"Yurakucho Plaza in the Rain"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 30, 2012
"Yurakucho Plaza in the Rain" - (120323)
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"1990 Shibuya, 1991 Takayama, 2012 Ginza, Yurakucho, Tokyo Trains, Etc."
First, I should point out that my summary of this batch of video clips is not in any particular order, so keep that in mind if you go looking for one of the things I mention in this introduction.
More than usual, I have posted several video-time-machine views - this time from May 1990 (Shibuya, Asakusabashi, Shinjuku, Takadanobaba, subway views, Sendagaya, Akabane, etc.), as well as clips from an August 1991 trip to Takayama via a very cool mid-engine micro-car - a Honda Beat. Unfortunately, since I was driving the car and it had a manual transmission, I couldn't take footage of a very fun fast drive along a mountain road that I took, and only recorded being stuck in a traffic jam and accelerating away from one traffic light.
After spending what felt like a lot of time in the video time machine, I came back to 2012 and took footage of (naturally) train views (Ginza, Chuo, Tozai, Yamanote, Keio, etc. lines), as well as views from Ginza (including a clip from an exhibition and two from exhibition opening parties), and Yurakucho, Shinjuku, etc.
There are three basic formats I uploaded this time - digitized versions of analog material recorded over 20 years ago, HD material, and re-processed material (due to a technical problem at YouTube that allowed uploading of some files with the picture, but only one second of sound).
1990 Harajuku and Shibuya Stations at Night - (900510)
http://youtu.be/BbefQCc9A9k
Takao Station at Night - (120312)
http://youtu.be/YzfhWUZJfYg
Takao to Takaosan-guchi - (120312)
http://youtu.be/V496oMprJgY
Keio Line Train Arriving at Takao Station - (120312)
http://youtu.be/ftXlY5od0Fs
Racing the Yamanote Line to Tokyo Station - (120315)
http://youtu.be/_eiMffUiPFY
1990 - Sobu and Yamanote Lines (Side Window Views) - (900511)
http://youtu.be/_aEWX4yxwqk
May 11th, 1990 - Looking out side windows of Sobu Line and Yamanote Line trains (as well as station platform views). Towards the end is a view of Kanda Station just as they were beginning construction of the Shinkansen tracks towards Omiya.
1990 - Asakusabashi Area - (900511)
http://youtu.be/koYma0nizsw
May 11th, 1990 - Walking around in Asakusabashi and riding the Sobu Line.
1990 - Shibuya at Night - (900514)
http://youtu.be/uAOlfkoZdVA
May 14th, 1990 - Walking around in Shibuya at night.
1990 Nightwalk - Yoyogi to Shinjuku - (May 1990)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9XFvwWMISg
Walking from Yoyogi to Shinjuku late at night in May 1990.
1990 Takadanobaba May Walkabout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJnl-ezusIs
Walking around in May 1990 in Takadanobaba - beginning with a view from the Yamanote Line platform and ending with a view inside a Tozai (subway) train as it departs Takadanobaba. This shows the atmosphere of May 1990 Takadanobaba.
1990 - May Subway Views (A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DoYqoI6_ts
Views of a number of stations and trains on the Tokyo subway system - taken in May 1990.
1990 - Here and There in May (A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rin1J2Vv7B0
Going about in May 1990 Tokyo. Missing a train home, meetings friends at an izakaya, etc.
1990 Sendagaya Station Area in May (900522)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWEz1IrHyIY
May 22nd, 1990 - Looking around the Sendagaya Station Area.
1990 Here and There in May (B) Akabane Station, Etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvE42Fc2qrM
May 1990 - Various places, including Shinjuku Station and a several views of Akabane Station.
1991 - Honda Beat Drive - (910811)
http://youtu.be/2FlPMsR0V8c
August 11th, 1991 - Driving a Honda Beat in the mountains on the way to Takayama.
1991 Takayama Walkabout (910811)
http://youtu.be/xxklwRP8igc
August 11th, 1991 - Walking around in Takayama.
1991 - Takayama Matsuri - (910811)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ETl8StxyE
On the evening of August 11th, 1991, walking around during a festival in the mountain town of Takayama.
Takizawa Tatsushi 滝沢達史展 Steps Gallery - (120323)
http://youtu.be/_mEabLRk-U0
Takizawa Tatsushi (滝沢達史) Exhibition/Installation at Steps Gallery - (120323)
Balcony View in Ginza 1-Chome - (120323)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSWqTsFRkw
Mysterious Hallways - (120323)
http://youtu.be/iyHLa5t-Y9o
Yurakucho Station - Waiting for Train - Ride to Tokyo - (120323)
http://youtu.be/sHBbjYSoh5g
Near Yurakucho Station - Rainy Night - (120323)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8-Gi81aKDA
Yurakucho Plaza in the Rain - (120323)
http://youtu.be/VM_Nkb9FAoY
Yurakucho Evening Rain Walk - (120323)
http://youtu.be/hDykxFjfQy4
YSB Yurakucho Street View - (120315)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU4KapmQBrU
Tozai Line Train Departing Nihonbashi Station - (120315)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk-B2UAm2gE
Hamamatsucho to Shinbashi - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5opts3EYWxw
Osaki to Gotanda - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izT6dcrRHjw
Shinagawa to Osaki - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mKXsXA6pqg
Tamachi to Shinagawa - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv9r9ZcoGQA
Shinbashi to Hamamatsucho - Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2SV-kue8h4
Yurakucho Station - Yurakucho to Shinbashi - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giUrjqaskzo
Tokyo Station - Yamanote Line Departure - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r1vWzqNo_U
Yurakucho to Tokyo - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyZ3BBb3xF0
Ginza Harumi-Dori - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn81_SFQaxU
Ginza Chuo-Dori Stroll - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYLYrNZedVA
Ginza Chuo-Dori - Long View - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GJGf5ApDyU
Ginza 4-Chome and Harumi-Dori - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4yD3ubjFkI
Ogawa to Kodaira - Construction Zone, Etc. - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCZXemMX0D4
Gallery Exhibition Opening Party-A - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqFRda_ckjk
Gallery Exhibition Opening Party-B - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfvn-Nebxvo
Abe Chihiro Exhibition at Art Space Rashinban - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgF04nMN228
Abe Chihiro (安倍千尋展) Exhibition at Art Space Rashinban (アートスペース羅針盤) - (120326)
Tachikawa Platform - Late at Night - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioHRR8GCkug
Nihonbashi to Ginza - Ginza Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrcrz6oLkOM
Late Night Chuo Line Interior - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdtUGxkm3YU
Edge of Ginza - Evening Stroll - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKYpRYYtRhY
Late Night Chuo Line - Departing Tokyo Station - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YhY5mEagrw
Scenes of Tokyo and other areas in Japan by
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
More than usual, I have posted several video-time-machine views - this time from May 1990 (Shibuya, Asakusabashi, Shinjuku, Takadanobaba, subway views, Sendagaya, Akabane, etc.), as well as clips from an August 1991 trip to Takayama via a very cool mid-engine micro-car - a Honda Beat. Unfortunately, since I was driving the car and it had a manual transmission, I couldn't take footage of a very fun fast drive along a mountain road that I took, and only recorded being stuck in a traffic jam and accelerating away from one traffic light.
After spending what felt like a lot of time in the video time machine, I came back to 2012 and took footage of (naturally) train views (Ginza, Chuo, Tozai, Yamanote, Keio, etc. lines), as well as views from Ginza (including a clip from an exhibition and two from exhibition opening parties), and Yurakucho, Shinjuku, etc.
There are three basic formats I uploaded this time - digitized versions of analog material recorded over 20 years ago, HD material, and re-processed material (due to a technical problem at YouTube that allowed uploading of some files with the picture, but only one second of sound).
1990 Harajuku and Shibuya Stations at Night - (900510)
http://youtu.be/BbefQCc9A9k
Takao Station at Night - (120312)
http://youtu.be/YzfhWUZJfYg
Takao to Takaosan-guchi - (120312)
http://youtu.be/V496oMprJgY
Keio Line Train Arriving at Takao Station - (120312)
http://youtu.be/ftXlY5od0Fs
Racing the Yamanote Line to Tokyo Station - (120315)
http://youtu.be/_eiMffUiPFY
1990 - Sobu and Yamanote Lines (Side Window Views) - (900511)
http://youtu.be/_aEWX4yxwqk
May 11th, 1990 - Looking out side windows of Sobu Line and Yamanote Line trains (as well as station platform views). Towards the end is a view of Kanda Station just as they were beginning construction of the Shinkansen tracks towards Omiya.
1990 - Asakusabashi Area - (900511)
http://youtu.be/koYma0nizsw
May 11th, 1990 - Walking around in Asakusabashi and riding the Sobu Line.
1990 - Shibuya at Night - (900514)
http://youtu.be/uAOlfkoZdVA
May 14th, 1990 - Walking around in Shibuya at night.
1990 Nightwalk - Yoyogi to Shinjuku - (May 1990)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9XFvwWMISg
Walking from Yoyogi to Shinjuku late at night in May 1990.
