Japan is Eco

Japan is becoming more and more 「エコ」 (“eco”).

How do you say “eco” in English? I’m not even sure. 😉
It’s a Japanese abbreviation for “ecological” or “ecology”…and it describes acting out of concern for the environment.

In Japan, most convenience stores won’t give a plastic bag for small purchases anymore until the customer requests one.
And supermarkets often give bonus points on the customer’s point card if they use their own personal shopping bag rather than taking bags from the store.

Also many restaurants now use regular, washable 箸 (chopsticks) instead of 割箸 (disposable chopsticks).

Japanese automakers are working on making cars that use rechargeable batteries, solar power, or hybrid vehicles.

Every household in Japan separates their garbage.
And large, unnecessary appliances such as clothes dryers and dishwashers are virtually non-existent in Japan.

And even people who have cars in Japan use public transportation such as the trains and buses as often as possible. And when going short distances, most people walk or bicycle.
It’s possible to buy auto insurance in Japan that is only valid on weekends, because many people only use their cars on the weekend and use the trains for their work commute.

Also, last year, a few of the busiest train stations have begun using the footsteps of people walking through the train stations to generate electricity to run the station.

This sign says that the foot traffic over this special mat in Tokyo Stn generated over 3600 watts of electricity so far that day.

And then, if you go to 「江ノ島水族館」 (“Enoshima Aquarium“) south of Tokyo by 2009 December 25, you can see the 「デンキウナギのクリスマスツリー」 (“Electric Eel X-mas Tree“).
The electricity to power the lights on this Christmas tree is generated by an electric eel.

How about your country? Is there an “eco movement“?

The World’s Busiest Train Station

新宿駅 (Shinjuku Station), in Tokyo, Japan, is the busiest train station in the world.

Shinjuku Train Station was built in 1885 and currently services over 3.5 million commuters daily!

For comparison, there are about 3 million people in the U.S. city of Chicago, and the entire population of the country of Singapore is about 4 million.

Japan’s population is 120 million…and 10% of the country’s population lives in Tokyo.

Shinjuku Station is huge. Besides all of the train and subway lines, it also has bus and taxi stops and it’s own shopping center (of course, alot of train stations in Japan have shopping centers, though).

To help you understand how large it is…Shinjuku Station has over 200 exits!

The area called 新宿 (Shinjuku) is a large, popular section of Tokyo. It is said that Shinjuku was the inspiration for the ’80s Hollywood movie “Blade Runner” (Starring Harrison Ford).

It’s a huge town full of skyscrapers and neon. I like it!

Here’s a video I took of one of the exits of Shinjuku Station on a weekday morning recently: