Roads in Japan

Japan has the worst technology in traffic control among all the countries I have had the chance to drive in (N and S Cyprus, US, UK, and China).

The roads are very smooth and clean, but this means nothing when you are restricted to drive 30kmh most of the time. Yes on an average trip, my estimated average speed in Japan is around 25-35kmh. So a trip that is 70km away, is sure to take longer than 2 hours. There are many reasons for this:

Motorways are very limited in numbers and have a maximum speed of 60kmh (most common) or 80kmh, and there is a strict speed control via cameras and patrol cars.  Dual carriage-ways that are not motorways have a speed limit of 50kmh, and are controlled by traffic lights for every junction (every 500meters on the one that I use most often). The most common single carriage-way roads have a speed limit of 40kmh and they are controlled by traffic light that are upto every 200m in frequency. The existence of uncontrolled junctions or roundabouts has been obliterated from Japan (because they must be unsafe). On top of all this, the traffic lights have no sensor control, and they are on 24hrs/day. 

I remember a discussion by a group of lads at the army about the "need" to have a motorway from Lefkosa to  Magusa (the two major cities in N. Cyprus). They were complaining that with the current dual-carriage-way road it took around 45minutes to travel between those two cities (of approximately 65km). I wish them a year of driving in Japan with a fully modded racing car.

9.30 curfew

Last week I have moved to a new place, a university accommodation for visiting staff and students. The new place is quite nice, with ample space indoors and outdoors, away from the crowds and close to the campus. Before I moved in I warned them about my car, and they assured me I would have no problems.

Well, once I moved I was revealed of one small secret that could be a problem. The parking area of the building I live in is only open between 6.30-21.30, and there is no way to break this rule. When I asked why this rule exists, the common excuse in every traffic related decision surfaced: safety. When I argued that the university campus is open 24hrs, and whether that means the university main campus is unsafe, a dead-lock occurred and the topic was left there.

Seeing that long discussions with the staff that work at the building made no difference, I took the topic higher up, to the bureaucrats at the main campus. A week later I was given a key to the entrance of the parking area.