Get Nebula for $2.50 a month go.nebula.tv/lifewhereimfrom. Sorry I haven't uploaded for a while. I was having issues with my eyes and had to take some doctor ordered break. Doing good now, so I trust uploads will be back to a couple a month. - Greg
After living just outside of Tokyo and rarely driving my car for many years, and then visiting Okinawa, I never connected why getting around was so frustrating.
There’s a reason why, channels like, Not Just Bikes, and Urban Design channel, are increasingly vocal in the way that American urban design is very bad for social health. Of course, the American exceptionalism fans screamed and shouted at the idea that the American way of life, especially in terms of urban design, is not fit for building a healthy and conducive society.
@@FiredAndIcedwhich is hilarious considering this American way of life has only been for half of all Americans since only 1965. Out of like 4-5 centuries, only 10-20% of that time has been car oriented. We were gaslit to forget nearly every American city used to be walkable. I learned a month ago my city used to have a big train terminal which shut down in the 70’s.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318It’s a problem because cars are a very inefficient use of space in compact cities. The need for acres and acres of parking lots take up valuable land, same goes for the 12 lane mega freeways that cut through the city. And simply sprawling out makes cities go bankrupt because the dense urban core has to subsidize the suburbs.
It would be interesting to see a comparison on the overall health of Okinawa residents vs. the rest of urban Japan considering how much more likely people are to drive than to walk and use transit
@@LifeWhereImFrom When looking at the new average life expectancy reports by prefecture, okinawa is unfortunately not doing so great anymore. While the women are still doing fine (average 87.60 okinawa (place 16/49) 87.88 Okayama (best) 88.29), okinawan men are accually one of the worst (avarage 81.49 okinawa (place 43/47) 80.73 Shiga (Best) 82.73).
Look at American we have higher obesity rate, we’re less connected because car cut you off form everyone else you can interact with, worst mental health as traffic cause stress, cost more as car will break down and need repair form time to time, also in America you need car for everything to the park , store, malls, even convenience store aren’t in walking distance making thing difficult also form an infrastructural more experience maintain than rails or cost more in that more cars mean more wear and tear on roads but in America we got car lobbyists who don’t want this because people will buy less cars or buy less gas as they won’t use their cars as much also car and oil lobbyists is the reason why where car centric
Yes, they have 80 and 90-year-olds, but you also need to consider that these populations are in their twenties and thirties in the 1950 and 60s, and they are basically living the Japanese old style of living around that time... compare that to the health statistics of the new population who grew up in the 90s and 00s.. you will be shocked that their health declined
As someone who lives in Okinawa this is literally the number 1 complaint we all have that there is no train. Always having to drive everywhere really sucks and even short journeys get congested really quickly. Especially when where I used to live (UK) I cycled everywhere because it was a reasonable distance to everything.
Low population density is probably part of the reason why there is no train. The next step is light rail. You have to understand that these projects cost a lot of money to build and a lot of time and more traffic disruptions will occur during construction. Then, you need to maintain the system, the train cars, and the staff. It's not certain there will be enough users to keep it from being a boondoggle. I think BRT is the way to go, using BRT to help them figure out where light rail lines should be considered, but economics is always the biggest factor. If it could be done for free overnight, every govt will say yes. There are reasons to why it hasn't happened.
@@Kwijiboiwe had rail in America with way fewer people and designed densely to begin with. And you can always retroactively densify or pedestrianize certain roads.
@@Kwijiboi The reason it hasn't happened is because the American Military occupy the island, despites years of protest of wanting the Americans to leave, they are stubborn to do so and force Okinawans to abide to their demands because they claim it is "essential" to the protection of the land. While they they don't control the island now their influence have lingered in the culture. The low density and the cost excuse is pretty flawed when you realize a couple things. The projects can be focused in the cities where it has the most density, This idea that trains are gonna be everywhere operating at every time is nonsensical. The majority of the population live in urban areas so of course they need it the most. Especially since that's where traffic is at its worst. Another thing, when compared to highways and car maintenance, trains will always be much cheaper in the longer term. Yes for now to build the infrastructure, it will be expensive but trains but so were the roads when they were constructed. Displacing thousands to make room for cars, hell the US is a good example of this, a lot of interstates weren't completed because of thousands would have to relocate without any financial aid by the government despite them demanding home owners to leave. And it destroyed a lot of the infrastructure of cities, Houston in the 70s was just giant parking lot rather than a city. Also train infrastructure have longer longevity and cheaper maintenance. It literally pays for itself as public transit makes a profit while private ownership of a vehicle does not pay for the roads. You have to rebuild roads every 10-15 years because the weight of the cars are very destructive. And speaking of destructive, lets not even get started how much more dangerous cars are. In the US more children are killed more by cars than guns.
It is not a prerequisite. You may think it is but it is not. What you meant to say was a car should not be a prerequisite to obtain high status or the status you want or expect.
But it is because without it am unable to get to work (where I live I can't and don't have public transportation to use) including grocery ... So it is for some people depending on where you live in the world.
Seeing this video after getting into a car accident in one of the most car dependent cities in the US makes me so sad. I wouldn’t feel as down on myself (as it’s compounding on other things in my life) as I do if my city weren’t so car dependent.
@@jesuslovespotatoesI'm against overdependence on computers, where people let AI and algorithms do tasks without applying critical thinking, just like how I'm against overdependence on cars, where everyone drives everywhere even when it's inefficient and unnecessary
@@littlsuprstr He’s a troll, don’t reply to him. when the video is questioning why Okinawa seems to be economically behind, and it’s because of America’s decision to build infrastructure that does not cater to locals, he decided to ask a divergent question, to seemingly divert attention away from the fact that America’s policies after World War II has made Okinawa very economically and viable, and forced the Japanese government to be Utterly dependent on American power projections.
@@jesuslovespotatoeswhat? op is clearly saying that this is a good case study in traffic. computers are great and all, but if we want to make real solutions, we have to look at real problems and analyse them
as soon as I saw the title for this on nebula, I instantly thought to myself "... it's Okinawa isn't it?" I never knew that Okinawa was so car dependent, it's a shame they weren't able to implement efficient public transport like most of Japan. Glad to see all the Okinawa videos you've been making!
Maybe you don't know much about rural areas in Japan? It's more and more necessary, with all the train line closings, to own a car. Of course Japanese aren't having kids much anymore, so it's not a problem for a huge number of people.
@@earlysdasad. As long as car owners pay the full cost of roads and the negative externalities (look it up) of gasoline, then it’s ok. But that happens nowhere, car transport and sprawl is always subsidized.
There is a pretty similar situation in Caribbean Netherlands. While European part of The Netherlands set the platinum standard for urbanism and transit system (well, maybe for the slight exception that is Rotterdam), their Caribbean territories (Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and others) were following the US way of urban planning (read: urban hellhole) with all the apparent consequences.
Rural areas... and if one person lives in Sahara desert, he needs to own a camel. This is not a n issue that should concern the entirety of Egypt, because public transportation is supported by a POPULATION of individuals. But with weak talking points, it always boils donw to anti-individualism on the excuse that minorities of individuals create different circumstances with their life choices.
As a Taiwanese, I'm quite curious why they don't consider electric scooters as an alternative. They're much more compact (and cheaper) then even K cars, and the Okinawan islands isn't really so big that you need a proper car to get around. As for the buses, dedicated lanes will help a LOT. It's going to be unpopular as it takes lanes from cars, but keeping the buses fast are essential to convincing people out of their cars, and eventually reduce congestion.
Yeah, it was interesting visiting Taipei and seeing all the scooters. I'll have a video out on that when I can get it edited. On some roads they could do dedicated lanes, but there are also small two-lane ones where traffic is backed up (like the one I was walking along filming) and there's no space to do so. But is it a matter where if you were to get dedicated lanes in enough places where you can you could see significant enough improvements?
eSccoters and eBikes seem to be good options for individual mobility tbh, esp cargo bikes
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Having just visited Taiwan I was impressed about the amount of dedicated infrastructure for scooters and the solutions for swap out batteries. Mind you, while in Taipei there was public transport, cycle options and scooter ramps, I did get the feeling that at many junctions pedestrians were still second class to the car. Also from what I understand it takes about 30 minutes to go from Taipei to the east coast by car, but 1 hour in public transport.
@@LifeWhereImFromthe many two-lane roads isn't necessarily a obstacle to dedicated bus-lanes. But you have to take the bigger picture and ask yourself if such a narrow road is fit for such a heavy traffic. Starting by contraflow lanes might already help a bit.
Car dependence changed the entire fabric of society in my country. But I'd say the biggest impact is culturally. People lowkey expect you to have a car even if you don't have the proper finances to do so. And that's where the very low but deceptive downpayments also come in.
Buy a used car. No payments, very cheap and reliable too. Payments are not deceptive. It is abundantly clear - they will do what they can to get as much money out of you as possible. So don't do it. Buy within your means, not within your ego/pride. Good luck and best wishes!
@@Kwijiboi Even that is not always possible, some people can't afford those price either. That's typically where reliable public transportation should come in to help even the playing field across all socioeconomic groupings, and it's also where many (but not all) car-centric nations falter, especially in much of the U.S.
@@gnnascarfan2410 anyone can, and anyone that says that can't aren't willing to make decisions so that they can. There's also budgeting and saving. The idea that your budget is limited to what you make in one month is foolish. The same goes for acting as though you have to spent all of that months salary on a car. Also, that after getting a car, you don't utilize downtime to door dash or some other gig work that leverages the car to pay for itself. Give me a problem and I can come up with several solutions.Biut someone can also take a solution and come up with several excuses instead of doing it. 🤷🏻♂️
Very interesting perspective. I'm from the Philippines and we had several train lines pre-WW2 but after the war, the Americans helped rebuild our nation and several of these train lines were not restored and we became a car-centric country as well.
I honestly hate how car-centric the Philippines is, especially Manila. The traffic, the expenses for gas and for parking (especially in the business district I work in) makes it ridiculous. But it's even more ridiculous just how unfriendly to commuters the public transport system is. I'm a PWD whose disability is not so apparent, so I've always felt the brunt of the difficulty of the commute. Just getting up to the train platform is an ordeal.
@@agentrikamcgeeYep and sadly politicians and the citizens have mostly brainwashed that cars are better, thus gov for several decades build more Skyways and giant stroads in the city than building new train lines rapidly. Most train lines built were also compromised especially their station location and how low capacoty it is for how huge populatjon and still grlwing in Metro Manila. Only recently Metro Manila is getting proper high capacity Metro and commuter rail afte rseveral decades since tbe Manila Dream Plan from the 70's, which Japan actually helped designed the plan but mostly not followed. Jeepneys are king of the roads but in reality this thing should have not been stayed this too long after WW2 recovery. We relied it too much that even Filipinos concept of bus serviced skewed for generations and how publoc translorstion is perceived. This causes the perception that public transport is for poor and non-rich people and anyone who aspires to feel rich mjst have a car. This in turn the governance prioritise car infrastructure and public mass transport is mostly left to rot and stayed for decades with same system. Cebu and Davao are one of the most populous cities after Metro Manila, and still both of them dont have form of railways and traffic is getting worse. Cebu island used to have railway system but that was long forgotten. Now they are being proposed with monorails which is more of a gadgetbahn, but I guess beggars cant be choosers since sadly the government for long never understands the plight of bad transportation in the country. At least more recently this is slowly getting address but much harder and more expensive now than if we did it before.
@@Komainu959yeah Osaka has all the best food in a concentration. Okinawa was frustrating to drive around in. When I toured the mainland, I walked and took the train only.
