Spring is the season of renewal, for commerce as well as nature. Until the early 1990s, Japanese labor unions almost always went on strike this time of the year and the public braced itself for inconvenient commutes since transport workers, especially Japan National Railways (JNR) employees, would mobilize. But spring is also when railroads come out with new daiya (timetables), which symbolize Japan's storied transportation efficiency.

This year's daiya season has been particularly auspicious. There's the new fare system integrating different regional IC cards so that they all work on one another's lines; a new Shinkansen model that clocked a record 320 kph, making it the fastest train in the world; and the linkup between Tokyu's Toyoko and Tokyo Metro's Fukutoshin lines, connecting Yokohama with Saitama Prefecture. In addition, three JR East lines connecting Ueno Station in eastern Tokyo with the northern Kanto Plain will soon be extended to Tokyo Station and the Tokaido Line, which links Tokyo to western Japan.

These developments are testimony to Japan's genius for moving people from one place to another. What they have in common is a focus on Tokyo: All were implemented to make it easier for anyone to get to and around the capital. Tokyo is the world's most crowded metropolis, and any infrastructural changes require superhuman planning expertise.