The video below has been making the email rounds recently, and it certainly doesn’t look like a fun commute. At any rate, I think the train line itself is pretty easy to identify. I think I know which station it is based on some cues in the video, but I’m not saying what I think just yet.
I’ll write down what I think with some way to timestamp it. Tokyo densha otakus, what station do you think is in that video and why?
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Comment by Kristofer
May 9, 2008 @ 2:12 am
I originally saw this video here on Google video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5127313249780524359&q=train&ei=UjYjSLCAPYvWigLrkpDEAQ
The poster there says it’s from 1991.
Comment by MTC
May 11, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Since it looks like the Sobu Line and the train is boarding from the left side, I would have to guess Ochinomizu Station.
Comment by Ken Worsley
May 11, 2008 @ 1:23 pm
MTC, thanks. That’s not my guess, though.
Here’s my hint for the line: The stickers on the doors. That company has been using those stickers on its doors for years on its lines and still does.
Comment by Turner
May 12, 2008 @ 3:40 pm
Did I mention how happy I am to not have to face the morning commute in Tokyo?
Comment by Garrett DeOrio
May 12, 2008 @ 4:56 pm
It’s all about timing, Turner. That and the old saw real estate saw of location, location, location is even more true in Tokyo. Luckily for people who interpret location as I do, most Tokyoites seem to still think primarily in terms of proximity to certain lines rather than the direction in which they’ll usually be travelling.
MTC, I fell for the yellow stripe on the side of the train, too. Ochanomizu has the beige concrete arches and a step up in the middle of the platform, so that’s not it.
I know what Ken’s thinking and he’s convinced me. I’d add: look at the uniforms. The uniforms have changed, but not much.
Comment by DW
May 15, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
I’ll have a go.
The pointy hand sitckers on the train door windows coupled with the guard’s uniform make me think it’s a Seibu Line.
Now as for which line. The Ikeburero line is busier than the Shinjuku, so I’ll go for that.
And as for the station, the only station that has such a ‘pointy’ end to it (with two trains so close together) is if I remember correctly, Hibarigaoka. That would also explain the intense crush at the front of the train, with all the people coming off the local train and on to that narrow platform to get on the express.
Well, that’s my two penneth. May be way off mind…….
Comment by Garrett DeOrio
May 15, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
Nicely done, DW. I won’t say whether that is or isn’t the same as Ken’s well-elaborated theory, but you’re on a similar track, so to speak.
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