Tokyo

A Tokyo cab is a thing apart. They are generally clean, well-maintained and piloted by a trustworthy professional. The one we rode today from the end of the subway line out to Tokyo Aquarium in Kassai was a little different than they used to be; there was a plastic safety partition between the driver and passenger compartments.
We are off to Indonesia tomorrow, and I'm not taking either my computer or my digital camera - a totally analog experience! So I'll be signing off for a couple of weeks, and probably won't have much more to add to this blog for the next while.

Three of us in a cab, stuck in traffic.

Apparently some cabs now have a partition between the driver and the passenger compartments - maybe the city isn't as safe as it used to be?

Such cool scooters these days!

A natural gas filling station. Cabs run on liquified natural gas, and more and more buses are using the fuel as well. This should be good for the air; despite the fact that Tokyo (together with Scandinavia) was one of the first areas in the world to adopt the use of low-sulphur diesel, pollution from diesel vehicles is still a huge problem.

A minivehicle with a ski rack.

That big wheel keeps turning... the ferris wheel in Kassai on Tokyo Bay.

Tokyo

Japan's infrastructure in support of cycling is far from perfect, but they have put considerable effort into it. In Tokyo, bicycles are permitted on both the sidewalk and on the street; the former is obviously safer (for the biker) but pretty slow if there are many pedestrians (which there often are); the latter can be a bit risky but is better if you want to really cover some distance. Some drivers here are under the mistaken impression that bicycles are not allowed on the street, but this is not true. Still, as anywhere, the prudent rider assumes that everybody behind the wheel of a four-wheeled vehicle is a homicidal maniac. When I began wearing a helmet while riding here years ago it elicited a lot of stares; it is now commonplace, though still far from the norm. Happily, many kids in carriers are now wearing helmets.
When we left Tokyo a decade ago, bicycle couriers were just starting to appear and are now fairly common, though the bulk of courier work is still done on motorcycles. The motorcycle couriers are all amazing riders; natural selection takes care of those that aren't - it's a hazardous profession. During the dozen years in Tokyo that I rode a motorcycle on a daily basis, I figured that if you didn't die in some spectacular crash, breathing the air on the street would eventually kill you. Still, if you're the kind of person that likes an adrenalin rush on your way home from work, you can't beat it.

Crosswalks in Tokyo all have bike lanes.

Bicycle couriers are becoming more common on the streets of Tokyo. I wonder if they've developed their own subculture like their counterparts in Vancouver?

I still haven't got any really good pictures of motorcycle couriers - it's kind of hard because they tend to move fast and are often obscured by traffic - but I'll keep trying. The real pros used to favour four-cylinder bikes in the 400cc range - if you're sitting on that thing for hours at a time, smooth is good, and it's nice to have a zippy, high-revving engine that will get you between the lights fast. But they ride all kinds; my cousin Yasumasa who used to be an elite courier rushing film for Fuji Television did it on a 750 Norton and a 900 Ducati, amongst other bikes.

You see more Vespas these days in oh-so-fashion-conscious Tokyo.

A retro Honda 50 Benly in Shinjuku - this is a replica version of the old Honda Benly 50 from the sixties.

Bicycle parking lot outside an apartment building. There's getting to be more of these around train stations too, which should help to deal with the sidewalks that are clogged with bikes around many stations. My friend Sue reports that around Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo they actually have valet parking for bicycles to discourage people from parking their bicycles too close to the station.

Tokyo

Leh, George and I were out to see the 'Sue' dinosaur exhibition in Ueno today, and ended up walking through the motorcycle district close to Ueno Station. It's a lot smaller than it used to be, but there are still a bunch of shops down there selling motorcycles and all manner of motorcycle-related gear.

The streets are just filled with motorcycle shops.

A couple of shots of a stylin' maxi scooter.

Check out that pipe...

Though they seem particularly ill-suited to Tokyo driving conditions, Harleys have a following in Japan.

