Sunday, August 31, 2014

1990 Shinjuku, Machida Etc.; 1992 Nogata Etc.; 1993 Tozai Line Etc.; 2014 Osaki, Ginza Etc. Etc.

There is material from four years in this batch - from 1990, 1992, 1993, and 2014.  Thinking of what to say right now regarding this batch, it all kind of blends together... so I'll just start going over them one-by-one and comment after some of them.  (Which I proceeded to do after writing the above, but ran out of time midway through the list, so nearly all the comments are at the top of this batch of video links.
東京駅暑い八月の山手線ホーム Tokyo Yamanote Platform-360 140805
http://youtu.be/2ZUMsz9ZPpw

An unusually relaxed atmosphere at a Tokyo Station platform on a hot August afternoon.  The period between the lunch rush and the evening rush is probably the most relaxed.

東京駅-新宿駅 夕方中央線 Tokyo to Shinjuku - Evening Chuo Line 140805
http://youtu.be/hLp0Xp3tpy0

I like the beginning of this one - looking back instead of forward as the train departs Tokyo Station.  At the beginning of the twilight period, there's are some glass reflections, etc. as well.  Incidentally, this is the only surface train that runs within the Yamanote Line - all other lines (in this area) are subways - so it's kind of a special section of track.

To be nit-picky, you could say that the local version of the train is a different line, but they run together within the Yamanote Line, save for a slight divergence between Ochanomizu and Akihabara, so....)
Evening Chuo Line Departing Shinjuku 新宿駅の夕方中央線 140805
http://youtu.be/xoXegTqSISQ

Short summer view - with a man busy fanning himself while waiting for a different train than the one exiting the station in the video.

サロンど東京展 2014年8月_サマーアートフェスタ Ginza-One August Exhibition 140805
http://youtu.be/3IHbEZRz7a0

Quick look at a group exhibition in Ginza at the Ginza-One art gallery.

Evening Shinjuku Crosswalk 夕方新宿横断歩道 140805
http://youtu.be/8iWhniedOaY
Nighttime Ogawa Station Platform 夜小川駅ホームの様子 140805
http://youtu.be/HERi8aenydg

A quiet late night platform out in suburbia.  When it's cold, there's an inpatient feeling of wanting the train to come as soon as possible, but when it's warm, you just kind of zone out and wait while daydreaming about something.

Jumping back to 1992...

1992 Tokyo Suburbs 東京住宅街 自転車とか 921010
http://youtu.be/xxxTU6jXUnA

A sunny Saturday look around in a few Tokyo suburbs visited by bicycle.  Nothing exciting, but it shows the mix of houses, apartment buildings, roads, some farmland, a small river, etc.

1992 上野動物園など Ueno Zoo Etc 921010
http://youtu.be/Bx9pU8abkf0

The title just says the zoo, but this also shows the trip from Hibarigaoka to Kanda, and then from Kanda to Ueno.  At about 0:41, the view out the window of the Yamanote Line shows empty land around (I think) Akihabara that used to be rail freight yards and has since been developed.  I think it's where the giant Yodobashi Camera store is now.  With this old material, it's sometimes hard to tell, as there are large gaps between things.  After the Yamanote Line views are views of Ueno Zoo, the monorail there, etc.

After the zoo (from about the 3:32 mark), are views of the small amusement park for children beside the zoo.  It's quite crowded and lively in this 1992 view.  The last time I went there (on a rather hot day) there were hardly any kids there at all.  The ever-lower birthrate really has changed the feel of the city.  You used to see a lot more kids out and about.  Come to think of it - the kids in this view from 22 years ago are some of the very people not having children now....

From around 4:56, I reenter Ueno Station and there are platform views (of the old type painted trains, etc.).