FYI, I'm changing the title for now. I originally had it as "The Worst Traffic in Japan is not in Tokyo", I changed it to "The Worst Traffic in Japan (is America's Fault)", and it's now back to the original. I'm also liable to change it again. Too many people not actually watching the video before commenting. The content of the video is still the same, which is walkthrough of how it came to be that Okinawa has the worst traffic in Japan. It's a result of policies put in place by the U.S. after 1945 as well as inaction by the Japanese government for the past 50 years since Okinawa was reverted to Japan in 1972. I think it's an interesting case study as to how decisions made decades and decades ago can have a significant impact on the day to day lives of people right now.
it is a great anthropology video and im sorry ppl are doing this without watching. Americans & Japanese mainland together - decided the outcome for the Okinawan ppl
Honestly, I don't think the problem of people not watching the video before commenting is something you can do anything about in regards to the title. It's going to happen anyway, it always happens with every video on this site. You might as well just pick the one you like better and stick with it.
The way you described Okinawa really reminded me of LA. Horrible traffic, a ton of cars parked where they shouldn’t be ( on sidewalks), we only have light rail and our buses are never on time. LA got rid of their rapid transit buses. Thanks for this video!
LA seems to do a lot of transit mishaps, like the proposed monorail on Sepulveda. It seems they have forgotten they were even preparing for the 2028 Olympics with all those decision mistakes.
I remember traveling Japan in 2016 and after spending some time in the Osaka region and getting used to using trains for everything we went to Okinawa for a few days and were just overwhelmed and surprised at the amount of cars everywhere which you just don't see in the rest of Japan. Also including things like car parks and such. Of course there are cars in mainland Japan, but when you spend time in the big cities you start forgetting about them.
Traffic in Zurich, Switzerland can be rough, so I use the public transport a lot. Its often much faster. The city did put a lot of road restrictions in place to lower the cars in the city and it shows. Much more people are considering public transport here, but I still wish for a car-free city center.
yeah, don't see much reason why cars need to be inside the main city center. Just makes everything sluggish due to traffic lights having to change for different directions
Public transport in Zurich is great, but it could be much better if there was a metro system. Trams can get quite crowded at peak hours and their speeds are low.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 not saying you can't use stuff like carts or trolleys. You could also design the city center to be more public transport focused, with maybe bookable carriages that can be used to transport heavy goods. but will definitely need to redesign cities so they're not so congested inside.
@@Fukyouwaon Most shopping trips for me are just to get groceries. These I can get literally around almost every corner in Zurich. No need to walk far. Everything else is still accessible by car in shopping centers at the edge of the city, if needed.
Here's how I would try to reduce the traffic in Okinawa (There's nothing new here that hasn't been done in other places): 1. Create express buses with bus lanes 2. Create Light Rail (easier to implement than full rail roads). 3. Implement walking friendly architecture guidelines and land use plans. Even increasing combinis (which is happening anyway). Still should expand the monorail and implement rail lines on the larger islands.
This video reminded me of a lot of the concepts that Not Just Bikes has covered - the Downs Thomson paradox, Rotterdam, and his video on Nassau, Bahamas. I see many opportunities for growth, for example giving buses their own transit lane so they don't have to share the road with cars. The fact that people drive even to the supermarket or convenience store in Okinawa reminds us that in car dependent places, cars are used extensively, even for short trips, with 47% of all trips in the US being 3 miles or less. I wonder if the channel will transition to a Japan urbanism channel or what. Keep up the great work!
In June I was in Okinawa for a few days and we rented a car. I think a big problem for the traffic congestion is so many of the big intersections DON’T HAVE TURNING LANE SIGNALS! You have to wait FOREVER to make a right turn across traffic. I’m not sure if this is the same on the mainland because I only rode public transport there and didn’t notice, however.
Since the pandemic began, I've noticed a growing movement towards ending car centric infrastructure. One of the creators who helped spread the movement the most was Not Just Bikes. It's nice to see that you're also promoting public transport, micromobility and human-centric infrastructure. Hopefully, our movement can also spread in Japan and not just Europe and North America
Honestly though, I doubt Japan desperately needs this movement as much as Europe and, especially, North America does. The Philippines on the other hand _really_ needs this movement, they're practically the 51st state of the US at this point.
@@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk "others have it worse, so let's not talk about it, not use it as an example or do anything about it" And people wonder why nothing changes 😂
oh hell naw, if anything pandemic highlighted the importance of personal space and freedom of movement. you can keep your tyrannical leftist movements. If you want to invest in transportation invest in both, you cant ban one or the other.
You should come back to Vancouver and do a story about Gas prices in Vancouver compared to Japan and how that is pushing people onto bicycles especially ebikes. The BC government introduced a ebike rebate program of up to $1300 and that program ran out of money in 1 day and pushed 8,000 people onto a waiting list.
Buy an electric car. Wait opps, its still a car and you can't charge it cheaply in apartments due to strata stubbornness. Oh Canada, socialistic capitalism
The ebike incentives just ends up getting abused. Most people arent replacing their car or buying an ebike as their only form of transit, people just sign up so they can buy an ebike for luxury bike rides. Think about it, if someone offered you a free $1000 ebike would you take it? Most people would, but that doesnt mean most people will actually commute anywhere with it.
@@xFrozenxSnowxin Edmonton Alberta all apartments have parking space with a power outlet,,for engine block heater in winter,why cant Vancouver do the same,even instal power outlets next to parking meters !? Plenty of hydro power in BC
@@WANDERER0070 selfishness is rampant in Vancouver. Who will foot the electricity bill for people that charge their cars? Certainly not the strata! Is the mentality of people here, until they get an EV a few years later. Karma😬
@@WANDERER0070The political will doesn’t exist. No one wants to foot the bill for wealthy yuppies and the upper middle class residents who can’t afford to drop EV money. ICE cars are cheaper and generally more reliable. Most people are pragmatic with their resources, only the well off can afford to be ideological with theirs.
This is… the same problem with the Bahamas island. The small island with barely 500k population but is crippled with traffic because of poor traffic infrastructure and metro.
Super interesting topic! I have no idea Okinawa was so dependant on cars but it makes sense. You always do a wonderful job of presenting the facts without any bs. Well done as always!
Okinawa has a chance to recover by making BRT system with dedicated bus lanes just like Bogota bus express, which is a very unique for Japan as most public transit systems there are rail transit. The really good advantage is that there are already lots of roads and highways so converting some lanes to bus lanes is not a bad idea at all
Great video Greg! It seems as if Okinawa vs. Japan at large serve as a great case study to show how much worse car-centric infrastructure is than infrastructure where public transport and cycling/walking are the preferred modes of transportation.
enmorot, where did this video show anything about "how much worse" anything is? You aren't serious that you believe this video showed all the angles to the transportation issue, did you?
@@earlysda how much more do you need to see beside traffic congestion? 90% of transportation issue anywhere is traffic, and that statistics is enough to show whether it's bad or good.
@@earlysda Did you want to look at statistics analyzing the potential BMI differences? Were you expecting a dissertation on how localized emissions raises cancer rates? Are you thinking he should have included the number of fatalities caused by cars vs. trains? Did you need him to pull apart how the social lives of people changed? Or is the reality that no matter how much work he does to examine a problem associated with car centric cities, you'll never be satisfied because you think the government subsidizing you getting to drive your car is "freedom" and anybody that challenges that is challenging you directly? The sad truth is if you really did enjoy driving your car... then you'd be happy when the government spends some money on rail infrastructure because that is how you reduce traffic, which improves life for car owners.
@@thastayapongsak4422 sak, Okinawa is a fairly long island, with the population concentrated heavily in the south and especialy south west. There are less than 1.5 million residents of Okinawa. The population is getting older. Japan has had control of the islands for over 50 years now, and still sees no real need for a train system on the island. . The rail systems on the much bigger islands of Shikoku and Hokkaido are in the red. . Yes, I see much more than traffic congestion. Do you too now?
Learning this about Okinawa makes the Karate Kid movie a bit more interesting, how Mr. Miyagi was portrayed as this very traditional Japanese person yet had multiple cars and acclimated well to Los Angeles, and when they went to Okinawa in the sequels they drove everywhere.
Car centric development is the bane of urban strategizing. I love cars but only for the occasional drive to the countryside, not as a daily appliance I'm forever tied to. Not Just Bikes is a cool YT channel on such topic. Great video BTW.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 "I want other transportation options besides driving" --> "Let's force everyone into slavery in walled communities" is a pretty big leap. There isn't a semblance of reason or substance in your reply, you're obviously just knee-jerk reacting to the NJB mention.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318ah yes, because owning a car doesn't automatically force you into a cycle of expenses that must be paid otherwise you cannot partake in society. The height of freedom lol
The funny thing is, that's part of how the Interstate Highway System came to be - Eisenhower wanted to have a road network that would make moving military equipment and personnel throughout the country easier
@@chrisoneill1192 interesting. Hitler also did that in Germany with the first modern highways in the world. This includes improving public transport of course, but in general I meant that the US ignores the people bc it’s too busy using their tax money for its empire. The private car company lobbyists like Ford also paid/pay the federal government to invest in streets and highways above local transport bc they want more $. That also applies to tax companies, for keeping taxes hard to fill out so Americans need to pay them. And for big pharma and and and… America was/is built by greedy rich businessmen who want to prevent people from having nice things so we have to rely on and pay them
this is a perfect demonstration of the downs-thompson paradox which boils down to "the speed of car traffic is determined by the efficiency of other means of transport" if cycling is faster, some people will cycle, if transit is faster some people will take that which reduces car traffic. but since the car is the fastest eay of getting around here, everyone drives, which causes traffic
I found that having a car in Okinawa was fine so long as Naha was avoided. The roads were pretty quiet everywhere else. You definitely need a car to survive out there though.
I think this is easily one of your well made videos. Informative with buttery smooth aninated charts. Side comment: Hokkaido is another place where it could get quite car-friendly. If you ever wonder whether the Japanese ever buy their Toyota pickups, Sapporo is the place to visit. Not to say their public transpo sucks, but compared to other big Japanese cities, they really like their parking lots.
The public transportation system in Sapporo is very interesting. IIRC they are the only tram network in Japan with trams dedicated to clearing tracks from snow.
And Aichi, the prefecture where Toyota is based, is the most car-friendly place in Japan. Nagoya’s public transport is not bad but not as extensive as Tokyo’s and Osaka’s. It’s very clear that Toyota is the auto lobby in their prefecture, the worst example being them renaming their base city after themselves and rebuilding it in their own image of Japanese-style car-centric suburbia (stroads, parking lots, Japanese-style big boxes with enormous parking structures on top of them, not enough railways, no buses serving the city at all, etc.)
Traffic problems occur all around the world. In Manila, specifically, the traffic there is probably one of the worst out there. The Philippines is joining forces with Japan to construct more efficient transportation services for daily commuters. As far as I know, the construction of more railway trains are still in progress. Moreover, we appreciate your insights on this matter. They contain all the information we need to know about.
I'm always in awe at how comprehensive your numerical presentations are. Initially, I watch the channel because of Aiko and Shin, but I've stuck around because I like your data storytelling
Sadly, this video didn't tell the other side of the story that would have showed his numbers to tell a different story. But hey, let's make a simple youtube video that makes money, right?
Islands really need to be more efficient with land use. At least, there is density so that much can be achieved with walking as opposed to taking mechanized transport. The monorail for example is elevated. If the buildings were connected to each other and then connected to the stations at the same level, this would be very convenient.
Bingo. That is the cancer of car dependency. Once you make cars the ONLY method of travel in any given area, you are bound to have insufferable traffic congestion. More car-only planning, more traffic. Simple as that. Oh, and please do a collab video with Not Just Bikes! He would love this "orange-pilled" video!
@@Kizarat Obesity and junk food is freedom, healthy bodies and healthy food is communist /s
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The other problem, is while historically they made room for cars, in a number of places, there appears to be a fear of making room for anything that isn't a car. I am not suggesting replacing cars, but making it easier to use the alternatives. I also wonder how quickly people would want to see change in Okinawa if the fuel subsidies were to disappear?
