Editing Transport in Japan (section)

==Road==
{{Main|Road transport in Japan}}
[[File:FujiChuoExpressway.jpg|thumb|Mount Fuji as seen from the [[Chuo Expressway]]]]
[[File:Tokyo Gaikan Expressway and Japanese national route 298.jpg|thumb|Typical Japanese expressway ([[Tokyo Gaikan Expressway]]) above the city road ([[Japan National Route 298]])]]

According to [http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/nenkan/index.htm Japan Statistical Yearbook 2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105142547/http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/nenkan/index.htm |date=5 January 2013 }}, Japan in April 2012 had approximately 1,215,000&nbsp;km of roads made up of 1,022,000&nbsp;km of city, town and village roads, 129,000&nbsp;km of prefectural roads, 55,000&nbsp;km of general national highways and 8,050&nbsp;km of national [[Expressways of Japan|expressways]].<ref>[http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/nenkan/1431-12.htm Chapter 12 Transport - Microsoft Excel Sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525161650/http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/nenkan/1431-12.htm |date=25 May 2017 }}, Statistical Handbook of Japan</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mlit.go.jp/road/road_e/statistics.html|title=Road Bureau - MLIT Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism|website=mlit.go.jp|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425235812/https://www.mlit.go.jp/road/road_e/statistics.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [http://fpcj.jp/ Foreign Press Center/Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312061849/http://fpcj.jp/ |date=12 March 2011 }} cites a total length of expressways at 7,641&nbsp;km (fiscal 2008).<ref>[http://fpcj.jp/modules/news22/index.php?page=article&storyid=13&topicid=1 Facts and Figures of Japan, 14: Transport] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106135456/http://fpcj.jp/modules/news22/index.php?page=article&storyid=13&topicid=1 |date=6 November 2010 }}, Foreign Press Center/Japan</ref> A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access [[toll road]]s connects major cities on [[Honshu]], [[Shikoku]] and [[Kyushu]]. [[Hokkaido]] has a separate network, and [[Okinawa Island]] has a highway of this type. In the year 2005, the toll collecting companies, formerly [[Japan Highway Public Corporation]], have been transformed into private companies in public ownership, and there are plans to sell parts of them. This policy aims to encourage competition and decrease tolls.

Road passenger and freight transport expanded considerably during the 1980s as private ownership of motor vehicles greatly increased along with the quality and extent of the nation's roads. Bus companies including the [[JR Bus]] companies operate long-distance bus services on the nation's expanding expressway network. In addition to relatively low fares and deluxe seating, the buses are well utilized because they continue service during the night when air and train services are limited.

The cargo sector grew rapidly in the 1980s, recording 274.2 billion [[tonne-kilometre]]s in 1990. The freight handled by motor vehicles, mainly trucks, in 1990, was over 6 billion tonnes, accounting for 90 percent of domestic freight tonnage and about 50 percent of tonne-kilometers.

Recent large infrastructure projects were the construction of the [[Great Seto Bridge]] and the [[Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line]] (opened 1997).

===Road safety===
{{Main|List of motor vehicle deaths in Japan by year}}
{{See also|National highways of Japan|Japan Highway Public Corporation|Expressways of Japan|List of bus operating companies in Japan}}

Road fatalities have decreased in Japan, due in part to stricter enforcement of [[drunk driving]] laws:
*2004 saw 7,358 deaths on Japanese roads,
*2017 had 3,694 deaths for 125 million population,<ref>https://www.japanallover.com/2019/01/traffic-accidents-road-safety-japan/ {{Dead link|date=January 2022}}</ref>
*2019 saw 3,215 deaths, the lowest it has been since 1948, with a rate of 25.4 deaths per million<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00368/annual-traffic-fatalities-in-japan-reach-record-low.html|title = Annual Traffic Fatalities in Japan Reach Record Low|date = 15 January 2020|access-date = 15 August 2020|archive-date = 4 January 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210104083445/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00368/annual-traffic-fatalities-in-japan-reach-record-low.html|url-status = live}}</ref> lower than many European nations, and close to the UK's rates.

In [[Tokyo]], road safety is 13 killed per million.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-the-worlds-biggest-cities-has-figured-how-to-virtually-eliminate-traffic-deaths-2015-7?IR=T|title = Here's how Tokyo — the largest city in the world — brilliantly eliminated traffic deaths|website = [[Business Insider]]|access-date = 15 August 2020|archive-date = 16 November 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201116012833/https://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-the-worlds-biggest-cities-has-figured-how-to-virtually-eliminate-traffic-deaths-2015-7?IR=T|url-status = live}}</ref>