Going off topic a bit here.  I sometimes get complaints in the comment section of my YouTube videos saying that people want to see "uncut" views of things I've posted.  I think what they're not comprehending is that I always carried a camera back then and had a finite supply of (fairly expensive) tape to use.  Also the cameras were expensive, complicated, and forever breaking down.  When they were working and I had plenty of tape, there was the issue of Nickel-Cadmium batteries, whose life rapidly shortened over weeks of use.  They would start at a little over an hour of camera running time, and that would steadily shorten until they only provided five to ten minutes of power between charging.  To have enough power, I carried about six of them, so usually I didn't run out of power (once I had stocked up on enough batteries after running out of power too often in 1990).  Nickel-Cadmium batteries are heavy by the way, I did a number on my knees back then always carrying around that weight.  Anyway....

Wait... there's actually a reason that overshadows all of the stuff I wrote above!  Once material is digitized, it's fairly easy to edit, but back when I took this material, there was only analog!  The original tapes of the old material are not digital.  And when editing from tape to tape in analog, the quality degenerates rapidly.  Add in the wear and tear on the mechanically complicated equipment, and the result is that post production editing was no joke.  So I was trying hard to do in-camera editing.  Now it makes sense to over-record everything and edit it later (although what I post recently are unedited single clips), but back then, there was a strong incentive to have the material ready to view right out of camera - and thus I practiced in-camera editing.

1992 野方一丁目など Nogata Walkabout 921017
http://youtu.be/EEqvz-JLyOk

(After a train and bus ride) views of suburbia closer to the center of Tokyo.  Nogata is next to Nakano.  The look is pretty much the same as suburbia views back then in areas all over Tokyo.  Since then, development is a little more diverse, so there's a little more differentiation between different areas.

1992 夜の高円寺と阿佐ヶ谷など Koenji and Asagaya at Night Etc 921017
http://youtu.be/wlMZ9pZ-a9Q

Depending on when I was recording views and sounds of Tokyo between 1990 and 1993, I tried different things - from leaving the camera on for continuous views, to a series of very short clips.  This almost seven minute video starts off with some fairly detailed views of evening streets near the Chuo Line, but towards the end includes short clips that I've left tacked onto this material, but don't fit into the flow of the first half of the video so well.  But, personally, I don't think that's an issue really - Tokyo provides so much visual and audible stimulation, that images kind of blur together in real life too.  There are some short train views in this as well.

1992 新宿駅-中野駅など Shinjuku to Nakano Etc 921022
http://youtu.be/S4c4IaN2bVA

1992 中野散策散歩 Nakano Walkabout 921022
http://youtu.be/-bSWh3JJpuM

1992 Random Views ランダムな眺め 色々 921022
http://youtu.be/5EvhDkQi72g

This starts in a subway station, jumps to riding in a train, jumps to an evening view, jumps to a nighttime train ride... the camera was obviously just along for the ride and not the object of the trip....

1992 日曜日の池袋散策散歩など Sunday Ikebukuro Walkabout 921025
http://youtu.be/BSiCUfLdogQ

The places I recorded back then basically fell into one of two categories.  Either I just recorded things while I went about my routine (on the way to work, going home, etc.) or I went somewhere specifically to record the sights and sounds of an area.

I had a map back then that I would highlight the areas I had walked around in with my camera, and when I was going out for new pictures, I would aim for an area of Tokyo that I hadn't yet covered.  So, by 1992, I was beginning to cover some off-the-beaten-path areas, and this video of an area of Ikebukuro that I don't normally go to would fall into that category.

The early part of the video shows trains passing, etc., and feels like a photographer out looking for pictures instead of letting them find him, but it gets more interesting as I walked nearer to the station area.

1992 夜道とバスと電車など Night Streets Trains and Buses 921025
http://youtu.be/ys-OYX-cWQA

1992 光が丘 ある日曜日 One Sunday in Hikarigaoka 921101
http://youtu.be/Tdti887Kd-4

1992 ひばりヶ丘駅-新宿駅 Hibarigaoka to Shinjuku 921108
http://youtu.be/MxssLU1BC8U

1992 バス ひばりが丘-三鷹駅 Bus Ride - Hibarigaoka to Mitaka 920823
http://youtu.be/r1zKdiGmgyc

The type of buses running now have changed, so these old bus views are nostalgic for me.  If you haven't ridden the buses back then, then they probably look about the same as buses everywhere.  The differences are in the details (bus stop recordings, wooden floors, etc.).