Living in Okinawa this is a daily reality for me. Did you consider making a Japanese version of this Video for Okinawan locals to inform themselves? In my opinion the most important thing for change to happen here is that locals realize what the issue is and how to solve it. Endlessly extending the Route 58 e.g. won't solve the issue. The 58 already has 8 lanes (10 including turn lanes) in some parts of the island and traffic is still stuck... however, local politicians still seem to be campaigning for road widening.
There is a plan to extend the monorail all the way to Nago, but Futenma has to close first as that will be the site of a major station with ample parking and such. Road widening is the best they can do short term...and it has helped. Traffic was way worse 10 years ago especially in the Rycom area. The new road through Kitanakagusuku has helped significantly too.
@@iambor1393 More lanes do help in Okinawa though. When there are only two lanes and the left lane is blocked by stopped buses, taxis, and people otherwise using that lane as a parking spot and people waiting to turn are blocking the right lane because there is no turn lane, having an extra lane or two to help keep traffic moving helps so much.
@@MarkDuncan1 Good road design would probably help a lot more than just widening them or adding even more bypasses. At least in the south-east (around Nishihara, Haebaru, Nanjo, etc.). Way too many entrances and exits along the main roads, the lack of roundabouts (and the overuse of stoplights) make for some terribly inefficient roads. People having to block traffic to wait for their opportunity to turn right is bad design. Having people do U-turns at stoplights is bad design. Having tens of entrances/exits within walking distance of each other on the main roads is also bad design. I get that they can't rip up everything right away, but when they design new roads or update old ones they really should think twice before building. Is it reasonable that traffic should grind down to a halt whenever someone wants to turn (both left and right)? Is it reasonable to allow taxis and delivery drivers to stop anywhere on major roads? The cities should remove (almost) all entrances and exits on the main roads (such as: 58, 329, 330, 331). It makes driving worse (congestion, disrupts the flow of traffic), it makes walking worse (cars turning without looking, and having the path look like a sine wave with all the entrances), it makes cycling worse (cars turning without looking). Put the entrances on a side street rather than on what should be a place to take people from point A to B smoothly.
@@MarkDuncan1more lanes helps at exit points, but create traffic at entry points. And not to forget that 5 lanes is not possible everywhere, so when they go back to the typical 3 that will create traffic while merging lanes.
@@kuro9410_ilust Do you guys get your entire understanding of urban planning from Not Just Bikes, I really wish people had a more comprehensive understand of urban development beyond "Cars bad I am so smart".
I live in Okinawa (been here about 15 years now). The traffic during Golden Week is insane and I usually plan to stock up on some things and stay home during that time. Funny enough, traffic used to be a lot worse here about 10 years ago. Some recent infrastructure projects in central Okinawa have helped a lot. About needing to own a car here, yeah, it's pretty necessary. I have a friend who recently moved here and works at a hotel in Chatan. She doesn't have a car or bike yet and life has been incredibly difficult for her. Oh and that gas tax break doesn't really mean much when we still end up paying the same or somewhat more than Tokyo. The tax break seems to benefit the gas companies more than regular people. We even host Saudi oil here and the only thing we got out of it was a causeway.
My country also suffers from this and is looking forward to invest on trains. Unfortunately, corruption as well as societal mentality hinders the project's success
I was recently in Okinawa for the first time for a few days. I have to say I was quite shocked at how bad the public transport was. Almost every major tourist sight requires a significant drive to get to. I actually had to cut down quite alot on my planned sight seeing. I also didn't like cramming myself on to the second Monorail to arrive (because the first was full) to go to the airport. Unlike everywhere else I've been in Japan, I don't plan on heading back.
Thank you for doing a video on this topic! Transportation and urban design are two topics that greatly interest me so I'm happy to see your take on this. So educational too!
Okinawa reminds me of Hawaii in so many ways and traffic is one of them. If you don’t drive, it’s like wow how are you going to get to places? We have the bus and that tiny completed portion of the rail, but it isn’t enough and efficient for everyone especially if you don’t live around places that have bus stops and routes. So we all end up getting in our cars to get to places. Just thinking about westbound H1 traffic at 5pm gives me the shivers. Getting your license and your own car is kinda like a rite of passage of becoming a teen/adult, that’s how normalized the car-centric society is here. It can’t be helped but I wish we weren’t so reliant on cars auwe
Yep live in Hawaii as well. I have been lucky enough to travel all over and public transit is awesome (just the savings vs renting a car!). But I doubt it will ever become the norm in Hawaii unless the bus/rail gets built out far more robustly than it is now. Maps says to get from my home to Aloha Stadium is 13 minutes by car. 48 minutes by bus/rail. Nobody is gonna grab public transport if the option of a car is available. Just the time saved, never mind how hot it is currently, maybe you gotta stand in the rain, etc. Besides at 500+ million per mile rail isn't going anywhere either.
The Okinawa transit system sounds just like the one they are trying to create in western WA, it’s only good if you want to go to 1 or 2 specific places.
I think the main issue with a rail system in Okinawa is it can't really be above ground. A lot of the urban area is dense so the government will get a lot of backlash if they invoke eminent domain. Heck, the Yui Rail mostly goes over main roads. In addition the island is really hilly. There isn't much flat land outside of Kadena and Ginowan (which conveniently is where the air fields are) They could try to go with a subway system, but I worry about the issue of flooding since Okinawa gets a lot of rain.
This sounds exactly like the issues we have in parts of the US. We have buses and a railway where I live, but the railway only goes to very specific locations by the coastline and the subway is 30 min away by car and an hour away by bus. It’s nearly impossible to work a job and go to school without a car.
I was there in April and the traffic was horrible. Not comparison the likes of Bangkok or Jakarta but during rush hour took my 35 minutes to get to a place where it only took 10 mins during non peak hours!
I can tell you first hand that some of your commentary is incorrect. Futenma is still there but to say that nothing has happened since 2012 is incorrect. They have been building the railroad network for a while as well and 2 new bases to relocate the military far and away from general public. It's about a year away from completion, currently the flightlines are being built to house the aircrafts. Camp Hansen and Camp Schwab. They were never going to leave the island but it's good progress so they can be far away from populated areas. That 1 hr railroad to Nago is still happening 🎉
Please do more health and economic comparisons with America like this, its amazing. Hopefully information like this can make small, impactful and beneficial changes! Partner a video with Not Just Bikes!!!!
Hey what a coincidence, I just returned from a trip from Okinawa! I do feel that out of all the places I visited in Japan, Okinawa is the place where I feel like I’m missing out the most due to not being able to rent a car. Buses do exist and fairly reliable, but they’re way slower than trains/cars on long distance. For example it took me 5 hours of roundtrip journey from my hotel in Kokusai-Dori to the aquarium, I feel like I could really do with that proposed train line. Also I didn’t know that the US held the place until 1972, no wonder that I couldn’t help but keep thinking to myself about how Americanised some parts of Okinawa look, with it’s big roads and parking spaces, I thought those were just affected by the presence of bases there. Transport limitations aside, I tried to make the most of my trip and I did thoroughly enjoyed my short time there. Thanks for making this video, Greg! It’s only a week and you already making me miss Okinawa 😂
176km over unlevel terrain roundtrip from Kokusai Dori to the aquarium. and here you are complaining about it taking 5 hours? Incredible. Please learn about real life soon.
Man, Okinawa just makes me sad. Like, not only it was occupied by the US for a time (still has a large US military presence)... but also Japan itself. Ryukyu Islands used to be independent. This is basically a Hawaii situation but even worse.
I've been wanting to move to Japan, and on my mind was 'I wanna live somewhere warm'. This, however, ruins the idea that the place I'd settle would be in Okinawa. I'm trying to flee the stroad-and-strip-mall landscape of the US because Japan seems to be a lot more walkable. Thanks for the valuable warning. When it comes to zoning laws and transport, don't listen to the USA. Source: am American
Okinawa has enough side roads and highways that aren't particularly busy, on weekday afternoons. Car traffic in Tokyo is brutal, you're bumper to bumper at all times except about 1am-6am. But there's multiple transportation alternatives in Tokyo vs only a few in Okinawa
I've looked through google maps at smaller cities on mainland Japan, and where you have ~300k population cities, it seems like they have between 1 or maybe 2 local rail lines, but most places in these small cities are too far to be really served by them. I don't have any experience with these places on the ground, but it seems like this isn't just an Okinawa thing. I like to praise Japan for its public transit like many other people, but there are definitely plenty of places that are under-served. Yoriyama is one example I can find right away, where half the city has freeways cutting through it, also that place has a toy'r'us for any 90s kids that are nostalgic for that. Maybe people make great use of buses there because I can't really tell from just google maps!
The population of all of Japan is like 300 million. What cities were you looking at? Okinawa has a population of around 1.5 million plus an absolute ton of tourists. I live here and the traffic situation seriously sucks.
Effective Public transport is impossible in Okinawa because everyone drive cars. Everyone drive cars because there is no efficient public transportation system. That means it’s stalemate.
Where i live, public transport is not safe. People get assaulted all the time and the criminals are often released because "they have mental health issues". Several of my coworkers have been attacked trying to get to work. Infrastructure is only one part of the equation in many cases. Yes, the bus goes 15 miles out of the way for me to get to work. Yes, it would take me 2 hours to commute by bus when it would take 15 mins to commute by car. But the reason i actually prefer to drive vs bus, is because its not safe and the government doesnt take commuters safety or mental health seriously. (If You live in a city where theres constant assaults, people camping and blocking walkways, bad lighting, getting followed home by homeless people at night. And then tell me it isnt bad for YOUR mental health) I wish i lived somewhere that had the options japan has. But i also with i lived somewhere even 1/8 as safe as japan.
I think a good solution can be making a thoroughly planned, progressive introduction of city bus system to replace cars. Also scooter and bike usage can also help to avoid the traffic congestion.
Which is the problem, you cannot just relocate everyone to a new place, and expect people’s way of life to remain unchanged. I have not, in my recent memory, remember any urban renewal plans being executed successfully, where a huge amount of people have to be relocated in order to fix a major urban design issue.
It's hard not to be moved by how good Tokyo public transportation is. If you like Tokyo, but aren't into urban design, the city makes you rethink so much about how things should be. Especially as an American. This is a great piece on how the American approach to urban design has largely failed, and is slowly being rethought.
It's just where I live in the states its not one car per family its one car per person by the time they finish high school. There are buses but they are so inconvenient that it is impossible to run errands and get to work quickly, and the train is even less convenient for daily travel.
During COVID, my husband and I reevaluated our housing and commute. While we loved our cars, our commute was a major negative in our lives as we spent 30 to 60 minutes twice a day driving. Neither of us wanted to go back to this, so we moved and downsized our cars. We are lucky to make these changes, but we hope things will change away from the American model.
People only drive cars and never experience really good transportation will always think cars are the most convenient way of transportation but absolutely hate traffic but just accepts it as a way of life. Most of America has a car centric culture except for the north east which has really good rail systems. NYC, Boston, Washington DC metro systems are the best in US and many people who live in these metro areas don’t need a car to get around. It’s so obvious that a great mass transit system is the solution to traffic when looking at NYC alone. But that city was built from the ground up for rail mass transit. It had trains before the Automobile was mainstream and people were still using horses. When you build a city that is designed for cars. Retrofitting rail into those cities is hard and will not be able to serve everyone. People in car dependent regions will always need a car to get around. Sad but true.
At the very least I'd say Okinawa has a much better chance of actually normalize public transportation over car than say California and New York. You can't convince me to use public transportation here over my own car after hearing horror stories from my coworkers who decided to use the limited metro system that we do have here in LA 😅
@DerUnbekannte oh yeah it is. What I meant to convey was that it's easier to make changes or improvement to the public transportation in Japan than it does here. Sorry for the confusion.
