Explain about Japan

27th December 2022

A ‘car’ is 車 (kuruma) in Japanese and an 家 (ie) means ‘house’.

What about a 機械式駐車場　(kikaishikichūshajō)? You could call it a ‘mechanical style car parking system’. What about calling it a vertical¹ rotating² car parking system? An automated car park ? Parking carousel?³ Mechanical parking? An auto parking system? You could give it your own name.

There are sometimes no clear words for some things. If you said some of the phrases above to describe⁴ this type of parking system many people wouldn’t understand you. You would have to explain it. You could say something like “It’s a mechanical parking system. You park your car on a metal platform and you press a button and the platform moves away with the car. When you come back to the car park you press a button again and the platform you put the car on comes back with the car.” You could say something like that or you could describe it the way you want to.

Many cities in the world are densely populated⁵ and this is certainly the situation with many cities in Asia. There is limited⁶ space. This type of mechanical car park is designed for these densely populated areas.

What are good points about these types of car parks compared to regular car parks or multistorey⁷ car parks?

• They save⁸ space. Cars can be kept very close together and there are no driving areas or walking areas needed inside the car park.
• It is said they are safer because you don’t have to walk through the car park. This also means people that can’t walk easily can use them. They are barrier free.
• Lighting systems are not needed and the construction time of the car park is quicker than regular multistorey car parks.
• Driving in multistorey car parks can be difficult but you don’t have to drive in these mechanical ones.
  
  

There are however some negative points too.

　In Japan you will see these types of car parks more in residential⁹ areas. Many apartments have these type of mechanical type car parks, especially in the big cities. However these parking systems are not seen so much next to shopping centres or sports stadiums.

• They are not suitable for many people to use at once.¹⁰
• If you are in a hurry¹¹ (and get stressed easily) (or have a heart problem) you could choose another type of car park! That’s because you have to wait for the car to come back to you for a few minutes after pressing the button and sometimes that might seem like a long, long time.
• They are difficult to get used to¹² so if you’re in a hurry you might wish you’d taken the bus.

Well, if you feel you’d like to try using this kind of car park but you don’t have a car, don’t worry. There are these types of parking systems for bicycles too…….

• The main point of this posting is to say there are sometimes no single or simple words or phrases to describe things. The titles of the pictures are all different but describe the same general parking system in this posting. Rotating titles?

2. to ‘rotate’ / rotation
<Example sentences>

■　A ski lift rotates up and down a mountain.
■　The nurses’ shifts in hospitals rotate between morning, evening and night.
■　Pitcher rotation in baseball is very important so that the pitchers can rest.

4. to ‘describe ~’ / description
<Example sentences>

■ The book described the girl’s childhood in Italy.
■ The police asked us to describe the man who was driving the car.
■ Her description of the dog was funny!

6. to ‘limit ~’
<Example sentences>

■ Space in that cafe is limited so don’t be surprised if there is no table for us.
■ Disney have limited the number of people who can be in Disneyland at one time.
■ Those tennis courts are limited to members.
■ The new restaurant manager limits customers to two hours on Friday and Saturday evenings.

8. to ‘save’ space, time, money, extra work ~
<Example sentences>

■ Using a futon, not a bed will save space.
■ If you walk to the shops and don’t take the train it will save a little money.
■ Today I’ll have a shower, not a bath, to save time.
■ It will save us a lot of work if you take a photo of this and send it to me.

10. at once
<Example sentences>

■ The doors of the busy train opened and everyone got out at once.
■ It seems the hotels all increase their prices at once from the middle of July.

11. to ‘be in a hurry’
<Example sentences>

■ I got up late so I was in a hurry and forgot my notebook.
■ She’s always in a hurry.
■ I’m in a hurry. Sorry I can’t talk to you now. I’ll phone you later.

12. to ‘get used to ~’
<Example sentences>

■ Do you think you’ll get used to living in the city?
■ He can’t get used to his new job.
■ It will take two or three weeks to get used to this computer.

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■ What would you call this type of car park?

■ Do you have to wait a long time for the car to come back to you?

■ My image is that space is limited in Japan.

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■ We have one of these car parks at our apartment. ~

■ I’ve heard most countries don’t have these kind of parking systems. Do you have them in
your country?

■ Is there anything you do to save money?

1. ‘vertical’ means up and down – not side to side.
2. ‘rotating’ in this sentence means to go round and round. In other meanings ‘rotate’ means to move people or things regularly around.
3. ‘carousel’ is a circular rotating conveyor belt that passengers’ bags are put on at an airport after the passengers get off the airplane. ‘Carousel’ is also another name for a ‘merry-go-round’.
4. ‘describe’ means to say what something looks like or to give information about how it works.
5. ‘densely populated’ means there are a lot of people living in a small area.
6. ‘limited’ in this sentence means there is not much space. In other meanings ‘limited’ can mean the number of things or the time of something is controlled.
7. ‘multistorey’ means ‘many levels’ and is usually only used to talk about buildings, especially car parks.
8. in this sentence ‘save’ means to not use any extra space / to not use more space than you need to.
9. ‘residential’ in this sentence means an area that has many houses, not an area with many offices or buildings for working in.
10. ‘at once’ in this sentence means ‘all at the same time’.
11. ‘in a hurry’ means that you are wanting to do something quickly.
12. to ‘get used to ~’ means to start to feel something is not difficult or stressful. If you ‘get used to something’ you feel it is normal.