ED75 does Japan (take 3)

[Tony Galiani]

Always tough to end a great trip.  I for one have been enjoying your trip reports very much and will miss them - the time difference means I get to see them as I get into the office or check my computer every morning and they have been a nice start to the day.

 

I plan on getting back to Japan later this year.  If you happen to be there teaching English I will certainly look you up.

Safe travels.

 

Tony

[ED75-775]

Thanks Tony - glad to hear I’m not the only one who feels the way I do at the end of a good trip. Though, I should mention that I likely wouldn’t be based in Japan and teaching English until mid-2025 at the earliest, I still need appropriate qualifications or a shot at the JET Programme to make it a reality. @SL58654号 speaks well of the English-teaching agency Interac so they’re another consideration.

 

Anyway, the suitcases are basically packed, I have my shinkansen reservation all sorted, and all that’s left to do is to make sure tomorrow I’m out on time, don’t leave anything behind (!) and be fast if I want to make any stops for drinks/snacks.

 

Basically the rest of today finished the way it started: more mooching around the shops, more station lurking and particularly for the Nara Line 205’s, and of course dinner at Kyoto Ramen Koji. This time I decided to give my attention to one of Nakamura Shoten’s special salt-ramen bowls at ¥1580 and a piece of fried chicken at ¥200. Money well spent, the ramen was delicious and apart from the four slices of pork chashu along one side of the bowl, there were two big hunks of chashu topping the ramen too!

 

 

I also made a point of hitting the kakigori festival near Æon Mall for a post-packing, pre-dinner palate cleanser, a dish of strawberry kakigori with condensed milk for just ¥800. It was after all my last night, and I wanted to celebrate my trip in style. I managed to get there shortly after 7:15 and got to enjoy the ‘witching hour’ looking towards the shinkansen and Kintetsu tracks with my dessert from a handy table. This shot got taken while I was waiting:

 

 

Quick question, does anyone make food trucks in 1:150 scale or would I need to create my own? Maybe I’m thinking they would be a cool feature on my ‘layout-that-might-be’ one day…

 

Alastair

[Tony Galiani]

@ED75-775 - 2025 - no problem - my plan/hope/desire - is to travel to Japan each year (until the wheels fall off so to speak).  And I like that last photo - we were over there on our trip to Kyoto last year but we did not know about kakigori.  Something for our next trip.

Cheers,

Tony

[cteno4]

Sorry to hear trip is coming to a close. Does not feel like you have been there 4 weeks either! You seemed to have a grand time and settling into a bit more relaxed travel in Japan. Fun to slow down and just go with the flow once the major rush to see and do everything is out of the way, it lets you explore in a deeper way.

 

Thanks so much for the great vicarious trip. Not being able to travel due to my wife’s health it’s how I have to travel these days and it’s great as your pictures and words bring back my trips to Japan vividly from the neurochrome! Thanks for Tsing the time and effort to do the nice travelogue, I’m betting it will help others to take the plunge for a japan adventure!

 

Teaching might be really grand for you to do for a couple of years. One of our club members and his wife packed off for 2.5 years in Iwate teaching and just experiencing Japanese culture. They loved it. That was like 15 years back and it’s gotten harder to find jobs than it was then and more education and language requirements (another club member went back to school got an English degree to teach in Japan only to find it difficult being older to get a job). Having someone on the ground there helps a lot to know the hoops you need to jump through and find jobs.

 

cheers,

 

 

 

2 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

Quick question, does anyone make food trucks in 1:150 scale or would I need to create my own? Maybe I’m thinking they would be a cool feature on my ‘layout-that-might-be’ one day…

 

Yes icon makes a few you can get from Sakatsu global. These are the little Kia truck ones that I think usually travel the neighborhoods. Don’t think I’ve seen any larger food trucks. But looks like some of the medium vans might work well to kitbash and if you dive in to make one that will assure us Tomytec will make some! I started on a food cart many years ago and had assembled parts for all the bits and pieces and was about 50% way done (very fiddly little project everything is just just a mm or two in size!) when Tomytec came out with their 4! Project put aside for others…

 

jeff

[ED75-775]

Thanks Jeff, it’s been an absolute ball over here even if the wallet says otherwise. Only thing is now I’m starting to consider at the very least a trip in 2025 if I haven’t got a qualification and placement teaching in Japan.

