I finally broke down and got one of those ETC terminals for my car, which lets me get on and off Japanese “freeways” (which aren’t exactly free) by driving through the special electronic gate rather than stopping to pay the toll in cash. Naturally, part of the reason I sprang for the system was my desire to feel kakko ii (cool) as I zipped through the toll gate rather than lining up behind other cars to pay the $7 it costs to travel to the next city, or $28 if I’m going the 100 km to Tokyo. But my real reason for getting ETC was that the East Japan Highway Company, which operates the freeways in this part of Japan, was kind enough to put a freeway on-ramp right near my house, saving me a lot of driving in the wrong direction when I want to go somewhere. Since the on-ramp is “ETC only” with no manned toll booth, I counted it as a rare instance of Japan becoming more efficient, an infrequent occurrence in this country that measures the volume of traffic on roads by hiring people to sit for hours and manually count cars with hand clickers as they drive by. Imagine my surprise when I saw that both of the “unmanned” ETC gates had small administrative buildings with 2-3 employees sitting inside, no doubt drinking green tea and watching the latest sumo tournament on TV while cars zip on and off the expressway. I know that Americans might be viewed as often overly concerned with efficiency at the expense of other important factors, but I have to say that if Japan is to flourish in the challenges that lie ahead, it needs to change the way it thinks just a little.
