No matter how many times I ride them, the Japanese trains remain a wonder. Leh is waiting to get on the Chuo Line, the line that bisects the Yamanote Line, which encircles central Tokyo.
The Sobu Line train arrives; this is the train we take up from Kinshicho, where we are staying with family. It comes up from ‘shitamachi’ (the old ‘downtown’ part of the city) and parallels the Chuo through central Tokyo.
Up in Yamanaka they get lots of snow. There are water sprinklers that run down the centre of most roads, and they come on to melt snow. It works well in a place where the temperature rarely gets more than a couple of degrees below zero.
A little bobcat used for clearing snow. With these things and a fleet of little front-end loaders they were able to get about a foot of snow cleared from the streets in a remarkably short time.
A stripped-down version of our Corolla, which was apparently still in production until recently, and remains one of the most popular ‘business’ vehicles. The Japanese carmakers make really basic versions of their small wagons for business use. This particular model is equipped with full-time 4WD, as were a lot of the vehicles in Yamanaka.
Yamanaka is a major centre for wooden lacquerware in Japan; here in a lacquerware showroom they demonstrate their prowess with a wooden bicycle.
Boxy little vehicles are hugely popular right now in Japan, and they range in size all the way from the ‘keijidosha’ class minivehicles to small SUVs. In some cases they are based on their lines of small vans, in other cases they are derived from passenger cars. They are very practical, with tons of interior space for their size and very good fuel economy.
There are now lots of different kinds of electric bicycles around. Yamaha has added this electric scooter to its ‘Pas’ line of electric bicycles.
Thought you might enjoy seeing these, Dave: a couple of SR400’s seen on the streets of Shibuya. I thought the first one was pretty nicely done.
There are a surprising number of imported vehicles around these days; this is a really cool Alfa Romeo
There are just such an amazing variety of scooters around. Here’s a really heavy-duty one.
One of the new ‘fat’ scooters, like the Suzuki Bergman being exported to Canada. Of course, the kids have found ways to customize them – some of them are really hilarious. I guess it’s probably easier to convince your girlfriend to get on one of these than the average street racer…
And here’s one with a roof…
There are tons of interesting, small-wheel bicycles around. And then there was this, seen in trendy Harajuku.
Hard to believe that somebody would buy an imported scooter in Japan, but then if it was as cool as this Italjet, maybe I would too…
This is a Honda Step Wagon that belongs to my friend Miyamoto-san; these were never exported to North America, which is kind of a shame – it seats eight people in comfort, has 4WD, and gets 10km/litre.
By comparison, there is this…
Tons of cool little sedans too…
They sell an incredible variety of food off the backs of little vehicles in Japan; this one’s selling roast chicken.
There were two of these gangsta-mobiles parked on opposite sides of the street outside Shinjuku Station; they had hubcaps that revolved when the vehicle was parked… wouldn’t that look great on the streets of Baghdad?
One of the new little taxis; since they offer more room for less money, you have to wonder why anybody would ride anything else, but the standard Toyota Crown taxis are still far and away the most numerous on the street.
