Institutional System and Current Problems of Car Parking in Tokyo,

Japan

So Morikawa1, Kohei Asao2, Takahiro Igo2, and Hironori Kato3

1
Master Student, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo
2
Undergraduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo
3
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Abstract.
This paper aims to review the current institutional system and to identify the problems
pertaining to the car-parking and parking spaces in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Japan. The
study consists of the following three parts: literature review of institutional system of parking
policy in Japan; local interviews with experts and major stakeholders regarding parking policy;
and two original surveys on car-parking demand and use of local people in Tokyo. The results
present the current problems regarding parking policy in Japan, including the lack of integrated
institutional system; the lack of parking space for freight traffic and motorbike; and no
participation of private parking operators in the process of making the local parking policy.

Keywords: car parking, institutional system, current problem identification, Tokyo

1. Introduction
This paper aims to review the current institutional system and to identify the problems
pertaining to the car-parking and parking spaces in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Japan. The
study consists of three parts. The first part reviews the institutional system regarding the parking
policy in Japan by literature reviews. The second part interviews the experts and the major
stakeholders related to local parking policy in Tokyo. We interviewed them about the current
parking policies, their identification of parking-related problems in Tokyo, and their request to
other actors. The third part includes two surveys. One is a questionnaire survey about the
parking demand and their opinions about the local parking policy in Tokyo. The other is an
observation survey of dynamic parking use by using online data.
The paper is organized as follows. Chapter 1 shows the objectives of this report.
Chapter 2 summarizes the statutory system of parking in Japan. Chapter 3 describes the current
problems regarding parking and parking-related policy on the basis of interview results. Chapter
4 presents the results of questionnaire survey and the observation survey in Tokyo. The
achievements of the study will be summarized in Chapter 5.

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2. Parking System in Japan
2.1 Overview
First of all, “parking” is defined in Road Traffic Act in Japan. It is defined in two ways. The first
way defines the parking as a status in which a driver stops his/her car continuously so as to wait
for goods or people, to load/unload the goods to and from his/her car for 5 minutes or more, or
to deal with accidents. The second way defines the parking as a status in which a driver goes
away from the car and cannot restart his/her car immediately. Generally, the parking is divided
into On-street Parking and Off-street Parking. The structure of parking system in Japan is shown
in Figure 1 (Japan Society of Traffic Engineers, 2006). First, the On-street Parking is
categorized into the following three types: On-street Parking Space regulated in Parking Act;
On-street Parking Facilities regulated in Road Act; and On-street Parking at Parking
Meter/Parking Ticket Machine regulated in Road Traffic Act. Note that some experts point out
that the short stop at a stopping lane should be also included as one of the on-street parking
spaces. Next, the Off-street Parking is categorized into the following two types: Off-street
Parking for Specific Users and Off-street Parking for the Public. The Off-street Parking for
Specific Users is further grouped into Obligatory Parking Space regulated in Parking Act and

On-street On-street Parking Space

Parking
Parking (Parking Act)

On-street Parking Facilities

(Road Act)

On-street Parking Meter /

Marking Ticket Machine
(Road Traffic Act)

Off-street Off-street Parking for Specific Obligatory Parking Space

Parking Users (Parking Act)

Private Parking Space

(Civil Law)

Obligatory Parking Space

Off-street Parking for the Public
(Parking Act)

Coin-operated parking Space over

500 m2 (Parking Act)

Coin-operated parking Space 500

m2 or less (Parking Act)

City-Planning-based Parking
Space (City Planning Act and
Parking Act)

Figure 1 Structure of Parking System in Japan

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Private Parking Space regulated mainly in Civil Law. The Off-street Parking for the Public is
further grouped into the following four types: Obligatory Parking Space regulated in Parking
Act; Coin-operated Parking Space of over 500 square meters regulated in Parking Act;
Coin-operated Parking Space of 500 square meters or less regulated in Parking Act; and
City-Planning-based Parking Space regulated in City Planning Act and Parking Act. Finally, it
should be noted that the parking policy in Japan highlights the Off-street Parking, particularly
the City-Planning-based Parking, rather than the On-street Parking.

