From train to car

Thanks to Japan’s well-organized urban infrastructure, it may be easy enough for you to get around the city by public transport, but the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic might have given you second thoughts about using it.

For better or worse, Tokyo’s notoriously crowded trains are seeing fewer passengers compared to pre-pandemic daily life as more people opt for private transportation. Even during the country’s midsummer Bon holiday period, when trains are busy each year with people heading to their hometowns, the number of Japan Railways passengers dropped by 76 percent compared to a year before, the lowest since 1990.