@@LifeWhereImFromit’s getting so ridiculous it’s integrating into culture wars, and now transit/walkability is being more equated to ‘Orwellian’ 15 min city. It’s so stupid that something which should be good in both aisles is getting politicized just because leftists embraced it first.
It's pretty disheartening that even Japan hasn't been able to undo car dependency in Okinawa as someone who lives in the US, where I'm guessing there are far fewer regulations to clear than here. Not saying that all of the US needs Tokyo level public transportation, but it would be amazing to have in more populous areas. Speaking as someone living in Silicon Valley suburbia. At least we are JUST starting to build out walkable mixed-use neighborhoods. Also, definitely thought I clicked on a Not Just Bikes video.
interesting and a bit sad to see that okinawa has become so america-fied (and canada) with their reliance on cars. pretty crazy that the locals say they don't walk at all considering what's common in tokyo and other large metropolitan hubs in japan. great video greg, i learned a lot. also, that jet lag series seems interesting. i will check it out
What's pretty sad is that America is getting blamed for this. Some fun facts- America occupied and was in charge of all of Japan from 1947-1952 and was responsible for the rebuild of war torn Japan. They also funded this to the tune of over 2 billion dollars back then. That total is more than Japan paid out in reparations for the damages it did during WW2. So if America is at fault for Okinawa which has been completely under the rule of Japan for fifty years does America get the credit for the rest of Japan since they went on to become the second largest economy in the world? Also- how come Japan can spend so much to create the next gen bullet train from Tokyo but doesn't mandate basic improvement to the Ryūkyū Kingdom...oh sorry....Okinawa...I always use the occupiers name for that land. Have to remember that Japan doesn't like Ryūkyū just like China doesn't like the use of Taiwan.
@@Komainu959 You blame the japanese government. But who formed the said government? Who shaped LDP, the party which has been in power since ww2, with the exception of a few years.
The very disadvantage as a foreign tourist in Okinawa. The severe lack of train lines makes it a real hassle to move around Okinawa island. Outside of Naha that is (because of the Monorail). There are some highway bus connections, but they are sparse and highly undependable. The matter is worse if you are from one of a few countries like Germany (due to the Vienna conventions), where you specifically have the necessity of having your local drivers licence translated into Japanese by the JAF or its foreign counterparts, to even be allowed to rent and drive a car in Japan.
I'm a lifelong New Yorker, so admittedly I do take the woes of car dependency for granted. Yes this is an interesting video but PLEASE avoid the temptation to turn into another "urban policy" RUclips channel. I understand urban policy is a part of your channel, but we don't need another "CaRs BaD amirite" (and yes they are bad lol) RUclips channel. Anyways very interesting video.
still over 60% of traffic, nationwide, is done by personal vehicle. and living in the more rural area of Hyogo Prefecture, I can definitely attest to that. My coworkers find it wild that I cycle to work everyday for about 40 mins instead of getting a scooter or car.
All of Japan was occupied and under American control from 1947 to 1952. The rebuild of war torn Japan was overseen by the US and funded by the US. It led to Japan becoming the second largest economy in the world. Did Japan ever have to repay the US? Nope. Thanks America!
@@bassyey They're not Japanese. The US should never have returned the Ryūkyū KIngdom to Japan and should have aided them to restore their rightful kingdom as they petitioned after the war.
Very nice video as always! One question though, was the slide at 9:15 made out of concrete? That might be the biggest problem the prefecture has lmao. As said, very good video and greetings from Finland!
@@Demopans5990Rightfully so. NY has insisted on letting its mass transit infrastructure stagnate and sometimes straight deteriorate in parts of the boroughs. People need a means to get around the city and earn. If people are serious about car dependency we need to figure how to decentralize access to resources and opportunities. Make it so that people don’t have to travel into the city for income.
Problems with trying to fix traffic in a car-dependence city are that its very difficult because an alternative is not recognized by the people because most of them have never seen any other alternative to driving in a car, that's why even if you build good public transport they'd still use the car despite going by bus and rail a far more financially, environmentally and economically healthier way to go around.
I think public transport could work well there as they have more than enough population density which is the largest hurdle for any kind of public transport since they are almost all government subsidized industry.
As you already know, Toronto faces the same issues. While downtown Toronto has great public transit, it is still not enough to handle the growing population across GTA. Traffic on highways is terrible even though many of the GO Trains have lot of empty seats. Pooling is getting popular but still 90% of vehicles on road have just one rider.
ahh, a fellow torontoian, you forgot to mention about the legendary highway that takes 1 hour to get from Toronto TO Toronto, and the Don Valley Parking lot. As for transit, The downtown are is great like you said, but once you head to North York or Scarborough region (possibly Etobicoke too,) especially the more northern regions, it becomes a nightmare. lets not mention the YRT is a absolute dumpsterfire.
where i live in north america people also make similar claims that there isn't room for dedicated bus lanes... but the thing people always love to say about cars is that they're great because they can drive wherever and because of that you can make room for bus lanes by just closing streets to cars and letting cars figure out some other route. some people might say that's impossible because it will just slow down cars even more, however the magical thing is that if it does then that just encourages people to use the new dedicated bus routes which decreases car traffic and fixes the problem. as long as you actually have a useable public transportation system its a self solving issue. the cities of okinawa also seem to be very tiny in terms of land area so they seem great for active transportation. i know its hot there but considering that even places like texas or california have had some success encouraging biking i don't think its that ridiculous of an idea. plus if you get rid of the barren wastelands of asphalt that cars need and put some good tree cover you could probably see temperatures drop by even 10 degrees.
okinawa was big enough for trains in the early 1900s but isn't now? okinawa city and naha are both reasonably large city and about 20 or 30 km apart sounds obvious and amazing to connect those via train. trains are good for within cities not just for between cities so even if there was only 1 city that wouldn't be a good argument. these are all good reasons for using trains but probably most important is that there are people there who recognize that their lives are being negatively impacted by a lack of public transit and are asking for more trains.
@@dorkichiban dork, The Japanese govt. has had control of Okinawa for over 50 years now, and has not seen a compelling need for a rail system there. . That fact alone makes your assertion, and this video, superfluous.
I remember living on Okinawa in the early to mid 1980's when my dad was stationed there. Traffic back then was bad. I can only imagine how bad it is now. I am glad the Yui Rail is doing so well.
I came to Okinawa in the early 2000's. Traffic still sucks here, but it was worse 10-15 years ago. Many of the new roads that have been built have helped a lot. It used to take forever to get from the west side of the island to the east side in the central area, but it's so much better now. I remember in 2005 spending nearly an hour to get from Awase Meadows golf course (now Rycom Mall) down through the love hotels in to Awase. I do not miss that.
It got worse especially around Chatan which is near Kadena like highway exits werent even an issue before get jammed. Even midday like 1pm, there is a traffic for no reason. Central Okinawa became too popular for tourists and many migrants from the mainland. Depopulation of Japan is only happening outside of this tiny island and Tokyo. It’s sad to see how it’s turning.
Now that I think about it, I don't rememer seeing one roundabout/traffic circle my entire time I lived in Japan. They don't have the space for them. Most roads are only two lanes with no room for designated turn lanes, so it makes sense that traffic backs up the way it does.
I get even more of a sense of Tokyo seemingly having a superiority complex over the rest of Japan after seeing this video. Displaying stat after stat as if Tokyo is the gold standard that can do no wrong, while the rest of the country is beneath them. I wonder, even with the traffic backups, if Okinawans total average weekly commute times (for everything including errands and leisure) are actually longer than Tokyoites?
Have you interacted with the average Tokyoite? They scoff at and despise foreigners more than any other prefecture too. Their reputation is well-earned.
JR massively expanded in ridership, new lines and quality even more so after it was privatized. The implication at 2:00 is that the expansion only occurred during the time before privatization.
In the city I live in Australia a street was converted into a pedestrian mall but a local car dealer complained bitterly and said it would be the end of the world and cars were needed to "liven things up".
![Eminem - Fuel (feat. JID) [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/t5H_CewqpKA/mqdefault.jpg)
Get Nebula for $2.50 a month go.nebula.tv/lifewhereimfrom. Sorry I haven't uploaded for a while. I was having issues with my eyes and had to take some doctor ordered break. Doing good now, so I trust uploads will be back to a couple a month. - Greg
Welcome back
Good to hear you're doing better. Take good care of yourself.
Take care so that you can keep doing these great videos!
I don't they do BRT?
Take care Greg👍
After living just outside of Tokyo and rarely driving my car for many years, and then visiting Okinawa, I never connected why getting around was so frustrating.
There’s a reason why, channels like, Not Just Bikes, and Urban Design channel, are increasingly vocal in the way that American urban design is very bad for social health. Of course, the American exceptionalism fans screamed and shouted at the idea that the American way of life, especially in terms of urban design, is not fit for building a healthy and conducive society.
this is why american urban planning are a plague
@@FiredAndIcedwhich is hilarious considering this American way of life has only been for half of all Americans since only 1965. Out of like 4-5 centuries, only 10-20% of that time has been car oriented.
We were gaslit to forget nearly every American city used to be walkable. I learned a month ago my city used to have a big train terminal which shut down in the 70’s.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318It’s a problem because cars are a very inefficient use of space in compact cities. The need for acres and acres of parking lots take up valuable land, same goes for the 12 lane mega freeways that cut through the city. And simply sprawling out makes cities go bankrupt because the dense urban core has to subsidize the suburbs.
@@helios2664absolutely, parking lots and big streets make cities look so… I don’t how to explain it depressing.
It would be interesting to see a comparison on the overall health of Okinawa residents vs. the rest of urban Japan considering how much more likely people are to drive than to walk and use transit
Okinawan's are famous for how long they live. But with the more recent lifestyles, yeah, I wonder how it would compare.
@@LifeWhereImFrom When looking at the new average life expectancy reports by prefecture, okinawa is unfortunately not doing so great anymore. While the women are still doing fine (average 87.60 okinawa (place 16/49) 87.88 Okayama (best) 88.29), okinawan men are accually one of the worst (avarage 81.49 okinawa (place 43/47) 80.73 Shiga (Best) 82.73).
same, but with lung health specifically, as an American anytime i walk i notice my lungs are way worse than driving with the windows up.
Look at American we have higher obesity rate, we’re less connected because car cut you off form everyone else you can interact with, worst mental health as traffic cause stress, cost more as car will break down and need repair form time to time, also in America you need car for everything to the park , store, malls, even convenience store aren’t in walking distance making thing difficult also form an infrastructural more experience maintain than rails or cost more in that more cars mean more wear and tear on roads but in America we got car lobbyists who don’t want this because people will buy less cars or buy less gas as they won’t use their cars as much also car and oil lobbyists is the reason why where car centric
Yes, they have 80 and 90-year-olds, but you also need to consider that these populations are in their twenties and thirties in the 1950 and 60s, and they are basically living the Japanese old style of living around that time... compare that to the health statistics of the new population who grew up in the 90s and 00s.. you will be shocked that their health declined
As someone who lives in Okinawa this is literally the number 1 complaint we all have that there is no train. Always having to drive everywhere really sucks and even short journeys get congested really quickly. Especially when where I used to live (UK) I cycled everywhere because it was a reasonable distance to everything.
Low population density is probably part of the reason why there is no train. The next step is light rail.
You have to understand that these projects cost a lot of money to build and a lot of time and more traffic disruptions will occur during construction.
Then, you need to maintain the system, the train cars, and the staff. It's not certain there will be enough users to keep it from being a boondoggle.
I think BRT is the way to go, using BRT to help them figure out where light rail lines should be considered, but economics is always the biggest factor.
If it could be done for free overnight, every govt will say yes. There are reasons to why it hasn't happened.
Okinawa government is corrupt, so no fund for public transportation.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318
It’s all systemic problems, there are no individual problems or solutions.
@@Kwijiboiwe had rail in America with way fewer people and designed densely to begin with. And you can always retroactively densify or pedestrianize certain roads.