2.2 On-street Parking

In Japan, the drivers are not allowed to park their cars on streets in major cities. The exceptions
are shown below.
2.2.1 On-street Parking Space
The On-street Parking Space is regulated in Parking Act. Note that this type of parking is
regulated by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The on-street
parking space is set in the Parking Space Development Zone by the local government. See
“City-Planning-based Parking Space” for the details of the Zone. The On-street Parking Space is
regarded as a supplement of the City-Planning-based Off-street Parking Space in the Zone. The
local governments need to make an agreement from a Local Public Safety Commission when
setting the On-street Parking Space. The users of the On-street Parking Space are required to
pay the parking charges to the local government depending on their parking duration. The
On-street Parking charge is controlled so as to be nearly equal to the prices of the Off-street
Parking around the On-street Parking Space. The local government must use the revenue from
On-street Parking not only for administrating the On-street Parking Spaces but also for
developing the Off-street Parking Spaces.

2.2.2 On-street Parking Facilities

The On-street Parking Facilities are regulated in Road Act. Note that this type of parking is also
regulated by MLIT. The On-street Parking Facilities are set outside of roadways by road
administrators. The users of On-street Facilities are required to pay the parking charges to the
local governments depending on their parking duration. The on-street parking facilities are also
regarded as a supplement of the City-Planning-based off-street parking spaces.

2.2.3 On-street Parking at Parking Meter/Parking Ticket Machines

The On-street Parking at Parking Meters or Parking Ticket Machines is regulated in Road
Traffic Act. Note that this type of parking is regulated by Nation Policy Agency. The Local
Public Safety Commission can set the parking meters and/or parking tickets along the road

3
where the illegal on-street parking should be minimized. The users of parking meters and
parking tickets are required to pay not the parking charge but the administrative service cost to
the Commission. The parking time is fixed as 60 or 40 minutes. If the parking time is expired,
the users must pay the fine for violating parking rule.

2.2.4 Short stop at a stopping lane

Some experts point out that the short stop at a stopping lane should be also included as one of
the on-street parking spaces. The stopping lane is defined in Road Structure Act while the short
stop at the stopping lane is defined in Road Traffic Act. Note that the stopping lane is regulated
by MLIT. The short stop at the stopping lane is defined as the status in which a driver stops
continuously so as to load/unload the goods within 5 minutes or to let people get on/off the car
at the stopping lane. The short stop at the stopping lane is free of charge. The Acts state that the
road administrator mainly in urban districts can set the stopping lanes on the left side of roads in
order to realize the smooth and safe traffic flows. The width of the stopping lanes is 1.5 meter to
2.5 meters.

2.3 Off-Street Parking

2.3.1 Obligatory Off-street Parking Spaces
The Obligatory Parking Space for the Public is regulated in Parking Act while the Obligatory
Parking Space for the large-scale retail store is regulated both in Parking Act and in Large-Scale
Retail Stores Act. First, Parking Act states that local governments can establish the local parking
regulations. Article 20 of Parking Act states that the local regulations can order the owners of
large buildings of over 2,000 square meters and special-purpose building including theaters,
department stores, and office buildings to establish the off-street parking areas. The off-street
parking areas must have the space enough to cover the parking demand of the building. Next,
Large-Scale Retail Stores Act prescribes the guideline and processes for establishing a new
large-scale retail store, including parking spaces for visitors. Article 4 of Large-Scale Retail
Stores Act states that the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry issues a guideline for those
who want to build a new large-scale retail store. The guideline includes the basic issues which
the retailers must care about when staring business and preparing facilities. It intends to avoid
the traffic disorder and the serious impacts on local environment caused by the traffic to and
from the stores. They include a baseline of parking capacity for large-scale retail stores. Article
5 of Large-Scale Retail Stores Act requires those who want to build the new large-scale retail
stores to submit a document about opening of the stores. The document should contain the exact
location of parking space; its capacity; its opening hours; and the number of parking
entrance/exit. The document must also include the method to calculate the parking capacity

4
which can cover the parking demand; the method to design the parking structure; and the
method to estimate the number of entrance/exit. Additionally, the applicants for building new
large-scale retail stores are required to show their plans to guide the cars to their parking spaces
such as guiding routes, the number of signboards and the traffic-control staffs.

