Commuting in Tokyo can be a major part of a person’s day.

From door to desk, the commute to Tod’s office is about 25 minutes. 6 minutes to the subway + 5 minutes to wait for the train + a 9 minute ride + 4 minutes to the office. We think this is a reasonable commute, but we pay the price in high rent.

Others prefer a lower rent with a longer commute. If we were to live 60 minutes away, we could rent a comparable house for around 60,000 yen ($600) less than what we pay now. Is the shorter commute worth 2,000 yen a day? I think so.

Yesterday I met a woman whose objective isn’t time or rent, but living outside Tokyo. She lives in Fujisawa, about 50 kilometers southwest of the city. It’s pretty in Fujisawa—lots of trees and greenery. But it is a long, expensive trip in to work—from Fujisawa to Otemachi is no less than 70 minutes on the train. One-way train fare is 1,100 yen.

People generally do not drive themselves to work. Perhaps for a special event—leaving for holiday right after work, or bringing something heavy or bulky into the office—but commuters take trains here. If you’re riding in a car to work, you are probably being chauffered. There are plenty of big black sedans toting around the chairmen and presidents of large corporations. Posted by kuri at August 01, 2000 07:17 AM