Random photos of stations I have visited

[disturbman]

On 2/1/2021 at 2:01 PM, mojo said:

 

The Rainbow Bridge between Odaiba and the mainland. For some reason there is a mini copy of the Statue of Liberty, but facing the wrong way.

Long story, Paris lent its copy the Statue of Liberty (that statue was given in 1889 to France by US citizens living in Paris to celebrate the French Revolution three years after the main statue was given by the French to NYC). Japanese loved it so much that they decided to install another replica where Paris' Statue of Liberty had been in Odaiba.

[railsquid]

25 minutes ago, disturbman said:

Long story, Paris lent its copy the Statue of Liberty (that statue was given in 1889 to France by US citizens living in Paris to celebrate the French Revolution three years after the main statue was given by the French to NYC). Japanese loved it so much that they decided to install another replica where Paris' Statue of Liberty had been in Odaiba.

 

The "love" for it was so great in Japan copies were installed above many "hotels": https://www.mag2.com/p/news/349256

[disturbman]

Love can make you free.

[kuro68000]

55 minutes ago, railsquid said:

 

I recognise the location (the vending machine is a dead giveaway anyway), but which film?

 

If I'm not mistaken a scene at the end of Battle Royale was filmed here.

[railsquid]

6 minutes ago, mojo said:

 

If I'm not mistaken a scene at the end of Battle Royale was filmed here.

 

Not familiar with that one,  but Wikipedia says "Shuya and Noriko are declared fugitives, and are last seen on the run in the direction of Shibuya Station", so you might be right.

[cteno4]

Thanks squid, I never knew the statue was used on hotels like that! Ok another fun scene to do. One of the small hotels looks very much like one of the little tomix buildings! Ok off to ebay for a small Statue of Liberty to whack in two! 
 

jeff

[Kanpai Keith]

On 2/2/2021 at 7:02 PM, cteno4 said:

Thanks squid, I never knew the statue was used on hotels like that! Ok another fun scene to do. One of the small hotels looks very much like one of the little tomix buildings! Ok off to ebay for a small Statue of Liberty to whack in two! 
 

jeff

Don’t forget a Gundam Wing, also on Odaiba Island. We jumped off the monorail and walked Rainbow Bridge. Great views.

 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

That's Unicorn, not Wing 😄

 

[cteno4]

I already have a 1/144 gundam for this scene! Also the himiko sightseeing boat.

 

jeff

[Kanpai Keith]

1 hour ago, Martijn Meerts said:

That's Unicorn, not Wing 😄

 

It’s a precautionary measure as Hagibis was due to make landfall a few days later.

1 hour ago, cteno4 said:

I already have a 1/144 gundam for this scene! Also the himiko sightseeing boat.

 

jeff

We took the boat from Odaiba to close to the Skytree, saw the Himiko boats, but decided on one with a top deck as it was a beautiful sunset.  Had fun ducking down under some of the bridges.

 

not sure why some images are rotated 90degrees as the are fine in my gallery?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Kanpai Keith

[kuro68000]

 

 

LaLa Port at Tachikawa, accessibly via the Tama Toshi Monorail line.  The colour scheme reminds me of the German flag.

 

The car park is interesting. Many car parks in Japan have these U shape markings that are to prevent people parking too close. You can also see 4 chargers lined up. I didn't go look at them so I'm not sure if they are rapid chargers or not. Based on the size they could be 50kW ones, or they could be AC chargers with a payment terminal. The built in cable and plug suggest rapid DC charging, presumably CHAdeMO only.

 

 

 

The other end of the spectrum now, this is Chika Shōtengai in Asakusa. Supposedly the oldest underground shopping street in Japan. There are lots of random little shops and it has a character all of its own. You would hardly know it's here from the surface, the only entrances are where you access the Metro and I didn't notice any signs mentioning it, but I might have missed them.

 

There is a barber here were I had a decent haircut once. I usually go to a place in Nakano, get the full works (wash, shave, shoulder massage etc.)

 

 

 

Spotted this excellent vehicle in Akihabara one evening.

 

 

 

 

Kawaguchiko Station near Mt. Fuji.

 

 

 

Rapid charger near Mt. Fuji. CHAdeMO only.

 

 

 

 

Tenjozan Park in Kawaguchiko, with a view of Mount Fuji.