2.3.2 Private Off-street Parking Space

There are the three types of Private Off-street Parking Spaces. All of them are supplied and
managed under private contracts (Nosaka et al., 2008). The first type of parking space is
supplied and managed in which land owner rents the property to land borrowers for their
parking purposes. In this case, the parking contract is legally regarded as the lease of land (Civil
Law Article 601- ). The owner of parking space is not allowed to relocate the borrowers’ cars
without their permission. This is because the borrowers have their right to occupy the land even
if the land owner has its property right. The second type of parking space is supplied and
managed in which car drivers request a parking manager to handle their cars. Usually a parking
manager receives the keys of cars from drivers at the entrance of parking space and takes care of
the cars in the parking space during a given period. This type of parking contract is legally
regarded as deposit of cars (Civil Law Article 657- ). In this case, the parking manager can
relocate the customer’s cars in the parking space. The third type of parking space is
Coin-operated Parking Space. The parking-ticket machine is installed at the Coin-operated
Parking Space but no one manages the cars at the sight. The Coin-operated Parking Spaces have
become more popular rapidly since the revision of Road Traffic Act in 2006. However, the
Coin-operated Parking is not clearly defined or regulated from the legal viewpoint. In practice,
the contract of Coin-operated Parking follows the Parking Act. Article 13 of Parking Act
requires the owners of parking space of over 500 square meters to prepare a provision to
supervise the parking space. The provision is used for avoiding the legal trouble between
contractors. An example of provision shown by the central government is widely used for
preparing the provision. The provision usually describes that the legal troubles regarding the
Coin-operated Parking are solved basically in the same way as the second type of Private
Off-street Parking Space. Note that the owners of parking space of 500 square meters or less
also often use the same provision for their contract.

2.3.3 City-Planning-based Parking Space

The City-Planning-based Off-street Parking is regulated in Parking Act. This type of parking
space is regarded as the public parking space. Note that this type of parking is regulated by
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Chapters 2 to 4 of Parking Act define
Parking Space Development Zone. The parking space developed in the Parking Space

5
Development Zone is called as City-Planning-based Parking Space. The Parking Space
Development Zone is set by the local government to develop parking spaces in urban areas.
Article 3 of Parking Act shows that each prefectural government can set the Zones in the areas
including commercial zone and residential zone where the traffic volume is considerably high.
Note that the commercial zone and residential zone are set by the prefectural government in
their statutory city plan under the regulation of City Planning Act. The prefectural governments
are requested to prepare a parking development plan on the basis of parking demand and supply
at present and in the future when setting the Zones. Note that the parking policy in Japan seems
to consider that the public parking space should be provided as the Off-street Parking Space. For
example, Article 7 of Parking Act, which prescribes the parking charge, states that the revenue
from the parking charge of City-Planning-based Parking Space must be used for constructing
the Off-street Parking Space in addition to for maintaining the On-street Parking Space.

3. Problems Structure of Parking Policy in Tokyo

3.1 Method
The semi-structured interviews are used to figure out the problems regarding the local parking
policy in Tokyo. The experts include Dr. Shinji Tanaka in the University of Tokyo and Dr.
Satoru Kobayakawa in Nihon University. The stakeholders include the government officials in
the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Tourism, the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Agency, and Chuo Ward office. The interviews
were carried out from November to December, 2009. The average interview time is about 1.5
hours.

3.2 Major Stakeholders in Parking Policy

There are the four actors relating parking policy: the central government, prefectural
government, district government, and local police agency. The central government, the Ministry
of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism monitors and manages the national parking
policy. Although they used to have the power to make the decisions and/or give the direct
guidance on the local parking policy, they lost their power through the decentralization process.
Currently, the main roles of the central government are to collect the data and to present good
practices of local policies to the local governments (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism, 2009). Their policy target is to develop the compact city where the car-use demand
is reduced. Next, local police agency takes a role to control the road traffic. They consider that
the road should not be used for car parking spaces but for car traffic. Thus, they strongly request
the development of off-street parking spaces. On the other hand, some experts and local
governments request the utilization of on-street space for short-time parking. And local police

