As far as (4) and (5), that probably speaks to where you were in Japan. Outside of the major cities there is plenty of driving going on. Like in Hokkaido, where

As far as (4) and (5), that probably speaks to where you were in Japan. Outside of the major cities there is plenty of driving going on. Like in Hokkaido, where Sapporo has a nice transit system but outside that is a vast expanse of roads. (1) is fun, because to someone with an American sweet tooth it was easy to just suck on their candy nonstop.