Trip to Japan

[willswitchengage]

Two weeks in the Cherry Blossom season. Without a doubt, the most incredible place I've ever visited; it makes coming home to England feel like we're twenty years in the past.

 

THE CARS

 

95% Japanese cars; all are very sensible. Contrary to what you'd expect, there are no superbikes or cars modified with silly exhausts or massive spoilers. About half the cars are Kei-cars with their yellow numberplates. Any foreign car will be German, a Volvo or a Jeep. Everything was petrol, and the overwhelming majority were automatics. All were essentially new and in immaculate condition - not once did I see a broken down vehicle or a recovery truck. Garages are almost non-existent. Driving is sedate and safe, we could never figure out the road rules but pedestrians were well respected. No horn blaring, everybody was courteous and knew what they were doing. Fuel is about 75p a litre, but I believe lack of parking deters motorists most. There is hardly any parking anywhere, and ingenious solutions involving car lifts and stacking and ubiquitous. Congestion is minimal. Major roads are tolled. Taxis were quite homogenously Toyota Comforts:

 

 

The road infrastructure was second to none:

 

 

THE BIKES

 

All mopeds and Honda Cubs. Lots of strange three wheeled Honda used for utility:

 

 

(yes, you can get Maccy Ds delivered!) There were also bicycles everywhere - to the same extent that there are in the Netherlands or Denmark, or Shoreditch. So many that bicycle parking is a massive problem as there are just so many. Cycling is the transport mode of choice for most, it appeared. There also appeared to be no rules for cyclists - pavement or road (often against oncoming traffic also), you decide! It all was very harmonious, though.

 

THE TRUCKS

 

All diesel, a small number CNG. All manual and they friggin love modifying them. A modified truck looks like this:

 

 

A normal one looked like this:

 

 

And this appeared to be a more typical lorry. 8x4(2?), with a stainless/aluminium body:

 

 

Domestic brands (Isuzu, Hino, Nissan, Mitsubishi) have a quadropoly, although I did see a couple of Euro3 style Volvo FH tractors. Small lorries and vans are all the little cabovers that recovery firms and landscape gardeners like over here. There's also some bizarre obsession with modifying gearsticks with these...

 

 

THE BUSES

 

Were shit. I went on a couple and they're all indigenous rigids. They're all unrefiend with manual gearboxes, although a few are also hybrids. Europe wins here. Here's a typical bus station, also spot the weird SWB one on the left:

 

 

 

THE TRAINS

 

Were out of this world. To get to London I have to get a train I have to use something built in the 1970s and is powered by diesel, where I have to open my door by sicking my hand out of the window to grab the handle. I have to stand or sit in an uncomfortable seat which isn't aligned with a window, and the train will be late. To get between Tokyo and Osaka, I use this:

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N700_Series_Shinkansen

 

It has 23000 horsepower, tilts, can do 0-175 mph in three minutes and is never late. Inside they are quiet, spacious and comfortable. The seat reservation system works perfectly. It has a nice toilet and a smoking room. The seats spin around (on local trains they flip over) so you are always facing the direction of travel.

 

 

Standard class here is like first class at home, if not better. The train crew bow as they enter and leave carriages. The acceleration is phenomenal - you're pressed against the back of your chair right up to the top speed.

 

 

Regional trains were equally incredible. This is a train on Tokyo's Yamanote line:

 

 

Every day this one line carries more passengers than the entirety of the London Underground, or France. As does Tokyo's busiest railway station, where the entire population of Manchester passes through it every day, twice. The trains are mind blowingly busy. Again, the system does though work in perfect harmony, is simple to use and extremely cheap. These jingles are constantly played at stations. I loved it:

 

 

This is the fastest train in operation, the E5 Shinkansen, with a top speed of 200 mph.

 

 

Some trains were old:

 

 

 

Some just looked odd:

 

 

They are truly obsessed with trains over there. You can eat one, or eat out of one:

 

 

 

 

There were even photo booths where you could get your picture taken with one!

 

 

You could even sit at the front and pretend you're driving!

 

 

Of course, there was Autoshite too...

 

 

[dugong]

MOAR pls.

[skattrd]

Nice post, I'm slightly jealous here.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

wonderful!!!!! Moar please!!!! Fantastic report there WSE.

[cort16]

That green bullet train is unbelievable I didn't even know such a thing existed.

 

I think I know how it's powered though.

