"1991 Kyojima; 1992 Australia; 2013 Chuo Local Line, Sendagaya, Shibuya, Etc."

This batch of videos begins with a few from 1992 Australia - first in Surfers Paradise, and then in Cairns, where I rode on the old Kuranda train in a very historically interesting old rail car, that apparently (from what I was told might happen at the time, and what appears to have indeed happened from what I see on-line) has since had the original interior ripped out and replaced with new hotel lounge style seating.  Then, dropping back another year to 1991, I try out a pachinko machine in Kyojima.  After that are typical 2013 scenes from Tokyo, including a series of videos from the local line version of the Chuo Line - taken between Mitaka and Sendagaya.

Old section of (former) Tamagawa-josui - Copyright 2000 by LHS

1992 Surfers Paradise, Australia (920417)
http://youtu.be/Bv2fEtlVnAY

1992 Surfers Paradise to Cairns Flight (Australia - 920418)
http://youtu.be/GMJ6clK93NM

1992 Australia - Cairns - Kuranda Train Ride - Hotel - Etc.
http://youtu.be/z6NI7lCb1Ss

1992 - Kuranda Railway Original 1st Class Carriage Ride - Cairns Australia (920418)
http://youtu.be/zrMrY31qyF8

1991 - Kyojima - Trying Out Pachinko (Shitamachi) 910324
http://youtu.be/5MDHJnT9z_A

Seibu-Kokubunji Line - Front Cab View 西武国分寺線 - 前向き (130311hd)
http://youtu.be/3ZbLRsNjG5Y

Mitaka Station Walkabout 三鷹駅のお昼様子 - そして吉祥寺まで (130312g)
http://youtu.be/QC_gks8MfAI

Mitaka Station at lunchtime felt rather like a shopping mall, which is sort of is.  It's very convenient for railway passengers to be able to go to restaurants and shops within the stations, but recently I've begun to wonder what effect this must be having on local retail businesses in the area outside the ticket gates....

Kichijoji Station Walkabout 吉祥寺駅のお昼様子 (130312)
http://youtu.be/1p7Omz35BMg

Kichijoji is in the middle of a transformation - which you can see in recently remodeled areas by some ticket gates and the area under construction by another.

Inbound Local Chuo Line (to Ogikubo) 上り各駅中央線 (荻窪駅まで) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/y-i17I8TCZA

Ogikubo to Asagaya (Chuo Line) 荻窪駅-阿佐ヶ谷駅 (各駅中央線) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/gOsGqkqUaMA

[Above and below]  Taking a local inbound Chuo Line train, it was surprisingly relaxing, and it felt a little strange/detached watching a regular (kaisoku/rapid) Chuo Line train running in parallel (end of video above and all of video below).  I've spent a lot more time *inside* those trains than riding along beside them - looking at them from the outside.  It occurred to me that no matter how crowded they might be inside, from the vantage point of looking at them from another train running beside them, they look... (not sure how to explain the sensation of watching them dispassionately from the side...) they look... normal?  I say this, because I imagined some very stressful times inside those trains, and I imagined someone in a less crowded train running alongside a high-pressure train, and they would have little or no idea what was going on inside the high-pressure train (unless they frequently used it themselves).  There seemed to be something at least semi-profound about the concept, but it's just perspective I guess.

Asagaya to Koenji (Chuo Line) 阿佐ヶ谷駅-高円寺駅 (各駅中央線) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/4I8kaUj6DDI

Koenji to Nakano (Chuo Line) 高円寺駅-中野駅 (各駅中央線) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/5ZTzrDO3TQQ

Nakano to Higashi-Nakano (Chuo Line) 中野駅-東中野駅 (各駅中央線) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/oibxO2zJHd8

Higashi-Nakano to Okubo (Chuo Line) 東中野駅-大久保駅 (各駅中央線) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/uai0K6hP_Ig

Okubo to Shinjuku (Chuo Line) 大久保駅-新宿駅 (各駅中央線) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/6Eeo6sAqsM8

Exploring Old Building in Shinjuku (130312)
http://youtu.be/onsq60NK0uU

Walking Down Interesting Old Staircase in Shinjuku (130312)
http://youtu.be/shN9qhe--ME

Yamanote to Chuo Transfer at Shinjuku 新宿駅で山手線-中央線の乗り換え (130312)
http://youtu.be/YoNkZaywklI

Waiting for Outbound Chuo Line at Shinjuku (Late Night) 新宿で中央線を待つ (130312)
http://youtu.be/GNGl8ThxJRs

There's something fascinating about looking down a long, open platform of people waiting for a train to come alongside the platform and pick them up....  Oh!  By the way, the male voice doing the announcement in the middle of this one I recognized from another day (also in a video) when I thought it was a recording (and maybe it was), but this time I walked by the man while he was making an announcement into a mic, so I know for a fact that it was live this time (and maybe also that other time).  He has a good voice and way of speaking for announcements.

