Next year, 2010, Nara will be celebrating 1300 years since it was the capital of Japan as 平城京 (Heijo-kyo). A number of events are scheduled throughout the year...
Travel
The weather looked like rain today, but since I had been away from Japan for a while, I decided to get out and brave the coldish looking weather. It...
I have been in Australia for the last few days and enjoying the sun. Since getting ill before leaving Japan and going for a quick tenteki I have improved but...
Down on the platform at Shinagawa Station you can find some interesting items to commemorate the zero kilomoter marker which shows the start of the Yamanote...
Saw this wonderful scene at a station in Chiba. Looks like the 2 drivers are enjoying a game of Shogi (sort of Japanese Chess) whilst waiting for customers...
The new Narita Express train, NEX E259, is due to start service on Oct 1, 2009. When I got off the Yamanote train at Shinagawa station yesterday, I saw them...
A steam train replicating the Ginga Tetsudo 999 (Galaxy Express 999) made a special run today in Shizuoka. With today being 2009/09/09, a once in a thousand...
The Yamanote Line is currently celebrating 100 years since its naming. The original portion of the Yamanote Line was built in 1885 between Shinagawa and...
On the way back from golf the other day, we drove through the Yamate Tunnel which currently runs from Ikebukuro through Shinjuku, and will eventually come out...
Cigarette advertising around the world used to be more prominent. In Japan, cigarettes had an interesting tie-up with JR for Shinkansens and travel around...
Central Tokyo Highways are a great site, built high above the ground, winding past apartment and office windows through the over-developed city below. Despite...
Summer time means holidays and with that comes Pokemon Shinkansens, Pokemon Yamanote Trains and plenty of rail travel for families. DIME Magazine this month...
I took a trip to Yokohama yesterday. There are many places being redeveloped and the old railroad tracks and bridges and storage warehouses have been preserved...
A while ago I wrote about the great tea drink product in the shape of the Yamanote Line. A lot of people asked me where they could buy it. Well, here it is on...
Each year at summer, Nintendo and JR hold a stamp rally for the kids. The stamp rally requires the children to collect rubber stamp imprints for each section...
The trains in Japan always look clean, particularly the Shinkansen. At Tokyo station, the cleaners quickly board the incoming trains, perform a quick clean and...
I visited a friend in Chiba and got the chance to ride the Chiba monorail recently. There are a few monorails in Japan, some that run above the tracks and some...
The Pokemon decorated Shinkansen series was started last year during the summer holiday season and became a popular success with families. I went down to Tokyo...
Trains are always popular in Japan and there are many books and magazines available for rail fans to enjoy. Just recently a number of new magazines have come...
The photos I took in Kyoto are going to take quite a bit of sorting out. Whilst I am still on the laptop and with the memory cards filling up quickly...