1990 Takadanobaba May Walkabout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJnl-ezusIs
Walking around in May 1990 in Takadanobaba - beginning with a view from the Yamanote Line platform and ending with a view inside a Tozai (subway) train as it departs Takadanobaba. This shows the atmosphere of May 1990 Takadanobaba.
1990 - May Subway Views (A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DoYqoI6_ts
Views of a number of stations and trains on the Tokyo subway system - taken in May 1990.
1990 - Here and There in May (A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rin1J2Vv7B0
Going about in May 1990 Tokyo. Missing a train home, meetings friends at an izakaya, etc.
1990 Sendagaya Station Area in May (900522)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWEz1IrHyIY
May 22nd, 1990 - Looking around the Sendagaya Station Area.
1990 Here and There in May (B) Akabane Station, Etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvE42Fc2qrM
May 1990 - Various places, including Shinjuku Station and a several views of Akabane Station.
1991 - Honda Beat Drive - (910811)
http://youtu.be/2FlPMsR0V8c
August 11th, 1991 - Driving a Honda Beat in the mountains on the way to Takayama.
1991 Takayama Walkabout (910811)
http://youtu.be/xxklwRP8igc
August 11th, 1991 - Walking around in Takayama.
1991 - Takayama Matsuri - (910811)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ETl8StxyE
On the evening of August 11th, 1991, walking around during a festival in the mountain town of Takayama.
Takizawa Tatsushi 滝沢達史展 Steps Gallery - (120323)
http://youtu.be/_mEabLRk-U0
Takizawa Tatsushi (滝沢達史) Exhibition/Installation at Steps Gallery - (120323)
Balcony View in Ginza 1-Chome - (120323)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSWqTsFRkw
Mysterious Hallways - (120323)
http://youtu.be/iyHLa5t-Y9o
Yurakucho Station - Waiting for Train - Ride to Tokyo - (120323)
http://youtu.be/sHBbjYSoh5g
Near Yurakucho Station - Rainy Night - (120323)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8-Gi81aKDA
Yurakucho Plaza in the Rain - (120323)
http://youtu.be/VM_Nkb9FAoY
Yurakucho Evening Rain Walk - (120323)
http://youtu.be/hDykxFjfQy4
YSB Yurakucho Street View - (120315)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU4KapmQBrU
Tozai Line Train Departing Nihonbashi Station - (120315)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk-B2UAm2gE
Hamamatsucho to Shinbashi - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5opts3EYWxw
Osaki to Gotanda - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izT6dcrRHjw
Shinagawa to Osaki - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mKXsXA6pqg
Tamachi to Shinagawa - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv9r9ZcoGQA
Shinbashi to Hamamatsucho - Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2SV-kue8h4
Yurakucho Station - Yurakucho to Shinbashi - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giUrjqaskzo
Tokyo Station - Yamanote Line Departure - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r1vWzqNo_U
Yurakucho to Tokyo - Nighttime Yamanote Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyZ3BBb3xF0
Ginza Harumi-Dori - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn81_SFQaxU
Ginza Chuo-Dori Stroll - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYLYrNZedVA
Ginza Chuo-Dori - Long View - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GJGf5ApDyU
Ginza 4-Chome and Harumi-Dori - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4yD3ubjFkI
Ogawa to Kodaira - Construction Zone, Etc. - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCZXemMX0D4
Gallery Exhibition Opening Party-A - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqFRda_ckjk
Gallery Exhibition Opening Party-B - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfvn-Nebxvo
Abe Chihiro Exhibition at Art Space Rashinban - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgF04nMN228
Abe Chihiro (安倍千尋展) Exhibition at Art Space Rashinban (アートスペース羅針盤) - (120326)
Tachikawa Platform - Late at Night - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioHRR8GCkug
Nihonbashi to Ginza - Ginza Line - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrcrz6oLkOM
Late Night Chuo Line Interior - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdtUGxkm3YU
Edge of Ginza - Evening Stroll - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKYpRYYtRhY
Late Night Chuo Line - Departing Tokyo Station - (120326)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YhY5mEagrw
Scenes of Tokyo and other areas in Japan by
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 16, 2012
"Outbound Chuo Line Ride" - (120229)
"Outbound Chuo Line Ride" - (120229)
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Ginza, Mitaka, Kichijoji, Chuo-Line, Low-Resolution, HD, Etc."
Regarding the picture quality (resolution) of this batch of videos; it is either high in the HD clips (first five below and a few others), or else very low resolution in LD (Low Definition) clips that ended up in that state through YouTube no longer (for a week at least - I'll be doing more testing later) accepting video clips in the AVI format that one of my cameras generates. I have no idea what the *reason* for this is, but the *result* is that all of the uploaded video clips in that format show up as 1-second videos, so I had to convert the file format before uploading to get YouTube to accept the files - which works, but with very poor picture quality. Anyway - be forewarned that many of these clips have shockingly bad picture quality.
The first five (HD) videos are of Shinbashi, Ginza, Yurakucho, and Tokyo Station. Moving into the LD videos, there are views of Tachikawa, Mitaka, the Chuo Line, Kichijoji, etc.
I'm hoping to find a way to upload the files from that camera without losing (so much) picture quality. I am confident there is some way of doing this, but with the tools I have at hand - I haven't been able to do it... yet!
(HD) Shinbashi Station - Watching Trains Come and Go - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6EsduB9XFg
(HD) Ginza Suzuran-Dori - Construction Noises - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ac5OxS-tlk
(HD) Suzuran-Dori - 4:00 PM - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13mvOLX6VN0
(HD) Yurakucho to Shinbashi (Looking Back - Yamanote Line) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6orwqgzCR4
(HD) Tokyo Station - Boarding Yamanote Line - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUJNdeL3bmk
Mitaka Shotengai (B) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y61e3zIoIw
Mitaka Shotengai (A) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-l6PbVEpeQ
Tachikawa Station (Inside Ticket Gates) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J52fQ-4e3bM
Shinjuku Crosswalk - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXQGq9G7adU
Tokyo to Yurakucho (Looking Back - Yamanote Line) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9WxlBDJXJc
Bus Side of Mitaka Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZdDfN2_jxc
Chuo Line Side View - To Ogikubo - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPLgOXnNY3M
Hayashi Nobuaki (林伸朗) Installation at Gallery Hinoki (ギャラリー檜) Close-Up - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KcURZdyl64
Mitaka Shotengai Stroll - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIrBgspNWJw
Mitaka Station Mall (and Walk to Platform) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0u8qIiDLic
Walking Through Mitaka Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyvYeZLErf0
Night Side Window View - Chuo Line to Mitaka - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXbeRd4a2I
Ogawa to Hagiyama - Construction Area - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muUYTVeW1CI
Yamanote Line - Departing Shinbashi Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8j3jkUGZUo
In Front of Ogikubo Station-360 - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0ZPwNjIj_U
Shinbashi Side Street Construction - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDwAKPoJRO8
Musashisakai to Mitaka - Chuo Line Side Window View - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bqvbz4kw-g
Kichijoji Side Streets (D) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z-ep7-6ksw
Kichijoji Side Streets (C) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibyqne-g_BU
Kichijoji Side Streets (B) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk9b3lulUec
Kichijoji Side Streets (A) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOkDW142fZA
Kichijoji Shotengai Stroll (C) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II40zu1qZ-0
Kichijoji Shotengai Stroll (B) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8vf6gvbb8g
Kichijoji Shotengai Stroll (A) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQCaR7-oTc
Exiting Shinbashi Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGpcDOYtfaY
Kichijoji Station Area - Construction, Etc. - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBz6th5O8Y
Kyobashi Side Street - Construction - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APmnJl0W7EI
New-Old Tokyo Station (Under Construction) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhtR2uAVZI
Kichijoji Evening Shotengai (C) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGF3je7_OQQ
Kichijoji Evening Shotengai (B) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv3WiSUqCF8
Kichijoji Evening Shotengai (A) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs9So1b0o0U
Nishi-Ogikubo to Kichijoji - Chuo Line, Etc. - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0-PEh8U4Eg
Entering Kichijoji Station - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avnspge56sQ
Kichijoji Narrow Passageways - Evening Old Shotengai - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozt0qQEEAgY
Chuo Line Escalator at Tokyo Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZuasGYcq4
Chuo Line Arriving at Mitaka - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lQbiOG1gsA
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
The first five (HD) videos are of Shinbashi, Ginza, Yurakucho, and Tokyo Station. Moving into the LD videos, there are views of Tachikawa, Mitaka, the Chuo Line, Kichijoji, etc.
I'm hoping to find a way to upload the files from that camera without losing (so much) picture quality. I am confident there is some way of doing this, but with the tools I have at hand - I haven't been able to do it... yet!