1992 三鷹駅-東秋留駅-五日市駅 Mitaka to Higashi-Akiru to Itsukaichi - Chuo Line 920823
http://youtu.be/r6T5E8K7NaI

August 23rd, 1992 - a Sunday.  I set off to see the mountainous areas of Tokyo.  This is a good travel video - with views on the Chuo Line as it rolls away from central Tokyo and the number of passengers decreases as I get closer to the mountains.  Views of the scenery rolling by - views of the relaxed scene inside the half-empty train car with the windows up, and ending with a view of the old Itsukaichi Station.

1992 五日市駅から山へのバス Mountain Bus Ride from Itsukaichi 920823
http://youtu.be/9V1FExNX97Q

1992 山小川 東京西側 Mountain Stream in Western Tokyo 920823
http://youtu.be/LFrz3xZpFwM

1992 Short Mountain Bus Ride 山でバスを乗る 東京西側 920823
http://youtu.be/PJlrIhGMbLQ

1992 山風景 東京西側 Western Tokyo Mountain Scenes 920823
http://youtu.be/yrH1cFMBklg

1992 山中のドライブ 東京西側 Tokyo Mountains Car Ride 920823
http://youtu.be/sEZC7HDiErA

I over-optimistically thought I would walk from one branch of the Chuo Line (the Itsukaichi Line) to another (the Ome Line), but fortunately, a nice family offered me a ride.  If they hadn't, I probably would have ended up spending the night on the mountain - without food or water.  It was a really stupid decision I made, but I was saved from my own stupidity by the kindness of strangers....

Note:  There would be much more to this video, but the driver had music playing most of the time and the record companies would likely attack me if I included those parts, so I've cut them out.

1992 山風景 ドライブ休憩所 Mountain Scenic Spots 920823
http://youtu.be/x_G1hu0OXqU

1992 夜の青梅駅辺り Nighttime Ome Station Area Walkabout 920823
http://youtu.be/Au-6PEJjlJ0

1992 青梅駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 Ome to Hibarigaoka - Night Trip 920823
http://youtu.be/q5UeQJRqWbk

1992 夜遅く新宿駅上の通路 Late Night Shinjuku Station Concourse 920823
http://youtu.be/QTsfZbPdx_0

1992 山水車 東京西側 Mountain Waterwheel 920823
http://youtu.be/-pTEajlcnGM

1993 東京彼方此方 東西線など Tokyo Here and There - Tozai Line Etc 930706
http://youtu.be/uWgDaTqzACk

There's a lot in this video, but - watching it again as I type this - part of it was exploring stations on the Tozai Line, and then I spent some time in Iidabashi, and then in Shinjuku, etc. etc.

By 1993, I was beginning to give up on taking video... the analog tapes were difficult to edit with the equipment I had, my cameras were breaking down, and I was spending more time taking regular pictures than video.  So in videos like this one, I would take a little here, and then a little there, but I wasn't attempting to record everything the way I did in 1990 and 1991 (1992 falls in-between those two modes).

All a long way of saying that there are so many places in this video, it's hard to identify them all.  The good thing about my 1993 material is that the camera handling is much smoother than in 1990, for example.

1993 ひばりヶ丘駅-駒込駅 Hibarigaoka to Komagome 930819
http://youtu.be/ohbhi-gtkw0

1993 新しい南北線 駒込駅など New Nanboku Line - Komagome 930819
http://youtu.be/c0RxGSbg45c

1993 Main Road and Traditional Garden 大道路と庭 930819
http://youtu.be/cqYjmLdDN0w

1993 バス内 Bus Interior 930828
http://youtu.be/J6smMmgc7bU

1993 昭和記念公園 Showa Memorial Park 930828
http://youtu.be/NMgBbwfxE1Y

Going from 1993 to 1990.  In this batch of 1990 videos, there are a lot of scenes of Shinjuku - due to the fact I was working there at the time.

