From a job security standpoint, and as a human being, white color offices tend to be some of the vilest, dirtiest workplaces on the planet. I had thought that the office of a manufacturer which runs efficient factories and manufactures (usually) quality equipment would get some of that quality into its offices, but it turned out to be the dirtiest, sloppiest, most wasteful, meanest, nastiest office I've ever worked in. Go figure. If that same company ran its factories the way it runs its offices, it would go bankrupt within a year and its manufactured machines would be worthless sloppily bolted together piles of garbage.
Compounding its offices' inane rottenness, the "seishain" (direct translation "correct/proper employee" - the full-fledged workers protected by labor laws) and "hakken" (contract workers generally working full time, but often on rotating three-month contracts that help the company escape the labor laws) system is just sick. On one hand, you have grotesquely incompetent seishain workers who are never fired, typically going around wreaking havoc on quality, and on the other hand, you have underpaid (no bonuses, low benefits, no job security, very little protection under the labor laws) hakken workers doing most of the total work and nearly all of the quality work. When a seishain piece of deadwood makes a serious mistake, a sacrificial hakken worker is chosen to be a scapegoat for the worthless, but untouchable seishain worker's sins, and another disposable hakken worker is brought in to fill the axed one's position.
It's a really sick system and it seems to be getting worse. Do I sound upset? I am. I just lost my job to the lies of a pack of dysfunctional evil seishain deadwood that I had the cheek to point out were sabotaging the quality of the section's output. There's not the slightest concern by middle management scum about actual quality - just they are upset that I refused to dive to my hands and knees and kiss the ground their (and their worse than worthless underlings) foul feet walk on.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
"Nakano, Harajuku, Kodaira, Shinbashi & Koenji"
More video clips. All new stuff from November 2009, except the first one, which is of snow in Nakano and Hibarigaoka in December 1991.
"Rain to Snow - Nakano & Hibarigaoka - Chuo & Seibu Lines - 1991"
Starting on the Chuo Line platform in Shinjuku, taking a Chuo Line train to Nakano, walking around on some of Nakano's main & back streets, and then views of snowy Nakano streets. Walking through the snow to Nakano Station, taking a Chuo Line train to Shinjuku, and then jumping forward to a snowy Seibu-Ikebukuro Line train in Ikebukuro that I take to Hibarigaoka. The video finishes with views of the narrow streets of Hibarigaoka.
Of some historical worth, note the sounds on the Chuo Line train between Nakano and Shinjuku. The old Chuo Line trains produced quite different sounds from the newer type. Last week I saw on older type still being used, but they are very rare now and will soon be completely off the Chuo Line rails (whether they're being scrapped or sent to some other line I don't know).
"Harajuku Back Street Fashion Shops - November 2009"
A walk on a back street in Harajuku. Taken on a weekday evening, there are not many people on the street or in the shops, but on weekends this would look much busier. This area is roughly between Shibuya and Harujuku stations. Recorded on November 18th, 2009.
"Harajuku Takeshita-dori - November 2009"
A walk along the full length of Takeshita-dori. This street has a couple of sections walled off where they've torn down a section of buildings, so eventually, they'll raze everything and build something new (this is the way of Tokyo, city of "Nothing old allowed!"), but for now, much the same crowd of (ever changing & not changing) middle-school and high-school girls (and some boys) like to stroll and shop here. Leading directly to one of the entrance/exits of Harajuku Station, it's a good location for this type of shop. (Recorded on November 18th, 2009.)
"Where is Everybody? - Harajuku, November 18th, 2009"
Mostly empty Harajuku back streets. Depending on the human density of the city you live in, this might look busy, but for Tokyo, it looks downright desolate. Relaxing to walk along the street when it's like this, but looking in the mostly empty shops, you can't help but think that the economy really isn't doing very well (which it isn't), and worry about the future. Maybe it's best to not think anything, and just enjoy the space? Naw... you have to think. (Recorded on November 18th, 2009)
"Autumn Day in Chuo Park in Kodaira" November 23rd, 2009
Riding out along the Tamagawa Canal starting around Kichijoji, I came upon a nice park in Kodaira - Chuo Koen (Central Park), with playgrounds, a soccer field, food stalls, trees with their leaves turning, and an outdoor concert. Quite nice overall for a cool autumn day. About as good of an autumn day as any I've seen. (This video was taken just before 3:00 p.m., even though it looks more like it's nearly 5:00. Tokyo is in the wrong time zone, so at this time of year, it gets dark shockingly early.)
"Bossa Nova Concert in Kodaira Chuo Park" November 23rd, 2009
The outdoor concert mentioned above (in Kodaira's Chuo Park) was bossa nova music. This video shows the appreciative crowd under the colorful leaves of the park's trees - which were just beginning to change in Tokyo's autumn.
"Tamagawa-josui Canal Cycling (1/2) - November 23rd, 2009"
Built in 1653 to supply Edo (current Tokyo) with water, it is still used (I think) to supply Mitaka with some of its water needs, but to the people living along its path, it's more important as a long green beltway (trees on both sides help stabilize the banks of the canal) used for strolls, jogging, and cycling. Some stretches are more convenient than others, and you have to switch sides from time to time and navigate past paths full of fire-breathing machinery.
"Tamagawa-josui Canal Cycling (2/2) - November 23rd, 2009"
Another part of my Monday, November 23rd, 2009 bicycle ride along the canal.
"Concert in the Park - November 23rd, 2009"
Another view of the bossa nova concert in Kodaira's Chuo Park.
"Shinbashi Station - Platform Jungle Walk-A" (November 2009)
Taking a Tokaido Line train up to Shinbashi from Shinagawa, I started at the Tokyo end of the platform and walked all the way to the Shinagawa end. I'm not sure I had ever walked the full length of a 15-car train/platform before, so I was curious how long it would take. It seems to take between four and five minutes, depending on your walking speed and how many obstacles you have to maneuver around as you make your way down the platform.
Also in the video (to the right and left of the Tokaido Line platform), passing Keihin-Tohoku Line trains, passing Yamanote Line trains, and passing Shinkansen super express trains.
"Koenji Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Walking around on the streets of Koenji on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009. Areas like this are nice to walk around in - particularly in the evening, when people are out shopping. This is one of the things I like about living in Tokyo - you can start from a station somewhere in the city, and just by walking in a random direction, tumble on ares like in this video.
This is only possible however in areas where most people don't have cars, and use their feet and trains to travel. The car culture destroys this kind of thing, because then the streets are made for fire-breathing machinery instead of air-breathing people....
"Koenji Side Streets - November 2009"
More walking down side streets in Koenji on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
"Rain to Snow - Nakano & Hibarigaoka - Chuo & Seibu Lines - 1991"
Starting on the Chuo Line platform in Shinjuku, taking a Chuo Line train to Nakano, walking around on some of Nakano's main & back streets, and then views of snowy Nakano streets. Walking through the snow to Nakano Station, taking a Chuo Line train to Shinjuku, and then jumping forward to a snowy Seibu-Ikebukuro Line train in Ikebukuro that I take to Hibarigaoka. The video finishes with views of the narrow streets of Hibarigaoka.
Of some historical worth, note the sounds on the Chuo Line train between Nakano and Shinjuku. The old Chuo Line trains produced quite different sounds from the newer type. Last week I saw on older type still being used, but they are very rare now and will soon be completely off the Chuo Line rails (whether they're being scrapped or sent to some other line I don't know).
"Harajuku Back Street Fashion Shops - November 2009"
A walk on a back street in Harajuku. Taken on a weekday evening, there are not many people on the street or in the shops, but on weekends this would look much busier. This area is roughly between Shibuya and Harujuku stations. Recorded on November 18th, 2009.
"Harajuku Takeshita-dori - November 2009"
A walk along the full length of Takeshita-dori. This street has a couple of sections walled off where they've torn down a section of buildings, so eventually, they'll raze everything and build something new (this is the way of Tokyo, city of "Nothing old allowed!"), but for now, much the same crowd of (ever changing & not changing) middle-school and high-school girls (and some boys) like to stroll and shop here. Leading directly to one of the entrance/exits of Harajuku Station, it's a good location for this type of shop. (Recorded on November 18th, 2009.)
"Where is Everybody? - Harajuku, November 18th, 2009"
Mostly empty Harajuku back streets. Depending on the human density of the city you live in, this might look busy, but for Tokyo, it looks downright desolate. Relaxing to walk along the street when it's like this, but looking in the mostly empty shops, you can't help but think that the economy really isn't doing very well (which it isn't), and worry about the future. Maybe it's best to not think anything, and just enjoy the space? Naw... you have to think. (Recorded on November 18th, 2009)
"Autumn Day in Chuo Park in Kodaira" November 23rd, 2009
Riding out along the Tamagawa Canal starting around Kichijoji, I came upon a nice park in Kodaira - Chuo Koen (Central Park), with playgrounds, a soccer field, food stalls, trees with their leaves turning, and an outdoor concert. Quite nice overall for a cool autumn day. About as good of an autumn day as any I've seen. (This video was taken just before 3:00 p.m., even though it looks more like it's nearly 5:00. Tokyo is in the wrong time zone, so at this time of year, it gets dark shockingly early.)
"Bossa Nova Concert in Kodaira Chuo Park" November 23rd, 2009
The outdoor concert mentioned above (in Kodaira's Chuo Park) was bossa nova music. This video shows the appreciative crowd under the colorful leaves of the park's trees - which were just beginning to change in Tokyo's autumn.
"Tamagawa-josui Canal Cycling (1/2) - November 23rd, 2009"
Built in 1653 to supply Edo (current Tokyo) with water, it is still used (I think) to supply Mitaka with some of its water needs, but to the people living along its path, it's more important as a long green beltway (trees on both sides help stabilize the banks of the canal) used for strolls, jogging, and cycling. Some stretches are more convenient than others, and you have to switch sides from time to time and navigate past paths full of fire-breathing machinery.
"Tamagawa-josui Canal Cycling (2/2) - November 23rd, 2009"
Another part of my Monday, November 23rd, 2009 bicycle ride along the canal.
