One of the memorable and unique features of the Japanese rail experience is the assortment of jingles to be heard before your train vacates the platform. Apparently the station manager gets to choose the jingle himself – except for in special circumstances such as at Maihama (Disney) station. Here a young lad and his electric piano entertain Tokyo shoppers with a selection of crowd-pleasing jingles.
There’s a talented Japanese artist going by the moniker Vania600 who has been producing the most breathtaking images. The subject matter of his work seems generally to revolve around Japanese trains and anime-style girls in uniform. Take a look!
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Here’s a short video I found whilst browsing YouTube. Some guy, presumably Japanese, has A9 set up to play on two PC screens simultaneously. An intriguing concept to be sure…..
It seems a common feature of Japan’s rail system to name new trains. There’s the Hikari (meaning light beam), the Nozomi and so on. East Japan Railways also held a poll not long ago to name the new E5 series Shinkansen.
The new fast train between Narita airport and Tokyo, which debuted on the 17th of this month, is called, somewhat prosaically, the Skyliner. However, the track it runs upon, between Narita and Keisei-Takasago Station, has the far more inspirational moniker Narita Sky Access.
Here’s a few words on the line and train it self – which is, typically, fast and quite lovely to behold.
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For just over a year now Mokku Company, purveyors of novelty drinks, assorted confectionary and miscellaneous goods, have also offered a brand of green tea contained within a E231-style container. Read more »
A-Trainhx.com temporary closure and shift in emphasis for this Blog.
A week ago I took the A-Trainhx.com fansite off-line. With the release of the new game I decided it was the right time to re-think the site, design a new look and update all content therein. It was fun for the short time it lasted but I was growing unhappy with the blocky, functional appearance and some of the ropey content. Read more »
I’ve posted a small item already about the blue lighting employed by some J-railways in an attempt to dissuade and deter the anxious and depressed from committing suicide beneath their trains.
This related item takes a rather more general view of the problem and relates it directly to the famed punctuality of the Japanese rail system. The general thrust of the article highlights executive frustration with the suicides, their apparent helplessness to prevent them and an honest admission that the complex and numerous reasons behind suicides are not a concern for the rail companies.
Fact is, they’re businesses – that’s the bottom line here, surely. There’s very little they can actually do to improve the lives of, or counsel, the suicidal, but short of erecting platform barriers at every Tokyo station, there seems little they can do to stop those determined to end their own lives.
Read the whole article HERE
Taking the train in Japan and want to avoid annoying fellow passengers? Keep conversation to a whisper, turn down your iPod and put your cellphone on vibration mode, a recent survey by the railway association showed.
Many foreigners who ride on Japan’s vast network of subways and commuter trains complain about the pushing and shoving that accompanies getting into the train and the reluctance to give up seats for senior citizens and pregnant women.
But for Japanese commuters, noise is the biggest issue, with loud conversation and music from headphones the top two offenders and cellphone ringtones in fourth place, the survey by the Association of Japanese Private Railways showed.
Applying make-up ranked as the sixth-biggest breach of rail etiquette, worse than being drunken, which at number 9 just edged out bringing strollers onto crowded trains.
Here are the top 10 examples of bad rail manners according to the association’s online survey, with responses from about 4,200 people:
1. Noisy conversation, horsing around
2. Music from headphones
3. The way passengers sit
4. Cellphone ringtones and talking on phones
5. Pushing, shoving when getting on and off trains
6. Applying make-up
7. Littering
8. Sitting on the floor of the train
9. Riding the train drunk
10. Riding a crowded train with a child in a stroller
Original article
Features | MarkE231 | 
06/08/2010 23:20 | 
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