@@Kwijiboi The reason it hasn't happened is because the American Military occupy the island, despites years of protest of wanting the Americans to leave, they are stubborn to do so and force Okinawans to abide to their demands because they claim it is "essential" to the protection of the land. While they they don't control the island now their influence have lingered in the culture. The low density and the cost excuse is pretty flawed when you realize a couple things. The projects can be focused in the cities where it has the most density, This idea that trains are gonna be everywhere operating at every time is nonsensical. The majority of the population live in urban areas so of course they need it the most. Especially since that's where traffic is at its worst. Another thing, when compared to highways and car maintenance, trains will always be much cheaper in the longer term. Yes for now to build the infrastructure, it will be expensive but trains but so were the roads when they were constructed. Displacing thousands to make room for cars, hell the US is a good example of this, a lot of interstates weren't completed because of thousands would have to relocate without any financial aid by the government despite them demanding home owners to leave. And it destroyed a lot of the infrastructure of cities, Houston in the 70s was just giant parking lot rather than a city. Also train infrastructure have longer longevity and cheaper maintenance. It literally pays for itself as public transit makes a profit while private ownership of a vehicle does not pay for the roads. You have to rebuild roads every 10-15 years because the weight of the cars are very destructive. And speaking of destructive, lets not even get started how much more dangerous cars are. In the US more children are killed more by cars than guns.
Owning a car should not be a prerequisite for people to be able to participate in society
It is not a prerequisite. You may think it is but it is not. What you meant to say was a car should not be a prerequisite to obtain high status or the status you want or expect.
But it is because without it am unable to get to work (where I live I can't and don't have public transportation to use) including grocery ... So it is for some people depending on where you live in the world.
Seeing this video after getting into a car accident in one of the most car dependent cities in the US makes me so sad. I wouldn’t feel as down on myself (as it’s compounding on other things in my life) as I do if my city weren’t so car dependent.
@@jesuslovespotatoes it is a prerequisite when there is barely any other decent alternative option, like most US cities.
It isn’t. Show us where it is a law?
This is really interesting. Almost like a science experiment to show how much the car changes everything culturally, economically, etc.
Are you against computers?
@@jesuslovespotatoesI'm against overdependence on computers, where people let AI and algorithms do tasks without applying critical thinking, just like how I'm against overdependence on cars, where everyone drives everywhere even when it's inefficient and unnecessary
@@jesuslovespotatoes I fail to see the relevance or logic of that question.
@@littlsuprstr He’s a troll, don’t reply to him. when the video is questioning why Okinawa seems to be economically behind, and it’s because of America’s decision to build infrastructure that does not cater to locals, he decided to ask a divergent question, to seemingly divert attention away from the fact that America’s policies after World War II has made Okinawa very economically and viable, and forced the Japanese government to be Utterly dependent on American power projections.
@@jesuslovespotatoeswhat? op is clearly saying that this is a good case study in traffic. computers are great and all, but if we want to make real solutions, we have to look at real problems and analyse them
as soon as I saw the title for this on nebula, I instantly thought to myself "... it's Okinawa isn't it?" I never knew that Okinawa was so car dependent, it's a shame they weren't able to implement efficient public transport like most of Japan. Glad to see all the Okinawa videos you've been making!
Maybe you don't know much about rural areas in Japan? It's more and more necessary, with all the train line closings, to own a car. Of course Japanese aren't having kids much anymore, so it's not a problem for a huge number of people.
@@earlysdasad. As long as car owners pay the full cost of roads and the negative externalities (look it up) of gasoline, then it’s ok. But that happens nowhere, car transport and sprawl is always subsidized.
There is a pretty similar situation in Caribbean Netherlands. While European part of The Netherlands set the platinum standard for urbanism and transit system (well, maybe for the slight exception that is Rotterdam), their Caribbean territories (Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and others) were following the US way of urban planning (read: urban hellhole) with all the apparent consequences.
@@dekaredfire deka likes to show his lack of knowledge out in public.
That's actually common these days.
Rural areas... and if one person lives in Sahara desert, he needs to own a camel. This is not a n issue that should concern the entirety of Egypt, because public transportation is supported by a POPULATION of individuals. But with weak talking points, it always boils donw to anti-individualism on the excuse that minorities of individuals create different circumstances with their life choices.
As a Taiwanese, I'm quite curious why they don't consider electric scooters as an alternative. They're much more compact (and cheaper) then even K cars, and the Okinawan islands isn't really so big that you need a proper car to get around.
As for the buses, dedicated lanes will help a LOT. It's going to be unpopular as it takes lanes from cars, but keeping the buses fast are essential to convincing people out of their cars, and eventually reduce congestion.
I think there's some kind of stigma of two wheeled vehicles = poor person out there. At such low speeds, there's no point driving a car regardless
Yeah, it was interesting visiting Taipei and seeing all the scooters. I'll have a video out on that when I can get it edited. On some roads they could do dedicated lanes, but there are also small two-lane ones where traffic is backed up (like the one I was walking along filming) and there's no space to do so. But is it a matter where if you were to get dedicated lanes in enough places where you can you could see significant enough improvements?
eSccoters and eBikes seem to be good options for individual mobility tbh, esp cargo bikes
Having just visited Taiwan I was impressed about the amount of dedicated infrastructure for scooters and the solutions for swap out batteries. Mind you, while in Taipei there was public transport, cycle options and scooter ramps, I did get the feeling that at many junctions pedestrians were still second class to the car. Also from what I understand it takes about 30 minutes to go from Taipei to the east coast by car, but 1 hour in public transport.
@@LifeWhereImFromthe many two-lane roads isn't necessarily a obstacle to dedicated bus-lanes.
But you have to take the bigger picture and ask yourself if such a narrow road is fit for such a heavy traffic. Starting by contraflow lanes might already help a bit.
Car dependence changed the entire fabric of society in my country. But I'd say the biggest impact is culturally. People lowkey expect you to have a car even if you don't have the proper finances to do so. And that's where the very low but deceptive downpayments also come in.
Buy a used car. No payments, very cheap and reliable too.
Payments are not deceptive. It is abundantly clear - they will do what they can to get as much money out of you as possible. So don't do it.
Buy within your means, not within your ego/pride.
Good luck and best wishes!
@@Kwijiboi Even that is not always possible, some people can't afford those price either. That's typically where reliable public transportation should come in to help even the playing field across all socioeconomic groupings, and it's also where many (but not all) car-centric nations falter, especially in much of the U.S.
@@Kwijiboi Poor person has 1,000 dollars per month “You should buy a used car”.
Great, good luck getting a quality used car for $1,000.
@@Kwijiboinot buying a car stays nearly systematically the better option if your neighborhood allows it.
@@gnnascarfan2410 anyone can, and anyone that says that can't aren't willing to make decisions so that they can.
There's also budgeting and saving. The idea that your budget is limited to what you make in one month is foolish. The same goes for acting as though you have to spent all of that months salary on a car. Also, that after getting a car, you don't utilize downtime to door dash or some other gig work that leverages the car to pay for itself.
Give me a problem and I can come up with several solutions.Biut someone can also take a solution and come up with several excuses instead of doing it.
🤷🏻♂️
Very interesting perspective. I'm from the Philippines and we had several train lines pre-WW2 but after the war, the Americans helped rebuild our nation and several of these train lines were not restored and we became a car-centric country as well.
And Filipina gdp percapital lower than Vietnam now😂.
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa interestingly Vietnam has underfunded railways as well. Instead of cars, their roads are full of motorcycles and mopeds.
I honestly hate how car-centric the Philippines is, especially Manila. The traffic, the expenses for gas and for parking (especially in the business district I work in) makes it ridiculous.
But it's even more ridiculous just how unfriendly to commuters the public transport system is. I'm a PWD whose disability is not so apparent, so I've always felt the brunt of the difficulty of the commute. Just getting up to the train platform is an ordeal.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318troll
@@agentrikamcgeeYep and sadly politicians and the citizens have mostly brainwashed that cars are better, thus gov for several decades build more Skyways and giant stroads in the city than building new train lines rapidly. Most train lines built were also compromised especially their station location and how low capacoty it is for how huge populatjon and still grlwing in Metro Manila.
Only recently Metro Manila is getting proper high capacity Metro and commuter rail afte rseveral decades since tbe Manila Dream Plan from the 70's, which Japan actually helped designed the plan but mostly not followed.
Jeepneys are king of the roads but in reality this thing should have not been stayed this too long after WW2 recovery. We relied it too much that even Filipinos concept of bus serviced skewed for generations and how publoc translorstion is perceived. This causes the perception that public transport is for poor and non-rich people and anyone who aspires to feel rich mjst have a car. This in turn the governance prioritise car infrastructure and public mass transport is mostly left to rot and stayed for decades with same system.
Cebu and Davao are one of the most populous cities after Metro Manila, and still both of them dont have form of railways and traffic is getting worse. Cebu island used to have railway system but that was long forgotten.
Now they are being proposed with monorails which is more of a gadgetbahn, but I guess beggars cant be choosers since sadly the government for long never understands the plight of bad transportation in the country. At least more recently this is slowly getting address but much harder and more expensive now than if we did it before.
When I moved from Tokyo to Okinawa, I gained 15 pounds. The only thing that really changed is that I got a car when I moved to Okinawa.
Weird, when I moved from Okinawa to Osaka I gained weight. Might be because I lived 20 feet from a 7/11 and ate way too many late night snacks.
@@Komainu959yeah Osaka has all the best food in a concentration.
Okinawa was frustrating to drive around in. When I toured the mainland, I walked and took the train only.
Why are you using pounds? Is that another flawed system the US enforce on Okinawa? Their primitive system of measurements.
FYI, I'm changing the title for now. I originally had it as "The Worst Traffic in Japan is not in Tokyo", I changed it to "The Worst Traffic in Japan (is America's Fault)", and it's now back to the original. I'm also liable to change it again. Too many people not actually watching the video before commenting. The content of the video is still the same, which is walkthrough of how it came to be that Okinawa has the worst traffic in Japan. It's a result of policies put in place by the U.S. after 1945 as well as inaction by the Japanese government for the past 50 years since Okinawa was reverted to Japan in 1972. I think it's an interesting case study as to how decisions made decades and decades ago can have a significant impact on the day to day lives of people right now.
it is a great anthropology video and im sorry ppl are doing this without watching. Americans & Japanese mainland together - decided the outcome for the Okinawan ppl
Honestly, I don't think the problem of people not watching the video before commenting is something you can do anything about in regards to the title. It's going to happen anyway, it always happens with every video on this site. You might as well just pick the one you like better and stick with it.
Hey, if you don't want people to make kneejerk reactions to the title, then pick a better title first try next time!
@@KwadDamyj so people being dumb is his fault now? I dont think so.
@@KwadDamyjshut it, America’s “idea of liberty” In Okinawa is as good as your toilet wipes.
The way you described Okinawa really reminded me of LA. Horrible traffic, a ton of cars parked where they shouldn’t be ( on sidewalks), we only have light rail and our buses are never on time. LA got rid of their rapid transit buses. Thanks for this video!
LA seems to do a lot of transit mishaps, like the proposed monorail on Sepulveda. It seems they have forgotten they were even preparing for the 2028 Olympics with all those decision mistakes.
@@ianhomerpura8937At least they are installing lots of protected bicycle infrastructure.
I remember traveling Japan in 2016 and after spending some time in the Osaka region and getting used to using trains for everything we went to Okinawa for a few days and were just overwhelmed and surprised at the amount of cars everywhere which you just don't see in the rest of Japan.
Also including things like car parks and such. Of course there are cars in mainland Japan, but when you spend time in the big cities you start forgetting about them.
That sounds like a dream.