Shinjuku to Sendagaya (Chuo Line) 新宿駅-千駄ヶ谷駅 (各駅中央線) 130312hdc
http://youtu.be/k3Q8Z5idW3A

Sendagaya Station - Train Arriving and Departing 千駄ヶ谷駅 - 到着と出発 (130312hd)
http://youtu.be/CpkgamA5zIc

Sendagaya Station - Platform to Exit 千駄ヶ谷駅 - ホームから改札口まで (130312)
http://youtu.be/l4DJDQ5M26c

Sendagaya 1-Chome Walkabout 千駄ヶ谷一丁目散策散歩 (130312)
http://youtu.be/hnl33Iv7eGg

Looking Around in Sendagaya 1-Chome 千駄ヶ谷一丁目散策散歩 (130312)
http://youtu.be/_RdduMvHais

Two-Level Metal Rack Parking in Sendagaya 千駄ヶ谷二段ラック駐車場 (130312)
http://youtu.be/YQSN-8UOczE

Walking Under Rail Bridge, Etc., Near Sendagaya Station, 千駄ヶ谷
http://youtu.be/F74OzSzvWu8

Black Road Stroll - Near Setagaya Station (130312)
http://youtu.be/F9K3-SYntv0

Quiet Spring Day - Side Street Stroll 春の横道散策散歩 (130312)
http://youtu.be/v8YGNMNCAp0

I think this experience was the first time this year that I really felt like spring had arrived.  It's still rather cold, but it's beginning to warm up a little and several plants are flowering, so the sakura flower viewing season is very near I think!

Crossing Main Road Near Shinjuku 1-Chome 新宿一丁目近くの大通り (130312)
http://youtu.be/Z6npDvV6JjU

Fire Truck Drives by in Shinjuku (130312)
http://youtu.be/ao7UHbOW0PU

Entering Shinjuku Station - East Entrance 夕暮れ新宿 - 駅の東口に入る (130312)
http://youtu.be/UkpwYxMX09A

新宿駅東口改札から上り中央線ホームまで Shinjuku Station East (130312)
http://youtu.be/ikrhmQOzRFU

Nighttime Kanda Station - Under Construction 夜の工事中神田駅 (130312)
http://youtu.be/2RbveGr_a-U

Kanda to Yurakucho (Keihin-Tohoku Line) 神田駅-有楽町駅 (夜の京浜東北線) 130312
http://youtu.be/g9ueQesuWRg

Tokyo Station Night Walkthrough - Yaesu to Marunouchi Northwest Dome (130312g)
http://youtu.be/CcPXZaLhcMk

In previous videos walking through Tokyo station from the Yaesu side to the Marunouchi side, I've usually walked straight down one of the under-track concourses, but in this video I crossed over from one of the two main concourses to the other and so it's basically a diagonal path through the station that I took.  This shows a lot of the elements of Tokyo Station, including ticket windows and internal transfer gates for the Shinkansen trains.

Tokyo to Kanda - Nighttime Chuo Line 東京駅-神田駅 - 夜の中央線 (130312)
http://youtu.be/34OsIsb7sv0

Shinjuku - Chuo Line Platform to Upper Concourse Bookstore 新宿駅本屋 (130312hd)
http://youtu.be/buxXk6uysew

Shinjuku Station Upper Concourse (Number Ten) 新宿駅上の通路 (130312hd)
http://youtu.be/07_N8xk3Ejs

That announcement... "... Platform... Number... Ten... - please wait for your train on... Platform... Number... Ten..."  This is what happens when you have someone who may be native to a language, but is an amateur for acting/reading, do recordings like this.  It's kind of comical, but it also really sucks to have to listen to the same bad recordings over and over and over....

