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Japan TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Maritime: Primarily on coastal seas. Inland Sea
(Seto
Naikai) serves major industrial areas of central Japan.
Railroads: In late 1980s, about 18,800
kilometers of
routes run by Japan Railways Group; another 3,400
kilometers
operated by private companies. Small, new companies
financed with
private and local government funds. Electric-powered
Shinkansen
"bullet" trains operate at speeds up to 240 kilometers per
hour on
special track. Key bridges and tunnels carrying trains and
automotive transportation link four major islands.
Subways: Major cities served by full metro
systems, of
which Tokyo largest. Supplemented by light rail in
suburbs.
Roads: 1,114,697 kilometers of roads in 1990; 69
percent
paved. Extensive expressway and highway network.
Ports: Largest ports at Yokohama, Nagoya, and
Kobe; other
major facilities at Chiba, Hakodate, Kitakyushu, Kushiro,
Osaka,
Tokyo, and Yokkaichi.
Airports: International facilities at Tokyo
(Narita and
Haneda), Osaka, Nagoya, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, and
Naha.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways major world
carriers. Both,
along with Japan Air System and South-West Air Lines, also
serve
domestic routes.
Telecommunications: World-class radio and
television
systems available to virtually all citizens. Persons
living in
remote and mountainous areas receive transmissions via
satellite.
About 64 million telephones in use in 1993.
Data as of January 1994
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