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The story
On September 23, the final day of the Silver Week holidays, reports emerged that a shortage of gas stations has worsened around Hakone, with some residents traveling an hour each way just to fill up. The number of gas stations nationwide has already fallen to less than half its peak, with closures hitting mountainous areas and tourist destinations hardest. In the 5channel thread that picked up the story, voices urging a shift to EVs clashed with more cautious views arguing that charging infrastructure and the power grid can’t keep pace, while debate also broke out over the merits of consolidating depopulated areas into so-called “compact cities.”
9/23 (Wed) 18:08
FNN Prime Online
The five-day Silver Week holiday also comes to an end on the 23rd.
Source: topics.smt.docomo.ne.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Knew someone would say that lol
You gonna carry a generator and a charger around with you?
Just fit a generator into part of the EV, fill it with gas, generate power, and feed it back into the car — then it'd work as both an EV and a hybrid
Those have tanks buried underground, or under the canopy, so they can't just be easily demolished or repurposed
There are lead and heavy-metal inspections required, so even clearing the site into an empty lot is a huge hassle
Usually the tank's underground. And because of fire-safety regulations, the upkeep cost of running a gas station is high. Demolition is such a pain that a lot of them just get left standing and turned into used-car lots
Mitsubishi Motors thought the same and built an electric kei truck for that, but it went nowhere, because the JA farm co-ops also run gas stations — the deeper into the boonies you go, the more firmly JA has the fuel trade locked down
Gas alone is basically break-even — the real money's in vehicle inspections, tire changes, and car washes
Tourists don't use the gas stations at mountain resort areas, and they're definitely not getting a wash or a tune-up done there either — so you're left relying on locals, and there just aren't enough of them
It's basically unprofitable, so bikes and mopeds that only need a small top-up are a flat loss and stations hate serving them
If that actually happens it'd be an amazing bit of technology, but is it really feasible — safety and practicality included? Even cell phones, which have had decades to improve, still can't go from empty to full in 5 minutes despite fast charging
Build a power grid that can actually handle that kind of demand and your electric bill is going to skyrocket
Take the Noto Peninsula as an example — its population is:
Wajima City: approx. 27,700
Suzu City: approx. 13,200
Noto Town: approx. 15,700
Anamizu Town: approx. 7,800
That's only about 64,400 people combined.
Every municipality on the whole Noto Peninsula put together only adds up to the population of a single city, so we ought to be shrinking the inhabited area and consolidating — building compact cities.
In a Japan with a shrinking population, there's no need to force gas stations to keep operating at their current numbers.
People live spread out because they're farming. If you consolidate them, they can't farm anymore
Those would honestly be great for people in places like Hakone who don't drive long distances
You'd better hold off — Suzuki and Honda are about to drop kei-car EVs timed like an offside trap
I'll just buy a Sakura lol
You'd get overrun lol
In the city there's always a certain percentage of scary people who think "I'm in trouble, so everyone around me should help me" — if they find out you have one, they'll come at you with "hand it over." In the countryside there's always a certain percentage of people who want to "take charge and throw their weight around" — if they find out, they'll come at you with "hand it over to everyone"
I get Atami, but Hakone isn't really the kind of place you go back to again and again
Isn't it mostly just people passing through, crossing over the mountains?
The fact that a place like this still has 4 gas stations just shows how amazing Japan is
Background and key points of this discussion
The decline in gas stations comes down to high removal costs — underground tanks are expensive to maintain, and closing a station requires soil surveys including lead and heavy-metal testing. As commenters noted, gas sales alone are barely profitable; stations make their real money on ancillary services like vehicle inspections, tire changes, and car washes, which makes them hard to sustain in mountainous areas and tourist spots with few regular customers. In rural areas, agricultural cooperatives (JA) often double as fuel retailers, creating a structure that a simple switch to EVs wouldn’t fully resolve. Opinion in the thread split between those optimistic about an EV transition and those more skeptical, citing the rising cost of reinforcing the power grid and doubts about fast-charging technology, with debate also breaking out over the pros and cons of consolidating depopulated areas into so-called “compact cities.” Some exchanges involving political labeling have been excluded from this article.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “‘You burn gas just to go buy gas’ — Gas station shortage worsens in Hakone, with some driving an hour each way; nationwide stations now under half their peak number.”
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