1990 ひばりヶ丘駅-新宿駅 雨の日 Hibarigaoka to Shinjuku One Rainy Day 900828
http://youtu.be/0FBUjTpPQ14
1990 新宿駅辺りなど 雨の日 Rainy Day in Shinjuku 900828
http://youtu.be/QJlLVwn7iLM

1990 夜の新宿 散策散歩 Nighttime Shinjuku Walkabout 900828n
http://youtu.be/qv4r5t9A71E

1990 新宿駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 夜 Shinjuku to Hibarigaoka at Night 900828
http://youtu.be/Q70jxlrdCoE

1990 田町と田無と新宿など Tamachi と Tanashi と Shinjuku Etc 900830
http://youtu.be/vR-522jggsU

1990 新宿駅までの夜散歩 Walking to Shinjuku Station at Night 900830
http://youtu.be/L33C8vsO9-s

1990 田町お昼 立ち読みなど Lunchtime Tamachi Bookstore Readers Etc 900903
http://youtu.be/E8qR4lAVCNQ

1990 田町駅までの夕方散歩 Walk to Tamachi Station 900903
http://youtu.be/IKYSDpzTwyk

1990 田町駅-東京駅 山手線 Tamachi to Tokyo - Yamanote Line 900903
http://youtu.be/1B1Br9c3Jew

1990 東京駅から日本橋と銀座の散歩 Nihonbashi and Ginza Walkabout - From Tokyo Station 900903
http://youtu.be/C0OzT6f-L-k

1990 三越前駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 乗り換えなど Mitsukoshimae to Hibarigaoka - Transfers Etc 900903
http://youtu.be/kk80XZRKQts

1990 ひばりヶ丘駅-池袋駅 西武池袋線 Hibarigaoka to Ikebukuro - Seibu-Ikebukuro Line 900904
http://youtu.be/ExJdPQa24v8
1990 池袋散策散歩 Ikebukuro Walkabout 900904
http://youtu.be/2AFtnolbf5c

1990 池袋駅-新宿駅 埼京線 Ikebukuro to Shinjuku - Saikyo Line 900904
http://youtu.be/pc9fcAp52NM

1990 新宿散策散歩 Shinjuku Walkabout 900904
http://youtu.be/zv27aCxxemc

1990 新宿駅までの夜散歩 Walk to Shinjuku Station at Night 900904
http://youtu.be/XN_uZ3tnohk

1990 新宿駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 夜の電車 Shinjuku to Hibarigaoka - Night Trains 900904
http://youtu.be/oirXog9a2UU

1990 池袋駅-町田駅 山手線と小田急線 Ikebukuro to Machida - Yamanote and Odakyu Lines 900905
http://youtu.be/9LDfWZ9QxA8

1990 町田駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 Machida to Hibarigaoka 900905
http://youtu.be/1X7WgHQOPvE

1990 田町駅辺り朝の様子 仕事に向かう Tamachi Station Area - Walking to Work 900906
http://youtu.be/BjDY1reCPtM

1990 芝四丁目散策散歩 Shiba Walkabout in 4-Chome 900906
http://youtu.be/lMI7PVKe5dY

1990 田町駅まで歩く Walk to Tamachi Station 900906
http://youtu.be/Jdp-1D1wNnk

1990 田町駅-新宿駅 山手線 Tamachi to Shinjuku - Yamanote Line 900906
http://youtu.be/Sg11QipMA-w

1990 新宿夕方散策散歩 Shinjuku Evening Walkabout 900906
http://youtu.be/7M8wTz1of-I

1990 新宿の夜 ビヤガーデンなど Nighttime Shinjuku - Beer Garden Etc 900906
http://youtu.be/ESmFQWz02O4

1990 新宿駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 埼京線と西武池袋線 Shinjuku to Hibarigaoka 900906
http://youtu.be/_zOff8dl0eQ

1990 ひばりヶ丘駅辺りと新宿駅辺りなど Hibarigaoka Station and Shinjuku Station 900908
http://youtu.be/kGlluqJEe14