 

As I type this my little friend and I are about to depart Shizuoka bound for Tokyo:

 

 

I seem to have made a tradition of buying a plush each trip, and not having done so earlier, I found this little guy yesterday at Yodobashi Camera in Kyoto. They’ve been great for keeping me company last night, and they’re very cute too.

 

I should get into Tokyo at 1:41 and then I’ve got some time to spare before I think about getting the Narita Express back to Narita. Navitime suggests that if I get N’EX 41 departing Shinjuku at 4:08 or Tokyo at 4:33, that would get me to Narita T1 by 5:30ish. My flight isn’t till 7:45, so that’s plenty of time to drop off my wifi router package and bag drop, check out any open shops and complete departure processing. Then hopefully I’ll get a good night’s sleep on board!

 

I may post some more later if I get time.

 

Alastair

[Kamome]

Glad you had a good time though Alastair.

 

Not wanting to sway your decision. I'm sure you're aware that living and working in Japan is very different to visiting and it seems you've been doing your research. Just good idea to keep your eyes open. Japanese culture can be as weird as it is wonderful and some of my colleagues from other Asian countries  find many elements equally as strange as I do.

 

Lots to think about anyway and the right attitude towards living and working overseas, in a culture different from your own will help greatly.

 

Japan can provide a fantastic experience as it is unlike anywhere else on Earth. 6 months to a year will most likely turn into 3-5 years and the landscape, people, food and culture can be very rewarding if you put the time in to learn the language and how things are done. Knowing when to bite your lip also helps.

 

All the best and safe journey home. There are a number of us on the forum who have lived in the well-organised madness for many years, but feel free to send me a message if you have any questions regarding longer term stays.

[Tony Galiani]

@cteno4  I would like a JR East KiYa E193 so if you could get started on one I would appreciate it.  I am sure that will prompt MicroAce to re-release their model.

 

@ED75-775 Best of luck with whatever you decide.  I always think it is a good idea to live somewhere else for awhile.  Sometimes it works well, sometimes it does not.  (My experience in South America was somewhat underwhelming but I am glad I did it.)  It would certainly give you new perspectives and experiences as @Kamome says.

 

Hope we can meet up again in Japan one of these years.  Compared to you, my shopping efforts are trivial - I would like a chance to learn from one of the masters!

 

And I hope you have a few more photos and trip reports to share!

 

Cheers,

Tony

[miyakoji]

Thanks for this travelogue Alastair, it’s been interesting and enjoyable.

[ED75-775]

Well, I made it safely back home in the end, and have spent most of the last two days getting unpacked and finding new homes for everything I’ve brought, some things being admittedly easier to house than others. I also caught up with some club committee members today to sort out some paperwork, and test the large carriage set I got at Nakano Broadway early in my trip.

 

I’ve still got tomorrow off as it’s my thirty-first birthday, and then it’s back to work (sigh!) on Sunday afternoon. I’ll have to start looking once again for a new job, and at the same time resume research on life and jobs in Japan. Thanks @Kamome for the offer of advice, I’ll be in touch at some point to take you up on it.

 

In the meantime, seeing as I have so many photos to choose from and Tony would like to see more, here’s a couple of shots taken on 1 June after my abortive trip to Rheingold Tokyo. The Tabata rail yard always has something interesting and that day’s find, apart from three EF81’s and a DE10 in the maintenance shed, was lone DE10 1603 amongst a sea of KiYa E195 maintenance vehicles, and a lone GV-E197 set.

 

A little bit of high cloud and sunset made the shot a little bit more magical, and all the more worthwhile for craning my phone over the top of the fence. I also got a zoomed-in shot of 1603 as well:

 

 

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who’s joined me on this journey. Checking back in to the forum daily and seeing the responses from other members enjoying the trip, was another highlight for me personally. As someone who enjoys writing, it’s a great feeling knowing that I’ve been able to take others along with me on this journey, and potentially more to come.

 

Thanks!

Alastair

[cteno4]

Wow, back to life I guess! But sounds like you are prepared to deal with work and such and have some interesting ideas for the future! 
 

we all appreciate your travelogues, you have a gift for writing and it’s so nice of you to share your adventures with us. This is the kind of thing that makes JNS special.

 

jeff

[ED75-775]

Random photos this time, taken on my last day at Nakano Broadway. Mandarake Ryusenkeijiken is a great repository of railway models and ephemera:

 

 

And this for my friend @SL58654号. Might be a bit more than just pocket change here, I’m afraid. ¥88,000 for a two-rail, H0 scale brass model - I think this was the most expensive model in the showcase by far. Needless to say, it stayed where it was!