(HD) Shinbashi Station - Watching Trains Come and Go - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6EsduB9XFg
(HD) Ginza Suzuran-Dori - Construction Noises - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ac5OxS-tlk
(HD) Suzuran-Dori - 4:00 PM - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13mvOLX6VN0
(HD) Yurakucho to Shinbashi (Looking Back - Yamanote Line) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6orwqgzCR4
(HD) Tokyo Station - Boarding Yamanote Line - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUJNdeL3bmk
Mitaka Shotengai (B) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y61e3zIoIw
Mitaka Shotengai (A) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-l6PbVEpeQ
Tachikawa Station (Inside Ticket Gates) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J52fQ-4e3bM
Shinjuku Crosswalk - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXQGq9G7adU
Tokyo to Yurakucho (Looking Back - Yamanote Line) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9WxlBDJXJc
Bus Side of Mitaka Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZdDfN2_jxc
Chuo Line Side View - To Ogikubo - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPLgOXnNY3M
Hayashi Nobuaki (林伸朗) Installation at Gallery Hinoki (ギャラリー檜) Close-Up - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KcURZdyl64
Mitaka Shotengai Stroll - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIrBgspNWJw
Mitaka Station Mall (and Walk to Platform) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0u8qIiDLic
Walking Through Mitaka Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyvYeZLErf0
Night Side Window View - Chuo Line to Mitaka - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXbeRd4a2I
Ogawa to Hagiyama - Construction Area - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muUYTVeW1CI
Yamanote Line - Departing Shinbashi Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8j3jkUGZUo
In Front of Ogikubo Station-360 - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0ZPwNjIj_U
Shinbashi Side Street Construction - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDwAKPoJRO8
Musashisakai to Mitaka - Chuo Line Side Window View - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bqvbz4kw-g
Kichijoji Side Streets (D) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z-ep7-6ksw
Kichijoji Side Streets (C) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibyqne-g_BU
Kichijoji Side Streets (B) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk9b3lulUec
Kichijoji Side Streets (A) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOkDW142fZA
Kichijoji Shotengai Stroll (C) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II40zu1qZ-0
Kichijoji Shotengai Stroll (B) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8vf6gvbb8g
Kichijoji Shotengai Stroll (A) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQCaR7-oTc
Exiting Shinbashi Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGpcDOYtfaY
Kichijoji Station Area - Construction, Etc. - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBz6th5O8Y
Kyobashi Side Street - Construction - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APmnJl0W7EI
New-Old Tokyo Station (Under Construction) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhtR2uAVZI
Kichijoji Evening Shotengai (C) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGF3je7_OQQ
Kichijoji Evening Shotengai (B) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv3WiSUqCF8
Kichijoji Evening Shotengai (A) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs9So1b0o0U
Nishi-Ogikubo to Kichijoji - Chuo Line, Etc. - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0-PEh8U4Eg
Entering Kichijoji Station - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avnspge56sQ
Kichijoji Narrow Passageways - Evening Old Shotengai - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozt0qQEEAgY
Chuo Line Escalator at Tokyo Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZuasGYcq4
Chuo Line Arriving at Mitaka - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lQbiOG1gsA
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
"Snow Day - February 29th, 2012"
"Snow Day - February 29th, 2012"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 09, 2012
"78-Year-Old Staircase" (120214)
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78-Year-Old Staircase (120214)
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"May 1990 Shinjuku and Shibuya, 120229 Snow, Tachikawa, Kichijoji, Mitaka, Ginza, Etc."
A large chunk of the videos in this batch were affected by some kind of issue with AVI format files not uploading properly to YouTube, so I converted many of them to FLV files, which uploaded easily, but have degraded picture quality. If the next batch of AVI files I attempt to upload doesn't work, then I'll try to (if I understand the process well enough) convert them into MP4 files (rather than FLV). That technical bit out of the way....
On the last day of February - the 29th this year - there was a pretty big snowfall in Tokyo (big for Tokyo anyway) and I took several clips of the unusual appearance of the city under all that white snow. Most of the snow scenes are of Tachikawa, but there are some other angles thrown in, including train window views.
I went to both Kichijoji and Mitaka recently and took a few clips of the shotengai areas in each place. Back in central Tokyo, while checking out art galleries, I took some video of Ginza - including a couple of exhibitions/installations that were interesting and very colorful - "No doubt the artist is thinking of spring" thought I. And of course there are the usual train views from various lines - primarily the Chuo, Ginza, Tozai, Yamanote, and Keihin-Tohoku lines.
May 1990 - Shinjuku Omoide-Yokocho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZQRKlKBPug
May 1990 - Shibuya Station Platform
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tRh_iIdznI
Tachikawa - Elevated Walkway - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Krw6snHAg
Snow - Takao Station - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v4Um4NKwt0
(x2) Walking from Kyobashi to Ginza - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds4N4eTgpt4
Video recorded at 15fps and then played back at 30fps for double-time video with no sound.
(x2) Elevator Up - Stairs Down - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=258HtR1_B7M
Video recorded at 15fps and then played back at 30fps for double-time video with no sound.
Kichijoji Mall (Short) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULhq9zB6P7s
Snow - Tachikawa Station Platform - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbsG73tE5Fk
Ginza Chuo Dori - Looking Both Ways - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fthks6Rak2s
Snow - Nishi-Kokubunji to Tachikawa - (120229)
http://youtu.be/JI5LaPa8ZWw
Looking at a rare snowfall from a side window of a Chuo Line train while going from Nishi-Kokubunji to Tachikawa.
Path to Tachikawa Shopping Arcade - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5SXkVS3n8Q
Kono Satomi (河野里美) Exhibition at Y's Arts-508 - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZu-m44cIE
A beautiful and colorful exhibition. Someday I hope to have internally illuminated pictures like these on my walls! For now at least, the artist told me that the pictures are for the exhibition only and are not for sale.
Ginza Chuo-Dori - February 28th, 2012 - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chkmt4LlAr8
Yurakucho-SB (A) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6K21r6-0W8
Yurakucho-SB (B) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwL2sNBDdqU
Yurakucho to Tokyo - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PowAikBr67o
KT-Line at Yurakucho Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXq9PPEe4zM
Watching a Keihin-Tohoku Line train at Yurakucho Station.
Nihonbashi to Ginza (Ginza Line) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4fkuxBTOo0
Snow - Tachikawa Station (Both Sides) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNWSpg-CrU8
Snow - Tachikawa Station Area - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyk2VliBuuk
Snow - Tachikawa Station Area and Streets - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzZqGH2yxbg
Snow - Tachikawa Station Area Stroll - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9CmJjdhQFM
Snow - Tachikawa Streets - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKMWKbTwoVM
Snow - Tachikawa to Hachioji - Chuo Line - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_clU0_4RrEA
Snow in Tokyo Suburban Park - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeBvko98ElY
Ginza Line - Nihonbashi to Ginza - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jo7x6P8fpA
Tachikawa - Reserved Seat Train Arrival and Departure - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWhGsNcx9iM
Tachikawa Station Shops - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVHoBdKnV9A
Tachikawa Platform - Old Type Train, Etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CHQamvuH4U
Tachikawa Evening Rush - February 29th, 2012 - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CeTHFkU05c
Tachikawa Station Shopping Arcade - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlFJZ-WTm5I
Tachikawa Elevated Walkways (With Snow) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ILKc12vwyg
Tachikawa Platform on Rare Snow Day in Tokyo - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3h2BuC5MPs
Tachikawa Side Streets - Evening Slush - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89tR9nLzkFk
Tachikawa Station - Ticket Gates to Platform - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEvB-t92b4
Tachikawa - Shopping Mall to Chuo Line Platform - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtjEJrH7-ZM
Tachikawa - Walking Towards Station (Some Snow) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiSj2dEkGf0
Tachikawa Outside Escalator (Snow Day) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltMEne_sBOc
Tozai Window Reflections - Takadanobaba to Waseda - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDTa0B7mt8U
Yamada Keiko (山田恵子) Exhibition at Steps Gallery - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGJJJY3oh0
Ginza Harumi-Dori (晴海通り) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi4oXeIn0sM
Ginza Chuo-Dori (A) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgYyCYTCf_A
Ginza Chuo-Dori (B) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teyvOhHUjCY
Hayashi Nobuaki (林伸朗) Installation at Gallery Hinoki (ギャラリー檜) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3bIRQpLMns
A very colorful and fun installation/exhibition!
Yamanote and Shibuya (May 1990-A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMfqFs-olLc
Views of the Yamanote Line (mainly inside) and Shibuya at night - taken in May 1990.
Train Watching - Shinbashi Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKFT517BiKo
At Shinbashi Station - looking down the tracks towards Kanagawa. The many tracks and trains are quite an impressive sight - although I wonder why the railway is letting the overhead steel structure that supports the power cables rust. I suppose there's been a decision to replace them with something else, and so to just let them rust until the point where they need to be replaced....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
On the last day of February - the 29th this year - there was a pretty big snowfall in Tokyo (big for Tokyo anyway) and I took several clips of the unusual appearance of the city under all that white snow. Most of the snow scenes are of Tachikawa, but there are some other angles thrown in, including train window views.
I went to both Kichijoji and Mitaka recently and took a few clips of the shotengai areas in each place. Back in central Tokyo, while checking out art galleries, I took some video of Ginza - including a couple of exhibitions/installations that were interesting and very colorful - "No doubt the artist is thinking of spring" thought I. And of course there are the usual train views from various lines - primarily the Chuo, Ginza, Tozai, Yamanote, and Keihin-Tohoku lines.
