Toll Highways

ETC, originally uploaded by AdrielH.

Tokyo's streets are very well maintained, the highways even more so. In eight trips over 11 years, I have never seen a pothole or even a divot on a freeway. Tokyo freeways are immaculate.
They are also extremelly expensive. A long car trip can set you back more than $100, easily. Regular drivers keep an "ETC" card in their glove box; it allows you to zip right through the toll stations at near highway speeds.
During commute hours, people will often keep to the surface streets to avoid the high tolls when they aren't going to get you there any faster.