How necessary are cars in Japan?

I know my question is vague, so let me try and refine it.
Obviously, depending on location and many other factors, buying a car in Japan is as sensible as buying a car anywhere else.
But given how impressive the train/bullet train system is in Japan, how likely is it that someone living in Tokyo or Ikebukuro would ever need to purchase a car as opposed to just owning a pass for a public transport?

You pointed it out yourself already: it depends a lot on where in Japan. In Tokyo, public transportation is excellent. So unless you have some job or hobby that requires you to have a car, you can easily lead an everyday life without a car. 2/3 of households in central Tokyo don't have a car.

The quality of public transportation quickly deteriorates outside of Japan's largest cities. Even medium-sized cities often have only a poor bus network, and not having a car is inconvenient. In rural cities and on the countryside, a car is virtually a must.

Just to add to the previous reply. In central Tokyo (and actually also in not THAT central Tokyo ) in order to own a car you MUST have also a parking lot.
And they are expensive. So in Tokyo I think a car is more a hinderance than a convenience.
If you do need a car one day, you can easy enough rent one for that day. Or even fit a few hours.

It's pretty simple - you don't need one in major cities but need one in the countryside.

Most people live in cities - but most of the land is the countryside.

A lot of regular respected adults in Tokyo don't even have a driver's license while in the countryside two cars per household is the norm.

Here in Yokohama, we gave up our car six months ago, and it's saving us about 10000 yen per month even though we now rent through a car share system, and even though we never had to pay for parking.

That said, the coronavirus got me thinking that now is the time when cars can be very handy. But so far, I've managed to live without riding a car, bus or train for four weeks in a row. Thank goodness I have no trouble walking.

I drive maybe once per year - a car is not necessary (although I keep my drivers license up to date.) I don't even bother with a bicycle. Out of the last few occasions they were to move a desk/chair across Tokyo (rented a van), a road trip out of the city, and driving across the city for a friend (to share the driving).
Beyond the excellent Tokyo train network, Tokyo (and neighbouring prefectures) also have a good bus network that fill in the gaps between the train lines. In central Tokyo a car would probably be more of a hindrance than something useful.
For my travelling around Japan, I don't bother with a car for those either. Most of the time the train/bus system works well. But, if you were somewhere rural or a smaller location, certainly a car could be useful.

�uBut given how impressive the train/bullet train system is in Japan, how likely is it that someone living in Tokyo or Ikebukuro would ever need to purchase a car as opposed to just owning a pass for a public transport?�v

If by "living in Ikebukuro" you mean "living within walking distance of Ikebukuro Station," then there's absolutely no need to purchase a car. That's one of the largest rail hubs in the country, with lines that connect to everywhere in and around downtown Tokyo.

living in Tokyo or Ikebukuro

As a clarification for the OP, Ikebukuro is Tokyo.

Or if you meant "Tokyo Station", very few people live within walking distance from Tokyo Station. There are much more convenient places to live in the City of Tokyo without a car.

Uco San,why you,Japanese people has prefer cycle than car(when Japanese people has capability to buy two or more cars).Here in London, we are afraid of accident or road is too dangerous to cycling
in London,capital city of England.
Also Thanks Likebike,to promote Japanese island by her bicycle.

Kiran.
The japanese people do not have the capability to buy 2 or more cars.

�uThe japanese people do not have the capability to buy 2 or more cars.]

Two or more cars isn't at all unusual in rural parts of Japan. Heck, my wife's family had three cars in the family when she was still living at home, and she lived in Kawasaki, which is right next to Tokyo.

The other thing about driving in Japan is that it's slow. And, when you get where you're going, you usually have to pay to park, and sometimes (depending on where it is and whether or not it's the weekend) you have to queue to pay to park. Certainly in city areas there is basically no street parking.

We had three months in Yokohama in 2018 and not once did we miss having a car to use.

Guys across the street from me have at least two cars and most of my neighbours with houses have one car because they only have one parking space - less cars among apartment dwellers nearby. One thing you can notice quite quickly is the range from cheap/small cars to luxury/high end ones. Some people have the ability to spend 20 million yen (and a lot more for some of the models I see kicking around) on a car if they want. They have to have somewhere to park.
(and yes, the comment about driving being slow is also relevant)

Kiran,

Uco San,why you,Japanese people has prefer cycle than car(when Japanese people has capability to buy two or more cars).

I don't know why you addressed me, but I don't think Japanese people in general prefer bicycles than cars when they have the capability to buy two or more cars.

People I know who own bicycles in Japan instead of owning cars do not know how to drive, or cannot afford to own a car (in means of money and space), or for them bicycles are more convenient than cars. For example, in residential areas, especially when roads are not hilly, bicycles can go into narrow streets, can park at much more places than cars can, and can stop by a shop window the moment you spot something.