 

[AlabamaShrimp]

Excellent post! Moar pictures! Sulking like a child as you should have made a big announcement you were going so we could all get our orders in for strange Japanese stuff

[carlo]

Fascinating stuff, that E5 train is amazing!  Although they are supposed to have a thriving classic car scene, perhaps they're all hidden away!

[Tamworthbay]

Those bullet train seats look like they were stolen from an ambassador concept car.

[dollywobbler]

106/10!

[mercrocker]

Abroad......

 

Clean, meh

Shiny new cars everywhere, meh 

Really fast trains that actually work, meh

Sensible driving,meh  

 

And then I SAW THE GEARKNOB.  

 

Want abroad.  NOW.

[cms206]

Japanese buses are not shit. My favourites are the truely mental Isuzu Erga range (IIRC a badge engineered Hino Dolphin) which were available as a 10.4-metre, wheelchair accessible bus with a 15.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 and a manual gearbox. As a bus drivist I'd happily take that over a 3.9-litre Cummins powered Dennis Dart SLF.

 

Excellent report, 127.5%/10

[Station]

Looks excellent!

Have to agree, even when I went to Thailand, England felt like a developing nation when I got back. I had crippling unhappiness having to readjust, I remember sitting on the couch with my girlfriend crying she didn't want to be here anymore - nobody gives a shit about anyone or anything here.

[face]

Jealous.

 

Japan is the one place I really want to go to.

[lisbon_road]

Thanks for writing such a good report.  Have you seen any imports eg old UK cars?  I remember seeing some when I was there but it was now about 15 years ago (yikes).  

[Uncle Jimmy]

Good! More pics please, Japan is on my list too. I wish to meet young Japanese ladies and improve their population demographic.

[Uncle Jimmy]

The Japanese love British cars but I'm not sure they actually drive them much. MGs especially popular.

[phil_lihp]

Excellent thread, more please.  I feel an increasing need to visit Japan now.

[Mr Lobster]

Brilliant thread, thank you for posting.

 

I really, really, really want to go to Japan at some point.

[Alexg]

 

This is a great snap!

[hairnet]

arigato gozemazu

[Sloth in a bowl]

The world needs more trains that you can look out the front of, this is Switzerland

 

[406V6]

Excellent write-up. A few other things stick in my mind from when I was there 20 years ago. Most of the cars were white. The taxis where the back doors only open under the control of the driver. The stacking systems for parking cars. A bit like that Aldi garage (or is it Benz, ? my memory sometimes has Laguna moments) beside the end of the M4 in west London.  Got any more pics ?

[Spottedlaurel]

Looks like a great trip, well envious now......

 

Would love to go one day, but can't see it being for a while yet.

 

Just noticed the trucks don't have green lights on the roof like they used to. They had some system with three of them, and the speed was indicated to other road-users by how many of them were lit.

[PhilA]

I believe the term is "civic pride", something that appears to have been boiled out of the UK and sold on to elsewhere.

 

Also, if it's not something adorned with Star Trek style gadgets or space age technology the UK seems to foo-poo it as worthless.

 

It's not Japan, which is its own little world, but the USA has managed to hang on to a little bit of that pride and respect (Los Angeles and Manhattan notwithstanding, both in place and TV) and the genuine enjoyment of the things the country has to offer and the style of life are different. People take less for granted here. Overall, most people expect less and are happily surprised when they get something given to them.

 

Seems to be similar there, and it's not a bad thing. Jealousy doesn't cut it though. There's the opportunity to make your place nice, you just gotta do it. Start by not believing anything the tv promotes about other places and actually go visit.

[PiperCub]

I was in Tokyo briefly in the late nineties and from what I can recall, the actual car diversity was much greater than what you describe now, also there were alot of motorbikes, mainly 250/400 race-rep types hooning about. But much of the rest of what the OP said clearly hasn't changed much, traffic, parking etc. Went in a taxi where the driver had a lever to open the rear door for you without getting out of his seat! Very Japanese we thought. 

 

Would love to go again. Found the Japanese people to be almost exclusively friendly and welcoming. 

 

Did you go to Akihabara in Tokyo? If you like tech, that's the place to go, more electronics shops than the TCR on speed! Stuff there is a generation or two ahead of what we regard as current now. 

[willswitchengage]

Fascinating stuff, that E5 train is amazing!  Although they are supposed to have a thriving classic car scene, perhaps they're all hidden away!