Traffic in Zurich, Switzerland can be rough, so I use the public transport a lot. Its often much faster. The city did put a lot of road restrictions in place to lower the cars in the city and it shows. Much more people are considering public transport here, but I still wish for a car-free city center.
yeah, don't see much reason why cars need to be inside the main city center. Just makes everything sluggish due to traffic lights having to change for different directions
Public transport in Zurich is great, but it could be much better if there was a metro system. Trams can get quite crowded at peak hours and their speeds are low.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 not saying you can't use stuff like carts or trolleys.
You could also design the city center to be more public transport focused, with maybe bookable carriages that can be used to transport heavy goods.
but will definitely need to redesign cities so they're not so congested inside.
Car-free city center = drag shopping bags around the city. No thanks!
@@Fukyouwaon Most shopping trips for me are just to get groceries. These I can get literally around almost every corner in Zurich. No need to walk far. Everything else is still accessible by car in shopping centers at the edge of the city, if needed.
Here's how I would try to reduce the traffic in Okinawa (There's nothing new here that hasn't been done in other places): 1. Create express buses with bus lanes 2. Create Light Rail (easier to implement than full rail roads). 3. Implement walking friendly architecture guidelines and land use plans. Even increasing combinis (which is happening anyway). Still should expand the monorail and implement rail lines on the larger islands.
This video reminded me of a lot of the concepts that Not Just Bikes has covered - the Downs Thomson paradox, Rotterdam, and his video on Nassau, Bahamas. I see many opportunities for growth, for example giving buses their own transit lane so they don't have to share the road with cars. The fact that people drive even to the supermarket or convenience store in Okinawa reminds us that in car dependent places, cars are used extensively, even for short trips, with 47% of all trips in the US being 3 miles or less. I wonder if the channel will transition to a Japan urbanism channel or what. Keep up the great work!
very interesting.
In June I was in Okinawa for a few days and we rented a car. I think a big problem for the traffic congestion is so many of the big intersections DON’T HAVE TURNING LANE SIGNALS! You have to wait FOREVER to make a right turn across traffic. I’m not sure if this is the same on the mainland because I only rode public transport there and didn’t notice, however.
Since the pandemic began, I've noticed a growing movement towards ending car centric infrastructure. One of the creators who helped spread the movement the most was Not Just Bikes. It's nice to see that you're also promoting public transport, micromobility and human-centric infrastructure. Hopefully, our movement can also spread in Japan and not just Europe and North America
Honestly though, I doubt Japan desperately needs this movement as much as Europe and, especially, North America does. The Philippines on the other hand _really_ needs this movement, they're practically the 51st state of the US at this point.
@@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk "others have it worse, so let's not talk about it, not use it as an example or do anything about it"
And people wonder why nothing changes 😂
oh hell naw, if anything pandemic highlighted the importance of personal space and freedom of movement. you can keep your tyrannical leftist movements. If you want to invest in transportation invest in both, you cant ban one or the other.
@@VanOri That's not at all what I'm saying or what my sentiment was. How TF are you getting that impression?
@@amirsadeghi9888 Nobody advocated for outright banning cars.
You should come back to Vancouver and do a story about Gas prices in Vancouver compared to Japan and how that is pushing people onto bicycles especially ebikes. The BC government introduced a ebike rebate program of up to $1300 and that program ran out of money in 1 day and pushed 8,000 people onto a waiting list.
Buy an electric car. Wait opps, its still a car and you can't charge it cheaply in apartments due to strata stubbornness. Oh Canada, socialistic capitalism
The ebike incentives just ends up getting abused. Most people arent replacing their car or buying an ebike as their only form of transit, people just sign up so they can buy an ebike for luxury bike rides. Think about it, if someone offered you a free $1000 ebike would you take it? Most people would, but that doesnt mean most people will actually commute anywhere with it.
@@xFrozenxSnowxin Edmonton Alberta all apartments have parking space with a power outlet,,for engine block heater in winter,why cant Vancouver do the same,even instal power outlets next to parking meters !? Plenty of hydro power in BC
@@WANDERER0070 selfishness is rampant in Vancouver. Who will foot the electricity bill for people that charge their cars? Certainly not the strata! Is the mentality of people here, until they get an EV a few years later. Karma😬
@@WANDERER0070The political will doesn’t exist. No one wants to foot the bill for wealthy yuppies and the upper middle class residents who can’t afford to drop EV money. ICE cars are cheaper and generally more reliable. Most people are pragmatic with their resources, only the well off can afford to be ideological with theirs.
This is… the same problem with the Bahamas island. The small island with barely 500k population but is crippled with traffic because of poor traffic infrastructure and metro.
Not Just Bikes and Foreign had a video about this last year iirc
I thought i was watching not just bikes
Haha Orange Pilled Urbanists! Assemble!
Super interesting topic! I have no idea Okinawa was so dependant on cars but it makes sense. You always do a wonderful job of presenting the facts without any bs. Well done as always!
Thanks Hannah!
Okinawa has a chance to recover by making BRT system with dedicated bus lanes just like Bogota bus express, which is a very unique for Japan as most public transit systems there are rail transit.
The really good advantage is that there are already lots of roads and highways so converting some lanes to bus lanes is not a bad idea at all
Great video Greg! It seems as if Okinawa vs. Japan at large serve as a great case study to show how much worse car-centric infrastructure is than infrastructure where public transport and cycling/walking are the preferred modes of transportation.
enmorot, where did this video show anything about "how much worse" anything is? You aren't serious that you believe this video showed all the angles to the transportation issue, did you?
@@earlysda how much more do you need to see beside traffic congestion? 90% of transportation issue anywhere is traffic, and that statistics is enough to show whether it's bad or good.
@@earlysda Did you want to look at statistics analyzing the potential BMI differences? Were you expecting a dissertation on how localized emissions raises cancer rates? Are you thinking he should have included the number of fatalities caused by cars vs. trains? Did you need him to pull apart how the social lives of people changed?
Or is the reality that no matter how much work he does to examine a problem associated with car centric cities, you'll never be satisfied because you think the government subsidizing you getting to drive your car is "freedom" and anybody that challenges that is challenging you directly?
The sad truth is if you really did enjoy driving your car... then you'd be happy when the government spends some money on rail infrastructure because that is how you reduce traffic, which improves life for car owners.
@@thastayapongsak4422 sak, Okinawa is a fairly long island, with the population concentrated heavily in the south and especialy south west. There are less than 1.5 million residents of Okinawa. The population is getting older. Japan has had control of the islands for over 50 years now, and still sees no real need for a train system on the island.
.
The rail systems on the much bigger islands of Shikoku and Hokkaido are in the red.
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Yes, I see much more than traffic congestion. Do you too now?
@@SherrifOfNottingham Sherrif, You mistakenly assume I have a car, and then go down that proverbial lane.
.
Was that fun for you?
Learning this about Okinawa makes the Karate Kid movie a bit more interesting, how Mr. Miyagi was portrayed as this very traditional Japanese person yet had multiple cars and acclimated well to Los Angeles, and when they went to Okinawa in the sequels they drove everywhere.
Fun fact- it was shot in Hawaii.
Car centric development is the bane of urban strategizing. I love cars but only for the occasional drive to the countryside, not as a daily appliance I'm forever tied to. Not Just Bikes is a cool YT channel on such topic.
Great video BTW.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 "I want other transportation options besides driving" --> "Let's force everyone into slavery in walled communities" is a pretty big leap. There isn't a semblance of reason or substance in your reply, you're obviously just knee-jerk reacting to the NJB mention.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318ah yes, because owning a car doesn't automatically force you into a cycle of expenses that must be paid otherwise you cannot partake in society. The height of freedom lol
“[Everything was built for the military], with the locals an afterthought”
Ah, just like back home across the ocean!
The funny thing is, that's part of how the Interstate Highway System came to be - Eisenhower wanted to have a road network that would make moving military equipment and personnel throughout the country easier
@@chrisoneill1192 interesting. Hitler also did that in Germany with the first modern highways in the world.
This includes improving public transport of course, but in general I meant that the US ignores the people bc it’s too busy using their tax money for its empire. The private car company lobbyists like Ford also paid/pay the federal government to invest in streets and highways above local transport bc they want more $. That also applies to tax companies, for keeping taxes hard to fill out so Americans need to pay them. And for big pharma and and and… America was/is built by greedy rich businessmen who want to prevent people from having nice things so we have to rely on and pay them
Living in America in just like being occupied militarily SOY SOY SOY
@@dafeels3085are you ok?
@@majibento “big pharma” lol
Living in Oki for 4 years, a decade ago, can definitely confirm the traffic there is the absolute worst.
this is a perfect demonstration of the downs-thompson paradox which boils down to "the speed of car traffic is determined by the efficiency of other means of transport"
if cycling is faster, some people will cycle, if transit is faster some people will take that which reduces car traffic. but since the car is the fastest eay of getting around here, everyone drives, which causes traffic
I found that having a car in Okinawa was fine so long as Naha was avoided. The roads were pretty quiet everywhere else. You definitely need a car to survive out there though.
I think this is easily one of your well made videos. Informative with buttery smooth aninated charts.
Side comment: Hokkaido is another place where it could get quite car-friendly. If you ever wonder whether the Japanese ever buy their Toyota pickups, Sapporo is the place to visit. Not to say their public transpo sucks, but compared to other big Japanese cities, they really like their parking lots.
The public transportation system in Sapporo is very interesting. IIRC they are the only tram network in Japan with trams dedicated to clearing tracks from snow.
And Aichi, the prefecture where Toyota is based, is the most car-friendly place in Japan. Nagoya’s public transport is not bad but not as extensive as Tokyo’s and Osaka’s. It’s very clear that Toyota is the auto lobby in their prefecture, the worst example being them renaming their base city after themselves and rebuilding it in their own image of Japanese-style car-centric suburbia (stroads, parking lots, Japanese-style big boxes with enormous parking structures on top of them, not enough railways, no buses serving the city at all, etc.)
Buttery smooth unfactual charts and speaking, you mean.
@@earlysda anything that runs counter to your obsession of cars is false, yeah right
@@earlysda lolol triggered much? American 🇺🇸?
Traffic problems occur all around the world. In Manila, specifically, the traffic there is probably one of the worst out there. The Philippines is joining forces with Japan to construct more efficient transportation services for daily commuters. As far as I know, the construction of more railway trains are still in progress. Moreover, we appreciate your insights on this matter. They contain all the information we need to know about.
The Philippines idolizes the US too much, which is why it's filled with failure on a national scale.
Philippines roads are worst.. poor traffic signages.. pot holes and uneven road are everywhere..
I'm always in awe at how comprehensive your numerical presentations are. Initially, I watch the channel because of Aiko and Shin, but I've stuck around because I like your data storytelling
Sadly, this video didn't tell the other side of the story that would have showed his numbers to tell a different story.
But hey, let's make a simple youtube video that makes money, right?
Islands really need to be more efficient with land use. At least, there is density so that much can be achieved with walking as opposed to taking mechanized transport. The monorail for example is elevated. If the buildings were connected to each other and then connected to the stations at the same level, this would be very convenient.
Bingo. That is the cancer of car dependency. Once you make cars the ONLY method of travel in any given area, you are bound to have insufferable traffic congestion.
More car-only planning, more traffic. Simple as that.
Oh, and please do a collab video with Not Just Bikes! He would love this "orange-pilled" video!
But traffic jams are freedom! /s
@@Kizarat Obesity and junk food is freedom, healthy bodies and healthy food is communist /s
The other problem, is while historically they made room for cars, in a number of places, there appears to be a fear of making room for anything that isn't a car. I am not suggesting replacing cars, but making it easier to use the alternatives. I also wonder how quickly people would want to see change in Okinawa if the fuel subsidies were to disappear?
@ Probably fairly quickly. A lot of them would move to bikes in the first instances until a proper railway network is established.
Please for the love of God don't turn this into another cult of Not Just Bikes. Where all of societies woes can be attributed to "CaR bRaInEd" people.
I'm loving Greg's Not Just Bikes arc 🙌
Living in Okinawa this is a daily reality for me.
