edwin
Level 3
By Bartholomew Grant
By digging through local geographical data, we find that Karakura is roughly one square kilometer large, 1.0km west to east and 1.15km north to south given some leeway to the Karakura Pier and sandy end of the Kaigan district. Considering size alone this Karakura is a fairly small city, especially when compared to Tokyo’s 2,194 square Kilometers or New York's 1,223 square Kilometers.
This size makes Karakura especially traversable, citizens aren’t put into considerable inconvenience when attempting to commute throughout the city. Evident by any point of the city being less than a kilometer away. Even with everything in such a short distance many options are available to citizens, the Karakura Subway system provides timely 24/7 travel to 4 active subway stops, Bike paths are available throughout the Shōtengai, various trials are maintained in city Green spaces and clean well-maintained roads and sidewalks are available for walking, biking, driving or taking the Karakura Academies School Bus during its operating hours.
All this to say, options are available to the citizens when traveling the city, but this does not stop many from choosing to own and maintain personal vehicles over various other cheaper but albeit slower options available. And when you have personal vehicles such as cars, bikes and even jetskies or boats playing a part in a town's infrastructure it can guarantee one thing, gasoline must be readily available for citizens to meet demand. This brings us to the root of this report's focus, the gasoline prices in Karakura and its interesting position compared to the rest of the country.
Location
Gas is available in two distinct locations in Karakura, with the most notable location being alongside the local Eleven-Seven behind the Karakura campus on Itsbyoshi Lane. The second location hover is not as well known due to its distinct use case. The second location is actually not available to cars as one might expect but instead is available to the percentage of the population who own ocean vessels, such as boats or jetskies. Said location is found at the end of Karakura Pier. Prices for gas are the same at both locations.
| 11-7 Gas Station The 11-7 Gas station is the only station available to Karakuras drivers within city limits, if a driver wished to fuel up in another location, which would be unlikely when we dive into prices later, they would have to drive outside city limits to make such a purchase. Physically, there are 6 dispensers on the property with 2 fuel pumps on each side providing 12 pumps for drivers to fuel up at a given time. Each station offers the choices between 91 Octane and Diesel. This is evident by the large ticker on the west side of the property facing the road, however it seems the tickers have been broken for some time. The prices ¥142.0 for 91 Octane and ¥173.0 for Diesel were displayed throughout the entire period of the investigation and not once did the prices fall on that exact number meaning it likely has been broken for a good while, drivers instead must go up to one of the 12 pumps and check it themselves. This location has pumps available 24/7 providing the drivers of Karakura with gas whenever they so require it, the attached convenience store is not open 24/7 instead during regular operations by the shopkeepers and its staff, however the store does sell a robust portal Fuel container, also called a jerrycan, which will be discussed further in this report. | 
ⓘ Eleven-Seven Store Entrance |
As well, while not relevant to Gas prices it seems that either its close location to the campus or its relatively isolated position in the city that it seems to be a keen location for hijinks and students getting into trouble. During a visit to collect gas prices a large influx of College and Highschool aged students seemed to have gathered and were watching two students fight it out. This author believes this event shouldn’t have a notable impact on prices but may discourage visitation if such a crowd persisted.
ⓘ A brawl between Students at the Eleven-Seven |
| Karakura Pier This location differs immensely then the main 11-7 location, located at the far west end of the pier; these pumps sit solely by themselves with no branding or connection to any existing brand other than being the same variant of model seen at the 11-7 location. These pumps exist for those in possession of a marine vehicle such as Jetskies Boats or Yachts. Physically, as stated before it sits at the west end of the Larakura pier at the end of its farthest branch. At this stop, two fueling stations are available with pumps on both front and back for 4 pumps total. The inner pumps are adjacent to a cozy inset meant for smaller boats and jetskies while the outer ones are for larger vehicles such as yachts or for those wanting to refuel quickly without pulling in. | 
ⓘ Gas Pumps on the Karakura Pier |
| Gasoline Prices Now to dive into the real meat and potatoes of it all we can begin to discuss the data collected on the gas prices seen during the little over the investigative period. Every four days an update would occur shifting the price either up or down. The metric collected, and provided by the stations, was the price for 5L of gas rather than one, and our data will follow this format. The gas price followed is 91 Octane. Quick Facts
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Gasoline Market
Our unit of gas is measured in 5 liters, this is relevant as the average price for 5L in the rest of Japan roughly is ¥750 to ¥925. With our average being ¥146.7 means that there is a very heavy difference between the price of gas in Karakura then the rest of Japan, a roughly 80.44% to 84.10% difference.
In economics, when such a purchase occurs at a value lower than the current market value we refer to this as a discount. Every Karakura citizen, given access to a vehicle or means to purchase fuel, has access to this discount. With this information, we must now investigate how such a large discount is possible and what makes Karakurans have access to it?
