A-Train9: First impressions

What a start to the weekend! I’ve spent most of this evening toying about with my copy of A9. It’s almost bedtime now so I wanted to share a few initial impressions and screen shots of the full game before I turn in. Read more »

Fansite re-opens temporarily

Since building my new site from scratch involves far more effort and time than anticipated I have re-opened A-TrainHX.com until I’m ready to go live with version II.

I don’t plan to update the ‘old’  site and the forum is now closed so the link for that will not work.

I was going to add the walkthrough here as a post but decided the more logical approach would be to simply re-open so that those who want to can browse for information.

It still hurts my eyes to look at it, however…

Train-themed Japanese green tea

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 »

JR East employs first female bullet train operator

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.

House-keeping

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 »

A列車で行こう8 (A-Train 8) – Day 5

Renfro updated!

Day five of Renfro’s A-Train 8 videos. He appears to be using a map of his own creation. As usual there’s a nice change in tempo (and music) part way through.

Enjoy.

A-Train 9　Demo

A-Train 9 (A列車で行こう９) Demo

In a couple of days Artdink of Japan will release A-Train 9, the latest instalment in their series of Urban Development/Train Management games. In the West we’ll have to wait and see if any distributors are willing to regionalise the game and give it the exposure it deserves (Last year, DHM distributed A-Train 8 in Europe. It was a low-key event, relying mostly upon word of mouth and chatter around the web forums). Read more »

JR East To Purchase Kinokuniya Supermarket Chain

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