mass transit systems. And therre are places in Japan that have limited access to mass transit.

In each case you can certainly go to the extreme: You of course aren't going to find much mass trainsit in the middle of the Nevada desert. And you are also, of course, going to find good mass transit in Tokyo-to.

Overall however, I'd say that mass transit in Japan is FAR superior to anything the US has to offer. I've spent a lot of time in really rural Japan (I am a professional potter...... and have spent a lot of time in smaller pottery villages and such..... and out in the mountains of Chichibu, etc.) and have found better transportation offerings there than in the equivalent type areas of the US.

If maybe you take the US geographical physical equivalent to Japan...... which might be the eastern US coast from northern Maine down to the Florida keys...... (which might even be somewhat equivalent in population density too )...... the mass transit availablity in the US and the mass transit in Japan are no where near the same.


I certainly totally agree that US people do not want to get around by any method other than a car. It is ingrained in them culturally from the time they are kids. Look at the brouhaha that is happening over the issues the US car industry is having.... which goes WAY beyond the significant economic issues. The car could be the symbol of the US. The US was built first by the railroads... and then by the car. Somehow we soon forgot the railroad.




best,

................john