"Concert in the Park - November 23rd, 2009"
Another view of the bossa nova concert in Kodaira's Chuo Park.
"Shinbashi Station - Platform Jungle Walk-A" (November 2009)
Taking a Tokaido Line train up to Shinbashi from Shinagawa, I started at the Tokyo end of the platform and walked all the way to the Shinagawa end. I'm not sure I had ever walked the full length of a 15-car train/platform before, so I was curious how long it would take. It seems to take between four and five minutes, depending on your walking speed and how many obstacles you have to maneuver around as you make your way down the platform.
Also in the video (to the right and left of the Tokaido Line platform), passing Keihin-Tohoku Line trains, passing Yamanote Line trains, and passing Shinkansen super express trains.
"Koenji Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Walking around on the streets of Koenji on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009. Areas like this are nice to walk around in - particularly in the evening, when people are out shopping. This is one of the things I like about living in Tokyo - you can start from a station somewhere in the city, and just by walking in a random direction, tumble on ares like in this video.
This is only possible however in areas where most people don't have cars, and use their feet and trains to travel. The car culture destroys this kind of thing, because then the streets are made for fire-breathing machinery instead of air-breathing people....
"Koenji Side Streets - November 2009"
More walking down side streets in Koenji on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Monday, November 23, 2009
"Former Black Market, Jungle Walking, etc."
1990 Ueno, the Chuo Line, Shinjuku jungle walking, Hatanodai Station, etc, are themes of recently posted videos:
"1990 Ueno Street Market (Former Black Market)"
The semi-outdoor market near Ueno Station, running along the elevated railway was a black market right after WW-II. The market is still there, and is (naturally) not a black market now, but still sells things somewhat in the spirit of what the area was before. The area has gone through stages - from black market to legitimate market of things sold more cheaply than at major stores, to... I'm not sure what to call it now. There are now discount stores all over the city, so there's less incentive to go there than there used to be, but it's still crowded at weekends and just before the New Year's holiday. In 1990, when this video was taken, it was a little more popular than it is now I think, and it had a bit different of an atmosphere than it does now.
"Shinjuku Kabukicho to East Side - Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Walking from the edge of Kabukicho, to near the east side entrance to Shinjuku Station. Typical walking scenes for Tokyo.
"Boarding Chuo Line in Shinjuku - November 2009"
Watching a Chuo Line train as it pulls in to Shinjuku Station; watching people get off, and then finally boarding the train myself. After decades of riding the trains here, these sights are as familiar as the sun in the sky.
"Shinjuku Higashi-guchi Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Starting from the ground level door that leads out of Shinjuku Station from the East Exit, and walking to the main street on the edge of Kabukicho - at night of course. (I should record some images in the daytime sometime, but I'm working in a large box then, so I usually have to wait until evening, when the sun has gone down.)
"Shinjuku Higashi-guchi Rain Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Walking in Shinjuku on the Higashi-guchi (east) side. Recorded November 17th, 2009. Christmas decorations are already appearing in department stores....
"Nighttime Yamanote Line - Ebisu to Shibuya (November 2009)"
Looking out the front of the Yamanote Line as it goes from Ebisu Station to Shibuya Station. The man you can see in the cab of the train is not the driver - the driver is to the left of that person. The reason there were two people in the cab appeared to be due to the driver being new and undergoing training. On that train, both the conductor at the back and the driver were women.
"Umbrella River - Shinjuku (November 2009)"
Walking through a river of umbrellas on the way to the east entrance to Shinjuku Station on November 17th, 2009.
"Express & Local Trains at Hatanodai Station"
Watching an express train arrive and leave at Hatanodai Station, and then getting on a local train going in the same direction. Hatanodai Station was fairly recently rebuilt and is of a modern style.
"Harajuku Fashion Hunt (A) - November 2009"
Walking around in Harajuku in the evening, looking at the many small shops selling fashion-related stuff. Recorded in November 2009.
"Nighttime Yamanote Line - Yoyogi to Shinjuku - November 18th, 2009"
Looking out the front of the Yamanote Line as it goes from Yoyogi to Shinjuku at about 6:18 p.m., on November 18th, 2009.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
"1990 Ueno Street Market (Former Black Market)"
The semi-outdoor market near Ueno Station, running along the elevated railway was a black market right after WW-II. The market is still there, and is (naturally) not a black market now, but still sells things somewhat in the spirit of what the area was before. The area has gone through stages - from black market to legitimate market of things sold more cheaply than at major stores, to... I'm not sure what to call it now. There are now discount stores all over the city, so there's less incentive to go there than there used to be, but it's still crowded at weekends and just before the New Year's holiday. In 1990, when this video was taken, it was a little more popular than it is now I think, and it had a bit different of an atmosphere than it does now.
"Shinjuku Kabukicho to East Side - Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Walking from the edge of Kabukicho, to near the east side entrance to Shinjuku Station. Typical walking scenes for Tokyo.
"Boarding Chuo Line in Shinjuku - November 2009"
Watching a Chuo Line train as it pulls in to Shinjuku Station; watching people get off, and then finally boarding the train myself. After decades of riding the trains here, these sights are as familiar as the sun in the sky.
"Shinjuku Higashi-guchi Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Starting from the ground level door that leads out of Shinjuku Station from the East Exit, and walking to the main street on the edge of Kabukicho - at night of course. (I should record some images in the daytime sometime, but I'm working in a large box then, so I usually have to wait until evening, when the sun has gone down.)
"Shinjuku Higashi-guchi Rain Jungle Walk - November 2009"
Walking in Shinjuku on the Higashi-guchi (east) side. Recorded November 17th, 2009. Christmas decorations are already appearing in department stores....
"Nighttime Yamanote Line - Ebisu to Shibuya (November 2009)"
Looking out the front of the Yamanote Line as it goes from Ebisu Station to Shibuya Station. The man you can see in the cab of the train is not the driver - the driver is to the left of that person. The reason there were two people in the cab appeared to be due to the driver being new and undergoing training. On that train, both the conductor at the back and the driver were women.
"Umbrella River - Shinjuku (November 2009)"
Walking through a river of umbrellas on the way to the east entrance to Shinjuku Station on November 17th, 2009.
"Express & Local Trains at Hatanodai Station"
Watching an express train arrive and leave at Hatanodai Station, and then getting on a local train going in the same direction. Hatanodai Station was fairly recently rebuilt and is of a modern style.
"Harajuku Fashion Hunt (A) - November 2009"
Walking around in Harajuku in the evening, looking at the many small shops selling fashion-related stuff. Recorded in November 2009.
"Nighttime Yamanote Line - Yoyogi to Shinjuku - November 18th, 2009"
Looking out the front of the Yamanote Line as it goes from Yoyogi to Shinjuku at about 6:18 p.m., on November 18th, 2009.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Thursday, November 12, 2009
"Orange Prompts Suicide via Rails & Blue Prompts Life?"
Suicide is not uncommon in Japan, and has historically been considered an honorable exit when no other paths appear to be forthcoming. And in modern times, people who commit suicide not uncommonly will do so by jumping in front of a train, typically at the head of the platform as the train comes in at speed. Some train lines are more popular for doing this than others - the Chuo Line is famous in Tokyo for having a large number of suicides. Naturally, since the people who successfully commit suicide cannot be consulted as to why they did it, or why they chose a particular place, it's left for the living to ponder.
Why the Chuo Line?
The Chuo Line was - for decades - a deep orange color, what some semi-color-blind people refer to as red, but everyone (except some flat-out color-blind people) agree is a warm color. One fine day, I was talking with someone and (naturally), the topic of the Chuo Line's high suicide rate came up. I looked on as though watching a science fiction movie as I was told there's a theory that the reason a lot of people choose to die by jumping in front of the Chuo Line is because it's a shade of red!
I blinked a couple of times, looked into unblinking eyes, and asked if they were serious. They were. Then, to test the idea, I asked several other people over a couple of years and was disappointed/distressed to find a majority of people submitting to this theory, saying they had heard (and apparently believed) that it was an aggressive color that prompted people to jump in front of the train! So I tried acting out the scenario in front of a few believers of this theory by saying (with words, facial expressions, and gestures): "Hum-dee-dum... Ah! Here comes the train.... Look at that color! Such aggression! ...... All right! That's it! Time to die!".
I mean... come on! Does that make sense to you? It does? I still don't get it....
Anyway! They have replaced the deep-orange trains with white/silver/orange trains that are (from the front) just silver and white... and still people are committing suicide by jumping in front of the Chuo Line. Suddenly you don't hear about the warm color theory as to why people are choosing the ultimate exit via the Chuo Line.
But wait! The theory lives! JR Railways has installed squares of blue light (beaming down from overhead) at the end of all the platforms on the central Yamanote loop line. Why? Because blue is a calming color and they think it may make people thinking of committing suicide calm down and change their minds....
Now, back to the Chuo Line. Let's look at a couple of other possibilities. The Chuo Line has, on an average basis over the course of a full day, the most crowded trains in all of Japan. So - if there are a given percentage of train riders on any given line that eventually commit suicide by jumping in front of a train, gee, you might actually have more suicides on the most crowded line! Rocket Science! And if the conditions on the most crowded line in the country are the most unpleasant, then, gee, maybe some people get seriously depressed about becoming canned sardines for two or three hours every day and decide they can't take it any more, so they take the jump.
Just why is it that no logical reasons are discussed, and everyone latches onto the nonsense about the color of the train being the reason? From the railway's perspective this is convenient, because if the reason people are committing suicide is because of overcrowding on the line, then they could face potential legal responsibility for creating a cause of the death by not (somehow) providing more trains and alleviating the crowding somewhat. Mind you, I'm not suggesting negligence on the part of the train system here, either the Chuo Line specifically or the whole rail system in general. It's an excellent system and it's amazing it functions as well as it does with the 30,000,000 people living in Tokyo.