May 1990 - Shinjuku Omoide-Yokocho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZQRKlKBPug
May 1990 - Shibuya Station Platform
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tRh_iIdznI
Tachikawa - Elevated Walkway - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Krw6snHAg
Snow - Takao Station - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v4Um4NKwt0
(x2) Walking from Kyobashi to Ginza - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds4N4eTgpt4
Video recorded at 15fps and then played back at 30fps for double-time video with no sound.
(x2) Elevator Up - Stairs Down - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=258HtR1_B7M
Video recorded at 15fps and then played back at 30fps for double-time video with no sound.
Kichijoji Mall (Short) - (120301)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULhq9zB6P7s
Snow - Tachikawa Station Platform - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbsG73tE5Fk
Ginza Chuo Dori - Looking Both Ways - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fthks6Rak2s
Snow - Nishi-Kokubunji to Tachikawa - (120229)
http://youtu.be/JI5LaPa8ZWw
Looking at a rare snowfall from a side window of a Chuo Line train while going from Nishi-Kokubunji to Tachikawa.
Path to Tachikawa Shopping Arcade - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5SXkVS3n8Q
Kono Satomi (河野里美) Exhibition at Y's Arts-508 - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZu-m44cIE
A beautiful and colorful exhibition. Someday I hope to have internally illuminated pictures like these on my walls! For now at least, the artist told me that the pictures are for the exhibition only and are not for sale.
Ginza Chuo-Dori - February 28th, 2012 - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chkmt4LlAr8
Yurakucho-SB (A) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6K21r6-0W8
Yurakucho-SB (B) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwL2sNBDdqU
Yurakucho to Tokyo - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PowAikBr67o
KT-Line at Yurakucho Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXq9PPEe4zM
Watching a Keihin-Tohoku Line train at Yurakucho Station.
Nihonbashi to Ginza (Ginza Line) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4fkuxBTOo0
Snow - Tachikawa Station (Both Sides) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNWSpg-CrU8
Snow - Tachikawa Station Area - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyk2VliBuuk
Snow - Tachikawa Station Area and Streets - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzZqGH2yxbg
Snow - Tachikawa Station Area Stroll - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9CmJjdhQFM
Snow - Tachikawa Streets - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKMWKbTwoVM
Snow - Tachikawa to Hachioji - Chuo Line - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_clU0_4RrEA
Snow in Tokyo Suburban Park - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeBvko98ElY
Ginza Line - Nihonbashi to Ginza - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jo7x6P8fpA
Tachikawa - Reserved Seat Train Arrival and Departure - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWhGsNcx9iM
Tachikawa Station Shops - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVHoBdKnV9A
Tachikawa Platform - Old Type Train, Etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CHQamvuH4U
Tachikawa Evening Rush - February 29th, 2012 - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CeTHFkU05c
Tachikawa Station Shopping Arcade - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlFJZ-WTm5I
Tachikawa Elevated Walkways (With Snow) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ILKc12vwyg
Tachikawa Platform on Rare Snow Day in Tokyo - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3h2BuC5MPs
Tachikawa Side Streets - Evening Slush - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89tR9nLzkFk
Tachikawa Station - Ticket Gates to Platform - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEvB-t92b4
Tachikawa - Shopping Mall to Chuo Line Platform - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtjEJrH7-ZM
Tachikawa - Walking Towards Station (Some Snow) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiSj2dEkGf0
Tachikawa Outside Escalator (Snow Day) - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltMEne_sBOc
Tozai Window Reflections - Takadanobaba to Waseda - (120228)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDTa0B7mt8U
Yamada Keiko (山田恵子) Exhibition at Steps Gallery - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGJJJY3oh0
Ginza Harumi-Dori (晴海通り) - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi4oXeIn0sM
Ginza Chuo-Dori (A) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgYyCYTCf_A
Ginza Chuo-Dori (B) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teyvOhHUjCY
Hayashi Nobuaki (林伸朗) Installation at Gallery Hinoki (ギャラリー檜) - (120306)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3bIRQpLMns
A very colorful and fun installation/exhibition!
Yamanote and Shibuya (May 1990-A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMfqFs-olLc
Views of the Yamanote Line (mainly inside) and Shibuya at night - taken in May 1990.
Train Watching - Shinbashi Station - (120307)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKFT517BiKo
At Shinbashi Station - looking down the tracks towards Kanagawa. The many tracks and trains are quite an impressive sight - although I wonder why the railway is letting the overhead steel structure that supports the power cables rust. I suppose there's been a decision to replace them with something else, and so to just let them rust until the point where they need to be replaced....
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Saturday, March 03, 2012
"Tozai Line - Takadanobaba Station" - (120214)
"Tozai Line - Takadanobaba Station"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Takadanobaba, Ginza, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Yurakucho, Etc."
General winter scenes in Tokyo - with walking scenes in Takadanobaba, Ginza, near Tokyo Station (which is under renovation/reconstruction), in Shinjuku, Yurakucho, Kyobashi, etc. And at this point a roadblock to further video uploads struck in the form of YouTube's avi reformatter breaking, preventing me from uploading anything else. I did (in the middle of about 80 failed uploads), somehow luck out and get one short video posted showing a single street during Tokyo's February 29th, 2012 big snowfall, but if the broken avi-reformatter issue isn't solved (I suspect the real issue is that YouTube has reached (surpassed actually?) the breaking point with the vast number of - ever-increasing in intensity - uploads it's been taking in non-stop for all this time...) - if a way to again upload avi files doesn't present itself, this could be the end of most of my video uploading. I tested a couple of alternative sites - Vimeo and MetaCafe - but in both cases the video plays strangely, and in one case with no sound - so there doesn't appear to be any (practical) alternative to YouTube... although I hear other file formats may be okay, so I need to find a way to convert my avi files into something else (MP4 is best apparently).
Takadanobaba Side Streets - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar7cR6kWqfs
Takadanobaba Station Area - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1jKMqb4MBI
Ginza Chuo Dori - Afternoon Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Ts5WfQdMA
Winter Shadows Near Tokyo Station - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtNLL-9lpn8
Tokyo Station Area - Under Renovation - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoPK1vHsOXA
Shinjuku Station Evening Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT17ZcJ4MXY
Boarding Seibu Train at Ogawa - (120221)
http://youtu.be/Qf1Trhdt_8o
Kokubunji Station Area - (120220)
http://youtu.be/Dm6AsCCa8xU
Late Night Shinjuku Chuo Line Platform - (120221)
http://youtu.be/yWo5kGW8YXw
Beside Tokyo Station - (120221)
http://youtu.be/cvrPp5i_Y3U
Edge of Ginza 1-Chome - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyR5UZy9GA8
Yurakucho Izakaya Path - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpynXSesDN4
Yurakucho Evening Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6d7vnlYf3Y
Ginza Evening Stroll - 6:00PM - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1hgxRn8jyY
Kyobashi Sky - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvGe-4kjOvU
Undertracks Izakaya in Yurakucho - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBvwPnoJ2Cs
Yurakucho Electronics Store Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPygviGHf7g
Snow In Tokyo Suburb - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPqenpNpNyc
Kokubunji Trains - Snow - (120229) [via Vimeo]
http://vimeo.com/37778347
Looking around at trains at Kokubunji Station on a snowy February 29th, 2012. (Note: In testing this one, it didn't play back very well on my computer, so I'm not sure how it will look for others....)
Boarding Tozai Line at Takadanobaba - (120228) [via MetaCafe]
http://www.metacafe.com/w/8172968
Watching a Tozai Line come in to Takadanobaba Station and then boarding it. (Note: This clip also didn't play very well when I tested it, so I'm not sure how it'll do.)
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Takadanobaba Side Streets - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar7cR6kWqfs
Takadanobaba Station Area - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1jKMqb4MBI
Ginza Chuo Dori - Afternoon Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Ts5WfQdMA
Winter Shadows Near Tokyo Station - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtNLL-9lpn8
Tokyo Station Area - Under Renovation - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoPK1vHsOXA
Shinjuku Station Evening Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT17ZcJ4MXY
Boarding Seibu Train at Ogawa - (120221)
http://youtu.be/Qf1Trhdt_8o
Kokubunji Station Area - (120220)
http://youtu.be/Dm6AsCCa8xU
Late Night Shinjuku Chuo Line Platform - (120221)
http://youtu.be/yWo5kGW8YXw
Beside Tokyo Station - (120221)
http://youtu.be/cvrPp5i_Y3U
Edge of Ginza 1-Chome - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyR5UZy9GA8
Yurakucho Izakaya Path - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpynXSesDN4
Yurakucho Evening Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6d7vnlYf3Y
Ginza Evening Stroll - 6:00PM - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1hgxRn8jyY
Kyobashi Sky - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvGe-4kjOvU
Undertracks Izakaya in Yurakucho - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBvwPnoJ2Cs
Yurakucho Electronics Store Stroll - (120221)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPygviGHf7g
Snow In Tokyo Suburb - (120229)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPqenpNpNyc
Kokubunji Trains - Snow - (120229) [via Vimeo]
http://vimeo.com/37778347
Looking around at trains at Kokubunji Station on a snowy February 29th, 2012. (Note: In testing this one, it didn't play back very well on my computer, so I'm not sure how it will look for others....)
