F
fat-controller
Guest
Fuel for cars did not used to be sold in self-service stations which were banned by law in Japan. There were always at least three attendants waiting on the forecourt for you to drive up. They'd clean your windows while the tap was running. This changed around 2000, when the self-service stations were permitted and they have been gaining market share ever since. Fuel prices are a little lower than in European countries but higher than in North America (July 2008: approximately 176 yen = 1.13 euro per litre for regular unleaded and 187 yen = 1.20 euro for premium unleaded). There already was no more leaded fuel when I first visited in 1990. Besides diesel fuel there are two grades of unleaded fuel, "regyura" ("regular") and "hai-oku" ("high octane"). Their actual octane ratings are not disclosed at the pumps, but according to data on an oil company website, "regular" is rated at RON 90 (a little lower than unleaded regular in most European countries) while "high octane" is rated at RON 97-98 (comparable to "Super Plus" in Europe). Note that the US uses a different rating system (AKI) which is based on the average of the RON and MON ratings. Because of the different measuring system, the exact same fuel is usually rated about 4-5 points lower in the US system than in the (European and Japanese) RON rating (e.g. 87 octane AKI in the US = 91-92 octane RON).