1990 西新宿夕方散歩 Nishi-Shinjuku Evening Stroll 900913
http://youtu.be/TBAQSfXjfIc

1990 西新宿夜散歩 Night Stroll to Shinjuku Station 900913
http://youtu.be/aIqBqHwnd5I

1990 Hotel Lobby Etc ホテルロビーなど 900913
http://youtu.be/-oVZ7fS3bfI

1990 新宿駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 Shinjuku to Hibarigaoka 900913
http://youtu.be/UeNRU7HqdJI

1990 朝の通勤ラッシュ 池袋駅-田町駅 Morning Rush - Ikebukuro to Tamachi 900917
http://youtu.be/DqfUjEwh-lY
1990 田町駅までの夕方散歩 Evening Walk to Tamachi Station 900917
http://youtu.be/QwsvJWTCd8Y

1990 田町駅-東京駅 京浜東北線 Tamachi to Tokyo - Keihin-Tohoku Line 900917
http://youtu.be/hSKpmUn3jVM

1990 日本橋夕方散歩 Evening Walk Through Nihonbashi Area 900917
http://youtu.be/7LSNES6i4Cg

1990 日本橋駅-三越前駅 銀座線 Nihonbashi to Mitsukoshimae - Ginza Line 900917
http://youtu.be/RqE3EaLZHJc

And back to 2014... I would have take a lot more videos in August 2014, but in the heat, my clothes were soaked with sweat and so I couldn't use my pockets to hold my camera for fear of damaging it with the sweat.  Once the camera was in its case in my backpack, I took it out less than I ordinarily would.  And also... times have changed.  Conditions in the 21st century are that the better and more convenient the equipment gets, the harder it becomes to use it (for non-technical reasons).
夜の下り中央線内 Inside Late Night Outbound Chuo Line 140821n
http://youtu.be/XUmR0PE9Tm4

新宿駅-大崎駅 湘南新宿ライン Shinjuku to Osaki - Shonan-Shinjuku Line 140821
http://youtu.be/s4GQEevD7B0
暑い八月の夕方赤坂交差点 Hot Evening Intersection in Akasaka 140820
http://youtu.be/QfAPNA7PLlY

五反田駅で山手線を乗る Boarding Yamanote Line at Gotanda 140807
http://youtu.be/6H4PEXmG78c

Under the Tracks in Yurakucho 線路の下 有楽町 140821
http://youtu.be/zv0BCzpzunU

大崎駅ホームまでのエスカレーター Osaki Station Platform Escalator 140807
http://youtu.be/CM1UV4kitYY

新宿駅-大崎駅 臨海線 Shinjuku to Osaki Rinkai Line 140814
http://youtu.be/kL1XeCt-pqE
溜池山王駅新型銀座線 New Type Ginza Line Trains at Tameike-Sanno Station 140820
http://youtu.be/MD0WuofUYOg

暑い八月の秋葉原影 Akihabara Hot August Day Shadows 140819
http://youtu.be/qFT-TxQ3qKs

田端駅-上野駅 山手線 Tabata to Ueno - Yamanote Line Train Race 140819
http://youtu.be/dUQyGneRRdE

零時の東京駅内通路 Tokyo Station Midnight Concourse 140808
http://youtu.be/-LmIHJUIRI0

夜中の西国分寺駅 Middle of the Night Nishi-Kokubunji Station 140808
http://youtu.be/vryo22u960g

高田馬場駅 東西線が遣って来る Boarding Tozai Line at Takadanobaba 140809
http://youtu.be/DLBvg6xE8OA

昭和七年ビルの通路 (ア) Hallways of 1932 Building 140809
http://youtu.be/3IffrZT5gqo

昭和七年ビルの通路 (イ) Hallways of 1932 Building 140809
http://youtu.be/UZ2uMp-wWgo

日本橋 地下モール通路に入る Entering Underground Mall in Nihonbashi 140814
http://youtu.be/TUQaTQKRt6Y

Construction Site Grid by Shinjuku Station 新宿駅隣の工事現場 140814
http://youtu.be/L76eMv0W5iQ