Boarding Tozai Line at Takadanobaba - (120228) [via MetaCafe]
http://www.metacafe.com/w/8172968
Watching a Tozai Line come in to Takadanobaba Station and then boarding it. (Note: This clip also didn't play very well when I tested it, so I'm not sure how it'll do.)
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 02, 2012
"Heading Towards Tokyo Station" - (120214)
"Heading Towards Tokyo Station"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Roads, Trucks and Cars, Etc. 1959 and 2012"
Continuing to read "All the Best in Japan" by Sydney Clark (published by Sidgwick and Jackson Limited in 1959), I notice the road and vehicle traffic situation has radically changed, while rail travel has basically the same reputation (with some changes). Looking at the section entitled: "But There Are Things to Cope with Too":
"In the interest of balanced reporting I have to state that motor touring in Japan, while perfectly practicable almost everywhere - I have enjoyed a lot of it - leaves much to be desired. From the tourist's angle poor roads are Japan's most noticeable fault and the fact that a vigorous ten-year reconstruction plan has just got under way does not lend much comfort to those who plan to come now or soon. Great stretches of the roads you'll want to use are narrow and bumpy and many portions are thick with dust in dry weather, gooey with mud in wet. ......"
Well, ten years from 1959 was 1969, and here we are in 2012, from which I can report that it's exceedingly rare to find any road that isn't covered with smooth asphalt now. So much so, that when I find myself standing on dirt (an exceedingly rare occurrence), I look down and marvel, "Wow! Real dirt! Just think, this dirt may actually have never been buried under asphalt before! Amazing!", which is unfortunately not even sarcasm (not much anyway). It really does seem like some kind of wonderful thing to be standing on actual dirt [comment from 1996].
"Statistics before me reveal that of Japan's vehicles officially tallied in a recent year, buses totaled a surprising 10 per cent. The figure for trucks (but the majority of these are in and near the big cities, not on the open highways) is a whopping 60 per cent, while that for passenger cars is only 25 per cent, the remaining 5 per cent being scored as 'Special'."
There are still a lot of buses and trucks, but certainly trucks are not 60 percent of the vehicles on the road now. I do remember being struck with the large number of trucks on the road when I first came here though (in the eighties). In fact, I think there are probably many more trucks on the open highways now than in 1959 (with a lower percentage - but certainly not absolute number - in the cities). They have cut rail freight use way down (the Shiodome office tower area near Shinbashi Station used to be a freight rail yard, for example), and have been feverishly burying ever more of the country under asphalt over the past 50 years, so it's gotten to the point where I wish for the opposite of what Mr. Clark wished for back then. It would be an altogether happier situation if they were now making new plans to *reduce* the number of roads in the country and stop doing everything for the sake of petrol-burning internal-combustion machinery.
"..... If highway travel is bad, railway travel is quite wonderful, for Japan is perhaps the most railway-minded great country in the world. Rail service is excellent in quality and the punctuality of trains, all trains, is nothing less than spectacular. I think Japan comes the nearest of any country in the world to keeping its trains so precisely on time that 'you can set you watch by them'."
This is still true, although they have been building large new bus terminals beside major rail stations (Tokyo and Shinjuku immediately come to mind) and more and more people are traveling from Tokyo to other areas of Japan via night buses, which is a horrible development in my view (horrible to be using bloody buses when they could be running trains). Meanwhile, rail travel on many train lines away from the mega-cities is way down. Making Japan a car culture is one of the more horrible mistakes of the 20th century I think, and - although young people are less interested in owning cars than their age group used to be, the Godzilla construction industry continues to work hard in the 21st century at burying ever more of the country under asphalt for the sake of bloody internal combustion engines. I hope oil runs out in the world in a hurry - to put a stop to this suicidal madness.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"In the interest of balanced reporting I have to state that motor touring in Japan, while perfectly practicable almost everywhere - I have enjoyed a lot of it - leaves much to be desired. From the tourist's angle poor roads are Japan's most noticeable fault and the fact that a vigorous ten-year reconstruction plan has just got under way does not lend much comfort to those who plan to come now or soon. Great stretches of the roads you'll want to use are narrow and bumpy and many portions are thick with dust in dry weather, gooey with mud in wet. ......"
Well, ten years from 1959 was 1969, and here we are in 2012, from which I can report that it's exceedingly rare to find any road that isn't covered with smooth asphalt now. So much so, that when I find myself standing on dirt (an exceedingly rare occurrence), I look down and marvel, "Wow! Real dirt! Just think, this dirt may actually have never been buried under asphalt before! Amazing!", which is unfortunately not even sarcasm (not much anyway). It really does seem like some kind of wonderful thing to be standing on actual dirt [comment from 1996].
"Statistics before me reveal that of Japan's vehicles officially tallied in a recent year, buses totaled a surprising 10 per cent. The figure for trucks (but the majority of these are in and near the big cities, not on the open highways) is a whopping 60 per cent, while that for passenger cars is only 25 per cent, the remaining 5 per cent being scored as 'Special'."
There are still a lot of buses and trucks, but certainly trucks are not 60 percent of the vehicles on the road now. I do remember being struck with the large number of trucks on the road when I first came here though (in the eighties). In fact, I think there are probably many more trucks on the open highways now than in 1959 (with a lower percentage - but certainly not absolute number - in the cities). They have cut rail freight use way down (the Shiodome office tower area near Shinbashi Station used to be a freight rail yard, for example), and have been feverishly burying ever more of the country under asphalt over the past 50 years, so it's gotten to the point where I wish for the opposite of what Mr. Clark wished for back then. It would be an altogether happier situation if they were now making new plans to *reduce* the number of roads in the country and stop doing everything for the sake of petrol-burning internal-combustion machinery.
"..... If highway travel is bad, railway travel is quite wonderful, for Japan is perhaps the most railway-minded great country in the world. Rail service is excellent in quality and the punctuality of trains, all trains, is nothing less than spectacular. I think Japan comes the nearest of any country in the world to keeping its trains so precisely on time that 'you can set you watch by them'."
This is still true, although they have been building large new bus terminals beside major rail stations (Tokyo and Shinjuku immediately come to mind) and more and more people are traveling from Tokyo to other areas of Japan via night buses, which is a horrible development in my view (horrible to be using bloody buses when they could be running trains). Meanwhile, rail travel on many train lines away from the mega-cities is way down. Making Japan a car culture is one of the more horrible mistakes of the 20th century I think, and - although young people are less interested in owning cars than their age group used to be, the Godzilla construction industry continues to work hard in the 21st century at burying ever more of the country under asphalt for the sake of bloody internal combustion engines. I hope oil runs out in the world in a hurry - to put a stop to this suicidal madness.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Sunday, February 26, 2012
"Trying Out Cameras" - (120221)
Trying out Cameras
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
"Ginza Underground" - (120207)
"Ginza Underground"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Looking Towards Shinbashi" - (120202)
"Looking Towards Shinbashi"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Looking Over the Horizon in Tokyo via Darwin"
In reading "A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World" by Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S., I came across the following paragraph, didn't quite get it the first time, so went back and read it a second time, and then realized something - but first, have a look at this text from Darwin's 1831-36 voyage on the Beagle, referring to a trip he took in Argentina:
"For many leagues north and south of San Nicolas and Rozario, the country is really level. Scarcely anything which travellers have written about its extreme flatness can be considered as exaggeration. Yet I could never find a spot where, by slowly turning round, objects were not seen at greater distances in some directions than in others; and this manifestly proves inequality in the plain. At sea, a person's eye being six feet above the surface of the water, his horizon is two miles and four-fifths distant. In like manner, the more level the plain, the more nearly does the horizon approach within these narrow limits; and this, in my opinion, entirely destroys that grandeur which one would have imagined that a vast level plain would have possessed."
It took me a minute to conceptualize what he was getting at, but then the horizon dropping out of sight due to the roundness of the earth meaning of what he was saying came into mental focus and I realized that - in Tokyo - you very rarely have an opportunity to see very far into the distance at ground level in the first place. The views can be spectacular from the top of high-rise buildings, but while you're contemplating the view, for some reason the concept of being able to see further over the horizon by virtue of being up high doesn't come to mind. And the mental picture of being on a vast and empty plain is like a vision from another planet from the perspective of living in Tokyo, with it's (greater area) population of 30,000,000!
Another thing that is strongly evident between the lines of that book from the early 1800s, is how there is no thought of humankind having the power to destroy the planet, and travel on land was generally via walking or on horses - there were no noxious-gas-emitting automobiles poisoning the air. I love machines and electronics, but I've come to deeply resent the internal combustion engine - and the tremendous damage its use has cased/is causing to the planet.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"For many leagues north and south of San Nicolas and Rozario, the country is really level. Scarcely anything which travellers have written about its extreme flatness can be considered as exaggeration. Yet I could never find a spot where, by slowly turning round, objects were not seen at greater distances in some directions than in others; and this manifestly proves inequality in the plain. At sea, a person's eye being six feet above the surface of the water, his horizon is two miles and four-fifths distant. In like manner, the more level the plain, the more nearly does the horizon approach within these narrow limits; and this, in my opinion, entirely destroys that grandeur which one would have imagined that a vast level plain would have possessed."
