I’m gratified to announce my return to this blog (after an absence partly caused by the recent volcanic ash….) with a smile-inducing story involving a female train operator. Her name is Yukie Sakai.
Personally, the thought of which gender the driver of the train I was riding had never crossed my mind before. I suppose that, subconciously, I generally assumed the driver to be male and middle-aged.
JR East has appointed its first female bullet-train operator on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, it was announced on Tuesday, as Yukie Sakai boarded the Tokyo-bound “Hayate-Komachi” bullet-train at Sendai Station in front of reporters.
The 29-year-old Sakai was born in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. According to JR East, she joined the company in April of 2001 and gained experience as a conductor and a train operator on non-bullet train lines. In October of 2009 she began learning as an apprentice on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, and on March 23 of this year she obtained her bullet-train operating license. She began operating on the Tohoku line by herself on April 9.
Sakai joins about 400 male bullet-train operators in the company. JR Tokai and JR West already have women actively contributing as bullet-train operators.
Original Japanese lanuage story HERE plus image of a smiling Yukie.
I’ll be updating my fan site progress – such as it is – in the next few days so do call back if interested.
Japanese rail has a long-held association with retail shopping. The numerous rail companies in Japan found a way around profit caps imposed on them by the government by investing in retail and housing. Situated close to or inside busy stations, these subsidiary companies cater to the demands of commuters and generate around ¥1 Trillion (£700, 000, 000) profit every year (and, need I mention, this is the basis of gameplay in the A-Train series).
Now it looks like JR East are moving into the up-market grocery business with their aquisition of the Kinokuniya Supermarket Chain. Kinokuniya’s online store can be viewed HERE. It’s gives a pretty good idea of what they offer although the online business is not being sold.
Apparently housewives love Kinokuniya because of its range of foreign produce like Norwegian brown waffles, Spanish olives and such like. They also cure their own ham and offer many delicious cheeses and fish, vegetable and meats. I think they also have a chain of book stores, though, again, these are not being purchased.
Read the full story HERE
These classic trains will soon be withdrawn from service bringing to an end a run which began in the 60′s during a time of rapid economic growth in Japan.
The grace and beauty of the trains has won them many fans among the Tetsudō Otaku of Japan.
The Noto express train between Tokyo’s Ueno Station and Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture, the only regular train using the vehicles, will be abolished when the JR group revises its nationwide timetable in March.
Read the full story HERE
Travellers on London Transport can use a Smart Card called Oyster.
In Japan you can also buy goods and other services with your rail/bus Smart Card. The three main railway groups – JR East (Suica card), JR Tokai (Toica Card) an JR West (Icoca Card) said Monday that they have agreed to tie up on electronic money services using their respective smart cards. This means that goods may now be purchased with your, for instance, Suica Card in shops owned by JR West and so on.
Full report HERE
Snow was not only an issue for the Euro Star rail service here in the UK last month. This first news item details the collision of a single-carriage rapid service train and a snowplow in Furano, Hokkaido.
Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, although 12 people, including passengers and three snowplow operators were treated for mnor cuts and bruises.
It seems the snowplow, which was clearing snow in-between the passenger service, joined the tracks just before the train was due to arrive. Two investigators have been interviewing station staff.
Full story HERE
Read more »
Another news story about JR East employees facing possible charges – this time in connection with a 2005 derailment caused by a strong gust of wind.
It seems that the three workers, accused of ‘professional negligence’ in a police report, might have stopped the train since, apparently, the strong winds could have been predicted.
Five people aboard the train were killed and 33 others were injured, some seriously.
Read the full story HERE
Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) put a restored steam locomotive, the Hitoyoshi-go, back into service to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the JR Hisatsu Line.
For security reasons, the Japanese government of 1909 decided to build the railway in and around the mountains, rather than along the coastline, to avoid gunfire from foreign battleships.
Read the full story HERE
Just a few details pertaining to this story which I’ve been following over the past month or so:
Prosecutors decided Friday not to file criminal charges against three former presidents of West Japan Railway Co. over a 2005 fatal train derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, despite the recommendation of the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution that they be indicted.
SOURCE
A more detailed account of this story can be found HERE
News | MarkE231 | 
03/05/2010 23:43 | 
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