Did you consider making a Japanese version of this Video for Okinawan locals to inform themselves?
In my opinion the most important thing for change to happen here is that locals realize what the issue is and how to solve it. Endlessly extending the Route 58 e.g. won't solve the issue. The 58 already has 8 lanes (10 including turn lanes) in some parts of the island and traffic is still stuck... however, local politicians still seem to be campaigning for road widening.
There is a plan to extend the monorail all the way to Nago, but Futenma has to close first as that will be the site of a major station with ample parking and such. Road widening is the best they can do short term...and it has helped. Traffic was way worse 10 years ago especially in the Rycom area. The new road through Kitanakagusuku has helped significantly too.
If more lanes solved traffic problems, the 401 in Toronto wouldn't be as congested as it is (18 lanes at some points)...
@@iambor1393 More lanes do help in Okinawa though. When there are only two lanes and the left lane is blocked by stopped buses, taxis, and people otherwise using that lane as a parking spot and people waiting to turn are blocking the right lane because there is no turn lane, having an extra lane or two to help keep traffic moving helps so much.
@@MarkDuncan1 Good road design would probably help a lot more than just widening them or adding even more bypasses. At least in the south-east (around Nishihara, Haebaru, Nanjo, etc.). Way too many entrances and exits along the main roads, the lack of roundabouts (and the overuse of stoplights) make for some terribly inefficient roads.
People having to block traffic to wait for their opportunity to turn right is bad design. Having people do U-turns at stoplights is bad design. Having tens of entrances/exits within walking distance of each other on the main roads is also bad design. I get that they can't rip up everything right away, but when they design new roads or update old ones they really should think twice before building. Is it reasonable that traffic should grind down to a halt whenever someone wants to turn (both left and right)? Is it reasonable to allow taxis and delivery drivers to stop anywhere on major roads?
The cities should remove (almost) all entrances and exits on the main roads (such as: 58, 329, 330, 331). It makes driving worse (congestion, disrupts the flow of traffic), it makes walking worse (cars turning without looking, and having the path look like a sine wave with all the entrances), it makes cycling worse (cars turning without looking). Put the entrances on a side street rather than on what should be a place to take people from point A to B smoothly.
@@MarkDuncan1more lanes helps at exit points, but create traffic at entry points. And not to forget that 5 lanes is not possible everywhere, so when they go back to the typical 3 that will create traffic while merging lanes.
Car dependency really needs to just go away and never come back.
No.
@@GottaSmoke.K big oil shill
Yes.
@@GottaSmoke. car brainer
@@kuro9410_ilust Do you guys get your entire understanding of urban planning from Not Just Bikes, I really wish people had a more comprehensive understand of urban development beyond "Cars bad I am so smart".
I live in Okinawa (been here about 15 years now). The traffic during Golden Week is insane and I usually plan to stock up on some things and stay home during that time. Funny enough, traffic used to be a lot worse here about 10 years ago. Some recent infrastructure projects in central Okinawa have helped a lot. About needing to own a car here, yeah, it's pretty necessary. I have a friend who recently moved here and works at a hotel in Chatan. She doesn't have a car or bike yet and life has been incredibly difficult for her.
Oh and that gas tax break doesn't really mean much when we still end up paying the same or somewhat more than Tokyo. The tax break seems to benefit the gas companies more than regular people. We even host Saudi oil here and the only thing we got out of it was a causeway.
My country also suffers from this and is looking forward to invest on trains. Unfortunately, corruption as well as societal mentality hinders the project's success
I was recently in Okinawa for the first time for a few days. I have to say I was quite shocked at how bad the public transport was. Almost every major tourist sight requires a significant drive to get to. I actually had to cut down quite alot on my planned sight seeing. I also didn't like cramming myself on to the second Monorail to arrive (because the first was full) to go to the airport. Unlike everywhere else I've been in Japan, I don't plan on heading back.
Thank you for doing a video on this topic! Transportation and urban design are two topics that greatly interest me so I'm happy to see your take on this. So educational too!
We still have "traffic jams" in Japan--especially when you have people literally crowding into commuter trains during rush hour.
I just randomly watch this vid and I didn't expect you to have a collab with some of my favorite youtubers 12:42
Okinawa reminds me of Hawaii in so many ways and traffic is one of them. If you don’t drive, it’s like wow how are you going to get to places? We have the bus and that tiny completed portion of the rail, but it isn’t enough and efficient for everyone especially if you don’t live around places that have bus stops and routes. So we all end up getting in our cars to get to places. Just thinking about westbound H1 traffic at 5pm gives me the shivers. Getting your license and your own car is kinda like a rite of passage of becoming a teen/adult, that’s how normalized the car-centric society is here. It can’t be helped but I wish we weren’t so reliant on cars auwe
Yep live in Hawaii as well. I have been lucky enough to travel all over and public transit is awesome (just the savings vs renting a car!). But I doubt it will ever become the norm in Hawaii unless the bus/rail gets built out far more robustly than it is now.
Maps says to get from my home to Aloha Stadium is 13 minutes by car. 48 minutes by bus/rail. Nobody is gonna grab public transport if the option of a car is available. Just the time saved, never mind how hot it is currently, maybe you gotta stand in the rain, etc.
Besides at 500+ million per mile rail isn't going anywhere either.
The Okinawa transit system sounds just like the one they are trying to create in western WA, it’s only good if you want to go to 1 or 2 specific places.
I think the main issue with a rail system in Okinawa is it can't really be above ground. A lot of the urban area is dense so the government will get a lot of backlash if they invoke eminent domain. Heck, the Yui Rail mostly goes over main roads. In addition the island is really hilly. There isn't much flat land outside of Kadena and Ginowan (which conveniently is where the air fields are)
They could try to go with a subway system, but I worry about the issue of flooding since Okinawa gets a lot of rain.
Exactly the same in my hometown Surabaya, Indonesia. Cars & motorcycle is a must have for every household.
I'm so thrilled that you're on Nebula. It really feels like "Making it" when it comes to educational/documentary RUclipsrs.
This sounds exactly like the issues we have in parts of the US. We have buses and a railway where I live, but the railway only goes to very specific locations by the coastline and the subway is 30 min away by car and an hour away by bus. It’s nearly impossible to work a job and go to school without a car.
I was there in April and the traffic was horrible. Not comparison the likes of Bangkok or Jakarta but during rush hour took my 35 minutes to get to a place where it only took 10 mins during non peak hours!
Anywhere outside big cities, the whole "nice train lines" schtick drops and it drops quickly. Okinawa is just an extreme case.
I can tell you first hand that some of your commentary is incorrect. Futenma is still there but to say that nothing has happened since 2012 is incorrect. They have been building the railroad network for a while as well and 2 new bases to relocate the military far and away from general public. It's about a year away from completion, currently the flightlines are being built to house the aircrafts. Camp Hansen and Camp Schwab. They were never going to leave the island but it's good progress so they can be far away from populated areas. That 1 hr railroad to Nago is still happening 🎉
Are there any updates though? I see none on RUclips, expect videos about Okinawa Monorail extending from Shuri to Urasoe.
Most of this video is incorrect with it's assumptions. Makes me regret supporting this channel when I bought his being Japanese documentary.
keep bringing top videos like this, great like success always 🐯🐯🐶
Please do more health and economic comparisons with America like this, its amazing. Hopefully information like this can make small, impactful and beneficial changes! Partner a video with Not Just Bikes!!!!
yes, i got huge NJB vibes off this video, i was just waiting for him to mention stroads XD
12:04 this message is comforting yet depressing at the same time.
Hey what a coincidence, I just returned from a trip from Okinawa! I do feel that out of all the places I visited in Japan, Okinawa is the place where I feel like I’m missing out the most due to not being able to rent a car. Buses do exist and fairly reliable, but they’re way slower than trains/cars on long distance. For example it took me 5 hours of roundtrip journey from my hotel in Kokusai-Dori to the aquarium, I feel like I could really do with that proposed train line. Also I didn’t know that the US held the place until 1972, no wonder that I couldn’t help but keep thinking to myself about how Americanised some parts of Okinawa look, with it’s big roads and parking spaces, I thought those were just affected by the presence of bases there.
Transport limitations aside, I tried to make the most of my trip and I did thoroughly enjoyed my short time there. Thanks for making this video, Greg! It’s only a week and you already making me miss Okinawa 😂
176km over unlevel terrain roundtrip from Kokusai Dori to the aquarium. and here you are complaining about it taking 5 hours?
Incredible.
Please learn about real life soon.
Man, Okinawa just makes me sad. Like, not only it was occupied by the US for a time (still has a large US military presence)... but also Japan itself. Ryukyu Islands used to be independent. This is basically a Hawaii situation but even worse.
I've been wanting to move to Japan, and on my mind was 'I wanna live somewhere warm'. This, however, ruins the idea that the place I'd settle would be in Okinawa. I'm trying to flee the stroad-and-strip-mall landscape of the US because Japan seems to be a lot more walkable. Thanks for the valuable warning.
When it comes to zoning laws and transport, don't listen to the USA. Source: am American
Okinawa has enough side roads and highways that aren't particularly busy, on weekday afternoons. Car traffic in Tokyo is brutal, you're bumper to bumper at all times except about 1am-6am. But there's multiple transportation alternatives in Tokyo vs only a few in Okinawa
I've looked through google maps at smaller cities on mainland Japan, and where you have ~300k population cities, it seems like they have between 1 or maybe 2 local rail lines, but most places in these small cities are too far to be really served by them. I don't have any experience with these places on the ground, but it seems like this isn't just an Okinawa thing. I like to praise Japan for its public transit like many other people, but there are definitely plenty of places that are under-served. Yoriyama is one example I can find right away, where half the city has freeways cutting through it, also that place has a toy'r'us for any 90s kids that are nostalgic for that. Maybe people make great use of buses there because I can't really tell from just google maps!
The population of all of Japan is like 300 million. What cities were you looking at? Okinawa has a population of around 1.5 million plus an absolute ton of tourists. I live here and the traffic situation seriously sucks.
@@MarkDuncan1 That was a typo. I meant 300k, was specifically trying to address small cities
@@MarkDuncan1 126 million*
It's the US that has 300+ million
@@MarkDuncan1 It's population density that matters most, not total population.
Naha has a greater population density than Tokyo by more than 20%
I have city with 3 million pople in my country. And don't have rel 😂
Effective Public transport is impossible in Okinawa because everyone drive cars.
Everyone drive cars because there is no efficient public transportation system.
That means it’s stalemate.
Where i live, public transport is not safe. People get assaulted all the time and the criminals are often released because "they have mental health issues". Several of my coworkers have been attacked trying to get to work. Infrastructure is only one part of the equation in many cases. Yes, the bus goes 15 miles out of the way for me to get to work. Yes, it would take me 2 hours to commute by bus when it would take 15 mins to commute by car. But the reason i actually prefer to drive vs bus, is because its not safe and the government doesnt take commuters safety or mental health seriously. (If You live in a city where theres constant assaults, people camping and blocking walkways, bad lighting, getting followed home by homeless people at night. And then tell me it isnt bad for YOUR mental health) I wish i lived somewhere that had the options japan has. But i also with i lived somewhere even 1/8 as safe as japan.
Let me guess - Brazil?
@@ЦзинКэ-ы5х I was thinking LA county.
@@sonicboy678 Well, LA stands for Latin America, everything is logical :^)
9:15 slides made out of concrete? those Okinawa kids must be build differently, I reckon...
Maybe they should consider BIKE infrastructure as a solution for shorter trips. And that can much more easily be build and much cheaper.
Awesome case study here! I had no idea about this.
I think a good solution can be making a thoroughly planned, progressive introduction of city bus system to replace cars. Also scooter and bike usage can also help to avoid the traffic congestion.