6
agency itself supervises parking meters (one important type of on-street type parking). They
said in principle, parking meters should be eliminated, but as many claims from citizens
concentrated to police agency, they have to care about these voices because their regulation is
authorized through the trust of citizens. The prefectural governments set up the local parking
policy and prepare the guideline for local parking management. They have the two approaches
to manage the local parking policy. The first approach is to arrange their local parking
ordinances. Although many local parking ordinances follow the guideline presented the central
government, some local governments including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government introduce
their original ordinance by taking their unique conditions into account. One of the unique trials
in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is to allow the district government to launch the special
rule, such as Ginza rule in Chuo Ward (Chuo Ward, 2003). The second approach is to prepare
their original guidelines for the district governments and/or operators. For example, the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government prepares the “Integrated Parking Planning Guideline” (Tokyo
Metropolitan Government, 2007) and Hyogo Prefecture prepares their original guideline
(Hyogo Prefectural Government, 2008). Although the prefectural governments insist that they
respect the decisions made by each district, the prefectural governments often intervene the
local parking policy in the districts. Some district governments like Chuo Ward propose many
unique rules, some of which include flexible usage of on-street parking, but they say that only
some of these are accepted by Metropolitan government or Metropolitan police agency. This is
maybe because the police agency clings to the principle that on-street parking should not be
allowed, and Metropolitan government also have to care about equality among districts, so they
cannot say OK to all of the policies the district propose though they promote original rules to
each district. The central government, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and
Tourism is also conscious of the latter problem. They say that while some prefectures or districts
can make and manage a good policy of parking fitted to each area, there also exist many
prefectures or districts which do not have enough budget and human resources to do that. It can
be said that this is one of the problem that Japan’s nationwide decentralization policy yields.

3.3 Current Problems Regarding Parking Policy in Tokyo

First, the three major problems regarding the current parking policy were pointed out by the
interviewees. The first problem is the lack of parking space for freight traffic particularly caused
by the new management system of illegal on-street parking introduced in June 2006. Under the
new system, the private operators are allowed to monitor the streets and manage the illegal
on-street parking. This aims to improve the efficiency of managing the illegal on-street parking.
Note that the local police agency used to be in charge of managing the illegal on-street parking
in the old system. The new system has reduced dramatically the illegal on-street parking of

7
private cars whereas it has increased the off-street parking of private cars slightly in urban areas.
This may mean that the individuals who used to use their cars give up using their cars by
changing their travel mode or by changing their destinations. On the other hand, the new system
causes the serious problems for the freight truck drivers. Many freight truck drivers face
difficulties to search the parking spaces in the vicinity of their final destinations. Some
stakeholders including the Japan Trucking Association consider that the small-scale freight
operators have started to use the off-street parking spaces more while the large-scale freight
operators and major chain shops such as convenience stores came to prepare their own parking
spaces for their logistics system even after the new management system was introduced.
However, in reality, a number of small-scale freight operators are forced to use the on-street
parking even if they know it is illegal. The second problem is the lack of parking space for
motorbikes. This was also caused by the new management system of illegal on-street parking.
Although the new system covers the motorbikes in addition to cars, few off-street parking
spaces are prepared for motorbikes. The central government currently promotes the installation
of parking spaces for motorbikes at the off-street parking facilities. The third problem is the
inflexibility of design code of obligatory parking space. The design code requires the building
owner to prepare the parking space with a specific volume by a given formula. This is applied
even to skyscrapers located near the rail stations, where the most visitors use the public transit
to access. Note that many station areas have been recently redeveloped in Tokyo. The central
government is now deregulating the design code with which the local government can arrange
the parking space flexibly.
Then, the two problems regarding the decision-making system of parking policy were
pointed out. The first problem is the lack of organization to coordinate the policy development
among public sectors. Although there are various types of parking spaces including the on-street
parking space and off-street parking space, no authority covers all of them. Thus, it is difficult to
examine the integrated parking policy at local level. The second problem is the lack of
participation of private parking operators in the process of making the local parking policy. This
is partly because there is no regulation about the private parking business. The governments
cannot grasp even the number of parking spaces given by the private operators. This should lead
to the unbalanced and incomplete planning of parking spaces

4. Questionnaire Survey on Car Parking in Tokyo

4.1 Motivation and Method
The survey on car parking aims to collect the data of daily car-use and car parking of local
households in Tokyo. The students studying at the Department of Civil Engineering, The
University of Tokyo (UT) were requested to interview their household members who mainly use

8
his/her cars. The paper-based questionnaire sheet was designed by the Tokyo study team. The
survey sheet includes the questions regarding the socio-demographics; the car-use travel episode
on the latest day when using the car; the parking location choice on the latest day when parking
the car; and the preference on car parking. The survey was carried out on November 27 to
December 11, 2009 by one of the members from the Tokyo study team. The data were collected
from 25 respondents. 10 respondents reside in Tokyo whereas 15 respondents reside outside
Tokyo, including 8 respondents in Kanagawa; 4 respondents in Saitama; 2 respondents in Chiba
and 1 respondent in Ibaragi.