It took me a minute to conceptualize what he was getting at, but then the horizon dropping out of sight due to the roundness of the earth meaning of what he was saying came into mental focus and I realized that - in Tokyo - you very rarely have an opportunity to see very far into the distance at ground level in the first place. The views can be spectacular from the top of high-rise buildings, but while you're contemplating the view, for some reason the concept of being able to see further over the horizon by virtue of being up high doesn't come to mind. And the mental picture of being on a vast and empty plain is like a vision from another planet from the perspective of living in Tokyo, with it's (greater area) population of 30,000,000!
Another thing that is strongly evident between the lines of that book from the early 1800s, is how there is no thought of humankind having the power to destroy the planet, and travel on land was generally via walking or on horses - there were no noxious-gas-emitting automobiles poisoning the air. I love machines and electronics, but I've come to deeply resent the internal combustion engine - and the tremendous damage its use has cased/is causing to the planet.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Monday, February 20, 2012
"Yurakucho Crosswalk" - (120207)
"Yurakucho Crosswalk"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Japanese Politeness, Tipping, Population, Etc. 1959/2012"
Another look back at "All the Best in Japan" by Sydney Clark (published by Sidgwick and Jackson Limited in 1959) - this time about the things that the author liked and suggested visitors would also like.
"Those Things You'll Love - Your first shocks of pleasure, following your initially grim impressions of Tokyo street traffic, occur when your taxi reaches your hotel. To your amazement you'll find that when you pay the taxi driver - who hasn't, after all, killed you or anybody else in his mad dash - he will promptly pass you your change, all of it, and drive swiftly away in search of his next fare. He expects no tip and you should offer him none unless he has done some very special service for you. Where else but in Japan could this phenomenon occur?"
This is still true enough, although I would add that over the years, I've had some bad experiences with taxi drivers in every country I've used them in, including Japan. Not all drivers are honest, and some find one way or another to overcharge their passengers. The way that's happened to me here, is with drivers not going directly to the destination. In one very blatant case, I asked the driver to "Stop here please" and he keep driving until the meter went up, and then stopped (so I had to both pay extra and walk back to where I had asked the scoundrel to stop in the first place). Of course, from a taxi driver's perspective, they have to put up with abuse from bad passengers, but I've never done that myself and so don't appreciate being a victim. As it currently stands, I prefer to walk an hour than to take a chance on a taxi driver being honest.
"At the door of your hotel, whether it is the celebrated Imperial, the eagerly desired goal of most American tourists, or some lesser hostelry, bellboys or bellgirls, bowing from the waist, will welcome you and relieve you of your luggage. After you've registered they'll take you to your room, install you politely, bow again and disappear. 'Wait a minute,' you'll say, calling down the corridor. 'Here. This is for you,' as you offer a gratuity. Again he or she will bow and politely decline it. That, as least, has been my experience over and over again, or it was until I learned not to offer tips. Even in the Imperial Hotel, the very nucleus of U.S. tourism, exactly this happened to me on three early occasions."
Not having to tip everyone for everything in hotels in Japan is a really wonderful thing. It's stressful being thrust into the role of direct employer of the people working in hotels and restaurants. I prefer for them to get their wages from their proper employer and think the employer should pay them enough that they don't have to go around with their hands out all the time for extra cash. I think tipping is a truly horrible custom.
As for the Imperial Hotel being the "very nucleus of US tourism"; in 1959, you got 360 yen for 1 dollar, but that's down to about 80 yen for 1 dollar now. As a result, Japan is now a very much more expensive place to visit for someone coming here from a foreign country than it was in 1959. The Imperial Hotel is a luxury hotel and either people with a lot of money to spend or business people on expense accounts are the type of foreign guest that comes to mind now.
"You'll love the schoolchildren as tourists. At every Buddhist temple, Shinto shrine or other tourist sight you'll see them being herded along by their teachers, for sightseeing is a very definite part of every child's schooling. They all wear uniforms, in deference to democracy, so that there shall be no obvious difference between rich and poor. ......."
This is pretty much still true, although some schools allow regular clothing. I've had several people tell me that they liked having a uniform, as it eliminated the pressure to competitively dress. The "at every Buddhist temple" part is the sensation you'll often have when visiting Kyoto and Nara, but not so much in other areas of the country.
"The multitudes of these children-in-uniform, encountered everywhere you go, will constantly amaze you, even when you grow accustomed to the spectacle. They flow around you like a human river. Often you have literally to plow your way through them. To us these giggling kids are a delight, but to the Japanese government they are a constant source of worry, for the country, with some 90 million inhabitants, is already overpopulated and the national tally has been increasing by a million or more a year. Last year, however, there was a ray of hope, for the net increase was only 935,000, the first time since the war that it has been under a million. You and I will leave population worries to whom they may concern and will selfishly enjoy these swarming, scurrying, buoyant youngsters."
I admit it took me several years to fully get used to seeing school children in uniform out and about here, there, and everywhere at all hours and even on national holidays. In the beginning you ask yourself "Why are they in uniform on a holiday?" and gradually it sinks in that there are a vast number of schools in Tokyo, and sometimes the students will wear their uniforms for a school concert, etc., and so, with the very large number of schools, someone is bound to be in uniform pretty much on any given day.
About population growth - the author mentions 90 million and growing in 1959, and mentions that growth was slowing, but that people were worried about overpopulation. It grew to its current (approximate) 127 million, and now has slowed to the point where it's actually declining, as many people are not having children, or only having one or two children. The big worry now is that - in the words of hysterical TV talking heads - "Japan will disappear" which is utter nonsense of course, but bloody TV always tries to be sensationalist to get people's attention, and then a certain percentage of the population unthinkingly takes the hysteria at face value. (Lest this cynical comment be taken out of context, I hasten to say I'm referring to human beings on planet earth, and not criticizing the residents of any particular country.)
"You'll love the built-in courtesy of all Japanese, young or old, rich or poor, for nothing quite like it exists anywhere else in the world. I'll grant that among the Japanese themselves the formalities of politeness reach heights, or depths, that seem to Westerners absurd. ...... Self-depreciation is also a part of this traditional formality. A hostess offering a superb dinner, impeccably served, will apologize for the poor and meager quality of her hospitality. A person giving a costly and elegant present will ask forgiveness for venturing to proffer so small and worthless a gift. But you and I won't be often exposed to these traditional customs. ....."
Yes, being polite is one of the nice aspects of Japan. As for some aspects seeming "absurd" to Westerners, well - the author had tourists in mind when he wrote "you and I" but as I read this as a long-term resident, I realize that I have fallen into the same habit. It's not as strange as it sounds, as it's just a matter of not being boastful and not loading guilt onto a person by saying "I'm giving you this wonderful thing", etc. In short, it's manners, and once you're used to how they're handled here, it's just the way it is.
"And finally - for I must abridge this catalog of virtues - you'll love the Japanese instinct for beauty. It is an instinct that you'll see, and cannot fail to see, in parks, in works of art, in the widespread passion of flower arrangement ..... We of the West tend always to put comforts first and beauty second. With the Japanese it's quite the other way around. In Japanese inns, for instance, which are very rarely blessed with central heating, the rooms will be cruelly cold in winter and bleakly chilly in early spring and late fall, but to the Japanese customer this doesn't much matter. What does matter very much is that the room shall be decorated with restrained and faultless taste, and there shall be one or two exquisite objects d'art in the elevated alcove (tokonoma), which is an essential of every room, perhaps with one lovely scroll on the wall above it, a scroll having a 17-syllable poem or tradition or an inspirational message painted on it. And it matters very much that the room's windows shall look out upon a bit of a garden, perhaps with one tenderly groomed pine tree visible, and a mossy stone lantern under it."
While the comments about beauty hold true, people's expectations regarding indoor heating have changed a lot in the past 25 years or so. In the eighties, I found it pretty much as the author describes it in 1959, but I'm finding that just as I have gotten used to doing without central heat in the winter, the locals have suddenly gotten used to being warm all the time and - for example - some open-air drinking places in Yurakucho now have to put up plastic sheets and place heaters all around the tables, or customers won't come. So it's come full circle, where they're destroying atmosphere in the quest for comfort. Personally, I find heaps of irony in the fact that I'm now walking around, shaking my head, and thinking "Young people are so weak! Where's their will power? It's as if they think they'll keel over dead if any room they're in is less than 25 degrees. And they don't appear to see how hideously ugly the plastic sheets and heaters are. It's a shame - what's becoming of the world?", etc.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Those Things You'll Love - Your first shocks of pleasure, following your initially grim impressions of Tokyo street traffic, occur when your taxi reaches your hotel. To your amazement you'll find that when you pay the taxi driver - who hasn't, after all, killed you or anybody else in his mad dash - he will promptly pass you your change, all of it, and drive swiftly away in search of his next fare. He expects no tip and you should offer him none unless he has done some very special service for you. Where else but in Japan could this phenomenon occur?"
