Random photos of stations I have visited

[mojo]

 

A nice looking MSX2 machine, and a Phase Change disc. Another failed media format, which eventually went on to win. The drives were compatible with CDs (in a suitable caddy), and the phase-change technology was used in DVD-RAM and BD-RW discs. The original 650MB PD discs though, they needed a special drive and never became popular.

 

 

I had to google what this is. Apparently it controls lights and sounds to stimulate the brain, but I'm not sure what it's supposed to do for you.

 

[mojo]

 

Spotted these at Mizohodai Station. Any idea what the red things are? They point in the direction of travel of the train and don't appear to have anything written on them. If you look closely there is one on the other side of the little building.

 

A manhole and a poster about fire prevention.

[mojo]

 

Fujimino. Not sure what this is, or what it was. Almost looks like a pool that was drained. Maybe it's an overflow for storms? Or for sports?

 

    

 

 

This thing is at the station. There are no doors that I could see. I think it's just an elaborate sign.

[mojo]

 

Outside Kawagoe station. I love that this kind of architecture exists. Some serious thought went into it, and then it was built to plan. Maybe that's the norm in some places, but certainly not in the UK.

 

 

I submitted this to the Railway Station Photos app. It illustrates a problem I have with quite a few stations in Japan. It's just hard to get a decent photo of them. They are build into shopping centres, and the area is so dense that you can't really find a good spot to get a view of the station part.

[miyakoji]

Thanks @mojo, more great pics.  It's been a while since I've logged on.  I especially like the edge of the suburbs where it starts to become a little rural, that's mostly what I experienced 🙂

[mojo]

Thanks miyakoji. Hopefully I'll have more rural stuff. The weather is supposed to be better next week. It's been snowing up in Niigata so I'm waiting for that to clear before going. I will go to Chiba and Yamanashi at some point. Was thinking about Nagoya as well, depends how much time I have.

 

Speaking of semi-rural parts, here's a walk in Miyoshi:

 

 

Would have been longer, but I stopped filming when I got near the station and it got busier.

 

[mojo]

 

Minami-Koshigaya station and Minami-Sakurai station.

[mojo]

 

More Minami-Sakurai Station.

 

 

Sky Tree and the Golden Turd.

[mojo]

 

At Kita-Senju station.

 

[mojo]

[mojo]

 

I already have a 68000 Compact Red Line (CPU can overclock to 24MHz), but this is an '030... Must... Resist...

 

 

Toyoshiki Station.

Edited December 24, 2023 by mojo

[mojo]

 

The rare Nintendo 64 Disk Drive.

[mojo]

 

These cute little MSX machines are another one I have trouble resisting. I mean I already have an MSX2, but... Look at it!

[Tony Galiani]

On 12/22/2023 at 8:33 AM, mojo said:

I am thinking about Yokohama tomorrow, doing a slow day and getting a bit of shopping in. Normal shopping, I mean. They have some lovely cat stuff here.

 

I have been sharing some of these pictures with my wife - the manhole covers and the illuminations in particular - but that stops the second I see cat stuff!  If she sees it, I know where she will want to go!

Tony

[Gunzel]

Wow, a Nintendo 64 disk drive is five times the price of a X68030! I know which I’d pick:) But as with MSX I probably need to stay away from all this stuff. 
 

May I ask which HARD OFFs these were? 
 

And the koala manhole cover?

[mojo]

The X68030 was at Toyoshiki. I'm still thinking about it, they usually have a big sale in the new year. It was in the junk section, powers up but otherwise untested, no HDD. Still a bargain IMHO.

 

The 64DD was at Takayanagi. If you are interested, the one near Chiba, I forget exactly where but I can check, as a Vectrex for around 100k...

 

For today, let's start at Goi station...

 

[mojo]

 

So... Anyone know what this is? Looks like some kind of letter setting device maybe?

 

[mojo]

 

Hard Off in Ichihara is a specialist tools shop...

 

[mojo]

 

Goi station again...

