East Japan Railways – also known as JR EAST, also known as  plain ol’ JR – have done something to make me happy in my organic cotton pants. They’re currently testing a system which uses the movement of passengers through their ticket gates to generate electricity. The vibrations caused by people walking through and over special plates create an electrical field which light up a lamp on the ticket gate.

Doesn’t sound like much yet, but hopefully this is the start of making the railways in Japan more environmentally friendly. If that energy could be used simplyto power the ticket gates, that would be a huge saving in electricity.

Link:
Pink Tentacle

Looking for a cheap bike? Know that bikes are plague to most neighborhood in Tokyo. There’s too many of them. Hundreds of illegaly parked bikes are taken by your city services every months.
Most of those bikes go unclaimed as it would require their owner to pay a fee to retrieve them.
So what does the city office do about that? They sell it.
In Nakano city, there’s a lottery for unclaimed bikes, the entry is free and if you win you can buy a bike for 7900yen. Those are not fancy bikes (they would be claimed otherwise) but they are refurbished and cleaned by the “Silver Human Resources Center”. Yep, the bored obaachans of your neighborhood are put to use.
I guess the process is different with every ku, but you should check it out at your local city office or at their English webpage.
Here’s a list of the English sites for the 23 ku of Tokyo (except for Nerima and Katsuchika which are too backwards to have an English website).

When you’re travelling via the train network in Japan, and you’re not exactly sure where you’re going or how much you’re supposed to pay, the Fare Adjustment Machine is here to save the day!

Hysterically funny rhymes aside, a foreigner (particularly a foreigner with no Japanese skills) can have a real problem getting around, since the rail network maps tend to look like abstract artwork and in many places, the train stations are written in kanji. Kanji! Not even hiragana to aid the young Japanese kids who haven’t learnt the 2000+ kanji character set yet!

So, in many instances, you won’t know how much you’re supposed to pay for your trip. If this is the case, buy the cheapest ticket available. This is generally done by slotting coins into the ticket machine until the lowest fare is highlighted. Then, once you have reached your destination, slot your ticket into the Fare Adjustment Machines, which are usually well marked, even in English. The machine will tell you how much extra you need to pay for the distance you’ve travelled.

The machines don’t always give instructions in English, but it’s not too hard to guess how much you are required to pay from the amount displayed on the screen. Also, if there is no adjustment required, then the machine will refuse to take coins.

When you have paid, the machine will give you a new ticket and chew up the old one. Put this new ticket into the gate (don’t expect it to come out again) and you’re free from the train network!

Links:
Tokyo Metro – I think this may be a train otaku’s personal website. It’s about the Metro (subway) system but does provide lots of photos of tickets, ticket machines, gates and fare adjustment machines, so in case you’ve never seen one before, now you know what to look for. In English too, strangely enough.

On JR train lines and the Shinkansen, there are first class carriages known as Green Cars. You can tell them apart from the other carriages because they are double-storey and have an interior like an airplane.

An extra charge is required to ride on the Green Car. The cost varies from line to line and is dependant on distance, but when I rode on the Green train recently from Shinjuku to Yokohama on the Shonan-Shinjuku line, it cost a basic charge of 540 yen and an extra Green Car charge of about 800 yen.

The place on the platform where the Green Car will stop is clearly marked out. You form a queue there. On some trains (I presume they are older trains without the new technology), you will have to buy a paper ticket and have a conductor stamp it as you’re lining up.

But on the newer trains, you can pay for the Green Car in advance on your Suica card (at a special vending machine on the platform), then once you’re on the train, scan the card against the ceiling. The red light above your seat will turn green and stay like that for the route you have paid for.

Pretty cool.

So, why travel on the Green Car?

The first thing you will notice is that it’s very quiet. It’s much more insulated from the noise of the train than normal carriages. The seating is guaranteed, of course, so if you’re not keen to stand up squished against someone’s armpit in peak hour, the lure of a Green Car seat for a few hundred more yen may compel you.