Leh and George check out another Harley...

Two people on a maxi scooter.

Here it is, the ojisan dream bike! A big brother to the Super Cub, the Honda 125cc Benly twin has been around forever and is a favourite among the geezer crowd. You can walk into a Honda showroom and buy one right now that is virtually identical to those of three decades ago. And there are some good reasons for this - it's just about perfect the way it is - strong, solid, reliable and economical to run. This one features a particularly nice box on the back, which fits on the skookum rack that these bikes come equipped with.

Not sure if this was a piece of installation art, or what?

Another cool-looking folding bike, apparently made in the UK.

In an earlier posting I was wondering if the Japanese manufacturers were still making the seven-passenger wagons that were appearing a decade ago; it turns out they are, and it seems to be a pretty active market segment. Here is Honda's offering.

Ueno train station from above.

A panorama shot of the D51 steam locomotive parked in front of the National Science Museum in Ueno

Tokyo

A few more observations on the streets of Tokyo...

A canopied Honda Gyro, with a gimbaled tray on the back for carrying things like noodles, rushes a delivery to its destination.

A compact parkade. You drive your car onto the turntable, it turns it around, you drive onto the lift, which transports your car into the interior of the parking lot.

A cardboard recycler pulls his cart through Akihabara.

A policeman receives a call on his radio.

The front of an old D51 steam locomotive on the front of the train museum in Akihabara. Leh and I tried to go here with our old friend George today, but unfortunately it was closed for the day. Apparently this museum will only be open for a few more months as there is a huge new one about to open out in Omiya.

The nose of the original Shinkansen on the front of the train museum. The last of these only went out of service in the last year or two.

Elevated train tracks near Akihabara station.

Electric bicycles were just being introduced when we left Japan a decade ago; now there are all kinds and the prices have come way down. This is a small one with a Honda electric motor - I don't know if Honda built the whole bike.

Small, single-cylinder motorcycles still have a following; this one by Kawasaki is a bit unusual for its underbore engine.

An oden 'yatai' (cart for selling food on the street) near the south exit of Shinjuku Station; seeing things like this makes it almost seem like you are in Asia...

Tokyo

A few shots from the Shinkansen, and a couple of observations on the streets of Tokyo...

We arrived back in Tokyo at the beginning of the 'shubunnohi' (spring equinox) long weekend; crowded platforms and lineups to get onto packed trains. Leh and I thought of using the last day of our Japan Rail Pass (unlimited travel on the JR network) to blast down to Kyoto for a bowl of noodles, but we couldn't get reserved seats and I really didn't feel like joining the scrum for an unreserved seat on Saturday morning.

The trains themselves are amazing, but perhaps even more remarkable is the sheer number of them - from this platform in Tokyo station alone trains are leaving about once every fifteen minutes.

Rumi catching up on her email aboard the Shinkansen. They have a section on the train with desks and electrical outlets, but no internet access yet - they've had phones for years, so I'm sure it's on the way...

Two babies in a buggy...

A really traditional 'ojisan' (literally 'uncle', but often used like we'd use 'geezer') bicycle. Note the highly desirable hand warmers...

A mamachari bike for carrying two kids.

I guess if you can't sell them cars, you might as well try something else... GM is now actually selling locally made cars here under the Chevrolet brand name; I can't imagine the brand having much appeal, but I suppose they should be admired for trying.

The Shuto Expressway network runs all over the Tokyo Bay metropolitan area. It's virtually all elevated, and two (narrow) lanes in each direction, with no shoulders. It's often gridlocked - I have sat stalled in traffic at 1am - and often slower than taking the streets below.

It's also expensive; 700 yen for an ordinary car, and no refunds if you get stuck crawling along at 20km an hour and then give up in disgust after a couple of kilometres. Below the sign indicating the prices is the current traffic situation; currently an 11km traffic jam on one particular section of the expressway.

