Greetings from Hokkaido

Hello,

I found this message board while searching for information about Japanese railways. I'm an American living and teaching English in Muroran, Hokkaido, along with my wife. I'm also a very active photographer, and spend as much time as I can exploring the railways of this fine island. If anyone has any questions about JR Hokkaido, I'll do my best to answer them.

I also hope to get answers to some of my own questions on this group, particularly regarding the rest of Japan, where my knowledge is considerably lacking.

Best regards,

Scott Lothes

Hi Scott , welcome to the forum .
you should find plenty of interest and expertise on here on Japanese railways .
Comoderator Komachi for one is well versed .

Scott,

(Bellows at top of his lungs, in a pseudo-Mifune Toshiro**-esque voice) IRASHAIMASE!!!!!!!*

I lived and studied abroad in Japan for two years at an American university in Akita. I spent quite a bit of my vacation time in Tokyo (as all rails lead to Tokyo) and a little in Kyoto. Unfortunately, I never left Honshu (the main island) and didn't get much further west than Kyoto.

I primarily rode the local trains around Akita Prefecture, and used the ju-hatchi kippu (aka, "number 18 ticket") for most of my journies around Japan. However I did take the regular Akita (actually, it originated in Aomori) to Kyoto train (once) and also rode the Akita shinkansen (named the "Komachi," which is where I took my screen name).

In fact, here's a link to Dave Fossett's "Byun Byun Shinkansen" site, and some info. on the E3 trainsets that are the Akita Komachi and Yamagata Tsubasa...

http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~dajf/byunbyun/types/e3.htm


And some pictures...

http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~dajf/byunbyun/gallery/e3.htm


Dave's site is one of the best I've found for Shinkansen info.. I have some other sites listed in the "Nippon (Japan)" thread here...

http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4047


Enjoy, and welcome to the Worldwide Forum, Scott!


* For those unfamiliar with Japanese or the Japanese culture, irishaimase is a greeting by shopkeeps (people who run resturaunts, clothing stores, etc.) that means "Welcome to my shop." Usually this phrase is said in a rather loud and cheerful tone to welcome customers to the shops (and is said by all members of the store's staff).

** Mifune Toshiro (as written in traditional Japanese style, givng the family name first) was a famous Japanese actor, most notable for his appearances in Kurosawa Akira's films.

Domo arigato, Erik!

I had somehow missed Dave's excellent site, but I'll enjoy digging through it. Being in Hokkaido, I haven't done much research on the shinkansen yet. I finally got to see some when I was in Kyoto with my wife over the summer. We're going back and in January and are planning a ride from Kyoto to Tokyo. I'm quite excited.

I've traveled a good bit around Hokkaido on the "student 18 ticket" myself. It really is a good deal.

Are there any must-see rail lines near Aomori? My wife and I are taking the ferry down from Muroran for a long weekend later this month. I won't have much time for railfanning, but if there are any big bridges, river gorges, or the like nearby, I'd love to know about them!

One of my favorite Japanese railway websites is one that ranks the top 200 hikyou eki. Eki means station, while hikyou translates along the lines of remote or mysterious. The site is all in Japanese (no, I can't read it -- a friend showed it to me), but there are pictures of all the stations, and some of them are pretty neat-looking. I'm fortunate to live only an hour from the #1 station on the list, Koboro, which is squeezed into a narrow valley along the coast right in the middle of two very long tunnels. It's a great place to go relax for a few hours and watch trains.

http://hp1.cyberstation.ne.jp/hikyoueki/

Take care, and thanks again,

Scott

** Mifune Toshiro (as written in traditional Japanese style, givng the family name first) was a famous Japanese actor, most notable for his appearances in Kurosawa Akira's films.

Just as notable for fathering his daughter (now a model) when he was 62.

The term the Japanese at work used to refer to him is "genki".

Still in Kanagawa Komachi, going to Akihabara today to shop for model trains. Will take a pic of the now closed Tokyo Transportation Museum.
It is moving to Saitama.

BILL!!!!!!!

Good to see you're still around.

Yes, Mifune was quite Genki (many interpretations, but usually means "healthy"), ne?

Mifune was equated (and still is) with John Wayne, in fact, in one of the Tora-san* movies, he played a doctor with the name of Jun Ueno (pronounced like June OO-ay-no... which when using Japanese pronunciation, sounds like a drawn out take on John Wayne).


Now, getting back to trains...

Bill,

The transit museum is moving to Saitama? Seems odd to have the Tokyo Transit Museum in another prefecture (althugh, Tokyo isn't technically in a prefecture, but it's own, seperate, unique governmental district, similar to Mexico City and Washington DC), but then again, Saitama is pretty much a "bedroom community" for the greater Tokyo Metropolitan area. When did they decide to do the move?

Well, now I'm disappointed that I didn't get to see it when it was in Akihabara. I used to go there to satisfy my inner anime otaku ("obcessed fan") and look at all the new electronic devices in the various shops there (about 6-800). Still, I'm going to be currious to see what the new facility looks like and hope to someday get there to see it and the vehicles they have on display there.

Here's some info. on the museum's collection and mission...
http://www.kouhaku.or.jp/english/transe.html

And the announcement of closure and move to Saitama...
http://www.kouhaku.or.jp/english/index.html


For those unfamiliar with the geography of Japan, here's a map...
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/observatory/jp-cities-pref.html



* The Tora-san series was one of (if not THE) longest running series of movies in Japan (the world?), with a total of 48 (I believe). They are a very sentimental-type of film (good family fare) and to this day, Tora-san is still a beloved figure in Japan. (Your Japanese pop culture lessson for today! )

Metropolis' "Big in Japan" article about Mifune...
http://metropolis.co.jp/biginjapanarchi ... paninc.htm

... and Tora-san...
http://metropolis.co.jp/biginjapanarchi ... paninc.htm

and...

the Internet Movie Database listing of Tora-san movies (although, not in chronological order)...
http://imdb.com/find?s=tt&q=Tora-san

... including the film with Mifune...
http://imdb.com/title/tt0093686/