Also, the seats are big and reclining. There is also a fold out table and a drink holder, in case you want to eat or get some work done. You may also find some celebrities, or at least free-riding politicians there.

For the average gaijin living in Japan, Green Cars aren’t something you would need to deal with very often, if ever. Just make sure you’re not trying to get into one if you haven’t paid for the ticket.

But if you’ve had a long day where nothing’s gone right and you just want a little bit of peace on your way home, the Green Car is a nice alternative to the sardine can you get inside normal carriages.

Links:
JR East
Hyperdia.com – find your train route

Transport in Japan works slightly differently than it does in Australia and most parts of the West. Instead of having a train ticket that covers a certain period of travel (ah, the good ol’ 2-hour tickets of my youth…) you pay for the distance that you travel. Which can seem expensive, when you consider that to travel just one station away, it can cost upwards of 130 yen.

When you use the trains here, you will buy a ticket from the vending machines, insert it into the gate to let you in, take the ticket again, then, once you have reached your destination, insert the ticket into the gate you want to exit. Assuming you’ve paid the correct fare, the ticket will be swallowed up by the machine and you carry on your way.

Buying a ticket at every train station can be tedious though, so it’s much easier to have a prepaid card that simply deducts the amount you have travelled, until you have run out of credit. Like phonecards, these usually have collectable designs on them but when the credit runs out, it runs out – and the cards become useless.

In Tokyo, though, JR (Japan Railways) have gone one better with the Suica card system. Suica stands for “Super Urban Intelligent CArd” but the word also means “watermelon” in Japanese. It’s a hard plastic card, like a credit card, and can be topped up with more credit at the ticket machines, so that means less paper wastage from tickets and prepaid cards.

The cards can be bought for 2000 yen (including a 500 yen deposit on the card) at most train stations in metropolitan Tokyo. They work using RFID (radio frequency identification) technology developed by Sony. The cards do not need to be placed into a slot, but rather just pressed against a sensor plate. The excellent thing about this technology is that the RFID signal can be read through other cards and layers, so in fact, all you need to do is press your wallet against the plate, and the card inside will be read.

The Suica card is incredibly convenient for those reasons, but best of all – you can use the Suica card to pay for items in many shops inside train stations. Look out for the Suica penguin logo outside the shop – whether it’s a combini or a ramen bar – and you can scan your card for all your purchases. Useful, if you’ve run out of change or if the ATM isn’t open.

The Suica card is available to use on all JR East lines, the Tokyo Monorail and the Tokyo Waterfront Railway (also known as the Rinkai Line). In the future, Suica will be adapted for use by train lines that use the Passnet system, which basically means you can get almost anywhere around Tokyo on your Suica. And get a drink from the kiosk, too.

Links:
Wikipedia
JR East (English)

It is often said here in Japan that the people most likely to steal a bicycle are drunken salarymen who have missed the last train home.

This is probably true.

Bicycles are probably the best way to get around Japan, given that most suburban streets are narrow, some too narrow to actually fit a car, let alone two in opposite directions. Even out on the main roads, it’s not really possible or safe to try and reach high speeds.

So unless you can afford a scooter, your best bet is to buy a bicycle, complete with basket, bell, one gear and a “ladies” frame. One can be bought relatively easily for about US$100. Everyone has one. The pavement outside department stores or train stations are often hard to get through, for all the bikes parked there. And with all those bikes parked there, who’d notice one missing? Bicycle theft is a common crime in Japan.

To combat this, Japanese Police set up the “crime prevention bicycle registration” system. If you own a bike, you must register it with the police. If you buy from a shop, they’ll usually handle the registration for you. But if you buy it second hand from another person, legally you are both required to go to the police office and register yourself as the new owner of the bicycle.

Police officers, if they hear about a bicycle theft, will stop any cyclist riding past their koban if the description fits. And if that bicycle isn’t registered then there can be some polite but insistent questioning.

So while it costs a small amount to register, it can save you a big headache if you get stopped by the police. And, should your bike ever be stolen, there’s a chance you can get it back.

