The result of Japan’s deregulated zoning is the best transportation system in the world. A 175mph train with a perfect safety record over more than 50 years will soon be supplemented with a 300mph train.
Here are two shots from our room as morning begins - 28 floors above Shinagawa station, in Tokyo. Shinagawa is really two major stations - one for Japan Railways (shared between East and Central, two different companies), and another for Keikyu Corporation.
Shinagawa will be the eastern terminus of the new maglev JR Central is constructing between Tokyo and Nagoya - the dark area you see here just past the tracks is the current construction site. It’ll open in 2027, and subsequently be expanded to Osaka. It’s entirely privately funded; the Japanese government has now offered to underwrite the debt to accelerate delivery.
Japan’s nationally set land use regulation appears to prevent discrimination or impact from homeowners, allowing major cities to grow as people want to live in them. The density people choose when allowed means infrastructure does not require public dollars. In the US, the incentive for infrastructure is appeasement of constituencies. In Japan, the incentive is profit - through quality of service.