新宿駅 臨海線が遣って来る Rinkai Line Arriving at Shinjuku Station 140814
http://youtu.be/c3Y-WjWlK8U

高田馬場駅-池袋駅 山手線 Takadanobaba to Ikebukuro - Yamanote Line 140819
http://youtu.be/llvXTW5IMGY

有楽町駅近くガードの下 Yurakucho Time Slip Zone View 140814
http://youtu.be/yh2kD-yE8n8

六義園の近く八月の虫コンサート August Sounds Sights Near Rikugien Gardens 140819
http://youtu.be/7aVatD9bZFM

駒込駅-田端駅 山手線 Komagome to Tabata - Yamanote Line 140819
http://youtu.be/Ee0KTKmVi6w

駒込駅 山手線が遣って来る Waiting for Yamanote Line Train at Komagome 140819
http://youtu.be/UUvt85NAygM
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://lylehsaxon.blogspot.jp/
http://lookback1997.blogspot.jp/
http://tokyoht.blogspot.jp/

Saturday, August 09, 2014

1991 Hyakunincho Walkabout and Danchi Design

I think these apartment buildings have since been torn down and new ones constructed in their place, but I haven't gone to the area to have a look this year (yet).
Danchi apartments in Hyakunincho
Looking towards Shinjuku (above) and Nakano (below).  As you can see, the air wasn't particularly clear.  I think the main source of smog then was probably trucks, as there were a number of older ones still on the roads and without a wind to clear the city, things accumulated in the air.  Even so, it wasn't really noticeable unless you looked off into the distance (these are telephoto views).
Hyakunincho Walkabout
These were in-camera effects I was experimenting with at the time, not something I did after the fact.  The camera could capture two high-contrast images and they could be set in a range of colors and used separately or together.  These images are actually of three components - 1) image capture of TV antennas, 2) image capture of flowers, 3) live image of the overcast sky.  (The purpose of the image capture function was so you could write a title on a piece of paper, capture it, and then overlay it on a video as you took it.)
Hyakunincho Walkabout
Considering the cracks in the concrete on the roof, and the mysterious numbers written on the side of a neighboring building, I think they had assessed the condition of the buildings and (possibly) come to a conclusion about their demolition?
Hyakunincho Walkabout
These days, TV = cable, but it used to nearly all come from the air via antennas.  (VHF on the bottom and UHF on the top, in case you don't already know.)
Rooftops of apartment buildings here used to generally have roof access, but now just about all rooftops are locked off.  Making use of the roof was a good idea I think, but (presumably) worries about people throwing things off have led to them becoming forbidden zones.
Hyakunincho Walkabout
The old design for this type of apartment building was to have stairways in-between the apartments, as shown here, which was good in that all windows (on upper floors) were inaccessible and could be left open without privacy/security worries.  Newer designs have stairs on the end of the building only, and then long walkways with all the apartment doors in a row.  This makes better use of the space the building is on (less space used for stairs), but also means that the front windows are on the walkway, and more difficult to use due to all the foot traffic that passes right by them.
With multiple stairways, the mail boxes for each section were at the base of the stairs.  With the long corridor type, there are either one huge group of mailboxes on the first floor (inside) or half of the building's mail boxes by one stairway and the other half on the other side.
In 1991, when this was taken, generally only the danchi apartments (pubic housing) had this much green.  Land prices in Tokyo being what they were (and are) other types of apartments didn't usually have much (or any) green.  There seems to be some kind of legal requirement now that high-rise buildings include some kind of green in front (and/or around) them, so there's less of a divide than there used to be.
Hyakunincho Walkabout
Hyakunincho Walkabout
Hyakunincho Walkabout
An older area of residential houses.  Tokyo is interesting in that even in central parts of the city, you come across pockets of houses that you would expect to find out in the suburbs.  As the city continues to be developed though (a process that never ends in Tokyo), there are fewer and fewer areas like this in the central areas.
Hyakunincho Walkabout
Hyakunincho Walkabout
The office towers of Shinjuku dimly seen in the hazy distance.
See how rural this looks?  Seeing this picture in isolation, you'd never think it was in a central part of Tokyo.
Hyakunincho Walkabout
As I walked towards Okubo Station, it began to rain, and so the umbrellas came out.
Getting closer to the Yamanote Line, this is more typical scenery for central Tokyo.
Hyakunincho Walkabout
And in this picture, you can see why green is appreciated when you find it - some areas are devoid of it.
I hadn't thought about it at the time, but it looks like the rain cleared the air up a bit.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://lylehsaxon.blogspot.jp/
http://lookback1997.blogspot.jp/
http://tokyoht.blogspot.jp/

