Women going crazy for pictures of shirtless guys at Japanese subway stations

OK, this was the scene at various subway stations on Sunday while I was making my way back home and I could not really figure out why… Can anyone enlighten me? There were actually security guards telling the women to not stop for taking pictures since they were making it very difficult for the other travelers going through the station. At this point all I can say it is something that will happen on the 9th but… that’s about it. Oh, and I think these guys are from a music group (boy band) though I am not sure which one.

A faster way to get to the Narita Airport – NEX version 2

A pretty late (though still hopefully useful) piece of information for those out there who are going to travel to/from the Narita Airport in Tokyo (成田空港) – it looks like Japan Railways has a new, faster version of its Narita Express. Narita Express is one of the cheapest (though definitely not the cheapest – that honor belongs to the busses running to and from the airport) and quickest ways to get to the airport. This new train, comes with a bunch of new perks. According to the Mainichi Daily News:

• There is an active vibration control system which makes for a smoother ride
• All seats have power sockets for passenger’s use
• There are new security features such as cameras, dial locks for luggage space, etc.

Interestingly, both trains share the same top speed. You can find pictures of the actual train, as well as some videos on Shibuya246’s page here. It definitely looks like an impressive piece of equipment. This new train, which has the model number E259, is replacing the older, E253 model. According to Wikipedia, so far only 10 of the 26 N’EX services are so far using the newer model. It will not be before June 2010 that all of the older models are replaced.

On somewhat related news, from the same Mainichi story, it looks like there will be a new train line for getting to Narita, called “Narita New Rapid Line” which will be run by the Keisei Electric Railway Co. Competition is always good so I am looking forward to hearing more about this new line which should open to service in the Spring of 2010.

Canceled trains create a (bigger than usual) mess in Tokyo

See, today was supposed to be a simple day. I was going to take the express Chuo Line train from Kichijouji to Ochanomizu - a maximum 20 minute trip, followed by hopping a station over in a local train to Akihabara for my bi-weekly stroll through the capital of electronics and software in Japan. How was I to know that something very very unexpected would happen and the whole day would turn into an experiment of how many bad coincidences can occur in a given day without my head exploding...

The first surprise was seeing the two guards in front of the express line entrance in Kichijouji with a clear sign (if you speak Japanese) explaining something was up (in case anyone thought jumping over the metal cable that they pulled across was a good idea). The image is from Shinjuku by the way where a similar scene was taking place in front of the entrance for the express train for Chuo Line, but I get ahead of myself... Where was I ? Ah, yes, still at Kichijouji. Not being able to read the sign I had the bright idea of taking a local train back to Mitaka (which is in the opposite direction) and then finding an express train from there towards Ochanomizu but nope, there were guards and a sign there too. So I gave up and hopped on a local train which actually turned out to be going the opposite direction - not good. Finally, at Musashi-Sakai I managed to get onto the local Chuo line train going in the right direction (which was of course very packed thanks to being the only Chuo line in service). Result? A very uncomfortable journey of about 45 - 50 minutes.

After re-charging at Akiba, thanks to the very yummy  food of Star Kebab, I was ready for the next stop - Shinjuku for picking up something quickly from a store there. I am not even going to mention the train trip which was similar to the first one. This time I had the extra bad fortune of running into a free open air concert of this music group called "Gazette" which I have never heard of before. Now if this meant getting to listen to some nice music for free it would have been just fine but no - it just meant having to force my way through a bigger-than-usual ocean of people who were more intent on just walking slowly and listening / taking pictures than getting from point A to point B.

When I finally made it back home I think I appreciated that, just being home, a little more than usual... It will take me a day just to get rid of the stress I think. I am glad it was a Saturday and not a Sunday.

The "New" Yurikamome Line (ゆりかもめ線)

I wrote about Tokyo Big Sight before (it's in Odaiba/お台場) and if you remember that, you will remember how to get there may be - it's the Yurikamome line from Shinkawa Station (新川駅). I guess it was put into service pretty recently - so recently that it still keeps the word "new" in its title. The view is why I am writing about the line. See, the last time I went there it was a cloudy day and I was rushing so I did not get a chance to really enjoy the view but this time, well I was there to take my time and enjoy myself so I took my place in the front car and made sure I had a nice view. If you are spending some time in Tokyo you definitely need to check out this line. I mean, you have to visit Odaiba anyway so don't make the mistake of not using this line to get there ;)