Meanwhile, if you live in the countryside in Japan where your nearest store is miles away down or up a mountain, a bicycle is hardly of any use.

For the record, our household have no bicycles and no cars at the moment. I also understand that cars can cause accidents, but there have been a lot of bicycle accidents, too, including those with bicycle riders injuring pedestrians. In Japan, there are very few roads/lanes specifically designed for bicycles, so riding bicycles here is not exactly the safest way to go from one place to another.

Thanks for clarification.This is one of the reason why Japanese people Live Longer.I saw Japanese grandmother, Japanese mother (Her age is as same as my own mother), Japanese male or female students go their university or workplace by cycle.So cycling is one reason ,why Japanese are aging society and become healthy.

As a Japanese resident and traveler, I feel that not many Japanese people ride bicycles to university or work compared to those in, say, China, U.S. and EU, but I suppose each person has different perspectives.

Here from a cyclist perspective who has cycled both in Japan as well as in the Netherlands and other EU countries:
- in Japan seemingly everyone owns a bicycle, but they are mainly used for very short distance. E.g. home to train station, home to school, home to shops, home to kindergarden... (I know that not EVERYONE owns a bike)
- the elderly are also very much using bicycles for transport.
- cycling to work in Japan is at many companies not permitted (they give a reason that it is not covered by the insurance ... instead of simply including bicycle accidents in the insurance). I think it has improved a bit in the past, as I am hearing now of more people who are officially permitted to come by bike. While in EU riding to work by bicycle cannot be prohibited.
- I wouldn't think that cycling is one of the reasons why Japanese live longer than most other nations. There is simply not enough cycling going on for it to have such a huge impact on health. Maybe a very small impact, and it definitely helps that cars generally drive much slower and that bicycles are around, so traffic is way safer than in many other countries
- Most of the bicycles in Japan are of very poor quality, but good enough for the 10 min ride they are being used for. But I would think that in EU no one would use such bikes.
- I dont know China 20 years ago, but I do sometimes have the impression that in Japan the use of bicycle simply remained. If you look at all the elderly ladies and men cycling around very slowly, I am always impressed.
- Cycling is much less seen as a sport or as a hobby. E.g. in NL many elderly (but not very old people, e.g. people around 70 or so) do now own an eBike. In Japan even 80 or 90 year old cycle around with their old mamacharis. Although some do have an eBike, it is far away from the fanzy EU models. It seems in Japan much more about transport and transporting things or people than about sport or leisure.
- People out on the street for sport are nearly exclusively on racing bikes... but there is not a lot of leisure cycling going on.

Anyway, owning a bicycle is not a factor to not own a car. If you can afford a car, you can also afford a bicycle and I would think that many Japanese who have a car also have a bicycle. The same goes for many Europeans.

BTW, I have no car, but 4 bicycles... ;-) but could have probably bought a second hand car for all of what I spent on my bicycles.

Thanks LikeBike for that overview-it's brought back many happy memories of noticing bike riders in Japan.

Here we are plagued with lycra louts-that is, people in tight lycra cycling gear riding really fast, and demanding space and consideration wherever they are, regardless of people, kids, pets, slower cyclists or anything else. I don't remember seeing too many of them in Japan.

Generally the bikes there seem to cohabit okay with pedestrians and cars. Some gentle bell dinging or just balance cycling until any temporary obstacle is out of the way.

We saw (in an affluent corner of Tokyo) some very glamorous electric bikes being ridden mostly by young mums with a baby in one basket and a toddler in the other. I think you could probably buy a small car for the same price as some of those bikes. Kids are protected in all weathers by various covers, as well as being securely strapped in.

Also there are so many bike racks at local train stations, which fill up every morning and empty every evening.

Kids are protected in all weathers by various covers, as well as being securely strapped in.
And a lack of helmets.

For Tokyo prefecture road deaths by category (last year):
People in cars: 14
People on motorcycles: 28
People on bicycles: 34
Pedestrians: 57

Also note that within Tokyo road speeds are generally lower contributing to a lower rate of accidents/fatalities than the country as a whole (about 30% of the national rate), but having seen the behaviours of people on the roads (like a recent cyclist riding deliberately through a red light in front of cars, it is surprising there are not more accidents/deaths. One of the last times I drove across Tokyo I saw three smashed cars in one 45km trip - the driving skills of many is pretty low.

At home we have two cars, because we are living in a rural area.
But when I go to work I often take the bicycle (Kasugai to Nagoya 18km)

The most difference compared with the Netherlands where I come from is there is no infrastructure for bicycles. There are certain areas in Nagoya which suppose to by a bicycle Laine.

Also parking the bicycle is a nightmare. I do not want to let my bicycle outside due damage etc.

Indeed bicycles are poor quality, and have imported my own bicycle to Japan and register in Japan.

For big cities public transport is good enough not to have a car but outside the big cities it is a welcome idea to have one.