Keio is not the most well-known of the Tokyo train lines, but those who live in the outskirts of Western Tokyo are thankful for the Keio line providing service into the busy Shinjuku hub. 45 minutes outside of Shinjuku, however, you can find the Keio Rail-Land, a small but impressive museum of the Keio rail…
Tag: train
Disneysea Electric Railway
If you ever wanted to ride a train passing a Mediterranean town, American waterfront and an active volcano in one day, this is probably the only train that can do it. Part of the Tokyo Disneysea park, sister to next door neighbor Disneyland, this fully electric railway carries park passengers on an elevated track across…
Yurikamome
The official name of the Yurikamome (which is the name of a black-headed seagull) is Tōkyō Rinkai Shinkōtsū Rinkai Line, but nobody bothers with that, preferring just “Yurikamome”. Running along the Tokyo Bay waterfront and connecting the “mainland” at Shimbashi station to the man-made island of Odaiba, the ultra-modern line features driverless trains, which means you can sit…
Tokyo Station Renovation
The grand old train station has been undergoing a lot of changes recently and for good reason: it celebrated its 100-year-anniversary in December 2014 and had to get dressed up nicely. The area around Tokyo Station has also seen renovation recently, the huge ultra-modern structures now standing guard over the classic beauty. The beautiful domes atop the…
Seibu Ikebukuro Line
The bright yellow train car lets everyone know it is a Seibu line train, though in the past, that wasn’t always something they wanted to draw attention to. Seibu was one of the companies contracted to transport “night soil” (human waste) from Tokyo to rural disposal sites for several years after WW2, not exactly a highlight…
Enoshima Electric Railway
For train lovers visiting the Kamakura or Enoshima area southwest of Yokohama, the Enoshima Electric railway is a destination in itself. Rumbling mere feet between old homes, past ancient temples and along a beautiful stretch of Sagami Bay, this 115-year-old line is a throwback to the days when the ride itself was the destination. The line…
Toden Arakawa Streetcars
The Toden Arakawa line is one of two remaining streetcar lines in Tokyo, running from the Waseda University area north before abruptly turning east to end at Minowabashi, in the northeastern part of Tokyo. Although the cars are thoroughly modern, riding them feels like stepping back in time, when conductors greeted people on the streets…
Rikishi
Travelling around the eastern part of Tokyo, it is not uncommon to find rikishi, or sumo wrestlers, going about their daily business. This is especially true around Ryogoku, home of the Tokyo Sumo Hall known as “Kokugikan” and the training stables (yes, they are actually called stables) for sumo wrestlers. Rikishi are organized in highly…
山手線 Yamanote Line
Trains are the lifelines of Tokyo but no train line is more important than the Yamanote Line. Running in a circle with the Imperial Palace at its center, the Yamanote Line serves 29 stations and takes roughly an hour to complete a circuit. Depending on where you want to go, you are never farther than 30…
新宿 – Shinjuku
Shinjuku is a special ward of Tokyo most famous for its train station, the busiest in the world with over 3.6 million people passing through it each day. It is also the home of many large Japanese corporations and the 48 story Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, which has fantastic free views of the city from…
365 JAPAN 