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I was surprised that there are employees at the stations called pushers. I learned How population density can affect land use. I wonder if they will ever be able to why they make rice stakes.

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The subways look very complex and I could see how people can get jammed in them.

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I like the picture for the inro

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Life expectancy chart

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These things occur in Japan, but it still affects other countries across the globe. For example Singapore and Bangladesh are facing a similar life-expectancy confusion. Bangladesh is approximately 3 times as crowded as Japan, with about 3,018 people per square mile. Bangladesh consists mostly of poor farmland, and its residents have about a 60-year life expectancy. Singapore on the other hand is just over 20 times as crowded as Japan, at about 17,670 people per square mile, with a life expectancy of 82. But this may be because one country might have more resources than another, or just a better location. For instance, The Netherlands, in Western Europe, has no minerals and no energy resources, but their soil is fertile, and they produce quality farm-goods to trade to outside countries for things they don't have.

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Map/Diagram of Nitrogen outflow and water pollution

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Central Tokyo air pollution readings neared levels that could require government alerts after thick smog blanketed parts of China for much of this week.

The pollution is originating from both mainland China and Japan, Kansuke Sasaki, an air pollution analyst at the Japan Weather Association said in a telephone interview today.

"The air from the continent arrives directly to Japan more often in the start of spring," Sasaki said, referring to winds from the Chinese mainland. "That adds to the pollution produced in Japan."

Readings for particles smaller than 2.5 micrograms in diameter, also known as PM2.5, were at 98 micrograms per cubic meter in Nerima ward and 88 micrograms per cubic meter in Minato ward as of 5 p.m. local time, data on Tokyo's monitoring website show. That's more than three times to the World Health Organization's recommended levels.

Readings of over 80 micrograms per cubic meter before noon would trigger a government warning for citizens to refrain from outdoor activities, according to the environment ministry's web site.

There was also little wind in places today, which likely made the pollution dense, Sasaki said. The Japan Weather Association is a private company that provides weather forecasts.

China has battled lingering pollution as a consequence of the environmental damage that's accompanied three decades of double-digit economic growth. Pollution from China's export manufacturers is traveling across the Pacific Ocean to reach the U.S. West Coast, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month.

The annual average level of PM2.5 in central Tokyo has fallen 55 percent in the 10 years since 2001 as the government has taken measures to curb pollution, according to the Tokyo government. The pollution arriving to Japan from overseas is reaching to levels that can't be ignored, Sasaki said.

Public broadcaster NHK said earlier that 10 prefectures, including Osaka, issued PM2.5 alerts yesterday, with 9 of 10 issuing the alert for the first time.

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Tokyo Air Pollution Climbs, Approaches Government Alert Levels

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Central Tokyo air pollution readings neared levels that could require government alerts after thick smog blanketed parts of China for much of this week. The pollution is originating from both mainland China and Japan, Kansuke Sasaki, an air pollution analyst at the Japan Weather Association said in a telephone interview today.

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Tokyo's pollution and transport problems and solutions

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Another video made for school I thought I may as well upload.

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SECTION 6: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS HEALTH

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SECTION 6: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS HEALTH

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While Japan is no doubt a beautiful country, being so crowded comes with an abundance of downsides. Lots of people produce lots of pollution. 2 to 3 pounds per resident a day, to be exact. and the citizens aren't the only source either. There are countless producers; factory smoke, car exhaust, waste water, sewage, and more. These create acid rain, damaging plants and sometimes even buildings. Not to mention local factories that dumped mercury into Minimata Bay on the coast of Kyūshū island, located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, poisoning millions of people in the 1950s. Even though more car accidents happen in cities than country roads, and disease spreads faster the smaller the city, Japan's life expectancy is one of the highest in the world. The air is so polluted, in fact, that citizens wear face masks, like those used by doctors, to avoid breathing problems.