4.2 Survey Results

4.2.1 Travel mode, car ownership, and car use
First, 50 percent of respondents own their car(s) in Tokyo while 80 percent of respondents own
their car(s) outside Tokyo. 12 respondents out of 18 car owners own their garages at home while
2 respondents use the shared parking space installed at their apartment and 4 respondents use
the monthly-rental car parking spaces operated by private parking space companies. The
monthly parking charge varies from 9,450 yen to 30,000 yen. Note that 1 US dollar is nearly
equal to 95 yen as of December, 2009. Next, 23 respondents use rail for their commuting to
their workplaces while only 2 respondents use bicycle or walk for their commuting. This means
that no respondent use car for their commuting. This reflects the long travel distance for
commuting as well as the well-developed public transportation network in the Tokyo
Metropolitan Area. Finally, 40 percent of respondents answered that they usually use their cars
mainly for shopping. However, many of them also use their cars for going to the rail stations as
well. This probably means that the cars are sometimes used for taking or picking up the family
members to and from the rail stations in addition to going shopping. 4 respondents out of 15
households who used the cars drove their car alone.

4.2.2 Parking space choice

First, interestingly, no respondent paid parking charge during the latest car-use travels. It should
be noted that 4 respondents used the discounted or free-charged parking services given by the
commercial facilities. This reflects that many commercial retailers or shopping malls provide
the discounted parking services to the customers who satisfy the given condition in Japan. One
of the typical conditions is to consume the given amount of money or more at their facilities.
Next, 92 percent of respondents answered that they usually plan the location to park their cars in
advance of arriving at the destination. The main reasons for pre-planning of parking location are
because they have the experience to visit there in the past and/or because they have used the
parking spaces. Only 2 respondents answered that they have no plan about the parking location

9
before arriving at the destination. They answered that they could find successfully proper
parking spaces within 5 minutes without any difficulties.

4.2.3 Preference of car-ownership and parking space

First, 90 percent of respondents residing in Tokyo think that car is not essential in the Tokyo
Metropolitan Area whereas 73 percent of respondents think that car is not essential. This
probably reflects the high quality of public transit network/service and the expensive land-price
in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Second, 15 respondents out of 21 households answered that the
most important factor for car parking is the closeness of the car-parking space to and from the
final destination. Interestingly, only 3 respondents answered that the cheapness is the most
important. This may mean that many parking spaces in Tokyo are located quite far from the
destination. Third, 52 percent of respondents answered that they have felt the inconvenience by
not using on-street parking spaces although it was near the destination. This means that the
potential demand for using on-street parking is high but the on-street car parking is not allowed
or it cannot be used due to some reasons. Fourth, 72 percent of respondents think that the
number and the quality of parking spaces in Tokyo are unsatisfied. 22 percent of respondents
answered that they are not satisfied with the current on-street parking regulation policy in Tokyo
because they often find other cars which are parking illegally on street. Finally, 13 respondents
out of 25 respondents answered that the well-developed public transit service does not require
the local resident to use the car in Tokyo. 7 respondents out of 8 no-car owners answered that
they are satisfied with the high quality of public transit service in Tokyo. However, the
respondents residing outside Tokyo answered that the car may be needed outside Tokyo. This is
probably because the public transit service in suburban area is not as good as in urban area.