 

 

 

Odaiba again. Fuji TV building in the middle.

 

 

Delorian at the car museum at Odaiba, attached to Venus Fort by the Tokyo Teleport. 

 

 

Christmas lights from DECKS in Odaiba. DECKS is a mixture of shops and amusements, over-priced but you can walk around for free. There are bay tours here and the mini Statue of Liberty is nearby.

 

 

 

Life size Gundam.

 

 

 

This is Yokohama Minato Mirai. The European style houses in the middle are actually just fronts. It's actually part of the Cosmoworld amusement park.

[kuro68000]

 

 

 

I have this listed as "park near Mitaka" but I'm not sure that's right. It doesn't seem to be any of the parks I could find near there.

[cteno4]

Nice shishi-odoshi. Love the sound of them with the water and thunk. Zen Rube Goldberg.

 

jeff

[railsquid]

5 hours ago, mojo said:

I have this listed as "park near Mitaka" but I'm not sure that's right. It doesn't seem to be any of the parks I could find near there.

 

Doesn't look in the least bit familiar, and as owner of a small child living in the general vicinity of Mitaka believe me I know the parks around here pretty well.

[kuro68000]

7 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

Doesn't look in the least bit familiar, and as owner of a small child living in the general vicinity of Mitaka believe me I know the parks around here pretty well.

 

Yeah, I think I was somewhere else but it was so long ago... 2006 I believe. Might not even be Tokyo.

[HankyuDentetsu]

Am I the only one suffering from withdrawal symptoms here? Any more pictures Mojo? I want to see more of your Hard Off pilgrimages!

[kuro68000]

12 hours ago, HankyuDentetsu said:

Am I the only one suffering from withdrawal symptoms here? Any more pictures Mojo? I want to see more of your Hard Off pilgrimages!

 

I could post a few more from inside Hard Off if you are interested.

 

I have an album here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ws6jpz2uhXJgQFLt6

 

Found some rare and interesting stuff.

 

 

Apple Newton, Apple's interesting but ultimately failed experiment in PDAs. Boxed with connection kit!

 

 

 

 

Music stuff at Kichijoji. I think this is where I picked up my Roland Sound Canvas SC-88. Back in the day a lot of games for PC and X68000 made use of midi boxes like the Sound Canvas to enhance in-game music. Basically you had the PC beeper as the lowest quality option, then usually Adlib as the next best choice, and then SC-55 or maybe MT-32, depending on what the composer used to write the tune in the first place. The difference in quality between the external midi boxes and the Adlib was incredible, but they were very expensive back in the day.

 

 

 

 

Most branches of Hard Off have a selection of LPs. They are cheap and usually in good condition. I don't actually have a turntable but you can frame them as nice bits of art. Same with Laserdiscs, many branches have at least a few and although many won't play properly now due to them rotting or de-laminating, the sleeves are often in great condition.

 

If you like Enka there is loads of rare stuff you will never find outside of Japan.

 

Of course if you do want to play them...

 

 

 

If those are a bit pricey they have then down to literally hundreds of yen only, based on condition. The thing about Japan is that used stuff which is in poor cosmetic condition but otherwise works is REALLY cheap.

 

For example I wanted a 2x floppy drive (literally just a floppy drive that runs at double speed, and they also made 4x ones but they are extremely rare). In the end I picked up 3 for 100 yen each, thinking at least one would work. Well, they all work. Minor scuffs and one has some discolouration of the plastic where it has been in the sun. Same with the MO drives I picked up, I think one was 300 yen and another was 500. MO was a data storage format popular in Japan, with disks looking similar to floppies but storing up to 1.3GB. The most common ones stored 230MB or 650MB, and used a clever system where the data was stored magnetically but could only be changed when the disc surface was heated by a laser, which made them extremely robust and immune to magnets. Sony's Minidisc is apparently quite similar.

 

 

Of course lots of people like older formats or have collections they want to play, e.g. these Minidisc and CD Walkmans. You can get tape Walkmans too, although these days most will need a new belt. These are all tested and working with a short warranty (usually 3 months), but if you are willing to take a punt on a "junk" one and fix it you can get some super bargains.

 

 

 

Fancy some pro gear?

 

 

 

These are junk bins. Part of the shop will be the junk area where they just throw in stuff like this. It's untested and no warranty, but often it's brand new. Like here you can see unopened brand new VHS tapes and CD-Rs. You find all sorts of amazing stuff in the junk section.