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Land Utilization diagram

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Micro Living in Japan - Our New Apartment

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After spending a few grueling and unenjoyable days apartment hunting here in Osaka, Japan we finally decided on a place. This is a continuation of the apartment hunting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky33eWM-Yqg Music: Secret Conversations by the 126ers YouTube Audio Library

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SECTION 5: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS LAND USE

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SECTION 5: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS LAND USE

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There's no question that land in the crowded country of Japan is beyond limited. For example, the Tokyo Narita International Airport in Narita, Japan have postponed their expansion plans for years due to prevention from homeowners in the area refusing to move.Things are so crowded above ground, Japan has has to build entire city systems underneath the cities and neighborhoods. There are malls, zoos, parks, art museums, and even a Buddhist temple. However this is very dangerous as this country is prone to earthquakes. Japan has also been taking advantage of land that hasn't been used yet. They've been filling lakes, marshes, and wetlands with rubble and dirt, to create brand new farmland and lots for buildings. This method does, however, destroy habitats of fish and small mammals that live in the places.

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Examples of Japanese house layouts.

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In most countries, houses get more valuable over time. In Japan, a new buyer will often bulldoze the home. Why? That's the question we try to answer in our latest Freakonomics Radio podcast, "Why Are Japanese Homes Disposable?" (You can subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above. You can also read the transcript, which includes credits for the music you'll hear in the episode.)

Jiro Yoshida, a professor at Penn State University who specializes in real-estate economics, tells us that, per capita, there are nearly four times as many architects in Japan as in the U.S. (here's data from the International Union of Architects), and more than twice as many construction workers. There is also a huge demand for new homes. When you put all those numbers together, it sounds like a pretty typical housing boom - and yet Japan has a shrinking population and a long-stagnant economy.

It turns out that half of all homes in Japan are demolished within 38 years - compared to 100 years in the U.S. There is virtually no market for pre-owned homes in Japan, and 60 percent of all homes were built after 1980. In Yoshida's estimation, while land continues to hold value, physical homes become worthless within 30 years. Other studies have shown this to happen in as little as 15 years.

Does this make sense? Not according to Alastair Townsend, a British-American architect living in Japan, who is perplexed - and awestruck - by the housing scenario there:

TOWNSEND: The houses that are built today exceed the quality of just about any other country in the world, at least for timber buildings. So there's really no reason that they should drop in value and be demolished.

In the podcast, we look into several factors that conspire to produce this strange scenario. They include: economics, culture, World War II, and seismic activity.

Richard Koo, chief economist at the Nomura Research Institute, has argued in a paper called " Obstacles to Affluence: Thoughts on Japanese Housing " that whatever the rationale behind the disposable-home situation, the outcome isn't desirable:

KOO: And so you tear down the building, you build another one, then you tear down the building, and you keep on building another one, you're not building wealth on top of wealth...And it's a very poor investment. Compared to Americans or Europeans, or even other Asian countries where people are building wealth on top of wealth because your house is [a] capital good. And if you do a certain amount of maintenance you can expect to sell the house at a higher price. But in the Japanese case once you expect to sell it you expect to sell at a lower price 10 or 15 years later. And that's no way to build an affluent society.

(Special thanks to Gavin Hayes and Paul Earle at the U.S. Geological Survey for helping us sort through earthquake data.)

All that said, economists continue to debate whether a house is such a great investment in the U.S. One more burst bubble and maybe we'll all start thinking about the Japanese model.

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Why Are Japanese Homes Disposable? A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast - Freakonomics

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In most countries, houses get more valuable over time. In Japan, a new buyer will often bulldoze the home. Why? That's the question we try to answer in our latest Freakonomics Radio podcast, "Why Are Japanese Homes Disposable?" (You can subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.

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Japanese house today...

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Rural Japanese house in 1954...