5. Observation of Parking Occupancy in Tokyo through Website

5.1 Motivation
This survey aims to collect the data of major parking spaces, including parking facilities,
capacity, and occupancy in Tokyo. The survey used a web site (http://www.s-park.jp/), in which
the data of parking space is open to the public. The web site includes the data of location, price,
capacity, and vacancy situation of each parking space. We collected the data in the three zones
representing the typical land-use patterns in Tokyo. The three zones are Ginza, Tokyo, and
Setagaya. Ginza is selected as a representative of commercial zone, Tokyo is selected as a
representative of business zone, and Setagaya is selected as a representative of residential zone.
Each zone covers 2.25 square kilometers. Note that the parking spaces covered by this web site
are the off-street temporary parking spaces. The temporary parking spaces do not include the
monthly- or annually-contracted parking spaces, which are mainly used for long-term parking

10
spaces. The following data of in the three zones has been collected: capacity of parking space
including the maximum number of cars parked in the parking space; type of parking space;
price system; dynamic parking occupancy: full/congested/vacant. The data of parking
occupancy was collected at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 7:00 pm on the two days, including a
weekday (December 16, 2009) and a weekend day (December 20, 2009).

5.2 Survey Results

5.2.1 Parking capacity
The observed number of parking spaces and the parking capacity in the three zones are shown in
Table 1. This shows that Ginza has the most parking spaces and the highest capacity among the
three regions; and it was followed by Tokyo and Setagaya. This simply reflects the car-parking
demand in the zone. First, the commercial facilities including retailers and restaurant in Ginza
attract many customers visiting for shopping while they also generate the goods-transport
demand. Thus, the car-parking spaces in Ginza are used by both the car-use visitors for
shopping and the trucks loading/unloading the goods. Second, Tokyo is one of the busiest
business zones. Although it attracts many travelers including businesspersons, commuters, and
tourists, most of them do not use cars but rail to access there. It should be noted that Tokyo is
located at the center of urban rail network in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and the vast majority
of commuters use the public transit for commuting to their workplace. However, the business
travels and/or the freight transport generate to and from the offices in Tokyo. This means that
the car-parking spaces in Tokyo are used mainly by business cars or freight trucks. Third, the
number and capacities of parking spaces in Setagaya are lower than in other areas. This is first
because the goods-transport demand is small. The goods transport in residential area is usually
limited into the delivery service. This is second because the car parking demand for local
residents is also small. The most households have their garages at home or use the monthly- or
annually-contracted parking spaces.

Table 1: Number of parking spaces and parking facilities in three zones

Number of parking spaces Parking capacity
Tokyo 99 8,938
Ginza 140 26,700
Setagaya 46 356

5.2.2 Parking charge

Figure 2 shows that the parking charge in the three zones during daytime and nighttime. First,
the parking charge during daytime is defined as the charge per 10-minute parking whereas the

11
 Yen
250.00 
224.07 
Tokyo
200.00  Ginza
Setagaya
150.00 
117.87  114.07 
101.92  100.00 
100.00 

55.00 
50.00 

0.00 
Day time Night time
(per 10 minutes) (per 60 minutes)
Figure 2 Comparison of parking charges by zone and by time of a day

charge during nighttime is defined as the charge per 60-minute parking. This is probably
because the short-time parking demand is dominant during daytime while the over-night parking
demand is dominant during nighttime. Second, the parking charge during daytime is higher than
the charge during nighttime in all zones. This is simply because the car-parking demand is
higher during daytime than during nighttime. Third, the parking charge during daytime is about
six-time higher than the parking charge during nighttime in Tokyo whereas the parking charge
during daytime is about three-time higher than the parking charge during nighttime in Ginza and
Setagaya. This probably reflects the dynamic change in car-parking demand of non-freight
transportation. The higher the car-parking demand is, the higher the parking charge is. On the
one hand, the car-parking demand for shopping or private purposes keeps quite low all day long
in Tokyo. On the other hand, the car-parking demand for shopping during daytime is much
higher than during nighttime in Ginza whereas the car-parking demand for private purpose
during daytime is higher than during nighttime. Fourth, the parking charge is the most expensive
in Ginza and it is followed by Tokyo and by Setagaya. This reflects the difference of car-parking
demand among zones. Finally, the parking charge does not vary among a week day and a
weekend day.

