Riding the Rails in Tokyo.

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VentureForth

VentureForth

Engineer
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
6,439
Location
West Melbourne, FL
Was in Tokyo last week for about 48 hours under very sad circumstances. T'was a whirlwind of a trip, but I got my fill of train travel.

Wow.

I'll try to post a couple youtubes and/or photos later.

Top notch. My biggest complaint is actually my biggest compliment. With so many different rail companies competing, you have to pay that 'initial' fee everytime you change companies. However, with the Pasmo/Suica cards, you can effortlessly spend your money quite quickly.

There were times where I would literally see three or four trainsets ranging in length from 8 to 16 cars long. All were EMUs. Each carrying up to 1,600 passengers. And every three minutes. In every direction. Everywhere!
 
My brother & his wife were in Tokyo last week also. They were heading up to Sapporo to prepare their condo for their retirement move later this year. Her mother lives there and they currently live in Atlanta.

Can't believe my southern brother wants to live in northern Japan. :p

Edit: they used the trains for their travels. They've been to Japan many times over the years to visit family so they familiar with the systems
 
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Very interested in your travels VF, look forward to your posts.

Sorry the trip had to be under sad circumstances.

How's things in Beautiful Savannah?

And Betty, your family's story is cool too!
 
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AmtrakBlue said:
My brother & his wife were in Tokyo last week also. They were heading up to Sapporo to prepare their condo for their retirement move later this year. Her mother lives there and they currently live in Atlanta. Can't believe my southern brother wants to live in northern Japan.
Click to expand...
Japan is a rather uncommon place for an American to retire. I looked into it once just for kicks. According to what I read I'd need a quarter million dollars for the world's smallest rundown secondhand condo. Plus another fifty thousand or so to repair, refinish, and update it. Or a half million dollars for a tiny new one. Plus another hundred thousand for a tiny burial plot. Living a typical American lifestyle is extremely expensive in Japan. Several million dollars for what we'd consider a small house with a tiny yard. Outside of major cities there is still a stigma associated with Western heritage/upbringing and no amount of money is going to get around something like that. Japan has it's own "Southern" area (both socially and geographically) around Okinawa. Did your brother ever visit there?
 
Devil's Advocate said:
AmtrakBlue said:
My brother & his wife were in Tokyo last week also. They were heading up to Sapporo to prepare their condo for their retirement move later this year. Her mother lives there and they currently live in Atlanta. Can't believe my southern brother wants to live in northern Japan.
Click to expand...
Japan is a rather uncommon place for an American to retire. I looked into it once just for kicks. According to what I read I'd need a quarter million dollars for the world's smallest rundown secondhand condo. Plus another fifty thousand or so to repair, refinish, and update it. Or a half million dollars for a tiny new one. Plus another hundred thousand for a tiny burial plot. Living a typical American lifestyle is extremely expensive in Japan. Several million dollars for what we'd consider a small house with a tiny yard. Outside of major cities there is still a stigma associated with Western heritage/upbringing and no amount of money is going to get around something like that. Japan has it's own "Southern" area (both socially and geographically) around Okinawa. Did your brother ever visit there?
Click to expand...
His wife is from Japan and her family lives there. Her mom lives in Sapparo. I can't remember when they bought the condo, but I think her mom has been living there. They would go over something like every two years, so yes, he's familiar with Japan. I don't know if he's been to Okinawa.

Their original plan was to live in Japan for 6 months and live in Hawaii for 6 months, but they decided they can't afford Hawaii. I think they do plan to visit Hawaii for 2 weeks every year, though.
 
That was one thing that really shocked me. Not a lot of inflation since I was there last, 12 years ago. Easy to eat on a budget. Transportation wiped out most of my funds.

There are ways to live modestly. But very hard if you are a foreigner. They didn't have to build a wall. Japan came with a moat.

Back to the picture for a moment. I'm continually impressed by their professionalism. Hat, uniform and gloves. I know that Amtrak engineers are rarely seen by passengers. But when I see a guy climb up the ladder of a P42 with a cheeseburger in one hand wearing a t-shirt and jeans shorts...
 
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