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

1991 Hyakunincho, Shibuya, Tokorozawa, Etc.; 2014 Shinbashi, Otsuka, Ginza, Etc.

This batch of videos starts off with a look around at my surroundings on an apartment building rooftop in Hyakunincho (which I had gotten to by walking from Takadanobaba Station).  From there, I walked through Hyakunincho to Okubo Station, did some train watching from a building window by the station, and then went to Harajuku.
百人町
百人町

大久保

Getting off a Yamanote Line train in Harajuku, I walked over to Yoyogi Park and walked around a bit inside the park - watching a group of people (students?) taking video of a pair of actors, etc.
From Yoyogi Park, I walked to Shibuya Station, taking in the Saturday evening summer youth scene there as I made my way towards the station.
I must have wanted to get out of the heat for a bit, because I spent some time going through (via escalator after escalator) a department store full of young people shopping for clothes.
From Shibuya, I took a Toyoko Line train to Hiyoshi Station, which was under construction at the time.  From the station, I rode in a car with some friends, which captures something of the era (in-between the frames) via the conversation in the car and and the on-air radio interview heard in the background.

2014 views are of Shinjuku, Shinbashi, Otsuka, etc.  - I'll comment after some of them below.

1991 Apartment Rooftop Lookaround 団地の屋上からの眺め 910713
http://youtu.be/A_0TWejsrMA
1991 百人町散策散歩 Hyakunincho Walkabout 910713
http://youtu.be/RRqQEAN4qjM
1991 大久保駅辺り Okubo Station Area Lookaround 910713
http://youtu.be/HFW1o2EjX3A
1991 大久保駅近くの中央線が通る Passing Chuo Line Trains by Okubo 910713
http://youtu.be/ndNqQC7TUSU

1991 大久保駅-原宿駅 中央線と山手線 Okubo to Harajuku - Chuo and Yamanote 910713
http://youtu.be/2-gVd_8O3-M
1991 原宿駅辺りと代々木公園内 Harajuku Station and Yoyogi Park  910713
http://youtu.be/9WPAmgvq0Vo
1991 渋谷土曜日の夜散策散歩 Shibuya Saturday Evening Walkabout 910713
http://youtu.be/blQr3dN5rvQ
1991 東急渋谷駅 土曜日の夜 Tokyu Shibuya Station 910713
http://youtu.be/aPZUy1B5fuA
1991 渋谷駅-日吉駅 東急東横線など Shibuya to Hiyoshi - Toyoko Line 910713
http://youtu.be/wk_kznOPSUo
1991 工事中の日吉駅 ホームの様子とか Hiyoshi Station Under Construction 910713
http://youtu.be/PSoUTH6WY0U
1991 日吉駅-渋谷駅 東急東横線 Hiyoshi to Shibuya - Toyoko Line 910713
http://youtu.be/AhyeSfIz0_o
1991 渋谷駅 東横線から山手線までの乗り換え Shibuya Transfer - Toyoko to Yamanote 910713
http://youtu.be/pDXC-BG8tIw
1991 渋谷駅-池袋駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 Shibuya to Ikebukuro to Hibarigaoka 910713g
http://youtu.be/cmz_KyTeSjc
1991 Sunday In Tokorozawa - Propeller-Street Etc プロペ通り 910714
http://youtu.be/HZlIRlMs93U
1991 西武池袋線と池袋散歩 Seibu Line and Ikebukuro East Side Walk 910715
http://youtu.be/dK80Aq56x6w
1991 20th Century Machines 二十世紀の器械 910717 910718
http://youtu.be/Ujdk4daNaOs

Some of the machines briefly shown in this video were fairly high-tech at the time, but sure seem old now....