 

I didn't really notice much classic car scene at all, at least not a scene any greater that ours. They have much better weather than we do, but I saw hardly anything on the roads

 

Thanks for writing such a good report.  Have you seen any imports eg old UK cars?  I remember seeing some when I was there but it was now about 15 years ago (yikes).  

 

I saw a couple of old Minis, predictably in immaculate condition. One of my mates actually imported one recently, a JDM model with wingmirrors on the bonnet, but it did set him back nine bags. British cars appear now and then; predominantly Minis and the odd Range Rover. They also get a few Japanese cars that are only made in the UK, like the Avensis, but they're very rare. Euro-market cars that are ubiquitous and successful are generally rare - especially big sellers like the CR-V and Yaris. Strangely, there are next to no SUVs either, considering Japanese SUVs and utility vehicles strangle the world in this segment. The lack of British vehicles questions what the point of our manufacturing industry is anymore. Other than the bits of aeroplane that you see, there's basically nothing. Even the Italian and French luxury brands (including in drinks) completely trounce hours. I have a Sony telly, a Fujitsu laptop, a Panasonic camera, a Toyota car, a Technics sound system and a Fujimi model kit waiting to be made - they've done a lot better out of globalisation than we have. Bit embarrassing, really.

 

 

Excellent write-up. A few other things stick in my mind from when I was there 20 years ago. Most of the cars were white. The taxis where the back doors only open under the control of the driver. The stacking systems for parking cars. A bit like that Aldi garage (or is it Benz, ? my memory sometimes has Laguna moments) beside the end of the M4 in west London.  Got any more pics ?

 

I don't recall but it did remind me of that VW building in Wolfsburg:

 

 

 

Did you go to Akihabara in Tokyo? If you like tech, that's the place to go, more electronics shops than the TCR on speed! Stuff there is a generation or two ahead of what we regard as current now. 

 

I missed that! Annoyed, it looks incredible. We went to Shibuya and Shinjuku which were very similar.

 

Incidentally, it wasn't an expensive holiday at all, really. Flights with Air China* £400 return, £250 for the two week train ticket (made sense at the Shinkansen is very expensive) and hostels are European prices, so about £15 a sleep. Food, doing stuff and shops are very cheap - plus as a foreigner you don't need to pay the local consumption tax. Places like Yodobashi (electronics 'supermarket'; I couldn't believe the scale of it until I visited) are great for bargain consumer goods, I bought some discount model kits to make.

 

*China = shit. A few hours in Beijing Crapital airport was enough for me to learn this. 

 

I got one of these to and from my plane. It's a Swiss/German 'Cobus' from the stamps inside it. Are they Front wheel drive? I couldn't really understand. Someone please help me!

 

 

All the airport tow tugs were these:

 

 

 

I don't think Nissan makes materials handling equipment anymore but Toyota markets theirs here: http://www.toyota-forklifts.eu/en/Products/towing-tractors/toyota-tracto-r-series/Pages/Default.aspx

 

Conversely, at Heathrow they use these electric tugs; imho a lot wiser since they probably sit idle a lot of the time. They're a very well engineered product from what I could see, made by Charlatte in the USA:

 

 

The trucks serving the airport in China were all ancient Isuzus and a few random Chinese things whose brands I didn't recognise. All of the vans were these:

 

 

Sorry to everybody who requested more car picks - I didn't take many, at all! I'm all about trainshite now But seriously, go. It's a beautiful country:

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, they have Hello Kitty traffic cones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, MORE TRAINS!

 

[rml2345]

Fantastic stuff, thanks for sharing! I'd love to go sometime as Japan looks a fascinating place.

[Ghosty]

 

 

 

 

Hm. Didn't know anywhere other than the Netherlands had roof cab trains.

Wonder if the end doors work on the Japanese one - Nederlandse Spoorwegen stopped bothering with theirs as they were too troublesome (Talbot built).

[PiperCub]

Love the pictures of Tokyo (or any major Japanese city) by night, all the neon and the crowds, who else is thinking of the film Blade Runner? (Or maybe Black Rain). 

[willswitchengage]

 

 

 

 

Hm. Didn't know anywhere other than the Netherlands had roof cab trains.

Wonder if the end doors work on the Japanese one - Nederlandse Spoorwegen stopped bothering with theirs as they were too troublesome (Talbot built).

 

I don't see the design logic of them? The Narita Express train doors work:

 

 

Do they just use really tall drivers or something?