[2019.9 Update] Added a new railfan puzzle:
[2019.11 Update] PSA: the old Harajuku Station building may be demolished after the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, so railfans should go check it out while they still can:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20191119/k10012182911000.html
Contents [Hide]
Introduction
As mentioned in the previous post, Kuriko’s trip reports are built around the themes of railways + anime + gal games, and this post follows the same formula.
This time, Kuriko will take everyone on a partial anime pilgrimage for Your Name and The Garden of Words; in the next post, we’ll cover parts of 5 Centimeters per Second, Slam Dunk, and Memories Off.
Hyatt Regency Lounge Breakfast
Let’s pick up where we left off.
After waking up to broad daylight and getting ready, we headed upstairs to the Hyatt Regency lounge for breakfast.
Same as before: Kuriko is a freeloader basic-tier member, and lounge access was secured by spending an extra 5,000 points!
Tokyo One-Day Pass
After breakfast, we speed-walked over to Shinjuku Station to buy the Tokyo One-Day Pass. This pass lets you make unlimited trips through the ticket gates in one day on all JR lines within Tokyo’s 23 wards and all Toei Subway lines, for 1590円. It’s an amazing deal (in LA, a Metrolink weekend Day Pass already costs 10 bucks, and it only covers a pitiful handful of lines with very limited service)!
For details, see:
https://www.jreast.co.jp/sc/pass/tokyo_free.html?src=gnavi
It sounded simple enough, but we ran into trouble right away: after searching around on the TVM ticket vending machine for quite a while, we still couldn’t find the purchase option. Then we asked at the information counter, and the JR East staffer gave us instructions saying we needed to scan a QR code at the TVM machine to buy it, but... there was nowhere on the TVM machine to scan a QR code!
In the end, Kuriko pulled out the ultimate move: buy it at the staffed ticket counter! The みどりの窓口 (pronounced mi do ri no mado guchi) is the manned ticket office, so don’t spend forever looking for it when you go!
Luckily this time, there wasn’t much of a line at the staffed counter, and we got to the front in about ten minutes. Even more surprising: the TVM machines could not take major credit cards like Visa, MC, and AMEX, but the staffed counter could! In that case, there was no hesitation—we put it on the CSR (it posted as JR East Japan)!
The Japanese guy at the counter spoke pretty solid English, and he even explained how to use the ticket for us. Big thumbs up!
Here’s what the ticket looks like:
A quick side note here—Laduree outside Shinjuku Station also showed up in Your Name. Do you remember it?
Shinjuku Gyoen
The railfan itinerary begins here, and Kuriko is about to show everyone what true railfan efficiency looks like!
First stop: Shinjuku Gyoen. Ticket in hand, we went through the station gates! One quick note: unlike in China, most ticket gates in Japan are normally open. They only close on you if there’s a problem with your ticket or if someone tries to force their way through without one. Don’t be surprised—just insert the ticket, take it back from the top of the gate, and walk through.
The reason for this design is simple: better passenger flow. Opening and closing the gate every single time takes extra time!
First, we took the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line. Its line code is M, and its color is red. That said, relying on color is not actually very dependable (I’ll explain why later). The most reliable method is to check the destination displayed on the train’s front sign!
The train pulled into the station, so I tried snapping a photo... looks like it didn’t come out too well...
We boarded and rode two stops to Shinjuku-Gyoemmae.
Shinjuku-Gyoemmae (しんじゅくぎょえんまええき) is pronounced Shinjuku gyo en mae... So, what do you think? If it were written only in kana and not kanji, would you be coughing up blood onto your screen by now?
After exiting the station, we still had to walk a few more minutes to reach Shinjuku Gyoen.
Along the way, we spotted a classic coin-operated public phone—something that’s probably quite rare in China by now.
We arrived at Shinjuku Gyoen and bought tickets to go in.
The main reason for coming here was to see a location from another Makoto Shinkai anime—yes, that pavilion from The Garden of Words!
But... when Kuriko got there, there was no female teacher at this Garden of Words pilgrimage site... only other otaku guys doing anime pilgrimages just like Kuriko!