But here's the thing. I used to work at a PR agency and I've seen a little how something is put into the media, broadcast, and then accepted by people because they saw it on television. PR agencies identify "Opinion Leaders" and other sources of public thinking and try to influence them. Who knows, it might even be some scientific thing about deep orange that actually does lead to suicide, but either way, from the railway's standpoint, it's vastly better if people are discussing the issue as though it were a natural phenomenon rather than a human-made cause. If it's just a natural phenomenon, then people will not ask them to do something (and anyway, it looks as though they have done something now by changing the color of the trains), but if it's based on conditions (far more likely!), then people will begin clamoring for them to do something.
Anyway - it'll be interesting to see what becomes of the blue lights on the Yamanote Line. The platforms are so brightly lit with white florescent tubes that the blue is only in that one small spot right at the end of the platform, but maybe some people bent on self-destruction will actually change their minds as they enter the blue light....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Why the Chuo Line?
The Chuo Line was - for decades - a deep orange color, what some semi-color-blind people refer to as red, but everyone (except some flat-out color-blind people) agree is a warm color. One fine day, I was talking with someone and (naturally), the topic of the Chuo Line's high suicide rate came up. I looked on as though watching a science fiction movie as I was told there's a theory that the reason a lot of people choose to die by jumping in front of the Chuo Line is because it's a shade of red!
I blinked a couple of times, looked into unblinking eyes, and asked if they were serious. They were. Then, to test the idea, I asked several other people over a couple of years and was disappointed/distressed to find a majority of people submitting to this theory, saying they had heard (and apparently believed) that it was an aggressive color that prompted people to jump in front of the train! So I tried acting out the scenario in front of a few believers of this theory by saying (with words, facial expressions, and gestures): "Hum-dee-dum... Ah! Here comes the train.... Look at that color! Such aggression! ...... All right! That's it! Time to die!".
I mean... come on! Does that make sense to you? It does? I still don't get it....
Anyway! They have replaced the deep-orange trains with white/silver/orange trains that are (from the front) just silver and white... and still people are committing suicide by jumping in front of the Chuo Line. Suddenly you don't hear about the warm color theory as to why people are choosing the ultimate exit via the Chuo Line.
But wait! The theory lives! JR Railways has installed squares of blue light (beaming down from overhead) at the end of all the platforms on the central Yamanote loop line. Why? Because blue is a calming color and they think it may make people thinking of committing suicide calm down and change their minds....
Now, back to the Chuo Line. Let's look at a couple of other possibilities. The Chuo Line has, on an average basis over the course of a full day, the most crowded trains in all of Japan. So - if there are a given percentage of train riders on any given line that eventually commit suicide by jumping in front of a train, gee, you might actually have more suicides on the most crowded line! Rocket Science! And if the conditions on the most crowded line in the country are the most unpleasant, then, gee, maybe some people get seriously depressed about becoming canned sardines for two or three hours every day and decide they can't take it any more, so they take the jump.
Just why is it that no logical reasons are discussed, and everyone latches onto the nonsense about the color of the train being the reason? From the railway's perspective this is convenient, because if the reason people are committing suicide is because of overcrowding on the line, then they could face potential legal responsibility for creating a cause of the death by not (somehow) providing more trains and alleviating the crowding somewhat. Mind you, I'm not suggesting negligence on the part of the train system here, either the Chuo Line specifically or the whole rail system in general. It's an excellent system and it's amazing it functions as well as it does with the 30,000,000 people living in Tokyo.
But here's the thing. I used to work at a PR agency and I've seen a little how something is put into the media, broadcast, and then accepted by people because they saw it on television. PR agencies identify "Opinion Leaders" and other sources of public thinking and try to influence them. Who knows, it might even be some scientific thing about deep orange that actually does lead to suicide, but either way, from the railway's standpoint, it's vastly better if people are discussing the issue as though it were a natural phenomenon rather than a human-made cause. If it's just a natural phenomenon, then people will not ask them to do something (and anyway, it looks as though they have done something now by changing the color of the trains), but if it's based on conditions (far more likely!), then people will begin clamoring for them to do something.
Anyway - it'll be interesting to see what becomes of the blue lights on the Yamanote Line. The platforms are so brightly lit with white florescent tubes that the blue is only in that one small spot right at the end of the platform, but maybe some people bent on self-destruction will actually change their minds as they enter the blue light....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
"Track Walking?"
There seem to be an increased number of train delays while they "clear the tracks" of someone wandering around on them. Keep in mind that these are always fenced off from public roads and pedestrian walkways, and most are elevated rails, so - in most cases - nobody is on the rails unless they really want to be there. Yesterday two of my trains were delayed for this reason - one ten minutes and another thirty-five minutes.
And... that's the story. The questions are:
1) Who is doing this?
2) Why?
I'm in a calmer frame of mind today after getting a decent night's sleep, but yesterday I was thinking "Speed up the trains! Knock those swine off the rails!" Very long commutes in sardine conditions do not make for the most magnanimous frame of mind....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
And... that's the story. The questions are:
1) Who is doing this?
2) Why?
I'm in a calmer frame of mind today after getting a decent night's sleep, but yesterday I was thinking "Speed up the trains! Knock those swine off the rails!" Very long commutes in sardine conditions do not make for the most magnanimous frame of mind....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009"
The first Tokyo Motor Show was held in Hibiya Park in 1954. People who know the current Hibiya Park are usually surprised to hear this and beam over a quick "Are you serious?!" look to the person who tells them, but the park was different then, and the first show was on a smaller scale than modern versions of the show, with 254 exhibitors displaying 267 items, with only 17 of the 267 being passenger cars. Most of the exhibits were construction equipment, trucks, buses, three-wheel vehicles (something to do with tax laws I think), and motorcycles. The first four shows were held in Hibiya Park (1954-57), the 1958 show was held at the Korakuen Bicycle Racing Track, and from 1959 until 1987, it was held at Harumi. It was a yearly show from 1954 until 1973, and - coinciding with the 1970's "oil shock" period, became (mainly) a once-every-two-years event from 1975. With Japan's economic boom of the eighties, it was moved to the new (at the time) Makuhari Messe site in Chiba (basically a suburb of Tokyo) from the 1989 show.
My first two experiences of going to the Tokyo Motor Show were the 1985 and 1987 shows at Harumi. In 1985, I rode a ferry over to the site from Hamamatsucho, and in 1987 I hiked in from a not-very-convenient subway station on the other side. Harumi was interesting is that there were several different types of buildings that the exhibits were displayed in, and since you had to go outside to get from one building to another, the venue had a sort of park-like atmosphere. And with each building came a different atmosphere, since some of the buildings were completely different in style from the others. I'm not explaining it very well, but there was something very fundamentally different about Harumi, which became apparent once the show moved to Makuhari Messe.
The first year at Makuhari Messe, 1989, coincided with Japan's boom economy (which seemed to be unaffected by the Wall Street woes of a couple of years before), and was the first year of the Heisei Era. Visiting the 1989 show at the new site, I remember the feeling in the air of "New!-New!-New!", "Exciting!-Exciting!-Exciting!", "Better!-Better!-Better!". A couple of years later, Japan's "bubble economy" burst, and that intoxicated feeling in the air turned into a hangover in some ways, but it was the threshold of a new era for Japan, and when I think back to 1984-86, I realize how very different that era was from now, and see the late eighties as the line between the two eras. Most fundamentally change-inducing for the culture of this country has been the strong yen. It was 245 to the dollar when I came, and it soared to around 100 yen to the dollar around the time of the beginning of the Heisei Era. With the strong yen has come cheap overseas travel and cheap imports, both strongly changing contemporary Japanese culture.
So much background.... I hadn't meant to spend this much time on this subject, but to explain the feelings I had when visiting the 41st Motor Show this year, I needed to explain how it felt at Harumi, and then the more modern Makuhari Messe, and it was only one step (disregarding the one show at Korakuen) further back to explain the very first show in Hibiya Park. It's hard to put the experience of the show this year into words, but one word I keep coming back to while searching for a better one, is "lonely". Aside from an interest in cars or any intent to buy one, the show has always been a big event that people tend to be interested in seeing, and then conveying to friends later. This year though, major foreign manufacturers didn't participate, the total area of the show was greatly reduced, there were fewer show people on the stages, and attendance appeared to be way down. Of course, people don't really need to go to a show any more to see what's new - they can just access whatever information they want from their computer, so the main reason to have the show may have evaporated. Combine that with the bad economy, and you find yourself wondering if there will even be a show in two years. Could it be that 2009 was the last Tokyo Motor Show? Probably not, but I almost didn't go myself, and I've found that people aren't interested in even hearing about the event this year, and one person I talked to afterwards wasn't even aware of its existence.
Anyway. All that to introduce a few short video clips... beginning with a view from the front of the Keiyo Line train I took to the convention center:
"Keiyo Line on way to 2009 TMS" - November 4th, 2009
Looking out the front, at the driver, to the side, inside, and then back to the front view again of a Keiyo Line train on the way to Makuhari Messe to see the 41st Tokyo Motor Show.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Mazda A)"
Views of the Mazda exhibition at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, taken on November 4th, 2009.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Subaru A)"
Views of the Subaru exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Mazda B)"
More views of the Mazda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Honda A)"
Views of the Honda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Honda B)"
View of the motorcycle stage presentation at the Honda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Honda C)"
Another view of the motorcycle stage presentation at the Honda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Camera Madness)"
Three beautiful stage women draw a swarm of camera-equipped males. They don't call this event the "Tokyo Motor & Model Show" for nothing! (Just joking of course! It's official name is "Tokyo Motor Show".)
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Suzuki A)"
Views of the Suzuki car exhibition.
And then back in a train for the return trip to central Tokyo:
"Keiyo Line, Tokyo Bound (Evening Sky)" - November 4th, 2009
Looking out the window of a Keiyo Line train on the way back to Tokyo after seeing the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
For a history of the various Tokyo Motor Shows, see this page:
http://www.tokyo-motorshow.com/eng/show/history/
Someone mentioned that they would be staying at the Hotel Sunroute Plaza near Shinjuku Station, so I took this video to make it easier to find from Shinjuku Station:
"Shinjuku Station to Hotel Sunroute Plaza" - November 2nd, 2009
The last half of this should stay accurate for some time, but the first half may well change fairly soon. The south exit area of Shinjuku Station (actually in Shibuya by address) is in the middle of a long-term construction project. Also note that the Narita Express train (that is just arriving in the video) is on its way *to* Narita, so the trains coming *from* Narita should be arriving on the other side of the platform.
