Owning any car in Japan is expensive. Between road tax, inspection, insurance, parking, and the high price of gasoline.
Cars are not driven here so much because it is usually much easier to take the bus or train. I never take my car to the city because the cost of highway tolls alone are more than the train or bus fare, and I still have to pay for gas for the round trip, and then up to 500 yen for 30 minutes of parking, depending on where I have to park, and what time of day.
I use my car to go to the beach, or to the mountains, or when I'm shopping for something too big to carry with me on the train. Most days it isn't driven at all. My car is 13 years old, but has only 74000 km on the odometer.