Yoyogi Building—this seems to have appeared in Your Name as well.
Suga Shrine
After wandering around for about an hour, we headed to the next destination: Suga Shrine, another Your Name pilgrimage site.
We returned to Shinjuku-Gyoemmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line and rode one stop to Yotsuya-sanchome Station.
Following Google Maps, it was easy to find the approach to Suga Shrine.
Once we turned into the small side street, it instantly felt like we had traveled back half a century!
Haha, welcome to a Your Name pilgrimage site!
Here we are, at the torii gate of Suga Shrine.
This is not something you can photograph every year.
This is the Your Name pilgrimage site—the place where the male and female leads recognize each other at the end of the story!
If you had already watched 5 Centimeters per Second, weren’t you pretty nervous the first time you watched Your Name at this point, worried that Makoto Shinkai was about to deliver another heartfelt bad ending and have the two leads pass by each other? Fortunately, that BE did not happen this time!
Haven’t we met somewhere before? I feel the same way. Your name is? Kimi No na a e wa?
Same as always—if you’ve seen it before, this is worth revisiting; if you haven’t, I highly recommend checking it out!
Among couples, maybe 90% are more like Takaki Tono and Akari Shinohara, and only 10% are like Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu…
After Your Name came out in 2016, this place essentially became a pilgrimage site. I doubt the shrine staff saw that coming…
Kuri’s Railfan Deduction
While we’re here, Kuri might as well do a little detective work on the train lines Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu were riding at the end of Your Name.
In the classic final scene, Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu spot each other through the train door windows on trains moving in the same direction! Notice—they were on trains traveling in the same direction.
Then both of them get off at the next stop. The scene first shows Mitsuha Miyamizu’s side—note that she gets off at Sendagaya Station!
Taki Tachibana has it a bit worse: his train carries him straight to Shinjuku Station… and to make it even worse, this is the Shinjuku Station South Exit that Kuri mentioned earlier, the place where tons of people get lost.
At this point, the mystery is solved—they were both riding trains on the Chuo Line, which is why they could see each other while traveling in the same direction. Mitsuha Miyamizu was on the Chuo-Sobu Local, so she could get off at Sendagaya; meanwhile, male lead Taki Tachibana was on a Chuo Rapid train, so he was carried straight to Shinjuku in one stop!
PS1: From this, you can also deduce that the section where they saw each other through the windows was between Shinanomachi and Sendagaya—because based on the stops and acceleration of the two trains, that’s the only way it could have happened!
PS2: The yellow Chuo-Sobu Local stops at: Yotsuya - Shinanomachi - Sendagaya - Yoyogi - Shinjuku. The orange Chuo Rapid stops at: Yotsuya - Shinjuku (it does not stop at Shinanomachi, Sendagaya, or Yoyogi at all).
Kuri even drew a rough diagram: the red line is the route and direction taken by heroine Mitsuha Miyamizu; the blue line is the route and direction taken by hero Taki Tachibana! Honestly, Kuri really can’t figure out how they still managed to meet at Suga Shrine in the end. The distance between them was just… way too far!
Maybe people who are meant to end up together will find their way to each other no matter what… that’s fate, I guess!
The classic ending—both of them ask, Kimi No Na Ma e wa?
La Boheme Cafe
I took the subway back to Shinjuku-Gyoemmae Station and doubled back for one reason: to visit an Italian restaurant called La Boheme Cafe.
Anyone who’s seen Your Name should recognize it right away, right? That’s right—this is the restaurant where Taki Tachibana works part-time!
I ordered a few dishes at random.
PS: I did not eat all of this by myself, thank you very much!
Imperial Palace Outer Grounds - Tokyo Station
After eating, I kept riding around. Since I had a Day-Pass, I had to take full advantage of it.
There’s not much to say about the Imperial Palace side. It’s only open to the public two days a year—New Year’s and the Emperor’s Birthday—so when Kuri visited, there was obviously no chance of getting in. Looking at the exterior would have to do.
After wandering around for a bit, I took the Chiyoda Line over toward the National Diet Building.