 

My phone is currently charging on a junk wireless charger I got, brand new in box, for 300 yen. I also got a PCMCIA network card for an old laptop for 100 yen which works great. Next time I need some RAM for my printer so I might sift through the RAM bin. It's an unusual shape but was probably common in Japan, where the printer comes from. On eBay they are £50 each, not that desperate for an update.

 

Really much of the fun of visiting Hard Off is looking through what they have, especially the junk.

 

 

Sharp calculator. I've been keeping an eye open for older Sharp portable computers, of which this is not one. Those of you in the US might remember the Tandy portable line, which were mostly re-branded Sharp machines.

 

I actually saw a Canon calculated I wanted, but forgot to buy it. I'm an engineer and it had some useful functions.

 

 

Anyone else remember these Yamaha speakers? I had the previous model without USB input. They are computer speakers with dual inputs so you can connect two sources that get mixed together automatically. Very handy if you have the aforementioned midi box and computer sound.

 

You need to know your stuff a bit to get the most from Hard Off, e.g. just looking at these you wouldn't think they are anything special.

 

The main issue is lugging it all back home. If you live in Japan... Well the problem is probably that your house is kinda small to keep all the amazing stuff you find! But really there is nothing like this in the UK, and I would be endlessly amused visiting different stores on my days off. I gather things are a bit better in the US with thrift stores and places like Computer Reset, the very existence of which drives me nuts.

[JR 500系]

Wow those photos remind me of the nostaligc past, when discman with anti-vibration function was the top of the line!!!

 

Never forgot how to wind down a casstte tape!

[railsquid]

2 hours ago, mojo said:

The main issue is lugging it all back home. If you live in Japan... Well the problem is probably that your house is kinda small to keep all the amazing stuff you find!

 

Ah, now there's a thought, maybe I could lug my pile of old but serviceable PC parts and miscellaneous bits to one, it's too good to throw away but I doubt I'll ever need it. I do however need the space for more important things, i.e. trains.

 

1 hour ago, JR 500系 said:

Never forgot how to wind down a casstte tape!

 

Still available in most shops which sell writeable storage media.

[kuro68000]

19 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

Ah, now there's a thought, maybe I could lug my pile of old but serviceable PC parts and miscellaneous bits to one, it's too good to throw away but I doubt I'll ever need it. I do however need the space for more important things, i.e. trains.

 

Yes, go to Hard Off! As well as getting some cash you are preventing that stuff going to landfill, and allowing someone else to enjoy it.

[Tonytramman]

now that's my kind of shop!

[kuro68000]

17 hours ago, Tonytramman said:

now that's my kind of shop!

 

I'll try to have a dig through for some more photos. I wish I had taken more of their model railway stuff. You can see a bit of it in some of the panoramas, and to be fair they often don't have a huge amount.

[Tonytramman]

the guitars were nice too 😎

[kuro68000]

 

Remember these? You could make your own alarm clock or schedule recording of radio shows. Basically they are clocks with a timer function that turns on the AC power, so you plug your HiFi gear into them, all set up to record off the radio onto tape when the time comes.

 

 

 

This kind of professional sampler would have been very expensive back in the day. Kinda useless now as everyone uses computer based digital audio stuff, but if you are into retro gear...

 

 

Karaoke mixer.

 

 

"Junk" word processor, digital sampler, not sure about the other stuff. This was Kawasaki I think, they have a decent junk section but it's overflowing a bit so you have to dig through to see all of it!

 

By the way the keys on that word processor were excellent, probably Alps from the feel. Was tempted to get it and take the keyboard out for a project but managed to resist in the end!

 

 

Hifi enthusiasts will remember pouring over magazine ads and reviews of these things, the latest and greatest of their day.

 

 

Some stuff I bought. The top one is a 640MB MO drive, the bottom one is a 2x speed floppy drive. The MO drive is discoloured by exposure to sunlight, and unfortunately the inner metal housing is riveted to the plastic so I have been unable to restore it so far. Both were in the junk section and both work great.

 

I need to live in Japan. I have to find a way.

[cteno4]

OMG, it’s like the last 40 year of tech screaming out like zombies after me! Zaps my mind into this long mental continuum of tech gear in my life over the last half century.

 

jeff