They’re tearing down our beloved Shimokitazawa station and a new one will be completed sometime in the next decade. Shops along the fringe are slowly disappearing and walls to hide the destruction have been erected without notice. Along these walls they’ve posted several black and white photos of Shimokitazawa station taken 30, maybe 40 years ago. As I was examining them, and trying unsuccessfully to determine what part of the station it was now, I wondered if people back then also protested the destruction and construction of what was to become the current station. And if in 50 or so years people will protest the destruction of the station that they’re building now. At any rate, let me try to explain what these photos are of. Apologies to all of you who’ve never been Japan, let alone to this extremely local part of Tokyo. You can ignore this post and click on one of the random photos to look at something else.

These 2 photos appear to be the main entrance to the platform of the Keio Inokashira line. That would be where the west exit is now. The ticket gate is in the spot which is now the Hanko shop and Step runner shoe shop.

The photo on the left is of the platform as you are crossing the Inokashira line tracks at the west exit. The entrance to the station, shown in the first 2 photos can be seen here at the right edge. The second photo was taken from the platform looking at what’s now the north exit. You can see the covered staircase which goes up, over and probably down to the Odakyu line which is half underground. Not sure if the Odakyu line was even built at that time but it definitely looks like there’s something there.

This photo was taken from the complete opposite side looking at the elevated platform of the Inokashira line. If you look closely you can see the phone booth and signs which are in both photos. This is about where AM/PM and Mizuho Bank are except the photo was taken at a high angle. I took a present day photo from roughly the same spot so you could compare.

Did you find this interesting? If so, maybe you want to check out my post about Shibuya in 1985.

Isn’t Autumn supposed to be dry? Are we sick of all this rain or what? Fall was my favorite season until I came to Japan and experienced all these typhoons. The rain ruins everything, your clothes, your bag, leather shoes etc. And in Tokyo you can’t just wear rain gear onto the train because it’s not fashionable, so you have to carry around an umbrella which is basically useless because it rains sideways. Tokyo is a great and convenient city. But when it rains it completely sucks. This is one aspect of Tokyo life that they don’t tell you about until you get here. Above are some photos of Shibuya for you guys who miss Shibuya. All those umbrellas looked like sea turtles on the beach. OK, enough ranting..going to dry myself off now.

Here it is. My Be.Bike 16STREET black. 16″ wheels, 7 speeds, aluminum frame 11kgs. This is the bike Batman would ride if he were 10 years old. It arrived last night in a big box and today I took it out to do the traditional narashi unten. I didn’t intend on buying another bicycle but I was wanting something small for going to the combini or supermarket, video store etc. Something under ¥5,000 was what I wanted but after looking around I just couldn’t bring myself to spend even ¥5,000 on crap. I’d rather spend more and get something of quality. I found some really nice collapsible ones but they were all over ¥100,000. The Be.Bike one looked like a good deal for the price and I liked the shape and size. It only collapses in height but that didn’t really matter to me because even the ones that fold small are an awkward shape and wouldn’t fit in my car trunk. I’ve never heard of Be.Bike (been out of the bicycle scene for a while) but it seems that others have. Are they popular cause I have never seen this particular bicycle on the street? The 16″ wheels are really small and I was skeptical about whether I could get to any decent speed but surprisely it’s pretty fast. One rotation of the top gear moves the bike 5.7 metres. It feels about the same gear I use for city riding on my Cannondale MB.

Anyway, today I decided to ride the Yamanote Line Loop to break in the bike. Yah I know, it’s not original or anything, if you google “cycling yamanote line” you’ll see that dozens of people blog this and post routes and everything. However, this is by far the longest post I’ve done or at least with the most pictures. Although all the pictures are of my bike in front of a boring station building, if that’s of any interest to anyone, I don’t know. But to make this post I got completely sunburned, endured a dozen excruciatingly painful muscle spasms, have a really sore butt and incredibly bad helmet hair. So I hope you find it even a little interesting.

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Poor Omotesando Hills. It’s only 5 months old and already people have lost interest. There were more people in the Gap down the street that in all of OH. Tokyoites need stimulation all the time and O-Hills, as I shall call it, just doesn’t deliver the goods at a reasonable price. Stuff ain’t cheap here. Brad and I dropped by after work because we were in the area and thought “it was about time”. Anyway, the building is very nice and not as bad as I had expected. Unfortunately, it was not a place I’d need or want to come back to again (1) No photo around here. What a drag (2) You could not sit on the steps either. Which meant there was nowhere to take a rest and I don’t remember seeing any benches around. That means those steps are for climbing to get to the other levels. But since no one would actually do that, these steps are only for decoration and to take up space.

Too bad the Shinseibank/Coffeeshop/Internet Cafe was hidden way down in the corner of the basement floor. This would be a cool place to hang. Have a cappuccino, check your account balance etc.

The Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan is that building where people go to get their passports and has the round revolving restaurant at the top. I discovered for the first time today that this is a great place for Shinkansen watching. As you know I’m a big fan of the Shinkansen. From the 3rd Floor there’s a fabulous panoramic view of the tracks in an area outside called the Yurakucho Colline where you can sit and have lunch or smoke. I stepped over some shrubs to get a closer shot and managed to get some good ones before the security guy came and yelled at me. See more photos below.

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Hibiya Park is in Hibiya. There’s some grass in this park but you can’t walk on it. There’s a small fence around the grass and no one dare cross it. Underneath Hibiya Park is one of the largest underground parking lots in Tokyo (open 24hrs), very few people know about this parking lot which is why I can always find a parking space. The exhaust fumes from the cars must seep up through the ground cause the grass in Hibiya park is always brown. No squirrels in this park, in fact there are no squirrels in any park in Japan except that squirrel park in Machida.