A jump back in time to 1990, when I visited the open-air (but with roofs) market in Ueno:
"Ueno Ameyokocho - September 1990A"
From Ueno Station to Ameyokocho, which was a black-market area following WW-II. For about a decade now, there are inexpensive discount stores everywhere, so not as many people go to Ueno in search of bargain prices as they did before. In this 1990 video, you can see how it looked before the number of customers started falling.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
My first two experiences of going to the Tokyo Motor Show were the 1985 and 1987 shows at Harumi. In 1985, I rode a ferry over to the site from Hamamatsucho, and in 1987 I hiked in from a not-very-convenient subway station on the other side. Harumi was interesting is that there were several different types of buildings that the exhibits were displayed in, and since you had to go outside to get from one building to another, the venue had a sort of park-like atmosphere. And with each building came a different atmosphere, since some of the buildings were completely different in style from the others. I'm not explaining it very well, but there was something very fundamentally different about Harumi, which became apparent once the show moved to Makuhari Messe.
The first year at Makuhari Messe, 1989, coincided with Japan's boom economy (which seemed to be unaffected by the Wall Street woes of a couple of years before), and was the first year of the Heisei Era. Visiting the 1989 show at the new site, I remember the feeling in the air of "New!-New!-New!", "Exciting!-Exciting!-Exciting!", "Better!-Better!-Better!". A couple of years later, Japan's "bubble economy" burst, and that intoxicated feeling in the air turned into a hangover in some ways, but it was the threshold of a new era for Japan, and when I think back to 1984-86, I realize how very different that era was from now, and see the late eighties as the line between the two eras. Most fundamentally change-inducing for the culture of this country has been the strong yen. It was 245 to the dollar when I came, and it soared to around 100 yen to the dollar around the time of the beginning of the Heisei Era. With the strong yen has come cheap overseas travel and cheap imports, both strongly changing contemporary Japanese culture.
So much background.... I hadn't meant to spend this much time on this subject, but to explain the feelings I had when visiting the 41st Motor Show this year, I needed to explain how it felt at Harumi, and then the more modern Makuhari Messe, and it was only one step (disregarding the one show at Korakuen) further back to explain the very first show in Hibiya Park. It's hard to put the experience of the show this year into words, but one word I keep coming back to while searching for a better one, is "lonely". Aside from an interest in cars or any intent to buy one, the show has always been a big event that people tend to be interested in seeing, and then conveying to friends later. This year though, major foreign manufacturers didn't participate, the total area of the show was greatly reduced, there were fewer show people on the stages, and attendance appeared to be way down. Of course, people don't really need to go to a show any more to see what's new - they can just access whatever information they want from their computer, so the main reason to have the show may have evaporated. Combine that with the bad economy, and you find yourself wondering if there will even be a show in two years. Could it be that 2009 was the last Tokyo Motor Show? Probably not, but I almost didn't go myself, and I've found that people aren't interested in even hearing about the event this year, and one person I talked to afterwards wasn't even aware of its existence.
Anyway. All that to introduce a few short video clips... beginning with a view from the front of the Keiyo Line train I took to the convention center:
"Keiyo Line on way to 2009 TMS" - November 4th, 2009
Looking out the front, at the driver, to the side, inside, and then back to the front view again of a Keiyo Line train on the way to Makuhari Messe to see the 41st Tokyo Motor Show.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Mazda A)"
Views of the Mazda exhibition at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, taken on November 4th, 2009.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Subaru A)"
Views of the Subaru exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Mazda B)"
More views of the Mazda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Honda A)"
Views of the Honda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Honda B)"
View of the motorcycle stage presentation at the Honda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Honda C)"
Another view of the motorcycle stage presentation at the Honda exhibition.
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Camera Madness)"
Three beautiful stage women draw a swarm of camera-equipped males. They don't call this event the "Tokyo Motor & Model Show" for nothing! (Just joking of course! It's official name is "Tokyo Motor Show".)
"Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (Suzuki A)"
Views of the Suzuki car exhibition.
And then back in a train for the return trip to central Tokyo:
"Keiyo Line, Tokyo Bound (Evening Sky)" - November 4th, 2009
Looking out the window of a Keiyo Line train on the way back to Tokyo after seeing the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
For a history of the various Tokyo Motor Shows, see this page:
http://www.tokyo-motorshow.com/eng/show/history/
Someone mentioned that they would be staying at the Hotel Sunroute Plaza near Shinjuku Station, so I took this video to make it easier to find from Shinjuku Station:
"Shinjuku Station to Hotel Sunroute Plaza" - November 2nd, 2009
The last half of this should stay accurate for some time, but the first half may well change fairly soon. The south exit area of Shinjuku Station (actually in Shibuya by address) is in the middle of a long-term construction project. Also note that the Narita Express train (that is just arriving in the video) is on its way *to* Narita, so the trains coming *from* Narita should be arriving on the other side of the platform.
A jump back in time to 1990, when I visited the open-air (but with roofs) market in Ueno:
"Ueno Ameyokocho - September 1990A"
From Ueno Station to Ameyokocho, which was a black-market area following WW-II. For about a decade now, there are inexpensive discount stores everywhere, so not as many people go to Ueno in search of bargain prices as they did before. In this 1990 video, you can see how it looked before the number of customers started falling.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Sunday, November 01, 2009
"Walk-About Videos"
Time - as in there's never enough to do all the things you want to do, such as detailed editing of large amounts of video images. So... facing the decision to post nothing for a couple of weeks or to post some raw footage, I went with posting raw footage. This doesn't mean I've given up on editing - it just means that I thought the raw stuff might make for (barely) tolerable watching. With that... disclaimer? - on to the videos:
"Shibuya Shop Walk (Inside) - October 2009"
Walking through the indoor shopping & restaurant strip that leads from Dogenzaka down to Shibuya Station. No edited out bits - just one steady walk - ending up on the Yamanote Line platform for Shinjuku-bound trains.
"Ginza Sanpo-E - October 28th, 2009-A"
Strolling around in Ginza, visiting art galleries, etc. The weather on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 (when this was taken), was perfect for walking. Cool enough that a light jacket was appreciated, but not cold yet and the trees mostly still have green leaves.
"Ginza Night - October 28th, 2009-B"
More walking around in Ginza as the weather hints at the coming winter. I walk past a fashionable woman wearing a kimono while crossing a street, etc.
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-A - October 29th, 2009"
Riding into town (Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc. are considered "towns" within Tokyo) on the Yamanote Line, I jump off the train and dive into the jungle of evening Shibuya. Taken at around 5:15 p.m., there are a lot of students there who have come by after getting out of high school for the day and before going home for the night. There are some university students and whatnot as well, but I get the impression (not necessarily accurate) that the area is more popular with high school students than university students, but university students don't wear uniforms, so it's hard to say by appearance.
There is also a view (inside & out) of the train car (used as a waiting area) in Hachiko Plaza and the Hachiko dog statue. Incidentally, the street I went jungle walking on used to be a river (stream?), that they put underground in order to make that street.
"Shinjuku Bound Yamanote Line Train at Shibuya"
All 11 cars of a Shinjuku/Takadanobaba/Ikebukuro-bound Yamanote Line train zoom past at Shibuya Station. (Taken on October 30th, 2009.)
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-A - October 30th, 2009"
Walking around in Shibuya in the evening (first of three). The streets chosen for this walk are different from the ones I recorded for the "Shop Walk" video.
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-B - October 30th, 2009"
Continuing my Friday evening walkabout in Shibuya.
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-C - October 30th, 2009"
Last of three walkabout videos taken on Friday evening, October 30th, 2009, in Shibuya.
"GDU University Aki-Matsuri (1) - November 1st, 2009"
A fall festival at GDU University. The students are running booths selling different types of food & drink. These are fun to go to, but I generally end up spending more money than I would prefer!
"Gakugei Daigaku (University) Jazz Band - Nov. 1st, 2009"
A cool jazz band at the Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) at Gakugei Daigaku (Gakugei University) on October 31st and November 1st, 2009. Jazz appears to be much more popular in Japan than in its birthplace, the US.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
"Shibuya Shop Walk (Inside) - October 2009"
Walking through the indoor shopping & restaurant strip that leads from Dogenzaka down to Shibuya Station. No edited out bits - just one steady walk - ending up on the Yamanote Line platform for Shinjuku-bound trains.
"Ginza Sanpo-E - October 28th, 2009-A"
Strolling around in Ginza, visiting art galleries, etc. The weather on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 (when this was taken), was perfect for walking. Cool enough that a light jacket was appreciated, but not cold yet and the trees mostly still have green leaves.
"Ginza Night - October 28th, 2009-B"
More walking around in Ginza as the weather hints at the coming winter. I walk past a fashionable woman wearing a kimono while crossing a street, etc.
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-A - October 29th, 2009"
Riding into town (Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc. are considered "towns" within Tokyo) on the Yamanote Line, I jump off the train and dive into the jungle of evening Shibuya. Taken at around 5:15 p.m., there are a lot of students there who have come by after getting out of high school for the day and before going home for the night. There are some university students and whatnot as well, but I get the impression (not necessarily accurate) that the area is more popular with high school students than university students, but university students don't wear uniforms, so it's hard to say by appearance.
There is also a view (inside & out) of the train car (used as a waiting area) in Hachiko Plaza and the Hachiko dog statue. Incidentally, the street I went jungle walking on used to be a river (stream?), that they put underground in order to make that street.
"Shinjuku Bound Yamanote Line Train at Shibuya"
All 11 cars of a Shinjuku/Takadanobaba/Ikebukuro-bound Yamanote Line train zoom past at Shibuya Station. (Taken on October 30th, 2009.)
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-A - October 30th, 2009"
Walking around in Shibuya in the evening (first of three). The streets chosen for this walk are different from the ones I recorded for the "Shop Walk" video.
