Printed material on Japanese rail in English?

[SantaFe1970]

In preparation for an upcoming (first time) trip to Japan, I've been learning lots about Japanese trains from the web -- and lots in particular from this forum.

 

But, and I was a little bit surprised at this, I have not had much luck in finding printed, English-language material. 

 

What I'm looking for is something like a spotter's guide, with pictures and brief text. Not exhaustive with every variant of every trainset, but covering the more common types, maybe. 

 

Or, out-the-window guides to scenery along major routes (I remember a book like this while traveling in France, but can't remember if it was in French or English).

 

I've only found very general tourist guides to train travel in Japan.

 

Am I mistaken? Is there more specialized, portable stuff, aimed at the railfan?

[kvp]

While not printed, wikipedia has lots of info about japanese trains, so you might want to get the offline version on a tablet as a quick reference. Considering how fast they are changing, anything printed would be outdated within a year.

[miyakoji]

In addition to kvp's suggestion, there's http://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/start.html. It'll be easier to find specific on Wikipedia though. If all else fails, post questions here and we'll figure it out 🙂

[katoftw]

www.japan-guide.com is good if you are chasing toursit stuff. but if you google any site or tourist attraction, they should have a english language setup provided on their website.

 

there isn't much tourist stuff to look at along the major train routes. you really have to get away from the cities and onto coastal or rural lines to see exciting stuff out the windows. the shinkansen view isn't anything wow. but nice to see some new things if first time in japan.

 

railfan stuff in english is limited compared japanese text. but if you use chrome, then the pages can be translated (poorly).

Edited February 14, 2015 by katoftw

[SantaFe1970]

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. You've given me some new ideas of where to look. Yes, the web is indeed a cornucopia. 

 

But it would be nice to have something printed and portable. I was thinking something like Platform 5 Publishing's series of handbooks on German, French, Swiss, Italian, etc. locomotives and multiple units, etc. They are aimed at the trainspotter, I think, but I have found them very useful as a general railfan. They do get out of date, though. The same company publishes annually updated pocket guides for British locomotives, carriages, etc.

 

A few years ago when I was in Germany I found a series of pocket guides published by Garamond to be very useful.

 

I suppose the future is to put rail equipment and train journey info into a phone app. I haven't looked, maybe somebody already has...

[katoftw]

It doe not exsist in Japan unless you do it your self. Europe is completely different in terms of traveller and railfans due to geographical location from railroads.

 

The domestic railfan market in Japan is as big as the whole of Europe, so they don't really need to cater for the outside world.

Edited February 14, 2015 by katoftw

[westfalen]

You're right that there is not much English material but as katofw observed they really do cater to the domestic railfan market, if you visit a Japanese book store that has a good railway section like the Shosen Book Tower in Akihabara you will see more railway books and magazines than you have ever seen in one place before.

 

The Japanese language Wikipedia pages generally have more information, the English version might have a paragraph on a particular train or line but if you click on the Japanese language you will likely get several pages and many more photographs.

 

When I first visited Japan in 1990 the internet wasn't what it was today and you didn't know what to expect which is still part of the fun of a railfan trip to Japan.

[SantaFe1970]

Circling back to my original post, I'm now more convinced than ever that an English-language introductory printed guide to the trains, routes, sights, etc. of rail travel in Japan would be a success. 

 

Certainly the internet is a vast resource, and is now available to many -- most? -- people while on-the-go, through their phones. But as an introduction to a topic, sometimes the internet is like drinking from a firehose: too much, too fast. Where to begin?

 

And I certainly understand that the Japanese rail tourism industry is aimed at the internal market. (As is, with the one real exception of Kato, the Japanese model train industry.) 

 

But millions of people visit Japan every year. And many of them like trains. I bet the vast majority of these tourists will ride a train in Japan. (And English is the new lingua franca for many, witness this forum.)

 

As an example, I just got a "Getting Around Tokyo Pocket Atlas" (Tuttle Publishing) to help polish my plans for an upcoming trip to Japan (my first). Its just short of 200 pages, and stuffed with maps, rail and bus routes, diagrams, etc. It is not, of course, fully complete or up to date. I've found some places that lack clarity, maybe even accuracy. But its a great resource.

 

I think a similar, 200 page or so introductory guide to Japanese railroads would be a success. It might start with a short history of rail in Japan, with a discussion of the new JR and JRF companies, and also the more important or interesting private companies. A chapter on railway museums and preserved locos and cars. A chapter on shinkansen, including a brief spotters guide with one page each on the major types. A chapter on commuter operations, again with a brief spotter's guide of major types. A chapter on subways. A chapter on trams, maybe focusing on the Randen, Enoden, one or two other examples. A chapter on freight. A chapter on Joyful Trains. A chapter on the practicalities of riding trains in Japan today. Perhaps ending with suggested itineraries. Well done, it might appeal to both tourists and railfans just beginning an interest in Japanese rail. 

