Hey, guys. Greg here. My quest to spend a day on the trains in and around Tokyo
all began with this GIF. After seeing what Google auto created for me, I
thought, "Hey, there's so much you can see and do riding the trains. How about I
spend a day, from first train to last train, riding them?"
Who rides the trains, and how busy they are, ebb and flow throughout the day. Many
people have the idea that Tokyo's trains are crammed at all times, so I wanted to
see for myself what it looked like randomly going on trains throughout the day.
This isn't a trip to show you the coolest spots, or even anything, really. I
had a couple places in mind that I wanted to go, but beyond that, I was kind
of going where the wind blows.
Where I went in what I saw were but a fraction of what's in and around Tokyo.
I could have spent all day exploring any one of the stations that I stopped through.
So, this is the first part of the day, and I still haven't eaten or drunk anything
yet. I thought it'd be cool to use the vending machines for my beverages. As
you'll see, I'll end up buying lots of drinks, but even this early on my lips
are chapped as... Well, they're pretty chapped.
Oh, did I tell you? This is the busiest train station in the world. Over a billion passengers come and
go through it every year. Since it's about half past six in the morning, it's
not too crazy yet.
At this point in time, it's been a couple hours since I'd woken up. Now it's time
to find something to eat.
All right, some soba! This morning, I'm going with yuzu tori horenso soba,
which is chicken, yuzu, and spinach soba noodles.
The thing I like about traveling by train
is that I can always find something interesting at every station.
Like this automated underground bike parking.
Or, how about these rental bikes?
It's starting to get a bit busier at Shinagawa station,
and it's time to get back on the train...
...and go to the washroom...
...and hydrate myself as well.
At 7:30 a.m., the station's not at peak busyness, but, you can tell that it's
starting to get a bit squishy.
What amazes me, with the volume of passengers on Japan's rail systems, is
that everything goes so smoothly. There are delays here and there, but, largely,
you can plan your trips down to the minute by using the trains—something
that you can't really do when driving cars around.
Now, I'm on my way to the Tokyo Monorail, which is at a different Hamamatsucho station.
I've traveled back and forth between Tokyo about a dozen times, but until this year,
I never knew there was a monorail going to Haneda Airport. When I thought
about this trip, this was one train I did want to show, as I think you get
some unique views riding just above street level.
If you've never traveled to Tokyo before, you might not know that there are
actually two airports. It's most likely that you'll not be arriving at this
airport, since it's mostly for domestic flights. The other airport, Narita, is
actually located outside of Tokyo, to the east. One nice thing about this train is
that it's specially designed with luggage in mind.
If you do end up at Haneda Airport,
something you must do, especially if it's a nice day, is head on over to the flight deck.
Not only can you get amazing views from inside the building, but you can go
outside and hear the full roar of the planes as they depart.
I'm now about to break the rules laid out for this trip. I mean, I called the
video "Tokyo by Train", but I find myself crossing the border into the neighbouring
Kanagawa Prefecture. But it's going to be nice, so don't worry.
I don't know if it's just me,
but I enjoy watching the conductor and staff working to keep the
trains on the go.
These cleaner guys were cool and let me film them.
In Japan, there are "Silver Jinzai Centers" that help seniors find
community-based employment. I didn't ask them to see if this was one of those
jobs, but if you keep your eye out, you'll see seniors in positions like that in
other places, such as at parks or in bicycle parkades.
A large part of the system is the behind-the-scenes staff that work on
and off the trains—from the conductors, to the announcers, to the cleaners, to the
people who refill the vending machines. By the way, that contraption can climb
stairs. Pretty cool, eh?
I'm not about to say, "everyone loves their jobs."
I'm sure, like most people, it's to pay the bills. But I do admire
how most can put aside whatever they have going on personally to focus on the
job and do it with pride.
Part of me says, "Hmm. Maybe I should cut
out some of these traveling shots, as we're already 10 minutes in, it's not even
lunchtime and, we're going all the way until midnight. But then I think to
myself, "What's the point of riding the trains, if you don't sit back and enjoy
the journey here and there?"
But, hey, we're already at our next destination–Kamakura!
I really love this town. I was going to say it's a cool place, but I'm
trying to keep in touch with the youngin's, so let me just say,
this place is on fleek.
In case you're wondering about school kids, I believe they're on a field trip.
French toast and ice cream for lunch—Oh, yeah!
Little factoid: Kamakura used to be the de facto capital of Japan back in
the 12th to 14th centuries.
This is the entrance to the main Shinto shrine in
Kamakura. It actually used to be Buddhist as well, but religions got separated
during the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
If it were the weekend or holiday, this area would be filled with vendors.
This is where you leave your fortunes and wishes.
Just your average Japanese wedding photos...
Nah, just joking. These are nice ones.
Time for a ride along the Enoshima Dentestsu line. Locally, it's nicknamed "Enoden".
A lot of the route is along single-track line, so you get really up close to
the houses during the trip.
Do you see that island in the distance? That's Enoshima Island—really neato
place with caves, shrines, and all-around good times. We're not going there,
but if you're in the area I highly recommend it. You see what I did with "neato"?
Bringing it back old-school.
I think this section is just awesome.
Yep, I'm on a train. Whatcha gonna do?