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-B - October 30th, 2009"
Continuing my Friday evening walkabout in Shibuya.
"Shibuya Jungle Walk-C - October 30th, 2009"
Last of three walkabout videos taken on Friday evening, October 30th, 2009, in Shibuya.
"GDU University Aki-Matsuri (1) - November 1st, 2009"
A fall festival at GDU University. The students are running booths selling different types of food & drink. These are fun to go to, but I generally end up spending more money than I would prefer!
"Gakugei Daigaku (University) Jazz Band - Nov. 1st, 2009"
A cool jazz band at the Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) at Gakugei Daigaku (Gakugei University) on October 31st and November 1st, 2009. Jazz appears to be much more popular in Japan than in its birthplace, the US.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Monday, October 26, 2009
"Video Usage & Comment Moderating"
More train video... stuff?, news?, comments?, ..... something. There seems to be some misunderstanding by some people regarding why I would request that an illegal copy of my train video be taken down. First off - I'm not hiding the video, it's freely available for anyone to see. Here:
And while I would prefer that it not be floating around the Internet as an e-mail attachment, someone made an illegal copy of it and has done that. Many of the recipients of that file then posted it on YouTube and elsewhere. And while I would prefer that it not be posted by anyone other than myself, what especially prompted me to ask for some postings to be taken down was rudeness, lies, and inaccuracy in the titles and comment sections. Some examples:
"crazy" - No. No one in the video is crazy. The platform people (including full time workers, part time workers, and the drivers of the two trains (a junkyu and a kyuko) are each just doing their job - which is to get the trains loaded and back in motion according to schedule.
"fail" - There is no "fail" in the video. The people want on the train, and railway employees help them to get on the train. In spite of very difficult conditions, the train departs only about ten seconds late - essentially on time. The overcrowding is not an optimal situation (I rode this line for sixteen years, so I know very well what I'm talking about!), but it's not a "fail" (if anything, it's a "success" in functionality), and the system has been improved since 1991, when the video was taken.
"police" - No. Those are not police or security people helping the passengers get on the train - they are regular railway employees, including the drivers of the two trains at that platform.
"high birthrate" - No. Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Tokyo has around 30,000,000 people (if you include the suburbs of Kanagawa, Saitama, & Chiba), but the population of the country as a whole is not growing right now.
"more trains" - Close to a good suggestion, and in fact they've added more trains since this video was taken. Still, the rails were pretty full of trains even back in 1991, as the bigger problem was no (or very little) flex-time, so everyone crowded onto the system at the same time. There are a lot of people in Tokyo.
"longer trains" - The trains in this video are ten-cars long, and some other lines have fifteen cars. Ten cars fill up the platforms on this line (the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line), so if the trains were to be longer than ten cars, they would have to extend all the platforms. In any case, ten large cars (carriages) is not exactly short for a commuter train.
Etc. etc. etc. Since the comment sections were unmoderated; racist and inappropriate toxic text piled up....
Anyway, if you are interested in that video, here's a longer version, showing people going through the ticket gates, etc:
Now - on to some recent video clips:
"Shibuya 'Scramble' Crosswalk - October 20th, 2009"
Looking around near Shibuya Station, and walking across the "scramble" crosswalk. This crosswalk is a bit odd in how it seems intense when you're there, but it's hard to convey the feeling of crossing the street in a sea of people accurately in a video, including this one, but still - this might give you at least a rough idea of how it feels.
"Harajuku Northbound Trains + Bridge" - October 2009
Looking towards Harajuku Station at night, as a Shinjuku-bound Yamanote Line train pulls into the platform and another northbound train passes to the right of that. Then, pulling back and swinging 90 degrees to the right, a view of the people on the bridge.
Why is the beginning of the video on its side? This scene was begging for vertical composition, so I complied. The problem now is getting it to play back as a vertical image. I'm confident that this will be commonplace viewing functionality someday.
"Kichijoji Evening Shopping - October 22nd, 2009"
Taken around 6:00 p.m. in Kichijoji, as people shop for food on the way home. Naturally, Kichijoji is full of people doing something or other all the time, but at 6:00 p.m. on a weekday (Thursday, October 22nd, 2009, in this case), shops selling prepared food especially do their best business as people go from work to home. The shops used to do better business, but now that people not only have refrigerators, but fairly large refrigerators, they buy more frozen stuff and do same-day shopping (shopping for the coming evening's meal) less often. Also, people who would have bought some pretty great food for the evening at central markets before, often now buy some junk at a nearby convenience store.
"Exploring Narrow Kichijoji Pathways - Oct. 2009"
Walking around on some of the narrowest streets in Kichijoji. Tokyo used to have a lot of streets like this, which have loads of character, but (understandably) newer development replaces these areas with wider roads (fire-fighting equipment access, etc.), and modern buildings.
"Koiwa Yakitori Street - October 23rd, 2009"
A walk into the narrow street near Koiwa Station with several yakitori drinking places. Near this street, there are several shotengai (shopping streets), but they seemed to have hardly any customers when I went by at around 6:00 p.m. on Friday, October 23rd, 2009. Also several places had closed shutters - indicating either that those shops are simply closed, or maybe not in business any longer.
Probably the shotengai shops are busiest on weekends, but still, the trend away from traditional shotengai seems to be continuing, with people more often shopping at larger discount stores, or having things delivered directly to their homes, etc. (If I lived a little nearer to Koiwa, I'd go by there today (Saturday) and have a look, but it's a bit of a journey from where I live....)
"Asakusabashi to Akihabara at Night - October 2009"
Looking out a right side (open) window on a train between Asakusabashi and Akihabara. Lots of buildings, some reflections of the train in windows as it passes, etc.
"Accelerating Down Platform" - October 2009
Accelerating down the platform of a station somewhere between Koiwa and Akihabara. With the glass out of the way, it's a clear view, and there are a couple of trains in the background as well. The trains would be so much more enjoyable if the windows were all open when the weather is not too cold....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
And while I would prefer that it not be floating around the Internet as an e-mail attachment, someone made an illegal copy of it and has done that. Many of the recipients of that file then posted it on YouTube and elsewhere. And while I would prefer that it not be posted by anyone other than myself, what especially prompted me to ask for some postings to be taken down was rudeness, lies, and inaccuracy in the titles and comment sections. Some examples:
"crazy" - No. No one in the video is crazy. The platform people (including full time workers, part time workers, and the drivers of the two trains (a junkyu and a kyuko) are each just doing their job - which is to get the trains loaded and back in motion according to schedule.
"fail" - There is no "fail" in the video. The people want on the train, and railway employees help them to get on the train. In spite of very difficult conditions, the train departs only about ten seconds late - essentially on time. The overcrowding is not an optimal situation (I rode this line for sixteen years, so I know very well what I'm talking about!), but it's not a "fail" (if anything, it's a "success" in functionality), and the system has been improved since 1991, when the video was taken.
"police" - No. Those are not police or security people helping the passengers get on the train - they are regular railway employees, including the drivers of the two trains at that platform.
"high birthrate" - No. Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Tokyo has around 30,000,000 people (if you include the suburbs of Kanagawa, Saitama, & Chiba), but the population of the country as a whole is not growing right now.
"more trains" - Close to a good suggestion, and in fact they've added more trains since this video was taken. Still, the rails were pretty full of trains even back in 1991, as the bigger problem was no (or very little) flex-time, so everyone crowded onto the system at the same time. There are a lot of people in Tokyo.
"longer trains" - The trains in this video are ten-cars long, and some other lines have fifteen cars. Ten cars fill up the platforms on this line (the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line), so if the trains were to be longer than ten cars, they would have to extend all the platforms. In any case, ten large cars (carriages) is not exactly short for a commuter train.
Etc. etc. etc. Since the comment sections were unmoderated; racist and inappropriate toxic text piled up....
Anyway, if you are interested in that video, here's a longer version, showing people going through the ticket gates, etc:
Now - on to some recent video clips:
"Shibuya 'Scramble' Crosswalk - October 20th, 2009"
Looking around near Shibuya Station, and walking across the "scramble" crosswalk. This crosswalk is a bit odd in how it seems intense when you're there, but it's hard to convey the feeling of crossing the street in a sea of people accurately in a video, including this one, but still - this might give you at least a rough idea of how it feels.
"Harajuku Northbound Trains + Bridge" - October 2009
Looking towards Harajuku Station at night, as a Shinjuku-bound Yamanote Line train pulls into the platform and another northbound train passes to the right of that. Then, pulling back and swinging 90 degrees to the right, a view of the people on the bridge.
Why is the beginning of the video on its side? This scene was begging for vertical composition, so I complied. The problem now is getting it to play back as a vertical image. I'm confident that this will be commonplace viewing functionality someday.
"Kichijoji Evening Shopping - October 22nd, 2009"
Taken around 6:00 p.m. in Kichijoji, as people shop for food on the way home. Naturally, Kichijoji is full of people doing something or other all the time, but at 6:00 p.m. on a weekday (Thursday, October 22nd, 2009, in this case), shops selling prepared food especially do their best business as people go from work to home. The shops used to do better business, but now that people not only have refrigerators, but fairly large refrigerators, they buy more frozen stuff and do same-day shopping (shopping for the coming evening's meal) less often. Also, people who would have bought some pretty great food for the evening at central markets before, often now buy some junk at a nearby convenience store.
"Exploring Narrow Kichijoji Pathways - Oct. 2009"
Walking around on some of the narrowest streets in Kichijoji. Tokyo used to have a lot of streets like this, which have loads of character, but (understandably) newer development replaces these areas with wider roads (fire-fighting equipment access, etc.), and modern buildings.
"Koiwa Yakitori Street - October 23rd, 2009"
A walk into the narrow street near Koiwa Station with several yakitori drinking places. Near this street, there are several shotengai (shopping streets), but they seemed to have hardly any customers when I went by at around 6:00 p.m. on Friday, October 23rd, 2009. Also several places had closed shutters - indicating either that those shops are simply closed, or maybe not in business any longer.
