>> "The Japanese love cars, but they take trains because they have the best railway system in the world"

> That's exactly it. It's not because of some cultural bias or whatever.

Are there not a lot of toll roads in Japan as well?

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressways_of_Japan#Tolls

Also, is not the population density fairly high? There's not as much land to spread in low-density car centric suburbs like there is in (say) the US.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#Populati...

IMHO cultural bias (and practicality, geographic and economic (low car ownership post-WW2)) is there in Japan, which led to a particular development model, which lends itself to non-car-centric infrastructure.

Contrast: Okinawa, where the US (cultural?) influence is higher and that has highways everywhere and where public transit is apparently not that good.

> Also, is not the population density fairly high? There's not as much land to spread in low-density car centric suburbs like there is in (say) the US.

LOL no. Outside of the big neighborhoods of the big cities, Japan is endless urban sprawl. I know because I live in a small Japanese city of 40k people and it's just detached houses, small 2-story apartment buildings, a big box stores. Public transportation is almost non-existant and I need to drive my car everyday for everything.

>Are there not a lot of toll roads in Japan as well?

There are, but at least wherever I've been driving or been a passenger, there are alternative roads which are just fine. In general slower, but every so often the toll roads are congested for miles due to a combination of roadwork and a LOT of traffic, which makes them slower than the alternative roads during those times.

As for cars - the Japanese aren't against cars. Many of my neighbors have two cars, particularly dual-income households. And they take very good care of them, as a rule. More than I would - to me a car is just a utility. Not for the Japanese. And people love driving too, at least outside the major cities.

Population density: Technically I live in a town with some 300,000 people. But it used to be nearly a dozen towns until 2006, when Japan decided to do some major restructuring and in many areas a bunch of smaller towns were thrown together to become a larger one. So we're really spread out..

I have read you also need to prove you have a place to park a car in order to own one. (And as you point out, space is limited.)