best time for the Yamanote

[EF57]

I’m planning to do a round trip each way on the Yamanote line next time I’m in town.  What would be the best time of day to do this, so that I could find a good seat?  And, is there a guide for such an enterprise, paper or digital?

[katoftw]

All the seats are the same. Personally I'd just go to the front car so you can see forward and sideways.

 

Time really is up to you. But best to stay away from peak. 7-10am and 4-7pm.

[stevenh]

Thinking about this... there may actually be opportune times, when you have the best chance of seeing the most trains entering/departing stations in front of you. Thanks to the punctuality of Japanese trains, you could review the timetable and work out when you'll be parallel running, etc...

I don't know if anyone has ever found the sweet spots though?

[railsquid]

If you want a guaranteed seat from any station in either direction, start of service ~ 7am-ish will be your best bet.

 

On weekdays, 10am ~ 3pm is generally fairly quiet, on weekends and holidays it will be fairly busy all day from 8~9am.

Like katoftw says, the best view will be from right up the front.

 

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Thanks to the punctuality of Japanese trains, you could review the timetable and work out when you'll be parallel running, etc...

 

The Tokyo area rush hour commuter network is far from to-the-minute punctual, not something you can rely on to plan on seeing X train at Y time.

Edited March 13, 2019 by railsquid

[bikkuri bahn]

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The Tokyo area rush hour commuter network is far from to-the-minute punctual, not something you can rely on to plan on seeing X train at Y time.

Yes, and at a lot of the bigger stations, they have information displays showing disruptions in services and the extent of services affected (Monday mornings as well as the first work day after a long holiday period or after a three day weekend are the high risk times).  Good to check, and adjust your travel plans before going through the faregates.

[railsquid]

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(Monday mornings as well as the first work day after a long holiday period or after a three day weekend are the high risk times).

 

Or if it's raining (at least on the Seibu Shinjuku line, if it's raining you can guarantee everything will be about 5 minutes behind schedule).

 

Or there's an incident (signalling, points, train inspection, train doors, platform doors, level crossing accident, passenger illness, spontaneous inspection of the underside of a train by a suddenly ex-passenger), particularly on the hideously interconnected routes - seems there was an unspecified Person Body Incident on the Seibu Ikebukuro line this morning which had knock-on effects for the Fukutoshin, Yurakucho, Tobu-Tojo Toyoko and Minato Mirai lines.

[gmat]

Sundays would be the best chance to have cars with less crowds. All of the seats face inwards so I'd stand behind the driver to get a really good view. If you want a seat, wait until you stop at a busy transfer station like Shinjuku or Shibuya as many will leave their seats. Sometimes two trains might run close to each other so the following one might be less crowded, but it's hard to predict when one will arrive. After the getting to work crowds and before the lunch time crowds, there might be a small break with less crowded cars. There is another one in the afternoon before about 3:00 or 4:00 when the students get out of school. Between 2:00 to 4:00 AM, the Yamanote doesn't run. The last train and the first trains will have a crowd waiting to go home. It's really crowded on the last train. You might notice that trains going away from Tokyo in the evening might be more crowded than trains going the other way.  It might be easier to get a view from the front or rear window if you look out the back of the train as many people like looking out of the front. It takes about an hour to make a complete circle. 

I'd make a list of sights to look for to make the ride more interesting. One direction will have a crossing. i think that the other way doesn't. 

Mostly I sit down and look at my iPad.

 

Grant

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

A couple of comments on Yamanote Loop and other peak services.

If wearing a back pack, take it off and dump it between your feet on the floor.

If on your back, it takes up another passenger space, and annoys the other passengers..

Looking out the front window alongside the driver, great, but a lot of Japanese like to do this, children especially, at least with the kids one can usually look over their heads.

Hands, If down by one's side, there is the possibility of being accused of groping in very crowded conditions, after dropping my back pack I keep my hands in front up at shoulder level, or hang onto the overhead grips.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

 

[EF57]

very profound tips,  thank you all!

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Another tip for keeping your hands out of unintended trouble on crowded trains, and something that I didn't use on my trips, they didn't exist then, , is the mobile or cell phone.

On the train, if you  have one of these, hold it up to your face, even if you aren't using it, with both hands, this keeps your hands in plain view.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

 

 

[katoftw]

If you like annoying the people you are shoulder to shoulder with.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Maybe so, but the advice itself is sound. Wandering hands on busy public transport has always been an issue, but women (and let's face it, they are in the main the targets) are gaining more confidence in calling it out. Keeping your hands in full view (book, newspaper, mobile phone) removes any risk.

 

[nscalestation]

All good advice.  I would add sit where you can see the display above the doors.

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Here's another tip.

Japanese station name boards very largely have the station name in Kanji, Hiragana and Roman, the Hiragana being the larger script.

They also have the names of next station in either direction each side of the main name in smaller script.

But, whilst they give the traveller a lot of information, there are'nt enough of them on the usual platform.

Generally, there are only two of them per platform, spaced one quarter length in from the platform ends.

This means if one is towards the back of a train, one might not see the station name when the train stops there, so it's better to travel in a car towards the front of the train where one can get a sight of at least one of the name boards as the train rolls in.

Of course, in some cases there is a next station announcement  made over the in-train audio system, on the main trains often in English, which is a great help.

As well as the name boards, the station names sometimes appear vertically on awning columns and such, but in Hiragana, so not much help for the travelling Gaijin.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[katoftw]

On 4/4/2019 at 7:39 AM, ben_issacs said:

Generally, there are only two of them per platform, spaced one quarter length in from the platform ends.

When was the last time you were in Japan.  Whilst what you say is true for far flung lost rural station.  It is just the opposite for any modern urban station.  Many station name signs, if not too many.

[ben_issacs]

katoftw,

Last time in Japan, 2012, so a while ago.

My comment was directed more to the local and third sector lines, yes, JR and the big private companies have such things as internal visual and audio announcements.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.