Otake Natsuki Exhibition 大竹夏紀展 Gallery b 140729
http://youtu.be/hhk-U16pJ10

A very colorful and striking installation/exhibition in Kyobashi (next to Ginza).

サロンど東京展 サマーアートフェスタ 2014年8月 Ginza-One August Exhibition 140802
http://youtu.be/tDcZDHU_rKM

東京駅-新宿駅 中央線 Tokyo to Shinjuku - Chuo Line 140729
http://youtu.be/uhTdsNw7z8c

Yamanote Train Arriving at Komagome 駒込駅の山手線 140729
http://youtu.be/prANVv6z8M4

Shinjuku Crosswalk 新宿横断歩道 140729
http://youtu.be/aIINip7onYk

四ッ谷駅-溜池山王駅 南北線 Yotsuya to Tameikesanno - Nanboku Line 140730
http://youtu.be/oIfcxF927II
夜の新橋SL広場 Shinbashi SL-Plaza at Night 140730
http://youtu.be/QDj-e3qhGeY

新橋駅-東京駅 夜の山手線 Shinbashi to Tokyo - Nighttime Yamanote Line 140730
http://youtu.be/Hr_ifEQK8Wg

Osaki Escalator - Decent to Yamanote Platform 大崎駅の山手線エスカレーター 140731
http://youtu.be/q7BeSkI8_tU
有楽町駅-東京駅 右側の京浜東北線 Yurakucho to Tokyo - Keihin-Tohoku Line 140731
http://youtu.be/3BMYB--JZks

高田馬場駅 山手線が遣って来る Yamanote Line Arriving at Takadanobaba 140802
http://youtu.be/zhF1YHn2GlY

大塚駅ホームの様子と出口 Exiting Otsuka Station 140802
http://youtu.be/bjAZD4v-LkI

大塚駅前 市電と工事現場 Otsuka Streetcar and Construction 140802
http://youtu.be/oMwjtdlZpw0

Pre-Functional Platform Walls at Yurakucho 有楽町駅 ホームから出口まで 140802
http://youtu.be/dOrupc9di8Q

They've just finished installing platform walls for the Yamanote Line at Yurakucho, but haven't begun using them yet, so they're locked open (or at least they were on August 2nd, 2014 - I'm sure they'll be operational soon).

Hot August Day in Yurakucho 有楽町のある暑い八月の日 140802
http://youtu.be/vxH6EygsyIY

銀座 土曜日の歩行者天国 銀座一丁目 Ginza Pedestrian Paradise 140802
http://youtu.be/fzR8beTL2QI

A few years ago, I spoke with an artist at an art exhibition who was displaying (among other things) some interesting conceptual drawings of how the artist thought Ginza should be.  Instead of the current Chuo-Dori, with its six-lane (four for moving and two for parked vehicles) wide expanse of lifeless asphalt, and two-lane wide expanse of lifeless cement (for pedestrians), it had a narrow two-lane road for only essential fire-breathing machinery and the rest was a park-like expanse of grass, trees, and walkways through the green for humans.

Now that would really be nice!  Keeping all the cars out of the area on Sundays is certainly nice, but walking around on that sea of lifeless asphalt is never all that fun really.  I much prefer the two-lane back streets that machinery operators mostly avoid (7-days a week, 24-hours a day) since they can't drive at speed on them.

夕方新宿南口の360度 Evening Shinjuku-360 at South Exit 140729g
http://youtu.be/ZUb9Dlhe6rQ
お化け屋敷の階段 Spooky Old Stairs 140730g
http://youtu.be/H9NPO_TWptY
東京駅-有楽町駅 昼の山手線 Tokyo to Yurakucho - Yamanote Line 140802g
http://youtu.be/CiWvTPcWiVc
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://lylehsaxon.blogspot.jp/
http://lookback1997.blogspot.jp/
http://tokyoht.blogspot.jp/