Probably the shotengai shops are busiest on weekends, but still, the trend away from traditional shotengai seems to be continuing, with people more often shopping at larger discount stores, or having things delivered directly to their homes, etc. (If I lived a little nearer to Koiwa, I'd go by there today (Saturday) and have a look, but it's a bit of a journey from where I live....)
"Asakusabashi to Akihabara at Night - October 2009"
Looking out a right side (open) window on a train between Asakusabashi and Akihabara. Lots of buildings, some reflections of the train in windows as it passes, etc.
"Accelerating Down Platform" - October 2009
Accelerating down the platform of a station somewhere between Koiwa and Akihabara. With the glass out of the way, it's a clear view, and there are a couple of trains in the background as well. The trains would be so much more enjoyable if the windows were all open when the weather is not too cold....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Sunday, October 18, 2009
"Too Many Frequencies..."
I met a British friend and a Japanese friend of his on Friday, and over drinks tried to alternately tune into UK frequencies and Japan frequencies, adjusting from my NA frequencies. It was awkward... I sort of felt like we should have just made the whole conversation in Japanese, but instead, I and the UK man talked to each other in English, and then took turns translating things into Japanese for his friend. I'm not sure how it would have gone had everything been in Japanese, but it was very tiring as it was.
If I'm in that situation again, I think I'll just do the whole thing in Japanese. Actually, that's just the polite thing to do - if there's a common language among three people meeting, then it should be used. Trouble was, all parties knew some English and all parties knew some Japanese, but it was two-to-one regarding which language was most fluently spoken, and the local representative on Friday apparently didn't have very strong English skills.
Anyway - on to video clips:
"Old Type Chuo Line Train (201 Series)" - October 2009
A view of an old type Chuo Line train (all orange) leaving Kokubunji Station in October 2009. There are very few of these still on the rails, since they've been phasing them out gradually for about two years now. (I think this older type is known as the "Series 201".) Notice how there is only one window open, but nearly every window on the train is openable, and also there are vents in the ceiling that can be opened to let in air from the roof of the train. Unfortunately, the new train cars don't have this feature and half of the windows don't open at all (and the ones that *do* open people seem afraid to open).
It seems as though the new trains (and their passengers) are suffering from "closed box syndrome", I miss old trains and old buildings - they provided vastly better air to breathe....
"Walking Down Stairwell in Okuno Building" - October 2009A
Walking down one of the cool stairwells in the Okuno Building, which used to be an apartment building, but is now used for office space and art galleries. There are very few 1930's era concrete buildings left in Tokyo, and this one may well be the best in terms of character, which radiates from the walls, ceilings, and floors....
"Down Escalator, Onto Platform at Shinjuku" - October 15th, 2009
Walking down escalator and arriving on the platform just as a Chuo Line train is pulling out of the station. Missing a train usually isn't a big deal on most lines in Tokyo though, since the next train usually arrives in just a few minutes.
"Odakyu 1957 'Romance Car' Super Express - Oct. 1990"
This ten-minute video shows the trip I took (from Shinjuku to Machida) via Odakyu "Romance Car" (super express) on October 5th, 1990 - from watching the train pulling in at Shinjuku, to boarding, watching the driver operate the train, views out the front of the train (with many trains passing in the opposite direction), passing local trains, pulling into Machida Station, and getting off the train while a woman from the train (standing on the platform beside the door) bows to departing passengers.
At the time I took this, I was sort of disappointed that it wasn't a newer type, but in retrospect, I was probably lucky to get on the oldest type, since they scrapped this type a few years ago, which makes this video historical. The plaque at the front of the train indicated it was built in 1957 (Showa-32) and refurbished in 1984 (Showa-59).
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
If I'm in that situation again, I think I'll just do the whole thing in Japanese. Actually, that's just the polite thing to do - if there's a common language among three people meeting, then it should be used. Trouble was, all parties knew some English and all parties knew some Japanese, but it was two-to-one regarding which language was most fluently spoken, and the local representative on Friday apparently didn't have very strong English skills.
Anyway - on to video clips:
"Old Type Chuo Line Train (201 Series)" - October 2009
A view of an old type Chuo Line train (all orange) leaving Kokubunji Station in October 2009. There are very few of these still on the rails, since they've been phasing them out gradually for about two years now. (I think this older type is known as the "Series 201".) Notice how there is only one window open, but nearly every window on the train is openable, and also there are vents in the ceiling that can be opened to let in air from the roof of the train. Unfortunately, the new train cars don't have this feature and half of the windows don't open at all (and the ones that *do* open people seem afraid to open).
It seems as though the new trains (and their passengers) are suffering from "closed box syndrome", I miss old trains and old buildings - they provided vastly better air to breathe....
"Walking Down Stairwell in Okuno Building" - October 2009A
Walking down one of the cool stairwells in the Okuno Building, which used to be an apartment building, but is now used for office space and art galleries. There are very few 1930's era concrete buildings left in Tokyo, and this one may well be the best in terms of character, which radiates from the walls, ceilings, and floors....
"Down Escalator, Onto Platform at Shinjuku" - October 15th, 2009
Walking down escalator and arriving on the platform just as a Chuo Line train is pulling out of the station. Missing a train usually isn't a big deal on most lines in Tokyo though, since the next train usually arrives in just a few minutes.
"Odakyu 1957 'Romance Car' Super Express - Oct. 1990"
This ten-minute video shows the trip I took (from Shinjuku to Machida) via Odakyu "Romance Car" (super express) on October 5th, 1990 - from watching the train pulling in at Shinjuku, to boarding, watching the driver operate the train, views out the front of the train (with many trains passing in the opposite direction), passing local trains, pulling into Machida Station, and getting off the train while a woman from the train (standing on the platform beside the door) bows to departing passengers.
At the time I took this, I was sort of disappointed that it wasn't a newer type, but in retrospect, I was probably lucky to get on the oldest type, since they scrapped this type a few years ago, which makes this video historical. The plaque at the front of the train indicated it was built in 1957 (Showa-32) and refurbished in 1984 (Showa-59).
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
"Last Sento Painter - Redux"
First the reason for this post: There is to be a second, live, sento-style painting of Mt. Fuji to be painted by Maruyama Kiyoto at Gallery Serikawa in the Okuno Building in Ginza on November 21st, 2009, starting at 1:00 p.m. Why this is of historical interest, I will now attempt to explain:
There are two historical issues to deal with - the history of the painter, and the history of the building in which the painting demonstration is to take place. The building predates the painter by a few years, so I'll start with that:
1932 - The Okuno Building begins its long existence (long for Tokyo anyway, where most buildings are destroyed after a few decades) as an apartment building in the 1-chome area of Ginza, in Tokyo.
The building was modern at the time, with steam heat & running water in each room, beds that folded out from the wall, wooden closets, (with wooden floors in some rooms, tatami mats in others) an elevator, a lounge on the sixth floor, and a sento (public bath) in the basement. There are planters in front of the front windows, which looked out over a river (since rerouted), and probably out to Tokyo Bay (although I haven't been able to confirm this aspect yet - certainly there have been a lot of newer and taller buildings constructed in front of the Okuno Building since then, and new landfill in Tokyo Bay).
Actually the building consists of two nearly identical buildings built side-by-side, with the one on the left constructed first. They are internally joined, but each has its own staircase, complete with a window between the two staircases, possibly to prevent people from missing people who take the other staircase from the one they are on. Whatever the reason, I don't think I've ever seen that design anywhere else before. Each building also has its own basement, and one of the basements has a well - which apparently supplied the bath water and maybe the drinking water, and water for the boiler to feed the steam heating. And - getting back to the sento in one of the basements - it is now being used as an art gallery, and this is where Maruyama Kiyoto painted one of his Mt. Fuji paintings on September 5th in front of a live audience. It was quite fitting for a sento-style painting to be painted in a former sento, now being used to display art. This event was so well received, that another has been scheduled for November (see the top and/or bottom of this posting for details).
The early thirties being before the implementation of that curse on humankind - air-conditioning - ventilation was provided by large (by today's standards anyway) vents over the (open-able) windows (or beside the windows in one half of the building), and close-able ventilation slats in the doors at the bottom and the top. Some of these are still functional, but unfortunately most of the remaining original doors (many doors have been replaced), have had these painted - freezing them in place.
(Incidentally - what do I have against air-conditioning? Thanks to air-conditioning, I suffer in 28-degree heat at work year-round thanks to there being no open-able windows and extremely inadequate ventilation - a design made possible by bloody air conditioning. Think about it - I suffer in heat thanks to the designers of buildings thinking that the automated air system can supply all oxygen and temperature needs for the people sealed in the box. And it almost could - if it were used correctly! Thanks to a few people who have extreme phobias of moving air, they leave the system off except for brief periods in the morning and the late afternoon. It's mind-boggling that management doesn't realize how unhealthy the air is! I suppose the only thing that would get their attention is if three or four people keeled over concrete-cold dead on the floor from lack of oxygen.)
Back to the Okuno Building. The rooms are quite small, but for a single person, it must have been good to live there. There aren't many residence buildings in Ginza, so just to be able to have a Ginza address would have been fun - and convenient.
In any case, the usage of the building has changed over the decades, and it is now being used by many small art galleries and also by small companies for office space. It's been a practical working building all along, and there have been many modifications to the building and most of its rooms over time. The last resident tenant died earlier this year at 100 years old. Apparently she had lived there since the building was new - all those long decades ago.
1935 - Maruyama Kiyoto was born in Koenji. His family moved away from Tokyo during the wartime years and then he moved back after the war when he was eighteen. Currently he is one of only two people in the entire country who are professional sento painters, and he has been painting sento wall murals for over fifty years now.