I just love these little stations, and how you walk across the tracks
to get to the opposite platform.
If you can manage, go up to the front to get an almost "conductor-like" view.
I like these station hubs with overhead walkways. Don't really see stuff like this in Canada.
Onigiri. This is a rice ball wrapped in seaweed.
If you're hungry and want a quick and healthy snack, these are the bomb.
All right. Back at Yokohama Station. I wasn't going to stop here, but I was
running low on batteries, and decided to go to the big Yodobashi Camera store
next to the station. Unfortunately, when you buy new batteries, they come pretty much dead,
so that didn't help at all.
I thought I might assuage my disappointment with
fruit, but a bit too rich for my blood. But, while I was here, might as well get
some quick shots of the scenery. I'm not from a fashionable part of Tokyo, so
whenever I visit Yokohama, I always feel like a slob. People here so nicely dressed.
The oceanfront was a bit farther than I thought, so I hopped on the subway.
Night is starting to fall, and I still haven't made it back to Tokyo, but I'm going.
Man, I love the station music.
Throughout the day, I noticed a calm sort
of rushing, like you'll catch hints of people all throughout the day doing a
little jog, or a mini sprint to here and there, but it's generally not pushing
others out of the way. I was wondering if I'd get the same type of busy footage
if I took my camera to cities around Japan. I suspect there wouldn't be as many
people with that hurried step.
This is probably my favorite scene of the day. If this doesn't scream "salaryman",
I don't know what does.
It was quite fascinating seeing the different architecture at the various stations.
Now, I was almost completely out of juice, and by that I mean batteries, so I
searched the mall for a restaurant that had an outlet next to the chair.
This Ferris wheel was the largest in the world back in 1999—that is before the
London Eye, in the same year, took that title away. Thanks, London.
Right now, we're traveling through Odaiba.
This whole area is built on reclaimed land. "Daiba" can mean "fort" or "battery", as in
things you use to defend your nation from gunboats.
These artificial islands didn't do much good in that regard, but in the late 20th century,
these lands were developed as a sort of futuristic living city. That also
didn't really pan out. It then became an entertainment district, and that...
That's working out okay.
Throughout the trip, I wanted to put out an accurate count of daily passengers
for each station. However, after a few hours of trying to collect stats, I
realized I was getting conflicting numbers, as some only contain departures,
while others would count passengers who were both coming and going.
What I can say is that Tokyo has many of the busiest stations in the world.
There are millions that go through them on a daily basis.
We're now back on the mainland, and we'll head out to Ginza, the shopping district for the rich.
In this part of town, you can hit up several famous areas on foot, so I did
just that. In Ginza, all the brands compete designing ostentatious flagship
buildings. I don't shop here, but if you like crazy buildings, it's a fun place to
stroll by.
Make sure to also go down the side
streets, which look quite different than the main strip.
I stumbled through Yurakucho, which has tons of hole-in-the-wall places to eat—
quite different in tone from Ginza, yet they're right beside each other.
Remember that battery issue? I'm running low again, and need to top up. Luckily,
there's a Starbucks in the area, which is always good for a power socket.
These alleyways are about as ghetto as you get in Tokyo, but they're completely
safe to walk around at night, so don't worry.
We're now in Marunouchi, which
has the Emperor's palace. Nice place to visit, but it's closed at night.
So, I headed up to the Marunouchi Building
to get a free view of Tokyo Station. They're still working on renovations.
If you ever walk through Tokyo at night, you'll know there's
always lots of construction going on at this time.
To me this music sounds kind of like things are wrapping up, and it's getting
close but it's only 10 p.m., and we're going to midnight—remember?
I've never seen a wheelchair ramp like
this in a Tokyo station, so it was cool to see.
And this is where I realized the train I wanted to catch was leaving.
Many people die falling on the tracks every year, so I wish they had these
kind of automatic barriers at all stations.
I'm stopping over at one last place—Ebisu.
This place is named after Yebisu Beer, which used to have its main
brewery here.
And Yebisu Beer is named for one of the seven gods of fortune.
And this tower we're riding up? This is Yebisu Garden Tower,
which stands on the grounds of the old brewery.
This is probably the busiest train I rode on the whole trip. Little tip—on
this line you can actually stand between the cars and get some more breathing room.
There's this feeling I get near the end of the day. Everyone's saying their goodbyes.
It's kind of relaxing to me, and I'm almost right to say goodbye, as well.
But let's take a stroll through Shinjuku first, a major government and business district.
Here, you'll see a lot of the salarymen and -women wrapping up their nights and heading home.
And finally—finally—I'm catching the
last train. Some trains run as late as 1 a.m., but where I'm going, this is the
last one for me.
Would I recommend doing what I did? Goodness, no, but I would recommend taking
the trains wherever they may go, and to make sure to relax and enjoy the scenery
along the way.
Thanks so much for riding along with me. I hope you enjoyed it.
Good night.
You're still here? Well, that's
good, because I need to thank all those who support my mini-documentary projects
like this on Patreon. Despite taking only a day—a very long day—to film, I also
needed to spend a week editing. Your support really helps me out, so thanks.
Also thanks to my wife, who translated the announcements for me. And as always,
thanks for watching, and I'll catch you on the flip side.
Good night. For real, this time.