All Aboard

One of the things that I feel grateful for is the Japanese public transportation system. I imagine it's the best in the world. The trains are clean, efficient, and ubiquitous. You will be very, very, very hard pressed to find any train in all of Japan that is dirty. Cleaning staff make sure the trains are sparkling clean all day long. Also, people's mentality here is such that most don't leave their trash on the train. Of course, you get a few who don't follow that rule; however, they are the exception and definitely not the norm. The trains are almost never late. When they are, it is usually only for a few minutes. To be fair, tardiness has been on the rise, but I think it is handled exceptionally well. When I was in London, they shut whole train lines for hours because of "scheduled maintenance". Trains in Japan are extremely reliable. That is a beautiful thing.

Another beautiful thing is the fact that the trains here really do go everywhere. You can travel from the most bustling metropolis to the tiniest villages and towns. That's why cars are not really that needed. There are, of course, places where the train doesn't go. If you wanted to go camping, for example, it might be better to have a car. For the most part, you can get anywhere in this country by train. The girl in the picture girl who's running down the train station's steps is on her way to the subway. I'm sure she feels it too. There's a sense of security in knowing that when you reach the platform, the train will always come to carry you where you need to go.