 

 

Alastair

[SL58654号]

31 minutes ago, ED75-775 said:

 

Alastair

I'd fork over that kind of dough for an N gauge version if KATO ever makes one! 

[ED75-775]

Slightly earlier the same day, approaching Shinagawa:

 

 

My little friend got to enjoy the view while I enjoyed lunch and charged my phone up. According to Apple’s geolocation feature, this was taken just south of Nishi-Ōi Station.

 

Alastair

[Tony Galiani]

 Glad your buddy has a seat with a view.  I briefly thought he might be riding knapsack class - but that would have been 

unBearable .....

Sorry .....

Tony

Edited June 29 by Tony Galiani
correct grammar

[ED75-775]

It’s been a few days since I last posted, and we’re now jumping way back towards the start of the trip, 1 June during my trip on the Chichibu Railway:

 

 

DeKi 506 waits in the platforms at Takekawa with a southbound empty limestone train, it looks like the train crew are about to or have changed over.

 

 

DeKi’s 502, 503 and 504 - in that order from left to right - were parked by the maintenance shed, also at Takekawa. I’d like to pretend this was a planned shot, but that gives me too much credit for what was a quick ‘point and shoot’ attempt.

 

Funny story, after my last trip I provided a talk about my Japan adventures to the Canterbury Railway Society, illustrated with plenty of trip photos including those from my first Chitetsu trip. Afterward, the Society president confided to me he’d love to have one of the DeKi’s in the Society’s collection as they’re double ended, whereas the NRM-NZ’s Toshiba EO only has a cab at one end. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not…

Alastair

[Kamome]

You never know, the 300s must be heading for a retirement if not already as they're almost 60 years old. Maybe put in a notification of interest to Chichibu Railway. Are there any 100 or 200s left?

 

Not sure how you go about purchasing rolling stock. The Kyushu Railway shop owner in Nogata seems to procure a number of older, tired looking railway stock.

All seem to be for static display projects from the level of decay. The 9600 is obviously the pride of the collection but in a yard they have a 50 series coach, a DE10 and a Chikuho Railway 2000 series amongst other things.

 

There was talk of trying to get the 9600 back in steam again until the realisation of rebuild and maintenance costs hit.

[ED75-775]

Jumping back to the end of the trip again for the sunset:

 

 

Alastair

[Grant_T]

Great trip summary Alastair. It has me watching train cab videos on Youtube again and thinking about another trip. 🙂

[ED75-775]

On 7/4/2024 at 11:42 AM, Grant_T said:

Great trip summary Alastair. It has me watching train cab videos on Youtube again and thinking about another trip. 🙂

Hmmm, cab ride videos… dangerous territory, unfortunately I don’t have any cab ride photos on my phone so I can’t share any, unless I have some on my laptop. I’m in agreement with you though, another trip sounds very appealing.

 

On 7/3/2024 at 4:46 PM, Kamome said:

Are there any 100 or 200s left?

Yep, there are - three DeKi 100’s and one DeKi 200:

 

 

 

According to Japanese Wikipedia, DeKi’s 202 and 203 were sold to the Sangi Railway in 2000 for use on freight trains during the construction of Chubu Centrair International Airport. They lasted in service there until 2011.

Meanwhile five DeKi 100’s have been retired:

• DeKi 101, withdrawn 31 March 2006 and preserved at Hirosegawara depot, Kumagaya as a static display vehicle.
• DeKi 104, broke down in March 2013 and stored at Hirosegawara until March 2015 when it was officially written off.
• DeKi 106, withdrawn after it derailed and overturned at Kagemori Station on 8 February 2008. It was partially dismantled at Kagemori to allow its remains to be brought to Hirosegawara for breaking up.
• DeKi 107, ex-Matsuo Mining Railway ED501, withdrawn from service in February 2015 but not officially written off until March 2016.
• DeKi 108, ex-Matsuo Mining Railway ED502, withdrawn in December 2020.

Looking back through my photos, I’ve only ever seen two of the DeKi 100’s, 102 and 105 with the latter being sighted on both my 2023 and 2024 trips. Looks like I’ll need to make another trip to find DeKi 103 (that is, if it hasn’t been written off by the time I go back!).

 

Alastair