Direct Access: When a location has direct access to certain commodities, especially oil and gasoline, it will often cut down on the price of the product. In the case for gasoline and oil the locations that have it cheapest are always those with abundant access to it. This being due to the lack of logistics needed to acquire it and an abundance allowing for demand to be met with a large supply lowering prices. Karakura itself shows no signs of having large oil fields or refineries however it could be possible for such a location to exist outside of city limits somewhere on the island or off its coast.
Government Subsidies: Often when we see such low gas prices, it may indicate local or Mainland government providing subsidies to keep prices low. However, this is often used explicitly to keep prices in an expected range. Not to keep them artificially lower than the average market value. That and there being no indication that either the local or mainland government is currently enlisting such a technique make it an unlikely contender.
Low Demand: As discussed shortly at the beginning of this report. Karakura is a relatively small town only spanning roughly 1.1 kilometers. That alongside the various forms of transport one is able to take acts to discourage and lower the demand for driving in general and consequently the demand for gas.
Stockpiles: Japan has historically kept the largest stockpiles of oil in the world and due to its strategic nature are spread out across the country. Because the stockpiles are physically located unlike reserves they are required to be rotated out when they are set to expire. Such a large rotation to a low demand location such as Karakura could lead to heavily discounted prices.
All of these reasons however are outside the potential scope of Karakura and nothing within city limits seems to indicate a clear reasoning and for that reason, meaning we can only hypothesize.
Working Theory: The reason for such a discount to exist is not something we can guarantee unless it were to be confirmed by government entities or through an investigation of the gasoline production on the island. But, we are still able to piece together the potential reasons to create a theory. The reality is most likely one or more of our assumptions are at play to cause such a discount to exist. The low demand we can guarantee due to the relative size of the island and general low demand for gasoline being present, and the stockpiles is a general fact of how Japan as a country operates. Likely, the low demand is working together with near expiration stockpiles having to be sold at an exaggerated discount to guarantee their usage and to avoid disposal.
Again, this is not something we can guarantee but simply an assumption using what we know about the economics and logistics of both Karakura and Japan as a whole. Instead, perhaps one shouldn’t ask such questions and instead simply enjoy the benefit of such an extreme discount.
| Engine & Tank Types Before covering how much the gas costs in the context of a filling up from nothing to a full tank we must discuss the various containers and tank sizes. On top of the Fuel container available at Eleven-Seven mentioned briefly there are three different tank sizes, stock, Large and Huge, all available for purchase at Iwao’s Mod Shop.
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ⓘ Entrance to Iwao's Mod Shop |
With the relevant fuel sizes and the average fuel cost mentioned earlier (¥146.7) we can calculate the cost to fuel each tank or container from zero to full.
| Tank Size | Cost |
|---|---|
| Container (30L) | ¥4,401 |
| Stock (50L) | ¥7,335 |
| Large (75L) | ¥11,003 |
| Huge (100L) | ¥14,670 |
However, not all engines are built equal. Available at Iwao’s Mod Shop is also engine upgrades. Those available being: Stock, Economy, Fast and Super Fast engines. With the upgrades available for each being a bit more nuanced then the tank upgrades.
| Stock Engine Price: ¥0 | Economy Engine Fuel Usage: -25.0% Max Speed: -5.0% Reverse Speed: -20.0% Price: ¥100,000 |
| Fast Engine Accelerator Chance: +5.0% Fuel Usage: +10.0% Max Speed: +20.0% Reverse Speed: +10.0% Price: ¥200,000 | SuperFast Engine™ Accelerator Chance: +20.0% Fuel Usage: +15.0% Max Speed: +27.5% Reverse Speed: +12.5% Price: ¥500,000 |
This gives us important insight into fuel usage, not all engines are built the same causing some cars to burn it faster. We can take a look at this with a simple metric of distance for every liter of gas burned. Through this investigation, it was found that roughly 1.1 km of driving would burn a single gallon of gas with a stock engine. Allowing us to compare the rates between engines.
| Engine | Distance Per 1L |
|---|---|
| Stock | 1,100 Meters |
| Economy | 1,375 Meters |
| Fast | 990 Meters |
| SuperFast | 935 Meters |
However, this remains negligible as the fact being the heavy discount applied to gas to those in Karakura makes such differences in gas mileage negligible. With a low requirement for driving already as we discussed due to the relatively small size of Karakura, the heavy discount applied to gas eliminates a potential barrier for those looking to drive. This report does not dive into the large costs that exist in obtaining a vehicle itself however that stands as another barrier to entry that could be covered in a future report.
Gas prices, engine & tank types, and the overall environment in which driving occurs in Karakura we paint a complex picture of this distinct market, standing out heavily from other locations. The small relative size of the city, which lowers the need for a vehicle subsequently lowering the demand overall for gasoline. While on the other hand, the heavy discount applied to gas offsets it as a potential barrier to using their vehicle. These two factors work in tandem to create the market as we know it today, which appears fairly unremarkable due to it being balanced by both these factors.
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