Interesting. While I haven't lived in Japan, I have spent a month there.
Obviously there aren't nearly the number of parking lots as in America, by far. But you can totally find large garages in some areas (parked in a large 7 or so story garage in Yokohama once), malls with large parking lots out in areas like Gunma, and even "hidden" garages in Tokyo (or other cities like Takasaki, even) where you pull into a little open garage area, and then there's an attendant who helps you drive the car onto a lift which is basically in the center of the building, which then "automatically" (or manually by the operator) stashes cars in a multi-level car park hidden inside the building.
Plus tons of teeny 2-car or whatever lots do exist, they're just scattered.
I realize in terms of scale that's still quite less than in America, which makes sense. But there are definitely parking lots and garages in Japan. :)
Yes. I've lived for several decades in densely populated parts of Tokyo and Yokohama. While many people do have cars in these areas, most walk, bike, or use public transportation for most purposes. I myself have never had a car and cannot even remember the last time I rode in a private automobile in Japan—probably more than ten years ago.
But a few years ago, I started traveling around Japan more than I had before, using only trains, buses, and occasionally taxis. Once one leaves the major urban areas, I discovered, life is nearly as car-centric as in the suburban United States: almost everyone drives, the main roads are lined with big-box commercial businesses surrounded by parking lots, and a lot of people live in places that are unaccessible except by car. Even if a place is served by trains or buses, they might run at only one- or two-hour intervals, making a trip to the grocery store a half-day errand.
An interesting business I learned about recently is individually owned parking spaces that are leased out in fifteen-minute increments to people who reserve them through a smartphone app [1]. My own house in Yokohama has a small parking space that we never use, and my daughter has suggested that we sign up to lease it out through that service. Some of our neighbors have done so already. The business is feasible because there is no free parking anywhere nearby.
I know someone who works for a company that runs a similar business for bicycle parking spots [2].
Interesting. While I haven't lived in Japan, I have spent a month there.
Obviously there aren't nearly the number of parking lots as in America, by far. But you can totally find large garages in some areas (parked in a large 7 or so story garage in Yokohama once), malls with large parking lots out in areas like Gunma, and even "hidden" garages in Tokyo (or other cities like Takasaki, even) where you pull into a little open garage area, and then there's an attendant who helps you drive the car onto a lift which is basically in the center of the building, which then "automatically" (or manually by the operator) stashes cars in a multi-level car park hidden inside the building.
Plus tons of teeny 2-car or whatever lots do exist, they're just scattered.
I realize in terms of scale that's still quite less than in America, which makes sense. But there are definitely parking lots and garages in Japan. :)