is car nedeed in kyoto?

Hello Renal,

We lived in Kyoto for a little over half a year before moving out to a "bed town" in Shiga. Based on that, I would recommend not getting a car while you live in Kyoto. Finding housing with parking included is going to be a challenge, and will probably increase your rent or force you to live farther away from the places you need to travel to, anyway.

I would recommend a mix of public transportation and a bike with child seats for the kids that aren't old enough to pedal on their own, for things like grocery shopping, etc. For school, most of the kids I saw in the city walked or took the city buses, even elementary school kids.

If you do look into buying a car, be aware that they lose value incredibly fast in Japan due to the absurdly expensive inspections required every other year. For example, even if you buy a used car for 400,000 yen, don't expect to sell it for more than 100,000 when you're done. There's almost nothing in the way of person-to-person sales, so you'd be going through a dealer, with all the lost money that implies.

Hope that helps!
-Travis
TranSenz