This is still true enough, although I would add that over the years, I've had some bad experiences with taxi drivers in every country I've used them in, including Japan. Not all drivers are honest, and some find one way or another to overcharge their passengers. The way that's happened to me here, is with drivers not going directly to the destination. In one very blatant case, I asked the driver to "Stop here please" and he keep driving until the meter went up, and then stopped (so I had to both pay extra and walk back to where I had asked the scoundrel to stop in the first place). Of course, from a taxi driver's perspective, they have to put up with abuse from bad passengers, but I've never done that myself and so don't appreciate being a victim. As it currently stands, I prefer to walk an hour than to take a chance on a taxi driver being honest.
"At the door of your hotel, whether it is the celebrated Imperial, the eagerly desired goal of most American tourists, or some lesser hostelry, bellboys or bellgirls, bowing from the waist, will welcome you and relieve you of your luggage. After you've registered they'll take you to your room, install you politely, bow again and disappear. 'Wait a minute,' you'll say, calling down the corridor. 'Here. This is for you,' as you offer a gratuity. Again he or she will bow and politely decline it. That, as least, has been my experience over and over again, or it was until I learned not to offer tips. Even in the Imperial Hotel, the very nucleus of U.S. tourism, exactly this happened to me on three early occasions."
Not having to tip everyone for everything in hotels in Japan is a really wonderful thing. It's stressful being thrust into the role of direct employer of the people working in hotels and restaurants. I prefer for them to get their wages from their proper employer and think the employer should pay them enough that they don't have to go around with their hands out all the time for extra cash. I think tipping is a truly horrible custom.
As for the Imperial Hotel being the "very nucleus of US tourism"; in 1959, you got 360 yen for 1 dollar, but that's down to about 80 yen for 1 dollar now. As a result, Japan is now a very much more expensive place to visit for someone coming here from a foreign country than it was in 1959. The Imperial Hotel is a luxury hotel and either people with a lot of money to spend or business people on expense accounts are the type of foreign guest that comes to mind now.
"You'll love the schoolchildren as tourists. At every Buddhist temple, Shinto shrine or other tourist sight you'll see them being herded along by their teachers, for sightseeing is a very definite part of every child's schooling. They all wear uniforms, in deference to democracy, so that there shall be no obvious difference between rich and poor. ......."
This is pretty much still true, although some schools allow regular clothing. I've had several people tell me that they liked having a uniform, as it eliminated the pressure to competitively dress. The "at every Buddhist temple" part is the sensation you'll often have when visiting Kyoto and Nara, but not so much in other areas of the country.
"The multitudes of these children-in-uniform, encountered everywhere you go, will constantly amaze you, even when you grow accustomed to the spectacle. They flow around you like a human river. Often you have literally to plow your way through them. To us these giggling kids are a delight, but to the Japanese government they are a constant source of worry, for the country, with some 90 million inhabitants, is already overpopulated and the national tally has been increasing by a million or more a year. Last year, however, there was a ray of hope, for the net increase was only 935,000, the first time since the war that it has been under a million. You and I will leave population worries to whom they may concern and will selfishly enjoy these swarming, scurrying, buoyant youngsters."
I admit it took me several years to fully get used to seeing school children in uniform out and about here, there, and everywhere at all hours and even on national holidays. In the beginning you ask yourself "Why are they in uniform on a holiday?" and gradually it sinks in that there are a vast number of schools in Tokyo, and sometimes the students will wear their uniforms for a school concert, etc., and so, with the very large number of schools, someone is bound to be in uniform pretty much on any given day.
About population growth - the author mentions 90 million and growing in 1959, and mentions that growth was slowing, but that people were worried about overpopulation. It grew to its current (approximate) 127 million, and now has slowed to the point where it's actually declining, as many people are not having children, or only having one or two children. The big worry now is that - in the words of hysterical TV talking heads - "Japan will disappear" which is utter nonsense of course, but bloody TV always tries to be sensationalist to get people's attention, and then a certain percentage of the population unthinkingly takes the hysteria at face value. (Lest this cynical comment be taken out of context, I hasten to say I'm referring to human beings on planet earth, and not criticizing the residents of any particular country.)
"You'll love the built-in courtesy of all Japanese, young or old, rich or poor, for nothing quite like it exists anywhere else in the world. I'll grant that among the Japanese themselves the formalities of politeness reach heights, or depths, that seem to Westerners absurd. ...... Self-depreciation is also a part of this traditional formality. A hostess offering a superb dinner, impeccably served, will apologize for the poor and meager quality of her hospitality. A person giving a costly and elegant present will ask forgiveness for venturing to proffer so small and worthless a gift. But you and I won't be often exposed to these traditional customs. ....."
Yes, being polite is one of the nice aspects of Japan. As for some aspects seeming "absurd" to Westerners, well - the author had tourists in mind when he wrote "you and I" but as I read this as a long-term resident, I realize that I have fallen into the same habit. It's not as strange as it sounds, as it's just a matter of not being boastful and not loading guilt onto a person by saying "I'm giving you this wonderful thing", etc. In short, it's manners, and once you're used to how they're handled here, it's just the way it is.
"And finally - for I must abridge this catalog of virtues - you'll love the Japanese instinct for beauty. It is an instinct that you'll see, and cannot fail to see, in parks, in works of art, in the widespread passion of flower arrangement ..... We of the West tend always to put comforts first and beauty second. With the Japanese it's quite the other way around. In Japanese inns, for instance, which are very rarely blessed with central heating, the rooms will be cruelly cold in winter and bleakly chilly in early spring and late fall, but to the Japanese customer this doesn't much matter. What does matter very much is that the room shall be decorated with restrained and faultless taste, and there shall be one or two exquisite objects d'art in the elevated alcove (tokonoma), which is an essential of every room, perhaps with one lovely scroll on the wall above it, a scroll having a 17-syllable poem or tradition or an inspirational message painted on it. And it matters very much that the room's windows shall look out upon a bit of a garden, perhaps with one tenderly groomed pine tree visible, and a mossy stone lantern under it."
While the comments about beauty hold true, people's expectations regarding indoor heating have changed a lot in the past 25 years or so. In the eighties, I found it pretty much as the author describes it in 1959, but I'm finding that just as I have gotten used to doing without central heat in the winter, the locals have suddenly gotten used to being warm all the time and - for example - some open-air drinking places in Yurakucho now have to put up plastic sheets and place heaters all around the tables, or customers won't come. So it's come full circle, where they're destroying atmosphere in the quest for comfort. Personally, I find heaps of irony in the fact that I'm now walking around, shaking my head, and thinking "Young people are so weak! Where's their will power? It's as if they think they'll keel over dead if any room they're in is less than 25 degrees. And they don't appear to see how hideously ugly the plastic sheets and heaters are. It's a shame - what's becoming of the world?", etc.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
Saturday, February 18, 2012
"Waiting For a Train at Tokyo Station" (120202)
"Waiting For a Train at Tokyo Station"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Showa-Dori - February 2012"
"Showa-Dori - February 2012"
Copyright 2012 by Lyle H Saxon
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
"Ginza, Evening Shinbashi, Okuno Building, Shinjuku, Kichijoji, Etc."
This batch of video clips starts off with Ginza street scenes, and goes to Shinbashi, where I walk around in the area that reportedly inspired the director of the movie Blade Runner (in print very soon after the movie was made - but for some reason, people started saying the inspiration was Shinjuku some years later, probably due to the "Omoide-yokocho" izakaya street, combined with the destruction of much of Shinbashi's former back-street izakaya). While Shinbashi doesn't have nearly as much of a mysterious atmosphere as it used to, there are still some interesting back street places and a little of the old atmosphere (see videos below).
I've posted short clips of the Okuno Building before, but there are two in this batch where I systematically go through the building (actually two buildings combined) one half (1932) first, and then the other half (1934) - explaining some features of the building. And - further down the page - I go through the whole building, taking a systematic look at the fascinating floors, which are a kind of history book that some people are capable of reading/perceiving.
Then there are some scenes from Shinjuku, and various trains views, from the Chuo, Tozai, Ginza, Keihin-Tohoku, Seibu lines, etc. February is the coldest time of year, which keeps the camera from overheating while taking extended videos, but really chills my camera hand! I'm looking forward to spring, but am not so enthusiastic about the coming heat of summer.
Ginza - Walking Towards Shinbashi Station - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkAlcwNfsLo
Ginza Main Street Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwI9vyNYYS0
Ginza Side Street Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1AnCYPKTZY
Passing Trains at Yurakucho Station - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8aKSdRF6Nk
Ochanomizu to Yurakucho - Chuo and Yamanote Lines - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu4xobJekq0
Walking to Shinbashi Station - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52lADtegKqo
Evening Ginza 4-Chome Intersection - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1uE-h7eOA
Shinbashi SL-Plaza in February 2012 - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pY42eVnJhU
Shinbashi Side Streets (A) February 2012 - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LKtJR0lqk
Izakaya Quest - Shinbashi (February 2012) - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3ofbTc-Hj0
Shinbashi Side Streets (B) February 2012 - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgCL4LGoLVY
Shinbashi Station Area Night Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD0w99n9Ws4
Shinbashi SL-Plaza - Walk Towards Ginza - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tLw7-O7J-w
Shinbashi Walkabout - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EHOHTPVvXU
Walking Around in Shinbashi - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WrCDHpb2oM
YSB Scene - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBweV3KGytY
Walking into Yurakucho - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6RsYBV9xQ
Yurakucho Night Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgf6bc65oDs
Okuno Building Tour - 1932 Building - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwKjktbtbLU
Walking through the 1932 half of the Ginza Okuno Building - going from the 7th floor down to the basement and with a quick view of the front exterior of the building.