I should write more, but it's nearly 2:00 a.m., and I need to get some sleep, so I'll leave it as this and just put the gallery and event information below:
"Last Sento Painter - Redux"
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
Gallery Serikawa
1-9-8 Okuno Bldg., B1 (right-side basement)
Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel & Fax - 03-3535-2007
会場：銀座 芹川画廊
中央区銀座1-9-8奥野ビルB1
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Sunday, October 11, 2009
"GR-III Video Clips (+1935/1990 Haunted Hotel)"
This batch of videos were all taken with a Ricoh GR-III camera (except for one that was taken in 1990), which works well for medium-range resolution videos, with the caveat that something in the processing for YouTube leaves them with very poor sound, so I'll probably not be using that camera much for video (unless I need to take video when I don't have a proper video camera on me).
I'm a bit disappointed about this, since the picture quality was pretty good (for its range of definition - 640x480), I was thinking of using it fairly often, but if the sound is bad, then it would be better to use an HD video camera with good stereo sound.
"'Burbs Bound - September 2009"
Looking out the window of a Suburbia-bound commuter train one evening in September 2009.
The new trains don't have shades that pull down in front of the windows (good, so I can see outside!), but in place of that, they have green tinting in (or on?) the glass which can look kind of ghoulish at night sometimes. Also, a coating on the glass makes it so there is a sort of double reflection sometimes, often ruining what can be a very cool scene-overlay effect with clear glass when the lighting is right.
"The Hallway" - September 2009
Exploring a mysterious path in an old Tokyo building....
Taken in an old wooden apartment building most likely not long for this world, as it's not full, and the owner is probably waiting for the last tenants to leave so they can tear the building down.
"Nishi-Ogikubo Nostalgia Street" - September 2009
Walking down an old street in Nishi-Ogikubo (in September 2009) that has become something like "Nostalgia Street" - since old streets like this in Tokyo are becoming quite rare. It used to be just that they were just older areas with character, but now some areas like this are almost becoming tourist attractions - sort of like theme parks. Lots of people (cough-cough) taking pictures, etc....
"Cruising Tokyo in a 1955 Chevy Bel Air" - September 30th, 2009
Going for a cruise in central Tokyo in a 1955 Chevy Bel Air, followed by Mr. Racer. Also featuring the Yurakucho SB (at the beginning of the clip). Taken on September 30th, 2009.
My parents had a 1955 Chevy when I was a little kid, so it was great to see and ride in this car - as though it had come back from the past as a sort of time machine.
"Watching Clouds, Taxis & Trains - October 2nd, 2009"
Standing in front of the "Shokuan Stand Bar" in Yurakucho, which is across from the Denki Building. Just like the title indicates, I was watching the low clouds blowing by overhead, the taxis driving by, and the overhead Keihin-Tohoku Line trains coming into Yurakucho Station. The temperature was just about right on the evening of October 2nd, 2009, but cold weather is on the horizon....
Probably not very interesting for most people to see, but it shows to some extent the type of motion and scenery that is part of life in Tokyo, with the overhead Yamanote loop line defining and giving character to the central part of the city.
"Couple in Evening Yurakucho" - October 2nd, 2009
A couple walks off down a wet sidewalk in Yurakucho in-between rain showers beneath speeding clouds. It was a nice evening, with clean air, comfortable temperatures, and a romantic/dramatic atmosphere.
"Old 1935 Ryogoku Hotel - Haunted in 1990"
I was walking around recording images & sounds of the area along the river, and soon after crossing over a bridge and arriving in the Ryogoku Station area, I noticed unusual-looking doors in an old building. Taking a closer look, I peered through the glass doors and saw what looked like a hotel front desk, although there was no one in sight and it was clearly not being used as a hotel as I stood there, in September 1990. I pushed one of the door - it was open! So I walked in (not something I would do now, in the security-conscious 21st century, but at the time, it wasn't so outrageous).
After looking around the halls a little, and seeing what I thought were vacant apartment rooms on the top floor, I ran into a tenant who told me that it had been a luxury hotel when it was built in 1935, with nice views of the river (now obscured by the expressway). He went on to explain that the building had been requisitioned by the US military following the end of WW-II, and used as a residence for US military women. It used to have high-ceilinged hallways, but fake ceilings had been put in (probably to mount the curse of the 20th century - florescent tube lighting). There were plans to tear the building down, but the last ten (or so) tenants were resisting. Apparently the building had been used in some old movies as well. He told me it was alright to take pictures in the halls, but to be careful of the second floor, as a few people lived there. That building is long gone now, and I'm not seeing info about it under "old Ryogoku Hotel" or "Chiyoda Heights Building", so more research is in order.
"Ebisu Station View & Yamanote Platform" - October 6th, 2009
Starting with a look out on city buildings from the east side of Ebisu Station, then continuing with a walk through the ticket barrier, down an escalator to the platform, and a view of the platform announcer with his wifeless microphone, followed by a Yamanote Line train coming in.
This is a raw clip from the camera and should have had some of the boring walking scenes in the middle cut out. The beginning and end are (in my opinion) not too bad however.
"Tokyo-Iroiro - October 2009A"
Various scenes taken in Tokyo, with many train and train station views, including on a Seibu Railways branch line, the Yamanote Line, The Ikegami Line, the Chuo Line, and some scenes from Yurakucho (both the station and the area).
Note: My usual video editing software won't play the files from my Ricoh-GR camera, so I tried using different software, which worked, but the conversion into YouTube's format seems to have ruined the sound....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
I'm a bit disappointed about this, since the picture quality was pretty good (for its range of definition - 640x480), I was thinking of using it fairly often, but if the sound is bad, then it would be better to use an HD video camera with good stereo sound.
"'Burbs Bound - September 2009"
Looking out the window of a Suburbia-bound commuter train one evening in September 2009.
The new trains don't have shades that pull down in front of the windows (good, so I can see outside!), but in place of that, they have green tinting in (or on?) the glass which can look kind of ghoulish at night sometimes. Also, a coating on the glass makes it so there is a sort of double reflection sometimes, often ruining what can be a very cool scene-overlay effect with clear glass when the lighting is right.
"The Hallway" - September 2009
Exploring a mysterious path in an old Tokyo building....
Taken in an old wooden apartment building most likely not long for this world, as it's not full, and the owner is probably waiting for the last tenants to leave so they can tear the building down.
"Nishi-Ogikubo Nostalgia Street" - September 2009
Walking down an old street in Nishi-Ogikubo (in September 2009) that has become something like "Nostalgia Street" - since old streets like this in Tokyo are becoming quite rare. It used to be just that they were just older areas with character, but now some areas like this are almost becoming tourist attractions - sort of like theme parks. Lots of people (cough-cough) taking pictures, etc....
"Cruising Tokyo in a 1955 Chevy Bel Air" - September 30th, 2009
Going for a cruise in central Tokyo in a 1955 Chevy Bel Air, followed by Mr. Racer. Also featuring the Yurakucho SB (at the beginning of the clip). Taken on September 30th, 2009.
My parents had a 1955 Chevy when I was a little kid, so it was great to see and ride in this car - as though it had come back from the past as a sort of time machine.
"Watching Clouds, Taxis & Trains - October 2nd, 2009"
Standing in front of the "Shokuan Stand Bar" in Yurakucho, which is across from the Denki Building. Just like the title indicates, I was watching the low clouds blowing by overhead, the taxis driving by, and the overhead Keihin-Tohoku Line trains coming into Yurakucho Station. The temperature was just about right on the evening of October 2nd, 2009, but cold weather is on the horizon....
Probably not very interesting for most people to see, but it shows to some extent the type of motion and scenery that is part of life in Tokyo, with the overhead Yamanote loop line defining and giving character to the central part of the city.
"Couple in Evening Yurakucho" - October 2nd, 2009
A couple walks off down a wet sidewalk in Yurakucho in-between rain showers beneath speeding clouds. It was a nice evening, with clean air, comfortable temperatures, and a romantic/dramatic atmosphere.
"Old 1935 Ryogoku Hotel - Haunted in 1990"
I was walking around recording images & sounds of the area along the river, and soon after crossing over a bridge and arriving in the Ryogoku Station area, I noticed unusual-looking doors in an old building. Taking a closer look, I peered through the glass doors and saw what looked like a hotel front desk, although there was no one in sight and it was clearly not being used as a hotel as I stood there, in September 1990. I pushed one of the door - it was open! So I walked in (not something I would do now, in the security-conscious 21st century, but at the time, it wasn't so outrageous).
After looking around the halls a little, and seeing what I thought were vacant apartment rooms on the top floor, I ran into a tenant who told me that it had been a luxury hotel when it was built in 1935, with nice views of the river (now obscured by the expressway). He went on to explain that the building had been requisitioned by the US military following the end of WW-II, and used as a residence for US military women. It used to have high-ceilinged hallways, but fake ceilings had been put in (probably to mount the curse of the 20th century - florescent tube lighting). There were plans to tear the building down, but the last ten (or so) tenants were resisting. Apparently the building had been used in some old movies as well. He told me it was alright to take pictures in the halls, but to be careful of the second floor, as a few people lived there. That building is long gone now, and I'm not seeing info about it under "old Ryogoku Hotel" or "Chiyoda Heights Building", so more research is in order.
"Ebisu Station View & Yamanote Platform" - October 6th, 2009
Starting with a look out on city buildings from the east side of Ebisu Station, then continuing with a walk through the ticket barrier, down an escalator to the platform, and a view of the platform announcer with his wifeless microphone, followed by a Yamanote Line train coming in.
This is a raw clip from the camera and should have had some of the boring walking scenes in the middle cut out. The beginning and end are (in my opinion) not too bad however.
"Tokyo-Iroiro - October 2009A"
Various scenes taken in Tokyo, with many train and train station views, including on a Seibu Railways branch line, the Yamanote Line, The Ikegami Line, the Chuo Line, and some scenes from Yurakucho (both the station and the area).
Note: My usual video editing software won't play the files from my Ricoh-GR camera, so I tried using different software, which worked, but the conversion into YouTube's format seems to have ruined the sound....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Saturday, October 03, 2009
"Tokyo LHS Videos from September 1990, 2008, & 2009"
"Rainy Day In Tokyo - August 1990"
Taking the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line from Hibarigaoka to Ikebukuro in the afternoon, getting on the train at about 4:11 p.m. After arriving at Ikebukuro Station (the first station on the line, although the last station on the line from the standpoint of this video), there's a view of people getting on the train, with people walking on calmly at first, and then some people rushing for the last open seats before the loading process calms down again (since all the remaining people will be standing, there's no point in rushing). Walking towards the exit gates, there's a view of the man making platform announcements with a wired microphone from a fixed location (in 1990, most stations hadn't converted to wireless mic systems yet).