5.2.3 Occupancy of parking space

Figure 3 shows the percentage of congested or fully-occupied parking spaces on the weekday by
zone and by time of a day. This percentage means the average congestion rate at a specific time
in a given zone. First, the congestion rate in Tokyo is the highest among zones and followed by
Ginza and by Setagaya at 9:00 on the weekday. This is probably because some business-purpose
car-users use the parking spaces even early in the morning in Tokyo whereas no
shopping-purpose car-user or delivery-service truck visits the commercial area in Ginza early in

12
the morning; and no private-purpose car-use or delivery-service truck visits the residential zone
Setagaya early in the morning. Second, the congestion rate in Setagaya is the highest among
zones and followed by Ginza and Tokyo both at 13:00 and at 19:00 on the weekday. This is first
because more delivery-service trucks and private-purpose cars use parking spaces in the
afternoon than in the morning in Setagaya. This is second because the visitors for shopping at
Ginza are less on a weekday than on a weekend day. This is third because the car-parking

Percentage of congested or fully‐occupied parking spaces
45.0 
40.0  Tokyo 38.2  38.2 

35.0  Ginza
30.0  Setagaya
26.9 
25.0 
20.0  17.9 
12.8  13.9 
15.0  11.1 
8.8 
10.0  6.4 
5.0 
0.0 
9:00 13:00 19:00
Time of a day
Figure 3 Percentage of congested or fully-occupied parking spaces on a weekday by zone
and by time of a day

demand does not vary so much among the times of a day in Tokyo. Third, the congestion rates
at 13:00 are the highest among the times of a day both in Tokyo and in Ginza whereas the
congestion rate at 13:00 is the same as the rate at 19:00 in Setagaya. This means that the
business and the commercial activities are the busiest in the early afternoon in Tokyo and in
Ginza, respectively whereas the delivery-service trucks and the private-purpose cars visit the
residential areas constantly from early afternoon to evening. Fourth, the highest congestion rates
are 38.2 percent observed at 13:00 and 19:00 in Setagaya. This may mean that the car-parking
capacity does not match the demand at some parking spaces in Setagaya. Fifth, the congestion
rates vary more among the times of a day in Setagaya than in other zones. Particularly in
Setagaya, the car-parking demand from early afternoon to evening is much higher than that in
the morning and at night. The gap of demand between peak-time and off-peak time may make
the car-parking companies reluctant to supply the car-parking spaces in Setagaya.
Figure 4 shows the percentage of congested or fully-occupied parking spaces on the
weekend day by zone and by time. First, the congestion rate in Tokyo is the lowest among zones
and followed by Ginza and by Setagaya at 9:00 on the weekend day. This is probably because
no business-purpose car travel or the freight transport visits the business district around Tokyo

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during the weekend. Second, the congestion rate in Tokyo is the highest among zones at 13:00
on the weekend day and followed by Ginza. The high congestion rate in Tokyo may reflect the
recent development of commercial facilities around central Tokyo station. Many visitors for
shopping use the car-parking spaces in Tokyo and in Ginza in the early afternoon on the
weekend day. Third, the congestion rate in Ginza is the highest among zones at 19:00 on the
weekend day. This is probably because many people eat out at the restaurants in Ginza.

Percentage of congested or fully‐occupied parking spaces
45.0 
40.0  Tokyo
35.0  32.1  Ginza
30.6 
30.0  Setagaya

25.0  23.5 

20.0  17.6 

15.0  11.1 
10.0  8.8 
6.5 
5.0  3.8  2.6 
0.0 
9:00 13:00 19:00
Time of a day
Figure 4 Percentage of congested or fully-occupied parking spaces on a weekend day by
zone and by time of a day

Although many commercial facilities have been also developed in Tokyo, most of them are
retailers rather than restaurants. Fourth, the congestion rate is the highest at 13:00 among the
times of a day in all zones. This reflects the time variation of people’s travel demand on the
weekend day.

6. Conclusions
This paper reports the institutional system of car parking in Japan and the current problems
regarding the car parking in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Japan. The achievements of our study
are summarized as follows.
First, the parking spaces are categorized into nine types by the related laws and acts.
This indicates that the car parking spaces are regulated by various laws/acts in the different
context. This means that there is no integrated institutional system of parking spaces in Japan.
Next, the stakeholder interview was carried out. We have four important stakeholders
who decide Tokyo’s parking policy: the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism,
Tokyo metropolitan government, district government, and local police agency. Each stakeholder
is working to realize their ideal parking policy, but they have different ends and means. That