 

Not a project for me (I'm a beginner in these topics), but I bet Tuttle or Kondansha or some similar publisher might be interested...

[bikkuri bahn]

I think such a mainstream audience book would have been published in the last forty years with the advent of easy world travel by widebody jet.  But it hasn't, so I think there just isn't interest there- interest in Japanese railways by non-Japanese is a niche hobby within a niche hobby.  There have been obscure books published in the seventies/eighties by enthusiast organizations, which I first encountered of all places in the management library of my university.  The best books by far are Rails to the Rising Sun and Sayonara Streetcar, which were published back in the sixties or seventies, and IMO coincide with the peak period of interest in Japanese railways- Trains Magazine even had a correspondent in Japan who regularly sent reports on the railway scene here.  I think one reason was the big U.S. military presence in Japan at the time, and the existence of compulsary military service with a greater cross-section of Americans citizens assigned to Japan, among those being railway and traction fans.  Also, regarding traction fans, there were still many of them back then, and Japan was an open secret as a valhalla for them.

[katoftw]

www.japan-guide.com

[SantaFe1970]

Thanks for the book titles, bikkuri bahn. And I agree that japan guide dot com is an excellent resource for the general tourist, katoftw.

 

And certainly an interest in Japanese rail is a niche within a niche, outside Japan.

 

But why is that? 

 

I wouldn't consider myself a hard core railfan, but I'm generally aware of a lot of things. When I started looking into Japanese rail about a year ago I was completely blown away by the depth and density of Japanese railroading activity. I wanted to learn more. And I have found that surprisingly tricky. (This forum website was a major step forward in my exploration. Thanks everyone.)

 

And over the years I've heard a lot of non-railfan people gush about a trip on the Blue Train in South Africa, or myriad tourist trains in Switzerland, etc. Luxury rail trips are a big deal to lots of people who don't otherwise think about railroads. But I've never heard anyone gush about Seven Stars in Kyushu. With the exception of the shinkansen, I don't think there's much awareness of Japanese rail. (Here's that niche thing again.)

 

Over my lifetime, I've seen lots of things go from niche to general interest. Some Japanese examples: sushi, anime, manga.

 

I'm confident that Japanese rail has the potential to be of wider interest, both among the general population and among railfans (and rail modelers).

 

Now, I don't think that a printed guide to Japanese rail has the potential to be the next Harry Potter or Fifty Shades. But justify a print run, sure. And stretch awareness of Japanese rail, yes.

 

Sometimes niche interests or activities go from marginal to (relatively) mainstream.

 

I can think of several ways that might happen for interest in Japanese rail (outside Japan). A well-written travelogue, something like Paul Theroux's Riding the Iron Rooster or Great Railway Bazaar. Or a witty look at Japanese otaku rail culture. All it would take is a well-written piece in the New Yorker, and then some editor proposing a book -- and then every well-heeled retired radiologist in North America suddenly wants to book a luxury rail trip to Japan...

[Steve4031]

There is a Japan by rail guide book. It gives a pretty good explanation of Japan's rail system. You can order it from Amazon for about 20 dollars us.

[The Next Station Is...]

There is a Japan by rail guide book. It gives a pretty good explanation of Japan's rail system. You can order it from Amazon for about 20 dollars us.

I've got this book and although it's more of a book for tourists than for rail fans, it's fantastic for planning holidays and making the most out of Japan's rail networks. The book structures the guides to areas and cities by the main railway routes, so it's great for seeing where you can travel to based on where you will be.

[Steve4031]

It has a chapter that describes the types of Japanese trains and talks about the different types of bullet trains.

[katoftw]

That sounds like what the OP is looking for.  A basic beginners guide to Japanese trains.  He wasn't looking for anything comprehensive.

[SantaFe1970]

I think maybe Steve4031 was referring to "Japan by Rail" by Ramsey Zarifeh? I was hoping for something aimed more at the railfan, or more experienced rail traveler. And then I was speculating about whether there's enough interest in an introductory book that is as excited about the trains themselves -- not just as tools for exploring the country (which is great in itself). Since the Zarifeh book has gone through a couple of editions maybe that's evidence of a sustainable market here...

[Steve4031]

I am a rail fan. I've been interested in getting to japan for about 15 years. Of course I knew about the bullet trains. This book had photos of the different types of bullet trains, and the express trains. There is a chapter discussing the different types of trains and how to make reservations, etc.

 

Also described the eating options and bento boxes. This was all new to me. So very interesting.

 

There are descriptions of all of the routes, but this is not rail fan oriented. Does not mention junctions, etc. sometimes scenic high lights are mentioned.

 

IMHO it's a good introduction to train travel in japan. It got me more interested to go.