Okuno Building Tour - 1934 Building - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxMste12d38
Walking through the 1934 half of the Ginza Okuno Building - going from the 1st floor, up to the 7th floor in the elevator, and then back down to the basement (via the stairs) and including a quick view of the front exterior of the building.
Ginza Line - Nihonbashi to Ginza - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F37XKnNTQmA
Shinjuku - Waiting for Walk Light - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjZUnr28ryo
Shinjuku South Exit (Evening) - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjDYPuhuGR8
In Front of Takadanobaba Station - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0h2_xblMXs
Chuo Line - Tokyo to Kanda - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on4tnAfTRNg
Polished Stairs in Ginza - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrsC0oy_4mQ
Boarding Tozai Line in Takadanobaba - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNlQGpG3sGM
Ogawa to Hagiyama (Construction Zone) - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VK1L3FapFw
Yurakucho Plaza Reflections - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFdob52p8Wk
Yurakucho - Evening Sidewalk Stroll - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KOhzj5LeTQ
Shinjuku Chuo Line Platform - Evening Outbound - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4psAYiQpfE
Yurakucho to Tokyo (Yamanote Line) - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77f6YI-75SU
Nearing Kichijoji on Chuo Line - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTCI_NzdrjA
Seibu Line Window View - to Takadanobaba - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XDLIMxHCAo
Side Window View - Outbound Chuo Line (Winter) - (120208)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWlMEgaQ_G4
Chuo Line Side Window View - Outbound to Tachikawa - (120208)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_JHKrqKGs
Chuo Line to Hachioji - Window View - (120208)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv95jZ3It9U
Outbound Chuo Line (Interior) - (120117)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfJwQ56mD6Y
Kichijoji - December 2011 Shopping - (111225)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgpbzM2hlkM
Kichijoji Sidewalk - (111225)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lxxa7R4t_U
Kichijoji Station Area - (111225)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDlYyDW2xis
Hagiyama to Kodaira - Seibu Line - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0sY2z51PFk
Ogawa to Hagiyama - Construction Zone (Seibu Line) - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEbyIK9QeLw
Historical Floors - Ginza Okuno Building - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qOPUnRNhRQ
Taking a look at the fascinating floors of the Ginza Okuno Building. 80/78 years of people walking on them. They are a kind of historical record and an accidental piece of art.
Ginza Station - Ginza Line Platform View - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o64KRihfQog
Waiting for a Subway Train - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCaQ3yPYBxA
Shiiba Taishi 椎葉泰志展 Installation at Gallery Kobo 巷房 (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjuju4rkaAc
Walking Through Tokyo Station in the Evening - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZpLkFdBO0E
Tokyo to Kanda - Night View (Left Side) - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHDLPJfQdvE
Busy South Exit Area - After Chuo Line - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS-wvcfa35o
Going from the 1st Floor to the 7th Floor - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYI7val47k
Ginza Line - Nihonbashi to Ginza (HD) - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLKKUu58B7c
Chuo Line Night View - Departing Ochanomizu - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krJ1cKIVSFc
Okuno Building - 1st and 6th Floors - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvfCJ2ANhjQ
Hachioji to Nishi-Hachioji (Chuo Line) - (120215)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0KN8qDzpEg
Okuno Building - Basement Installations - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrbgHxjLBzc
Tokyo Station - Waiting for the Chuo Line - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L64lAzZ-M9A
Kanda to Yurakucho (Keihin-Tohoku Line) - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6oaRgXZL8
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
I've posted short clips of the Okuno Building before, but there are two in this batch where I systematically go through the building (actually two buildings combined) one half (1932) first, and then the other half (1934) - explaining some features of the building. And - further down the page - I go through the whole building, taking a systematic look at the fascinating floors, which are a kind of history book that some people are capable of reading/perceiving.
Then there are some scenes from Shinjuku, and various trains views, from the Chuo, Tozai, Ginza, Keihin-Tohoku, Seibu lines, etc. February is the coldest time of year, which keeps the camera from overheating while taking extended videos, but really chills my camera hand! I'm looking forward to spring, but am not so enthusiastic about the coming heat of summer.
Ginza - Walking Towards Shinbashi Station - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkAlcwNfsLo
Ginza Main Street Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwI9vyNYYS0
Ginza Side Street Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1AnCYPKTZY
Passing Trains at Yurakucho Station - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8aKSdRF6Nk
Ochanomizu to Yurakucho - Chuo and Yamanote Lines - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu4xobJekq0
Walking to Shinbashi Station - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52lADtegKqo
Evening Ginza 4-Chome Intersection - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1uE-h7eOA
Shinbashi SL-Plaza in February 2012 - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pY42eVnJhU
Shinbashi Side Streets (A) February 2012 - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LKtJR0lqk
Izakaya Quest - Shinbashi (February 2012) - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3ofbTc-Hj0
Shinbashi Side Streets (B) February 2012 - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgCL4LGoLVY
Shinbashi Station Area Night Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD0w99n9Ws4
Shinbashi SL-Plaza - Walk Towards Ginza - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tLw7-O7J-w
Shinbashi Walkabout - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EHOHTPVvXU
Walking Around in Shinbashi - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WrCDHpb2oM
YSB Scene - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBweV3KGytY
Walking into Yurakucho - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6RsYBV9xQ
Yurakucho Night Stroll - (120202)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgf6bc65oDs
Okuno Building Tour - 1932 Building - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwKjktbtbLU
Walking through the 1932 half of the Ginza Okuno Building - going from the 7th floor down to the basement and with a quick view of the front exterior of the building.
Okuno Building Tour - 1934 Building - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxMste12d38
Walking through the 1934 half of the Ginza Okuno Building - going from the 1st floor, up to the 7th floor in the elevator, and then back down to the basement (via the stairs) and including a quick view of the front exterior of the building.
Ginza Line - Nihonbashi to Ginza - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F37XKnNTQmA
Shinjuku - Waiting for Walk Light - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjZUnr28ryo
Shinjuku South Exit (Evening) - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjDYPuhuGR8
In Front of Takadanobaba Station - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0h2_xblMXs
Chuo Line - Tokyo to Kanda - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on4tnAfTRNg
Polished Stairs in Ginza - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrsC0oy_4mQ
Boarding Tozai Line in Takadanobaba - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNlQGpG3sGM
Ogawa to Hagiyama (Construction Zone) - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VK1L3FapFw
Yurakucho Plaza Reflections - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFdob52p8Wk
Yurakucho - Evening Sidewalk Stroll - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KOhzj5LeTQ
Shinjuku Chuo Line Platform - Evening Outbound - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4psAYiQpfE
Yurakucho to Tokyo (Yamanote Line) - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77f6YI-75SU
Nearing Kichijoji on Chuo Line - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTCI_NzdrjA
Seibu Line Window View - to Takadanobaba - (120207)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XDLIMxHCAo
Side Window View - Outbound Chuo Line (Winter) - (120208)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWlMEgaQ_G4
Chuo Line Side Window View - Outbound to Tachikawa - (120208)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_JHKrqKGs
Chuo Line to Hachioji - Window View - (120208)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv95jZ3It9U
Outbound Chuo Line (Interior) - (120117)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfJwQ56mD6Y
Kichijoji - December 2011 Shopping - (111225)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgpbzM2hlkM
Kichijoji Sidewalk - (111225)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lxxa7R4t_U
Kichijoji Station Area - (111225)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDlYyDW2xis
Hagiyama to Kodaira - Seibu Line - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0sY2z51PFk
Ogawa to Hagiyama - Construction Zone (Seibu Line) - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEbyIK9QeLw
Historical Floors - Ginza Okuno Building - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qOPUnRNhRQ
Taking a look at the fascinating floors of the Ginza Okuno Building. 80/78 years of people walking on them. They are a kind of historical record and an accidental piece of art.
Ginza Station - Ginza Line Platform View - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o64KRihfQog
Waiting for a Subway Train - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCaQ3yPYBxA
Shiiba Taishi 椎葉泰志展 Installation at Gallery Kobo 巷房 (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjuju4rkaAc
Walking Through Tokyo Station in the Evening - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZpLkFdBO0E
Tokyo to Kanda - Night View (Left Side) - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHDLPJfQdvE
Busy South Exit Area - After Chuo Line - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS-wvcfa35o
Going from the 1st Floor to the 7th Floor - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYI7val47k
Ginza Line - Nihonbashi to Ginza (HD) - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLKKUu58B7c
Chuo Line Night View - Departing Ochanomizu - (120214)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krJ1cKIVSFc
Okuno Building - 1st and 6th Floors - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvfCJ2ANhjQ
Hachioji to Nishi-Hachioji (Chuo Line) - (120215)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0KN8qDzpEg
Okuno Building - Basement Installations - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrbgHxjLBzc
Tokyo Station - Waiting for the Chuo Line - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L64lAzZ-M9A
Kanda to Yurakucho (Keihin-Tohoku Line) - (120216)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6oaRgXZL8
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
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