Shinjuku South Entrance to Shibuya-Bound Yamanote Line Platform (130312)
http://youtu.be/tErrMRx1QKE

Gakugei-Daigaku Station Platform Sounds 学芸大学駅ホームの音々 (130312hd)
http://youtu.be/i99XSebj19I

Boarding Toyoko Line Train at Gakugei-Daigaku Station (130312hdc)
http://youtu.be/pFvA9H2xsr8

Running at Speed - Express Toyoko Line Train from Gakugei-Daigaku Station (130312)
http://youtu.be/WQgozHmK3EU

Arriving at Nakameguro on Inbound Tokyu Toyoko Line (Motor Sounds, Etc) 130312
http://youtu.be/Gnran38rht0

Shibuya Yamanote Line - Ticket Gates to Platform JR-渋谷駅の山手線ホームまで (130312)
http://youtu.be/TmfvLIvGej8

Yamanote Line Train Arriving at Shibuya 渋谷駅 - 山手線の到着と待つ (130312)
http://youtu.be/uaQbALAS8Rk

Departing Shibuya Station via Yamanote Line 渋谷駅から出発 (山手線) 130312
http://youtu.be/svkc0JxekZQ

Former Path of Tamagawa Josui in Central Tokyo 元玉川上水吐 (Long Walk) 130312
http://youtu.be/vG126xEziqE

Twilight Walk to Shinjuku 新宿の夕暮れの時に散策散歩 - 新ブラ (130312g)
http://youtu.be/k3g_sO717UE

Koizumi Keiichi - Exhibition at Art Space Rondo 小泉恵一展示会 (130315)
http://youtu.be/RtRFDzuXYzg

Main Road Separating Original Ginza from Extended Ginza (130315)
http://youtu.be/ocmnTbj3_0s

This wide expanse of dead black asphalt full of roaring internal combustion machinery almost always stops me from going to the back side of Ginza.  There are some interesting things over there, but there are enough interesting things in the original Ginza area that I almost never feel compelled to climb up and over this desert of asphalt with its noise, exhaust fumes, etc.  I really think they should stop building new roads in Tokyo and make it illegal (or at least very expensive) to own a car within the city.  The more of Tokyo they bury under wide deserts of black asphalt, the worse the city becomes for its inhabitants.

Late Night Ebisu Station - Ticket Gates to Platform 夜遅くの恵比寿駅 (130315)
http://youtu.be/sGYoGK9QmsM

Shibuya - JR-Ticket Gates to Yamanote Line 渋谷駅JR改札から山手線へ (130315)
http://youtu.be/3_Oyni1BkTY

All-Green Advertisement Yamanote Train at Ebisu 恵比寿駅の全緑山手線 (130315)
http://youtu.be/a2UuZ89gI4k

Yamanote Line Train Arriving at Ebisu 恵比寿駅で山手線を乗る (130315)
http://youtu.be/z7b4KVBU79Q

Chuo Line - Before and After Nakano 中央線中野駅前後 (130315)
http://youtu.be/V_FPqx9bl-c

Shinjuku to Ochanomizu (Chuo Line) 新宿駅-御茶ノ水駅 (中央線) 130315
http://youtu.be/nVGU1p8dx24

Ochanomizu to Kanda - Kanda Platform Walk 御茶ノ水-神田 - 神田駅見回り (130315)
http://youtu.be/i9tO_UKp36Q

I had intended for this video to continue to Tokyo Station, but as they began to close the doors at Kanda in order to continue on to Tokyo Station, they opened them again and left them open - and then announced that one of the emergency stop buttons at Tokyo Station had been pressed.  Later on, they explained that someone's bag (or something) had gotten stuck between the train and the platform due to them rushing to get on the train.  I originally figured the train would get under way fairly soon, so I left the camera running and took the opportunity to walk down the platform at Kanda Station and record the interesting metal structure of the underside of the old platform roof, etc.  After going down the entire length of the platform though, I ended up stopping the camera before the train got under way again.

Kanda to Tokyo (Chuo Line) 神田駅から東京駅まで (中央線) 130315
http://youtu.be/lnMXKQb2V-U

Ginza Station - Ticket Gates to Train 銀座駅 - 改札から電車まで (130315)
http://youtu.be/l_b314lpotY

Ginza to Aoyama-Itchome (Ginza Line) 銀座駅-青山一丁目駅 (銀座線) 130315
http://youtu.be/8iDECkmavOI

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://lylehsaxon.blogspot.jp/