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SECTION 4: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS HOUSING

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SECTION 4: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS HOUSING

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In the 1950's, Japanese houses consisted mostly of members of extended family, all living under the roof of a single-story, rural house. Nowadays, typically only nuclear families (only parents and children) live in small apartments no bigger than an American living room. But, they're making the most of their living arrangements by using rooms for multiple purposes. Still, even cemeteries are cramped. Bodies are cremated to save as much space as possible.

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Tokyo Narita International Airport in Narita, Japan,

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...and that was the simplified map of the subway and rail system in downtown Tokyo. If you had looked at the map and thought to yourself "that's all?", good for you. If your jaw dropped or you started hyperventilating, hopefully this article would help calm you down.

We will begin by exploring the train network before moving on to info on routing and passes.

1. Railways and subways are different

This may be clear to some but not everyone is aware of the differences between railway trains and subway trains.

For a lack of better word, I tend to describe railway trains as 'surface' trains. These are typically trains that cover a long route (even across prefectures) and are found on the 'surface'. Most suburban areas are served by railway trains. For short distances, railways tend to be cheaper than subways.

Subway trains, on the other hand, run underground. Well... in the case of Tokyo, most of the time (for example, the Marunouchi subway line runs on the surface for part of its journey). These train are mainly for commuting in and around the city center.

In many countries and cities, the railway and subway systems are generally separate but in Tokyo, there is a little bit of confusion because subway trains sometimes carry on as railway trains at the end of their line. You can read more about this in point 3.

2. Different companies and lines in Tokyo

Next, we need to distinguish between a line and a train company. A single train company may run multiple lines (or routes). For example, the Toei Subway company runs 4 train lines.

Why the need for this distinction? Because you usually pay for tickets at a fix rate for trains of the same company (even if you switch lines), but have to pay more if you transfer to another company's line. In other words, if you want to save money, if possible, stick to only switching trains between lines belonging to the same company. Not to mention that it is usually less troublesome (e.g. no need to exit gantries) to do so.

Below is a list of railways, subways and private/special train companies and their lines in Tokyo:

JR East is the biggest passenger train company in the world and is also one of the more important companies if you are travelling by train in Tokyo. If you are on the JR Rail Pass, your trips on JR East lines are also covered. In particular, the Yamanote Line and the Chuo-Sobu Line are widely-used.

The Yamanote Line is a circular line that makes stops at busy/popular areas such as Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Akihabara and Tokyo. The Chuo-Sobu Line complements the Yamanote Line by cutting through the middle of the ring and extending from Mitaka to Chiba stations.

If you find yourself needing to get somewhere not covered by the railway trains above, you will likely have to use the subway. As listed previously in the table, the two main companies are Toei Subway and Tokyo Metro. To refresh your memory, switching lines belonging to different companies will cost you more money. Each subway line in Tokyo in given a roman letter to represent the line. To make things easy, remember the following:

Toei Subway has 4 lines and has a logo that looks like a green umbrella

Tokyo Metro has 9 lines and has a logo that is an 'M' on a blue background

Toei Subway lines form the word EASI (E = Oedo, A = Asakusa, S = Shinjuku and I = Mita)

Only Toei Subway lines are represented by vowels! Besides 'S', all other consonants belong to Tokyo Metro!

We have covered three of the most important train companies for Tokyo. Other useful ones include:

Odakyu - for travel to Kanagawa (e.g. Hakone)

Seibu - for travel to Saitama and western Tokyo

Keisei - for travel to Narita airport and Chiba Prefecture

Keikyu - for travel to Haneda airport

Tobu - for travel to Nikko (Tochigi Prefecture)

Tsukuba Express - for travel to Tsukuba (Ibaraki Prefecture)

Tokyo Waterfront companies - for travel around the Odaiba and Tokyo Bay area

3. 'Transforming' Trains (Through Services)

To be more precise, subway trains that carry on a "through service" as other railway lines after reaching their terminal. Or if you look at it from another point of view, suburban railway trains that temporarily become subways while running on the subway lines within the city.