Sesame Street is still commuting with the Tokyo Metro. Either that, or they are really concerned making everyone — including English-speaking non-Japanese under-civilized(?) gaijin like me — respect one another. Anyway, this is yet another episode of “The Sesame Street characters tell you how to respect the wa“. I like that.

“Take care of your umbrella!” Elmo says, this time. “Help everybody stay dry — roll up your umbrella” writes the caption at the top. Again, both in English and in Japanese. This is actually the third installment. I missed the first one. Damn! If you have seen it, please let me know in the comments below. I think the 4th lesson will be about bags to be stored in the overhead compartments. And hopefully the 5th one will teach perv oayji: “Do not grope the cute girl in front of you!” or something like this…

“Don’t take up too much room with your newspaper!” it says at the top. Both in Japanese and in English. And then, Elmo emphasizes again, just in case: “Fold your newspaper!”, with an exclamation mark again, this time in English first, then in Japanese. I am not sure if the use of English is because non-Japanese are perceived as metro hogs or if it is the Sesame Street effect but nevertheless this poster found in the Tokyo Metro network makes sure everyone understands that space is scarce and respect of others makes life easier for everyone.

I have never been disturbed by somebody’s newspaper in the train in Tokyo. Noise yes, smell a lot, and people who get in while you try to get out too, of course, but never someone who was taking too much space with a newspaper. The thing is, more often than not, it would be impractical for someone with a newspaper to read it without folding it, considering the usual crowd in trains pretty much all the time.

So, is it only me or is it a new trend? Should I go into conspiracy theories about how the government tries to make people believe things and forget about others by using colorful happy characters? Well, I am just glad there is more bilingual information around.

It is a well known fact that trains can be extremely crowded in Tokyo during rush hours. Usually, everyone mind their own business as much as possible, by reading a manga magazine or sending email on their mobile phone. Some men however prefer to take the opportunity to touch the lady next to them, who will usually not say anything because of the way the male-dominated Japanese society still operate. “Molestation” is called “Chikan” in Japanese, and it is a part of the everyday routine here, somewhere between green tea and digital cameras.

There is no easy way to stop it, but some steps are being taken to make life easier for women. The JR (Japan Railway) Saikyo Line is famous for having the largest number of molestation cases on a single train line. Last year, 217 cases in which men molested women on trains were reported on the line.

Last Monday, women-only coaches were introduced on the Saikyo Line trains during the morning rush hour to protect women from molesters. Until now, only one carriage on each train on the Saikyo Line between Saitama Prefecture and central Tokyo had been designated as a women-only car and this was available only late at night.

Ten other railway operators in the Kanto region, including major private railways and the subway system run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, will also set some carriages aside exclusively for women during morning rush hours, beginning in May.

via Mainichi Daily News

There might be some times when you missed the last train.
I myself have some experiences that I could not catch the last train.
If the next day is a day off, no broblem. But what are you going to do if you have to work tomorrow or you have any reasons you really need to reach your house?

Unfortunately the trains and subways here in Tokyo – I talk about around Tokyo in this post – finish early or late midnight (it depends on the line). Some lines finish earlier than you might expect.

How you can recognize the last train?
When you arrive in the station you will see the people running. You will find the electronic timetable board, which is notifying you which is the last train. Train officers do not let you in, after the last train is gone. Also there are
You will find many people checking Last train time schedule on their cell phone, using the web / internet function. It is something everyone cares!

You might think, Oh, well, I can go home by taxi. It would be the best way if you live not too far. However there are many people living really far from central Tokyo. It will cost around JPY30,000 if you drive home 30 to 40 Km, which is around US$290.

If you do not want to spend so much money and have a reasonable night, what is the best way?
- Stay in a business hotel
- Stay in a capsule hotel (Male only)
- Stay in a pub or Izakaya (Japanese style restaurant/pub/bar)
- Stay in a Karaoke room

There are one of the ways to spend the night. However there is one more option – Manga Kissa. It is a place full of manga and some computers.

What is the Manga Kissa?
For the detail explanation, please wait for the next post!