One thing that struck me walking around Osaka was a 7-11 that had parking like an American style one would with parking in front.
Driving into Kagoshima (bullet train was out due to landslide so we drove down) you're gonna see basically single family style dwellings all the way down hill into the city where it gets instantly dense but for only about 15 city blocks. Was dead AF at night. In a city like that you can own a car no problem and commute in. And that's how most Japanese live. Don't get it twisted. Japanese folks enjoy privacy as much as anyone else. Tokyo is the exception, not the rule. And even in Tokyo they will go to retreats out in the mountains regularly.
Tokyo is a great model for proper zoning in high density urban areas to prevent high costs but it's not how you live everywhere