Japan's public transportation system is much better than the US public transportation system. It's affordable, it's widespread, it's always on time, and it's easy enough for even non-native speakers to navigate. Many bright-eyed and bushy-tailed foreigners look forward to taking advantage of this wondrous system during their time in Japan. They dream of their first mama-chari bicycle and how easy it will be to take the subway. Oh, how much money there is to be saved when one doesn't have to buy a car, gas, snow tires, and all the other bits and bobs that go along with driving. Then most ALTs get their placements and realize they're up a mountain and their nearest school is a 45 minute drive away. Whoops!
It really surprised me to find out that the image of the Japanese person who walks, bikes, and/or public transports around doesn't really exist outside of the big cities. On my island everyone drives, and they drive everywhere. After two years they've gotten used to me walking everywhere, but for the longest time they would react with shock that I had walked 20 minutes to the supermarket. Not the somewhat polite shock of "eeee, you can use chopsticks?!" Actual "I'm surprised your legs didn't fall of or you didn't get hit by a car" shock. I've been pressed to take rides from the conbini that's a five minute walk away back to my house. When I wanted to walk home from tai chi practice once, a walk that takes all of 15 minutes, my fellow tai chi members honestly seemed to think that I was crazy for not taking a ride with one of them.
One of the things that people in my prefecture (the Japanese equivalent of a state) are told is that even if you don't want to drive you're probably going to have to just to get to and from work. Before I came we were told pretty flatly that people who don't drive tend to turn into world-class mooches where we live. Right now I only know two other people who don't drive; my direct coworker and one guy on the mainland. Everyone else drives. However, when I got to Japan it became clear that in my placement a car was not necessary. Also, I didn't know how long I was going to be in Japan and didn't want to spend the money on a car if I was only going to be here for one year. In hindsight, what with being here for three years, a small part of me wishes that I had gotten a car.
A good friend of mine has had so many adventures driving. You see, Japan has very narrow roads. Driving in Japan is almost like a dance where cars often have to stop, back up, and practically fall into a ricefield to let the other car pass. In fact, one of the most common pitfalls for foreigners new to driving in Japan is falling off of the road into a ricefield or the drainage gulch beside every road. If that happens, you have a few options, of course. One is to get a log and try to lever your car out by yourself. If you're lucky, an entire bus full of your students will see your trapped car and help you push it back onto the road, as happened to orangepeeleater.
All in all, I love walking. It really helps keep stress down and recharge my cultural fatigue bar. Also, this island, while wonderful, is not the most happening place in Japan. The time I spend walking is honestly just time I would be spending under my kotatsu otherwise. At least this way I'm getting some fresh air and exercise. So I will continue walking everywhere and freaking out my fellow islanders. I just hope I can find some waterproof boots before it starts snowing!
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