 

 

Kinda want this laptop. These Toshibas were impractically small. Extra small 2.5" HDD, under powered... But actually not terrible DOS machines, and okay for light Windows 95 gaming. Note the nipple mouse next to the screen, so you can work on your arm muscles while using it.

 

 

A bus stop in Kisazaru. Night sight brightened it a bit too much again... The bench was very wobbly too. I was going to walk to the station through the field again, but it looks like there was some kind of construction going on so I didn't.

[mojo]

 

 

Kimitsu. The first two are the same place, one with night sight on and one with it off. Off is more like real life, Japan is relatively dark in rural and residential areas compared to the UK.

 

I was happy I could kinda read the words on the mural. It says that is the tree of the town, I guess the official one it is known for or something. Maybe しのき? You can understand the meaning while not remembering the reading.

[Gunzel]

16 hours ago, mojo said:

So... Anyone know what this is? Looks like some kind of letter setting device maybe?

There’s on listed on eBay as a Japanese typewriter, for AUD2500, so this for about 2% of that price is an amazing bargain 😉 
 

i saw a Vectrex in Nara for Y165k. I don’t think I’ll buy any of these but I’ve found that a HARD OFF having some out of the ordinary stuff is a pointer to having more, and hopefully something I’m already collecting rather than branching out further. Still a few Mac’s to find, as well as a Pioneer Mac clone. 

[cteno4]

I wish I still had my basis 108. Sent it onto an elementary school friend many years ago as her 3rd grade class was still using Apple II programs, I had moved onto Macs and wanted the old equipment used. 256k ram card, it was da bomb! Sinclair z80 still lurks in the basement as well as a clear developer newton.

 

jeff

[mojo]

4 hours ago, Gunzel said:

There’s on listed on eBay as a Japanese typewriter, for AUD2500, so this for about 2% of that price is an amazing bargain 😉 
 

i saw a Vectrex in Nara for Y165k. I don’t think I’ll buy any of these but I’ve found that a HARD OFF having some out of the ordinary stuff is a pointer to having more, and hopefully something I’m already collecting rather than branching out further. Still a few Mac’s to find, as well as a Pioneer Mac clone. 

 

LOL, a bargain indeed! That makes sense though, a Kanji typewriter, a bit over 2000 in the official list of ones you are supposed to know...

 

I have a PowerBook G4, and it's a bit meh... I have seen a few videos about Macs of that era that got me a little bit interested, but I'm not taking to them. I want to rebuild the battery pack, and today I found a dual USB and Firewire 2.5" HDD enclosure so it will be easier to work with.

 

Maybe the earlier ones would be more my thing. I used to run MacOS 7 on my Amiga, which at the time was the fastest "Mac" you could get. They aren't easy to get into though, lots of Apple specific hardware it seems. The G4 was bad enough, took about a dozen attempts to find install discs that worked.

 

 

3 hours ago, cteno4 said:

I wish I still had my basis 108. Sent it onto an elementary school friend many years ago as her 3rd grade class was still using Apple II programs, I had moved onto Macs and wanted the old equipment used. 256k ram card, it was da bomb! Sinclair z80 still lurks in the basement as well as a clear developer newton.

 

jeff

 

Yeah, I also regret selling my childhood machines now. Do you mean a ZX81 or ZX82? Friends has Spectrums, they were interesting machines. Clearly built down to a price, but some games were surprisingly good. I've done some Z80 assembler for a hobby project I've been working on, so now any Z80 based machines are more interesting.

 

It's interesting that in the UK, Sinclair focused on price. The machines were quite limited, but were cheap... In Japan the closest competitor would be the MSX platform, which was more expensive but also a lot more powerful. The fact that most Japanese machines had separate RAM for graphics put them well ahead of most Western machines, but also a lot more expensive.

[mojo]

 

Signs at Shin-Okachimachi.

 

 

 

Nishi-Tokorozawa.

[mojo]

 

I could have spent a lot more money at this Hard Off in Iruma. First time visiting and it had an excellent selection of retro stuff and some good junk. Cheap as well.