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/

1991 Ikebukuro, Asakusa Hozuki-ichi Festival, Hibarigaoka, Etc.; 2014 Shinjuku と Shibuya, etc.

This batch of videos starts off with an hour-long visit to July 10th, 1991 Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, which was a festival day and very crowded.  Other 1991 views are of Ueno, Ikebukuro, and Hibarigaoka, with an interesting (I think) walk through a popular (and very crowded) stand-as-you-eat place within Ikebukuro Station (but on the outside of the ticket gates, not the inside, as is the current development model).

Coming back to the present year, 2014, are just a few videos - all Tokyo rail system views.  Personally, I think the view (and sounds) of the construction project taking place right next to the Saikyo Line platform is interesting, particularly the combination of sounds from the construction site mixed with typical Tokyo train station sounds.

1991年 浅草寺のほおずき市 Asakusa Hozuki-ichi Matsuri 910710
http://youtu.be/gQmttlLR8t4

This is just over an hour long, so I imagine most people won't even get to the interesting parts.  Okay - I better explain something related to that comment.  I personally find it really irritating when books are written with opening lines like "I paused before opening the door - wondering if the assassin would be waiting on the other side..." with the intent of getting you interested, and then jump back to ordinary times - leaving you with the "Yeah?!  Yeah?!  And *then* what happened?!!" feeling which was put there to, a) make you buy the book and, b) keep you reading.  Part of that irritation is that it conditions people to have zero patience.  If they're not excited in ten seconds, off they go in search of cheap thrills elsewhere....

Okay - rant over!  I bring that up, because there are historically interesting elements to this hour-long video.  And - if nothing else - the (fairly lengthy) part within the temple is interesting since they they didn't have at the time, but have now, a strict "no photography" rule.  I and others were taking video in 1991 and there didn't seem to be any problem with that.  In any event, it's something you can't do now, so it might be interesting to see (and hear) for that reason alone.  The sound is very important, and I strongly recommend watching it with a good pair of headphones with the sound at a properly loud level (to simulate the volume of the original sound), so you can get the (in digital stereo by the way) full effect of the money raining into the collection box as an endless river of thousands flowed through the temple, throwing the money over other people's heads.  It was quite an experience, and that is conveyed almost exclusively through the sound.

A technical note - you may be wondering about the sound being digital since the video was analog.  The video was indeed analog, but the sound was digital, called by Sony (at the time) "PCM audio", with the "PCM" standing for "Pulse Code Modulated".  Looking up "PCM audio" on-line, I find this definition (from Wikipedia):
   "Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, Compact Discs, digital telephony and other digital audio applications."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

Asakusa / 1991年の浅草

1991 池袋駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 西武池袋線 Ikebukuro to Hibarigaoka - Seibu Line 910710
http://youtu.be/KKDQbYDH79U

1991 ひばりが丘工事など Construction Zone in Hibarigaoka Etc 910710
http://youtu.be/pAeIsCVMOIU

This includes a good look at the empty ground under construction that was to became the Parco (department store) and an apartment building (on the side of the building by the railway).

1991 Walking to Hibarigaoka Station ひばりヶ丘駅までの散歩 910711
http://youtu.be/eyHSwu9bex4

1991 五反田駅-池袋駅 山手線 Gotanda to Ikebukuro - Yamanote Line 910708
http://youtu.be/-UBzwX6TEhA

1991 池袋東口散歩 Ikebukuro East Side Walkabout 910708
http://youtu.be/_RaQSc0ho1w

Ikebukuro / 池袋

Ikebukuro / 池袋

Ikebukuro Bungeiza / 池袋 文芸坐

Ikebukuro / 池袋

1991 池袋駅-ひばりヶ丘駅 西武池袋線 Ikebukuro to Hibarigaoka - Seibu Line 910708
http://youtu.be/s42O7vS-evM

1991 ひばりヶ丘駅辺りの散歩 Hibarigaoka Station Area 910708
http://youtu.be/7kYNdLfu_nA

1991年のひばりヶ丘駅辺り

1991年のひばりヶ丘駅辺り

1991 ひばりヶ丘駅-池袋駅 西武池袋線 Hibarigaoka to Ikebukuro - Seibu Line 910710
http://youtu.be/Sronixt6gjA

Hibarigaoka / ひばりヶ丘駅

Hibarigaoka / ひばりヶ丘駅

Hibarigaoka / ひばりヶ丘駅

1991 池袋散策散歩 Ikebukuro Short Walkabout 910710
http://youtu.be/aXmqskb7gKU

1991 池袋駅の平日お昼 Lunchtime in Ikebukuro 910710
http://youtu.be/CUHadoJ3HkQ

A fairly detailed look at some side streets in Ikebukuro during the peak of the lunch hour.

1991 池袋駅-上野駅 山手線 Ikebukuro to Ueno - Yamanote Line 910710
http://youtu.be/ixleLdNP0Is

1991 上野駅の平日お昼 Lunchtime in Ueno Station 910710
http://youtu.be/LP866QSlpy0

A little off-peak, but still this captures some of the lunchtime atmosphere of Ueno Station.

1991 上野駅-浅草駅 銀座線 Ueno to Asakusa - Ginza Line 910710
http://youtu.be/b-tc3Q1ZB78

1991 浅草駅-池袋駅 銀座線と山手線 Asakusa to Ikebukuro 910710
http://youtu.be/4tQ4KSqbc3M

1991 池袋東口午後散歩 Ikebukuro Evening East Side Short Walkabout 910710n
http://youtu.be/KJ5X_o1gC2c

新宿駅隣工事現場 Construction by Shinjuku Station 140703
http://youtu.be/jyE-1t8HUxo

Walking around on the Saikyo Line platform while waiting for a train - looking at the ongoing construction next to the station, as well as trains coming and going, and listening to the various sounds of everything.

新宿駅-渋谷駅 埼京線-臨海線直通 Shinjuku to Shibuya - Saikyo-Rinkai Line 140703
http://youtu.be/C0O59sE_bIU

Watch this closely as the train comes into Shibuya Station and you can see the last remains of the Tokyu Department Store they have demolished on the east side of the station.  A little past that, you can see the last remnants of the bridge over the roadway that used to support the overhead platforms of Tokyu-Shibuya Station.... which is kind of depressing to see, as I always liked that station.

渋谷駅-大崎駅 埼京線-臨海線直通 Shibuya to Osaki - FC View - Rinkai Line 140703
http://youtu.be/E-Y7iDpDssg

Untitled-00001 140703
http://youtu.be/OJ-mF_6W8nA

I couldn't decide what to call this one, so I just called it "Untitled".  It shows the situation near one of the ticket gates at Osaki Station when the Yamanote Line was delayed.

大崎駅の夜ホームの様子 Osaki Station - Waiting for a Train 140703
http://youtu.be/7XhU6eld1vE

Departing Osaki Station 大崎駅から出発 140703
http://youtu.be/OJLobJRDlnY

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/