Railways in Japan are very efficient from the perspective of energy consumption and land use, and economic activities in the national capital region (Japan), which is the largest metropolitan area in the world, could not have been achieved without these railways; on the other hand, however, there are some problems from the perspective of social comfort and welfare, which has not reached drastic improvement over 100 years in the history of railways in Japan.
エネルギー消費や土地利用の観点からは非常に効率がよく、世界最大の都市圏である首都圏(日本)の経済活動はこのような鉄道なしには成立しえない反面、人々の生活の快適性や福祉の観点からは問題があり、しかも100年以上の日本の鉄道の歴史において、抜本的な改善を見ていない。