Text XXXX and photos XXXX omitted here.
Around the National Diet Building and the Prime Minister’s Official Residence, Kuri still didn’t dare raise the camera too openly… better not ask for trouble!
Then back to Tokyo Station, again via the Chiyoda Line. Here’s a famous destination display for everyone to enjoy—a local train bound for Abiko.
PS1: In Japanese, “my grandson” is written 私の孫 and pronounced Watashi no ma go. So Japanese people obviously don’t find the place name Abiko amusing; the only people who think it’s funny are Chinese speakers.
PS2: Unfortunately, on this trip to Japan I didn’t manage to photograph a rapid train bound for Kotesashi, which was a bit of a shame.
And here we are at Tokyo Station, a Taisho-era building.
My lens wasn’t quite wide enough, so I couldn’t capture the two domes on both sides. Just bear with it!
A building as famous as Tokyo Station is, of course, one of the stations selected for the “関東の駅百選” (“Kanto 100 Best Stations”). The reason given for its selection is: 大正３年誕生、真に歴史を物語るルネッサンス風の赤煉瓦造りの駅舎 (born in Taisho 3, a Renaissance-style red-brick station building that truly tells the story of history).
See: https://japan.mania.cx/best100/kantoeki/001tokyo.html
The interior dome.
Through the ticket gate again and back into the station, then I took the inner loop of the Yamanote Line back to Akihabara!
The Yamanote Line sign at Tokyo Station—JY01.
Let Kuri explain the meaning of the two characters “山区” in the upper right—this absolutely does not mean “Mountain Area.”
“山” refers to the area inside the Yamanote loop line, while “区” refers to Tokyo’s 23 wards. This is a JR fare classification, and fares within this area are relatively cheaper.
Someone on the opposite platform dropped their phone, and a station staff member helped retrieve it. So helpful!PS: I later asked a railfan classmate in Japan, and this is apparently one of the two jobs station staff do most often. Since we’re on the topic, the other one is cleaning up vomit left behind by drunk passengers on late-night trains. Yikes... Personally, I’d much rather help people retrieve things that fell onto the tracks.
Speaking of which, did I just see what I think I saw? A sailor-uniform JK! Ah, youth!!!
So what is JK, exactly? JK = joshi kousei (女子高生), meaning a female high school student.
We debated this in a Japanese railfan group for quite a while: was she a real JK or a fake JK? (During these few days in Japan, a lot of the “JKs” Lizi ran into turned out to speak fluent Mandarin the moment they opened their mouths. Seriously...) The conclusion: this one was probably a real JK!
The train pulled in: a new JR East E235 series set.
Akihabara
From Tokyo to Kanda to Akihabara, it’s two stops.
If you’re not familiar with the station names, go listen to the Yamanote Line version of Tetsudo Shoka (“Railroad Song”) yourself.
[playlist ids="33266"]
We arrived at JR Akihabara Station!
Right by the station was the AKB48 Cafe. Lizi went in for a look, but they were mostly selling keychains and other overpriced stuff with poor value.
That said, AKB48 has faded a bit too. Most of the better-known members have already graduated. Kind of melancholy...
At this point, the biggest name left is probably Yuki Kashiwagi.
The AKB48 Theater is on the 8th floor of Don Quijote in Akihabara. Since Lizi had zero confidence in winning the ticket lottery, there was no point even trying. There was a 100% chance of not getting in, so this was just a quick look at the exterior.
The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage seal mascot... doesn’t this look like a mosquito coil?
Do not play the capsule machines. Do not play the capsule machines. Do not play the capsule machines! Important things must be said three times!
And yet... two days later, Lizi still ended up trying one at the Railway Museum in Omiya, Saitama. Ugh... A later post will explain just how much of a trap the gashapon system really is.
Back at JR Akihabara Station, I took a photo from the overpass of a little blue Keihin-Tohoku Line train.
Then it was coffee time at the Starbucks on the 4th floor of JR Akihabara Station. The windows here face directly toward the Chuo-Sobu Line platforms.