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enables sometimes contradictory policies co-exist in total structure of the parking policy.
Through the interviews to these stakeholders, the problems of car-parking are identified. They
include the lack of parking space for freight traffic; the lack of parking space for motorbikes; the
inflexibility of design code of obligatory parking space; no organization to coordinate the policy
development among public sectors; and no participation of private parking operators in the
process of making the local parking policy.
Then, the questionnaire survey was carried out to collect the data of car-parking in
Tokyo. The results show: (1) car-use travel demand is lower in Tokyo mainly because the public
transit system is well developed and the parking space is expensive whereas the car-use travel
demand is higher outside Tokyo; (2) car is used not for commuting but mainly for going
shopping or other purposes; (3) many car users pay no charge or discounted charge for car
parking at commercial facilities; (4) the vast majority of car users have their plans about where
to park in advance; (5) the majority of car users think that the closeness of parking spaces from
the destination is the most important factor to determine the parking location; (6) the demand
for using the on-parking space is quite high but many people are unsatisfied with the on-street
parking because they cannot use it as they like; (7) Illegal on-street parking cars frustrates other
car users using off-street parking spaces; and (8) many car-users are unsatisfied with the quality
and volume of current car-parking spaces.
Finally, the observation survey was carried out to collect the data of real-time use of
car-parking spaces. The survey covers Tokyo, Ginza, and Setagaya. The results show: (1) Ginza
has the most parking spaces and the highest capacity among the three zones; and it was
followed by Tokyo and Setagaya; (2) the parking charge during daytime is defined as the charge
per 10-minute parking whereas the charge during nighttime is defined as the charge per
60-minute parking; (3) the parking charge during daytime is higher than the charge during
nighttime in all zones; (4) the parking charge during daytime is about six-time higher than the
parking charge during nighttime in Tokyo whereas the parking charge during daytime is about
three-time higher than the parking charge during nighttime in Ginza and Setagaya; (5) the
parking charge is the most expensive in Ginza and it is followed by Tokyo and by Setagaya; (6)
the parking charge does not vary among a week day and a weekend day; (7) the congestion rate
in Tokyo is the highest among zones and followed by Ginza and by Setagaya at 9:00 on the
weekday; (8) the congestion rate in Setagaya is the highest among zones and followed by Ginza
and Tokyo both at 13:00 and at 19:00 on the weekday; (9) the congestion rates at 13:00 are the
highest among the times of a day both in Tokyo and in Ginza whereas the congestion rate at
13:00 is the same as the rate at 19:00 in Setagaya; (10) the highest congestion rates are 38.2
percent observed at 13:00 and 19:00 in Setagaya; (11) the congestion rates vary more among the
times of a day in Setagaya than in other zones; (12) the congestion rate in Tokyo is the lowest

15
among zones and followed by Ginza and by Setagaya at 9:00 on the weekend day; (13) the
congestion rate in Tokyo is the highest among zones at 13:00 on the weekend day and followed
by Ginza; (14) the congestion rate in Ginza is the highest among zones at 19:00 on the weekend
day; and (15) the congestion rate is the highest at 13:00 among the times of a day in all zones.

Acknowledgements
This survey was initiated by Dr. Paul Barter (National University of Singapore) in the context of
his project supported by the Asian Development Bank. We thank Dr. Shinji Tanaka (The
University of Tokyo), Dr. Satoru Kobayakawa (Nihon University), Mr. Haruo Ishii (Tokyo
Metropolitan Government), Mr. Masahiko Kikuchi (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism) for supporting us in our interviews.

References
Parking Act (1957) (in Japanese).
Tokyo Metropolitan Parking Space Ordinance (1958) (in Japanese).
Chuo Ward (2003) Report of Ginza Parking Rule (in Japanese).
Fukui Town Management Organization (2006) Business Trend Survey in Fukui Town, available
online at http://ftmo.co.jp/020_exchange/dl_tyousa/keiki/keiki.htm (in Japanese).
Hyogo Prefectural Government (2008) Guide Plan of Parking Construction Plan, available
online http://web.pref.hyogo.jp/contents/000105249.pdf (in Japanese).
Japan Society of Traffic Engineers (2006) Special Issue on On-Street Parking, Traffic
Engineering Vol.41, No.6 (in Japanese)..
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2009) Strategies for New Town
Development, Taisei Publishing (in Japanese).
Nosaka, G. , Deguchi, K. and Tachikawa, M. (2008) Beginning Coin Parking Business, Nijuichi
Publishing (in Japanese)..
Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2007) Integrated Parking Planning of the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government (in Japanese).

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