At night, Hibiya park is the darkest park in Tokyo and people come here to do all kinds of things that shock even me. I’ve been here many times at night so believe me when I tell you that. During the day it’s a nice place for a cheap date. Sit by the fountain, make small talk with your date, eat an ice cream cone etc. Sometimes the day date carries over into the night and well..you know. Anyways, getting off topic. I had some business in the area the other day and parked my car underground. It’s been a while since I’d been here so I walked around and tooks some photos. The Sakura are already appearing and it looks like the peak will be the middle of the week. Should I skip off work to partake of some hanami?

I meant to post this earlier but I spent all day recovering from touring around Tokyo yesterday. Being drugged up with hay fever medicine didn’t help either, I’ve been in a drowsy stupor since I got up. On Friday, a VIP from the NY office was visiting Tokyo and he wanted to see the fish market so me, another colleague and the VIP got up at 4am Saturday morning and heading out there. Tsukiji is one of those places that tourists go to. Most people living in Japan (both foreign and Japanese) probably couldn’t be bothered to wake up so early to go there. If it wasn’t for the VIP I probably would have never made the trip. Was it worth it? The answer is Yes!! I definitely recommend a visit at least once.

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Another Akihabara landmark bites the dust. The JR Transportation Museum 交通博物館 will be closing down at the end of April but re-opening in Saitama (probably near the Omiya train yards) in October 2007. The new one will be called the Museum of Railway 鉄道博物館 and judging from the concepts it’s huge. Also, it looks like there will be an observation deck close to the Shinkansen track so you can watch the bullet train go by at top speed! I’m wetting my pants just thinking about it.

As many of you know, the Narita Express uses the same platform as the Yokosuka line when it stops at Tokyo Station. I was waiting for the Yokosuka line when the Narita Express coming from the airport pulled in first. I watched as tourist after tourist got off the train and stood on the platform with luggage in tow, scratching their heads wondering where to go next. I never really thought about it but the Narita Express in not tourist friendly at all. If you’ve ever taken the Yokosuka line from Tokyo station, you know that it is one of the obscure lines far away from the other ones and three levels deep underground. The platforms are dark, old and rundown and reminds me of the subway in “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (see picture above)

So, for these unfortunate tourists, their first encounter with Tokyo is this old train platform with no signs in English. Two American guys had Shinkansen tickets in hand and were looking at the Yokosuka line map trying to find the station they were going to. I eventually helped them out. But, on their tickets it said “Tokyo to TsubameSanjo” (or something similar, can’t remember). Where the hell is that? And why were these two American’s with thick southern accents going there? Anyway, I told them how to get to the Shinkansen platform and as soon as they left another guy who saw me asked me for directions and then another guy after that.

Every person getting off the Narita Express is bound to be getting on some other train and going somewhere else. I don’t think it would be much effort for JR at least to put some kind of sign in various languages to tell people where to go. In that respect, the Limousine Buses are more “friendly”. They take you to the major hotels where you can catch a cab or ask the hotel clerk for directions. Tonight’s experience reminded me of the time I first came to Japan and got off the Skyliner at Ueno station. I stood around for almost an hour thinking “Now what?”

EDIT: I looked up TsubameSanjo 燕三条 and it’s a place in Niigata. Meaning those guys would have to go to Ueno first to catch the Jouetsu Shinkansen. So I guess I pointed them in the wrong direction. Oops!

These photos were taken a few nights ago (1) I like the Tokyo Station Building. Did you know there is an Art Gallery and a Hotel in this station? I don’t have a picture but if you walk into the main Marunouchi entrance, the one that looks like a dome, and look up you can see the windows of some of the rooms that face into the station. Yasunari Kawabata (famous Japanese author) used to stay here to write his novels. I generally don’t feel comfortable staying in hotels of any kind but I would like to stay a night or two in this one. The rates seem fairly reasonable too. Also, did you know that there’s an Onsen in Tokyo Station? It’s famous for the first sauna in Japan. I’ll have to go and check it out sometime (2) More construction happening around the station, I wonder what this building is?

By the way, check out: Japan SAQ (Seldom Asked Questions). Part of the QuirkyJapan Site. Some interesting answers to question like “Why is the Chuo line popular for suicides?” and “Why is ‘tentacle porn’ so popular in Japanese anime?” Makes for interesting reading and gives you topics to discuss with your Japanese friends. Well, maybe not tentacle porn..

I had nothing scheduled today and no money to do anything interesting so I went over to Oifuto-Chuo-Kaihin Park which is a few minutes drive from my place. Unlike Yoyogi or Ueno Parks, this one is mainly an athletic park. It has several stadiums, baseball diamonds and a dozen tennis courts. It’s a huge sucker. You’ve probably seen it from the monorail on the way to Haneda Airport. Because it’s a fairly obscure park, the place is generally not very crowded. I like coming here once in a while for a run or just to relax. When I was living in Umegaoka it was great to have Hanegi Park nearby, but since moving down to Ota-ku this is the nearest big park (1) Who’s that handsome guy? Why it’s me enjoying a book and a ball game at Ota Stadium (2) The stadium is fairly large and has a real scoreboard. Flashing lights and everything. It seats about 2,500 spectators. There were only about 5 or 6 people besides me watching the game which btw sucked. One team bunted every time they were at bat and the other team kept hitting foul balls.

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Ark Hills used to be a hip place for lunch. There were so many beautiful OLs in one place and I have found myself getting distracted and on more than one occasion walked into the glass door face first. But since they built Roppongi Hills, many of the tenants moved there and Ark doesn’t seem as sexy anymore. Anyway, I went there for lunch today and they opened the roof garden to the public. This happens only once a year so I figured I might as well take a look. There were many different kinds of shrubberies I did not know the names of.