Tono to Tokyo

It was kind of hard leaving the open spaces, fresh air and good friends of Tono, but today we got back on the train and blasted back down to big, bad old Tokyo. A few observations along the way...

Leh getting on the Iron Horse in Tono. He's sitting astride kind of a homemade hobby horse, made from a 'kua' (a Japanese mattock) that I bought in the area. Japanese farm and garden tools are substantially different than their western counterparts, and in many ways better. I purchased another kind of kua in Tono when we were there six or seven years ago, and it has become a favourite tool in my garden.

Japan has been making substantial progress in accessibility for the disabled since we left a decade ago. This is a braille information panel next to a train ticket machine, and I've seen these at a lot of stations in the country. They are also installing elevators and ramps in a lot of stations to improve wheelchair accessability.

Another shot of an elevated track for the Shinkansen.

A couple of shots of the nose of the 'Hayate' Shinkansen that we rode from Morioka to Tokyo. There are a bunch of new Shinkansens in use, and several more are apparently on the way. At the Expo in Aichi this summer a linear motor train will take visitors from Aichi station out to the Expo site.

Tono, Iwate

Some more interesting vehicles from my walk around the town of Tono yesterday... In conversation with our hosts and their friends, I learned that you can purchase a new 'keitoraku' - light truck - for about ¥800,000, or about C$9000 - $9500. If you want a box that dumps, like a tiny dump truck, it costs a bit more. Canadian import regulations are much less strict for vehicles older than 15 years; I wonder if it would be possible to find an older one and bring it to Canada? - it would be interesting to demonstrate that there are some alternatives to the big things that we use. Today I was riding with Tokuyoshi's friend Iwama-kun in his 'keitoraku', and it was just fine - I'm an average-sized Canadian and he's larger than I am and there was plenty of room in the cab. He said his truck gets over 20km/litre, and that some of the newer keijidosha - the cars - are hitting 30km/litre - 85 miles to the imperial gallon!

Iwama-kun's keitoraku parked in the field opposite his charcoal kiln.

A well-loaded tradesman's keitoraku.

The keijidosha come in all shapes and sizes - here's a really tall one...

A keijidosha version of the Pajero, Mitsubishi's pretty highly regarded four-wheel-drive vehicle.

A police version of the keijidosha - not that great if you have to stuff a drunk in the back seat, but perfect for going for donuts...

Wouldn't it be nice if some of these wagon versions of standard sedans were available in North America? This is the Honda Orthio.

A more deluxe version of the Corolla wagon than I showed earlier in this blog. Though no longer a current model, you see lots of Corolla wagons on the streets, most of them for business use. This is a more deluxe version for personal use, similar to the car we drive in Canada, but with 4WD. This would be ideal for us on Saltspring.

I don't know if they are still selling these, but about a decade ago several manufacturers were offering seven-passenger station wagons such as this one (from Mitsubishi?), similar to the Volvo wagons with the third-row, back-facing seat. They've likely been replaced by the small SUV's, which probably are more comfortable.

Buses are built in a variety of sizes, some of which look pretty stubby from a Canadian point of view.

This is a great geezer bike, a Yamaha 50 road bike with all the optional extras; windshield, stylish handwarmers, racy fairing, and a totally skookum rack. If you've ever ridden motorcycles in the wintertime, you aren't laughing...

This was parked outside a little restaurant in Tono; it didn't look like it was getting much use, but probably would be just fine for getting around the city. I think it was electric.

For reference, a shot of the narrow gauge track used on most lines in Japan.

It's not uncommon to see the elderly riding these three-wheeled bikes to do their shopping. Seems like a nice, safe alternative... I think old people in Japan are generally more physically active than their counterparts in other countries and this may partly explain why they have the longest lifespans in the world. I'm always impressed by the number of elderly that you see out on mountain trails - you often see these incredibly chipper old folks making their way up a steep mountain path.