A useful thing to know because you can save precious time by waiting for the right train and traveling right through to the next line without transferring (there are sometimes transfer fees though). To pick the right train, you should look out for destination of trains (and hence deduce their route) on signboards in stations and on the trains themselves.

Some examples:

Nanboku (N) line starts as the Saitama Rapid Railway Line until Akabane-Iwabuchi station. Once it reaches Meguro station, it becomes the Tokyu Meguro Line (bound for Hiyoshi station).

Similarly, the Mita (I) line becomes the Tokyu Meguro Line once it reaches Meguro station.

The Asakusa (A) line may becomes the Keisei Oshiage Line (at Oshiage station) or Keikyu Main Line (at Sengakuji Station)

Sounds complicated? Below is a visual explanation of the Saitama Rapid / Nanboku / Meguro through service:

4.Express Services

Express services are faster by virtue of the fact that they skip stations. Hence, the fastest express services also service the least stations. Not unexpectedly, the stations that are skipped tend to be minor stations. Generally speaking, express services are more crucial for suburban railways and people using through services, as subway stations are seldom skipped. A few lines such as the Fukutoshin (F), Shinjuku (S), Asakusa (A) and Tozai (T) subway lines have express services that skip subway stations.

Below is the list of terms of express services most commonly used in Tokyo:

*Do note that not all train lines will have all the above-listed express services and some train lines have their own custom express services like "Romance Car Limited Express", "Tama Express" or "Rapid Rabbit". This is especially the case for the Chuo Line which has a variety of rapid services.

Using part of the Odakyu Line as an example (below), between Shinjuku and Noborito stations, the local train stops at every station (17 in total). The semi-express stops at 12 stations while the express service only stops 5 times.

5. Special seats

Special seats are typically available for long-haul journeys such as shinkansen rides.

Smoking carriages are sort of a thing of the past and the best that you can do is to have seat in the cabin with smoking compartments found on shinkansens.

"Green cars" are the equivalent of first-class seating on trains and require the purchase of Green Car Tickets either using a machine or a ticket counter.

"Reserved seating" means that you are given a fixed seat, and hence are assured of a seat. This almost always costs extra money.

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Demystifying the Railway Train and Subway Systems of Tokyo - Tokyo From The Inside

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and that was the simplified map of the subway and rail system in downtown Tokyo. If you had looked at the map and thought to yourself "that's all?", good for you. If your jaw dropped or you started hyperventilating, hopefully this article would help calm you down.

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Tokyo subway systems

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Tokyo Busy JR Yamanote Line Shinjuku Sta

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Vic Stefanu - World Travels and Adventures

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TOKYO'S fascinating and ultramodern subway (metro/underground), Japan

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Tokyo, metro or subway or underground: Let's go for a ride and a tour of Tokyo's fascinating and ultra modern subway (metro/underground), Japan. Vic Stefanu, vstefanu@yahoo.com. Tokyo, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, and is both the capital and most populous city of Japan.

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SECTION 3: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS TRANSPORTATION

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SECTION 3: HOW POPULATION DENSITY AFFECTS TRANSPORTATION

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A country this crowded takes it's toll on public transportation. That's why they've developed some of the fastest trains in the world, at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour. Rush hour at Japanese trains stations can get pretty hectic. There are so many people, that there are employees at the stations called pushers. Their jobs are to cram as many people onto the train during boarding as possible. The average time it takes to get to work in Tokyo is 90 minutes, maybe more.  Fortunately, less and less people have been owning/purchasing cars, which reduces traffic jams above ground, over the stations.

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Japan's population declines for first time since 1920s - official census

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Fall of nearly one million in official figures shows that demographic problems will be a reality for country in the future

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Tokyo Busy JR Yamanote Line Shinjuku Sta

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In Tokyo, the capital of Japan, you can hardly board a train during rush hour without losing your shoe. The population density is nearly 10 time that of the U.S. at 878 people per square mile. America's is only 87 people per square mile.