Which is the problem, you cannot just relocate everyone to a new place, and expect people’s way of life to remain unchanged. I have not, in my recent memory, remember any urban renewal plans being executed successfully, where a huge amount of people have to be relocated in order to fix a major urban design issue.
@@FiredAndIced Dutch need 30 year to Made good bicycle infrastructure
That Prius parked on a children's park is a sight I've never seen not even in Europe.
Interesting video kinda shows how this could also apply to other countries where the car is the mode of transportation
Lol i remember commenting about this in reply to a comment in Not Just Bikes video. Thanks for this video.
It's hard not to be moved by how good Tokyo public transportation is. If you like Tokyo, but aren't into urban design, the city makes you rethink so much about how things should be. Especially as an American. This is a great piece on how the American approach to urban design has largely failed, and is slowly being rethought.
you're so naive. it didn't fail anything, the goal has never been the good for the people, the opposite.
It's just where I live in the states its not one car per family its one car per person by the time they finish high school. There are buses but they are so inconvenient that it is impossible to run errands and get to work quickly, and the train is even less convenient for daily travel.
During COVID, my husband and I reevaluated our housing and commute. While we loved our cars, our commute was a major negative in our lives as we spent 30 to 60 minutes twice a day driving. Neither of us wanted to go back to this, so we moved and downsized our cars. We are lucky to make these changes, but we hope things will change away from the American model.
People only drive cars and never experience really good transportation will always think cars are the most convenient way of transportation but absolutely hate traffic but just accepts it as a way of life. Most of America has a car centric culture except for the north east which has really good rail systems. NYC, Boston, Washington DC metro systems are the best in US and many people who live in these metro areas don’t need a car to get around. It’s so obvious that a great mass transit system is the solution to traffic when looking at NYC alone. But that city was built from the ground up for rail mass transit. It had trains before the Automobile was mainstream and people were still using horses. When you build a city that is designed for cars. Retrofitting rail into those cities is hard and will not be able to serve everyone. People in car dependent regions will always need a car to get around. Sad but true.
At the very least I'd say Okinawa has a much better chance of actually normalize public transportation over car than say California and New York. You can't convince me to use public transportation here over my own car after hearing horror stories from my coworkers who decided to use the limited metro system that we do have here in LA 😅
I'm sure you're right about LA, but isn't public transport used lots in NY?
@DerUnbekannte oh yeah it is. What I meant to convey was that it's easier to make changes or improvement to the public transportation in Japan than it does here. Sorry for the confusion.
I suppose public transportation wouldn't have the same negative associations that it does in some areas of North America.
@@DerUnbekannte to park a car in a Manhattan parking lot is at least $60 for the day
@@LifeWhereImFromit’s getting so ridiculous it’s integrating into culture wars, and now transit/walkability is being more equated to ‘Orwellian’ 15 min city.
It’s so stupid that something which should be good in both aisles is getting politicized just because leftists embraced it first.
Aaaaahh... I visited Okinawa in 2012.... I was shocked at how inconvenient it was to get around!!
It's pretty disheartening that even Japan hasn't been able to undo car dependency in Okinawa as someone who lives in the US, where I'm guessing there are far fewer regulations to clear than here. Not saying that all of the US needs Tokyo level public transportation, but it would be amazing to have in more populous areas. Speaking as someone living in Silicon Valley suburbia.
At least we are JUST starting to build out walkable mixed-use neighborhoods.
Also, definitely thought I clicked on a Not Just Bikes video.
if we want to be achieve carbon neutrality, we need at least 30% of our population using public transit, more realistic would be 50%
So excited to see you on Nebula!! I like using it a lot more new 😁
interesting and a bit sad to see that okinawa has become so america-fied (and canada) with their reliance on cars. pretty crazy that the locals say they don't walk at all considering what's common in tokyo and other large metropolitan hubs in japan. great video greg, i learned a lot.
also, that jet lag series seems interesting. i will check it out
What's pretty sad is that America is getting blamed for this.
Some fun facts- America occupied and was in charge of all of Japan from 1947-1952 and was responsible for the rebuild of war torn Japan. They also funded this to the tune of over 2 billion dollars back then. That total is more than Japan paid out in reparations for the damages it did during WW2. So if America is at fault for Okinawa which has been completely under the rule of Japan for fifty years does America get the credit for the rest of Japan since they went on to become the second largest economy in the world?
Also- how come Japan can spend so much to create the next gen bullet train from Tokyo but doesn't mandate basic improvement to the Ryūkyū Kingdom...oh sorry....Okinawa...I always use the occupiers name for that land. Have to remember that Japan doesn't like Ryūkyū just like China doesn't like the use of Taiwan.
@@Komainu959 You blame the japanese government. But who formed the said government? Who shaped LDP, the party which has been in power since ww2, with the exception of a few years.
US hypocrisy. You still have 4 military base in Okinawa idiot
# when you worked in a Japanese company 😂
The very disadvantage as a foreign tourist in Okinawa. The severe lack of train lines makes it a real hassle to move around Okinawa island. Outside of Naha that is (because of the Monorail).
There are some highway bus connections, but they are sparse and highly undependable. The matter is worse if you are from one of a few countries like Germany (due to the Vienna conventions), where you specifically have the necessity of having your local drivers licence translated into Japanese by the JAF or its foreign counterparts, to even be allowed to rent and drive a car in Japan.
I'm a lifelong New Yorker, so admittedly I do take the woes of car dependency for granted. Yes this is an interesting video but PLEASE avoid the temptation to turn into another "urban policy" RUclips channel. I understand urban policy is a part of your channel, but we don't need another "CaRs BaD amirite" (and yes they are bad lol) RUclips channel. Anyways very interesting video.
Loving the Not Just Bikes vibe from this video nicely done!
Everybody in Japan: "We always walk everywhere"
That part of Japan that was under America: "I don't walk"
still over 60% of traffic, nationwide, is done by personal vehicle.
and living in the more rural area of Hyogo Prefecture, I can definitely attest to that. My coworkers find it wild that I cycle to work everyday for about 40 mins instead of getting a scooter or car.
They're not as fat as Americans though.
All of Japan was occupied and under American control from 1947 to 1952. The rebuild of war torn Japan was overseen by the US and funded by the US. It led to Japan becoming the second largest economy in the world.
Did Japan ever have to repay the US? Nope.
Thanks America!
@@bassyey They're not Japanese. The US should never have returned the Ryūkyū KIngdom to Japan and should have aided them to restore their rightful kingdom as they petitioned after the war.
Very nice video as always! One question though, was the slide at 9:15 made out of concrete? That might be the biggest problem the prefecture has lmao. As said, very good video and greetings from Finland!
Cars are great 👍🏾. Public transportation is needed along side cars. Not instead of cars.
Amazing. I didn't know Okinawa was so car-centric.
9:05 Okinawa prefecture needs to ban illegal off-street parking and make more effort in improving its public transportation.
Like that is ever going to happen. NYC does something similar and people just sit in their cars
@@Demopans5990Rightfully so. NY has insisted on letting its mass transit infrastructure stagnate and sometimes straight deteriorate in parts of the boroughs. People need a means to get around the city and earn. If people are serious about car dependency we need to figure how to decentralize access to resources and opportunities. Make it so that people don’t have to travel into the city for income.
Wow, Im really impressed with the research in this video.
Problems with trying to fix traffic in a car-dependence city are that its very difficult because an alternative is not recognized by the people because most of them have never seen any other alternative to driving in a car, that's why even if you build good public transport they'd still use the car despite going by bus and rail a far more financially, environmentally and economically healthier way to go around.
I think public transport could work well there as they have more than enough population density which is the largest hurdle for any kind of public transport since they are almost all government subsidized industry.
As you already know, Toronto faces the same issues. While downtown Toronto has great public transit, it is still not enough to handle the growing population across GTA. Traffic on highways is terrible even though many of the GO Trains have lot of empty seats. Pooling is getting popular but still 90% of vehicles on road have just one rider.
ahh, a fellow torontoian, you forgot to mention about the legendary highway that takes 1 hour to get from Toronto TO Toronto, and the Don Valley Parking lot. As for transit, The downtown are is great like you said, but once you head to North York or Scarborough region (possibly Etobicoke too,) especially the more northern regions, it becomes a nightmare. lets not mention the YRT is a absolute dumpsterfire.
where i live in north america people also make similar claims that there isn't room for dedicated bus lanes... but the thing people always love to say about cars is that they're great because they can drive wherever and because of that you can make room for bus lanes by just closing streets to cars and letting cars figure out some other route.
some people might say that's impossible because it will just slow down cars even more, however the magical thing is that if it does then that just encourages people to use the new dedicated bus routes which decreases car traffic and fixes the problem. as long as you actually have a useable public transportation system its a self solving issue.
the cities of okinawa also seem to be very tiny in terms of land area so they seem great for active transportation. i know its hot there but considering that even places like texas or california have had some success encouraging biking i don't think its that ridiculous of an idea. plus if you get rid of the barren wastelands of asphalt that cars need and put some good tree cover you could probably see temperatures drop by even 10 degrees.
Okinawa is not good for trains, as basically there is only one city of any size at all.
okinawa was big enough for trains in the early 1900s but isn't now?
okinawa city and naha are both reasonably large city and about 20 or 30 km apart sounds obvious and amazing to connect those via train.
trains are good for within cities not just for between cities so even if there was only 1 city that wouldn't be a good argument.
these are all good reasons for using trains but probably most important is that there are people there who recognize that their lives are being negatively impacted by a lack of public transit and are asking for more trains.
@@dorkichiban dork, The Japanese govt. has had control of Okinawa for over 50 years now, and has not seen a compelling need for a rail system there.
.
That fact alone makes your assertion, and this video, superfluous.
I remember living on Okinawa in the early to mid 1980's when my dad was stationed there. Traffic back then was bad. I can only imagine how bad it is now. I am glad the Yui Rail is doing so well.
I came to Okinawa in the early 2000's. Traffic still sucks here, but it was worse 10-15 years ago. Many of the new roads that have been built have helped a lot. It used to take forever to get from the west side of the island to the east side in the central area, but it's so much better now. I remember in 2005 spending nearly an hour to get from Awase Meadows golf course (now Rycom Mall) down through the love hotels in to Awase. I do not miss that.
It got worse especially around Chatan which is near Kadena like highway exits werent even an issue before get jammed. Even midday like 1pm, there is a traffic for no reason. Central Okinawa became too popular for tourists and many migrants from the mainland. Depopulation of Japan is only happening outside of this tiny island and Tokyo. It’s sad to see how it’s turning.
Spoken like a true urbanist
Riding on boat from Naha to Nago is even faster than car .
You are such a good journalist and historian it's surprising some media outlet hasn't lured you from your personal channel. 😊
If this guy's a good journalist I'd hate to see what a bad one looks like.
Now that I think about it, I don't rememer seeing one roundabout/traffic circle my entire time I lived in Japan. They don't have the space for them.
Most roads are only two lanes with no room for designated turn lanes, so it makes sense that traffic backs up the way it does.
I get even more of a sense of Tokyo seemingly having a superiority complex over the rest of Japan after seeing this video.
Displaying stat after stat as if Tokyo is the gold standard that can do no wrong, while the rest of the country is beneath them.
I wonder, even with the traffic backups, if Okinawans total average weekly commute times (for everything including errands and leisure) are actually longer than Tokyoites?
Have you interacted with the average Tokyoite? They scoff at and despise foreigners more than any other prefecture too. Their reputation is well-earned.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 War Thunderers will greatly agree with this sentiment
JR massively expanded in ridership, new lines and quality even more so after it was privatized. The implication at 2:00 is that the expansion only occurred during the time before privatization.
In the city I live in Australia a street was converted into a pedestrian mall but a local car dealer complained bitterly and said it would be the end of the world and cars were needed to "liven things up".
Brisbane?
@@teohrex9557 Cairns
@mazzdacon2134 ahhhhhh Sounds like Queensland