From there, a transfer to the Saikyo Line, for a trip to Shinjuku (which was the terminal stop for the Saikyo Line then, this being before it was extended to Ebisu and beyond).
Looking out the right side of the Saikyo Line (which runs parallel to the Yamanote Line tracks here), it's apparent how busy the lines are, as several trains are passed going in both directions. The Yamanote Line trains seen out the window of the Saikyo Line train are of the previous generation, not the ones currently in use. There is a long and detailed announcement about connecting trains in Shinjuku (made by a real live human being - not a robot-like bloody recording) as the train zooms along towards its terminal stop in Shinjuku.
Getting off the train in Shinjuku, I walk through the middle passage to the west side of Shinjuku Station, where a man is standing on top of a van ranting about politics at the passersby through very loud horn speakers.
Walking along the area in front of the station, there is a jumbled pile of bicycles. People most likely parked them one after another until they were blocking part of the area in front of the sidewalk, at which point someone tossed them in a pile to get them out of the way. What would happen back then in 1990 (and still happens sometimes, although much less frequently now - what with flex time and all), is some people who usually walked to the station would be running late, so they would ride their bicycles to the station, hurriedly park them somewhere (typically where parking is not allowed), and jump on a train, hoping that their bikes would still be there late in the evening when they returned. If someone came back and discovered that their bike was on the bottom of a pile like this, or had been hauled away, they would give up on it and buy another one.
This may sound strange, but people very rarely buy expensive bikes here, so it's not such a financial burden to replace them from time to time. Since then, when you buy a bicycle, the stores push you to register it with your name and address, which they explain is so police can help you track it down if it's stolen, but it may be more about stopping people from abandoning bicycles and enabling police to enforce fines against illegal parking (if an abandoned bicycle can have its owner identified by a registration sticker, then that owner can be fined and billed for storage when the bike has been hauled away).
"Weeknight Trip Home - September 1990"
Typical Tokyo Street scenes, walking around in this mega-city of lights, and then the stations and trains encountered on the way home. On the trains, more actual live human voice announcements (instead of the bloody recordings that are increasingly used these days). Interesting city this, but with all the constant lights & noise, one ends up dreaming of trees, grass, light breezes, rustling leaves, and a place free of machines and concrete.... (Trains in video: Saikyo Line & Seibu-Ikebukuro Line).
"Seibu Branch Lines - September 2008"
Super boring video. Late evening views of a few different Seibu Railways branch lines. The main two Seibu lines are the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line and the Seibu-Shinjuku Line, and then there are several short branch Seibu lines out in the 'burbs. The trains in this video are mostly 'burbs branch lines. Taken in September of 2008.
"Yurakucho Evening - September 2009"
A rough look at a couple of areas near Yurakucho Station, taken one evening in September 2009. A Shinkansen super express passes by on one side of the station, and a Keihin-Tohoku Line train on the other.
I like this video compositionally, but it's distressing in that the resolution is horribly low. Of all the days, it would have been nice to have been using a proper video camera when I took these images.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Taking the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line from Hibarigaoka to Ikebukuro in the afternoon, getting on the train at about 4:11 p.m. After arriving at Ikebukuro Station (the first station on the line, although the last station on the line from the standpoint of this video), there's a view of people getting on the train, with people walking on calmly at first, and then some people rushing for the last open seats before the loading process calms down again (since all the remaining people will be standing, there's no point in rushing). Walking towards the exit gates, there's a view of the man making platform announcements with a wired microphone from a fixed location (in 1990, most stations hadn't converted to wireless mic systems yet).
From there, a transfer to the Saikyo Line, for a trip to Shinjuku (which was the terminal stop for the Saikyo Line then, this being before it was extended to Ebisu and beyond).
Looking out the right side of the Saikyo Line (which runs parallel to the Yamanote Line tracks here), it's apparent how busy the lines are, as several trains are passed going in both directions. The Yamanote Line trains seen out the window of the Saikyo Line train are of the previous generation, not the ones currently in use. There is a long and detailed announcement about connecting trains in Shinjuku (made by a real live human being - not a robot-like bloody recording) as the train zooms along towards its terminal stop in Shinjuku.
Getting off the train in Shinjuku, I walk through the middle passage to the west side of Shinjuku Station, where a man is standing on top of a van ranting about politics at the passersby through very loud horn speakers.
Walking along the area in front of the station, there is a jumbled pile of bicycles. People most likely parked them one after another until they were blocking part of the area in front of the sidewalk, at which point someone tossed them in a pile to get them out of the way. What would happen back then in 1990 (and still happens sometimes, although much less frequently now - what with flex time and all), is some people who usually walked to the station would be running late, so they would ride their bicycles to the station, hurriedly park them somewhere (typically where parking is not allowed), and jump on a train, hoping that their bikes would still be there late in the evening when they returned. If someone came back and discovered that their bike was on the bottom of a pile like this, or had been hauled away, they would give up on it and buy another one.
This may sound strange, but people very rarely buy expensive bikes here, so it's not such a financial burden to replace them from time to time. Since then, when you buy a bicycle, the stores push you to register it with your name and address, which they explain is so police can help you track it down if it's stolen, but it may be more about stopping people from abandoning bicycles and enabling police to enforce fines against illegal parking (if an abandoned bicycle can have its owner identified by a registration sticker, then that owner can be fined and billed for storage when the bike has been hauled away).
"Weeknight Trip Home - September 1990"
Typical Tokyo Street scenes, walking around in this mega-city of lights, and then the stations and trains encountered on the way home. On the trains, more actual live human voice announcements (instead of the bloody recordings that are increasingly used these days). Interesting city this, but with all the constant lights & noise, one ends up dreaming of trees, grass, light breezes, rustling leaves, and a place free of machines and concrete.... (Trains in video: Saikyo Line & Seibu-Ikebukuro Line).
"Seibu Branch Lines - September 2008"
Super boring video. Late evening views of a few different Seibu Railways branch lines. The main two Seibu lines are the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line and the Seibu-Shinjuku Line, and then there are several short branch Seibu lines out in the 'burbs. The trains in this video are mostly 'burbs branch lines. Taken in September of 2008.
"Yurakucho Evening - September 2009"
A rough look at a couple of areas near Yurakucho Station, taken one evening in September 2009. A Shinkansen super express passes by on one side of the station, and a Keihin-Tohoku Line train on the other.
I like this video compositionally, but it's distressing in that the resolution is horribly low. Of all the days, it would have been nice to have been using a proper video camera when I took these images.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Sunday, September 20, 2009
"Shinjuku Southern Terrace, Etc. (Four Video Clips)"
First, it should be noted that "Shinjuku Southern Terrace" is not actually in Shinjuku! It's in Shibuya, but it's right by Shinjuku Station, and so it gets the Shinjuku name. While you're on the plaza, it's easy to forget (if you ever become aware of the fact in the first place) that it's basically a bridge built over the Odakyu Railway lines which are unnoticed below.
Shinjuku Southern Terrace opened in 1998 and I've always enjoyed its sensible lighting (in contrast with the "the more the better" style in too many parts of Tokyo), and its wide pedestrian-only walkway. There's a section with a path that takes you up a small hill between trees, which looks (at night) like in this clip:
"Shinjuku Southern Terrace at Night - September 15th, 2009"
Near to where the above video was taken, there's a popular Starbucks. The following video is a walk past the long and narrow store:
"Walking Past Starbucks on the Southern Terrace" (Shinjuku, 2009)
Now, jumping in a (video) time machine, here's a view of the south exit area of Shinjuku Station in September 1990. The Takashimaya Department Store was in the beginning stages of construction and there is no trace of the Southern Terrace yet:
"Out & About - Shinjuku, Etc. - September 1990"
Finally, we come to the "etc." part of the title - a Peruvian band that I saw in Kokubunji. Over the years, I've seen either this band, or similar bands, in various places in and around Tokyo (Shinjuku and Kashiwa come to mind):
"Band from Peru in Kokubunji - September 14th, 2009"
I need to get some new photo pages up, but it's quicker (and funner) to get a video posted, so I've been doing a lot more of video posting than making new photo pages....
Sore dewa, mata!
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Shinjuku Southern Terrace opened in 1998 and I've always enjoyed its sensible lighting (in contrast with the "the more the better" style in too many parts of Tokyo), and its wide pedestrian-only walkway. There's a section with a path that takes you up a small hill between trees, which looks (at night) like in this clip:
"Shinjuku Southern Terrace at Night - September 15th, 2009"
Near to where the above video was taken, there's a popular Starbucks. The following video is a walk past the long and narrow store:
"Walking Past Starbucks on the Southern Terrace" (Shinjuku, 2009)
Now, jumping in a (video) time machine, here's a view of the south exit area of Shinjuku Station in September 1990. The Takashimaya Department Store was in the beginning stages of construction and there is no trace of the Southern Terrace yet:
"Out & About - Shinjuku, Etc. - September 1990"
Finally, we come to the "etc." part of the title - a Peruvian band that I saw in Kokubunji. Over the years, I've seen either this band, or similar bands, in various places in and around Tokyo (Shinjuku and Kashiwa come to mind):
"Band from Peru in Kokubunji - September 14th, 2009"
I need to get some new photo pages up, but it's quicker (and funner) to get a video posted, so I've been doing a lot more of video posting than making new photo pages....
Sore dewa, mata!
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Sunday, September 13, 2009
"A Few Toshimaen Rides in Tokyo" (1990)
I edited out a few more rides from my 1990 video recordings of Toshimaen Amusement Park here in Tokyo.
Swing Around:
Bumper Cars ("Auto Scooter[s]")
Eagle:
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
Swing Around:
Bumper Cars ("Auto Scooter[s]")
Eagle:
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon
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