Since the fireworks festival was coming up, you could spot Japanese girls on the platform wearing yukata.
PS: This is one of the nice things about Japan—you can wear something however unusual you want (school uniforms like sailor suits, or kimono such as furisode, houmongi, or yukata), and nobody on the street will stare at you.
Try wearing a traditional Chinese outfit out on the street back home and see what happens.
After finishing my coffee, I decided the next stop would be Harajuku!
With the rail pass still in hand, I went back into JR Akihabara Station and took the Chuo-Sobu Line to Yoyogi, where I transferred to the Yamanote Line.
This is the station sign for JR Akihabara Station on the Chuo-Sobu Line, station code JB19. You can also see the marking in the upper-right corner for the “Yamanote area,” meaning “inside the Yamanote loop” and “Tokyo metropolitan wards area.”
The Chuo-Sobu Line train arrived: an E231 series EMU.
A lot of Chuo-Sobu Line trains are hand-me-downs from the Yamanote Line.
Harajuku
On the way, the Chuo-Sobu Line passed Ochanomizu, a famous railfanning spot, but because of time constraints I didn’t get off to take photos.
After rattling along for more than 20 minutes, the Chuo-Sobu Line reached Yoyogi Station. This is also one of the pilgrimage spots from Your Name—specifically, the place where Mitsuha Miyamizu sat resting on the platform when she came to Tokyo looking for Taki Tachibana from three years earlier.
But once again, because of time constraints (and the platform was wrong! In Your Name, the train in front of Mitsuha is heading from Shinjuku toward Tokyo, while the train Lizi was on was going the opposite way, so it wasn’t even the same platform... what a shame...), Lizi didn’t go do a proper anime pilgrimage to the bench where Mitsuha sat.
The Harajuku Station building was under renovation... Shinjuku is pronounced Shinjuku, and Harajuku is Harajuku—easy enough, right?
On the north side of Harajuku Station there is also a legendary platform reserved for members of the Imperial family, but again, because of time constraints, I didn’t go check it out.
Harajuku Station is also one of the stations selected for the “Kanto no Eki Hyakusen” (“100 Selected Stations of Kanto”). The reason given was: 神宮の森の緑とマッチしている西洋風の駅舎 (a Western-style station building that harmonizes with the greenery of the Meiji Shrine forest).
See also: https://japan.mania.cx/best100/kantoeki/003harajuku.html
Return Trip (How Through-Service Works on the Tokyo Subway)
It was about time to head back to the hotel, so from Meiji-Jingumae I took the Fukutoshin Line to Shinjuku-sanchome. Since Shinjuku-sanchome is a major station, trains of all service types stop there, so as long as you’re going in the right direction, you’re fine.
A reminder here for everyone: after spending an entire day moving around at high efficiency, by the end you may well be tired enough to lose focus and get on the wrong train (even Lizi, as a railfan, has messed this up more than once).
We wanted Platform 4—the train bound for Ikebukuro and Wakoshi.
Then this thing suddenly appeared—a blue Pikachu-themed train from the Minatomirai Line. But wait, isn’t that a Yokohama train? What’s it doing here?
And this is exactly why Lizi mentioned earlier that in Tokyo, you can’t always rely on color alone when riding the subway. The Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line, Tokyu Toyoko Line, and Yokohama Minatomirai Line use an operating pattern called through-service.
Through-service means trains from different railway companies can run onto one another’s lines. The driver changes, but the train itself does not—similar to how some conventional long-distance trains in China can cross bureau boundaries with a crew change but no equipment change. The advantage is obvious: passengers can reach their destination directly and efficiently without repeated transfers. But the downside is obvious too: because trains from different operators can have completely different color schemes, you can’t just look at the train color and assume it’s the right one.
After another transfer at Shinjuku-sanchome, I finally emerged from Tochomae Subway Station!
Let’s wrap up with a photo of Tokyo Hyatt Regency and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
Summary
This post is Kuriko’s day-two travel diary in Tokyo. I’m publishing it in a bit of a rush, so here’s a first draft for everyone. I’ll slowly fix the omissions and errors later.
Thank you!