<Jordan Hayes>-----
> > One basic fact of life when I got to Japan was that most Japanese of all
> > walks of life just travel around their country far more than Americans do.
>
> Maybe that's because the longest distance from Tokyo anywhere
> is about 500 miles?
no it is because they are forced to move by the education system, the companies that hire them etc. of course, not all of them are concerned by this. obviously, the 60% who don't make it to uni don't have to leave home until... they are maried to somebody who has to. even local administrations have rotation programs that concern most of their employees.
the fact the planes are faster or that the country is smaller does not seem very relevant. what matters is how many connections there are to each transportation system. how convenient it is to move. group transportation (as opposed to individual, ie car) is very interconnected anywhere you go here.
indeed it is very similar to what i experienced in france. where the idea of group transportation is very connected to the idea of public service.
jc helary