Hoping to get back to Tokyo in time for a study session at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, I left the countryside early and drove straight into the biggest traffic jam in months. As I approached the city, signs above the expressway noted the distance and time likely to be spent going less than 10km per hour and coming to a complete stop now and again. The usual “Takaido 25 Minutes” read “Takaido 120 Minutes.” The electronic map on the Bayshore Expressway showed all the city’s expressways lit up orange and red. The view confirmed the map: cars and trucks bumper to bumper on every road in both directions. Creeping ... (full story)