Saturday 21 April 2012

Tokyo and Kobe

This April, I spent the best part of three weeks in Japan. I travelled all over the country by train and ferry, eventually sailing on no less than 31 different ships and so, on Wednesday last week, when I returned home, I was faced with the task of downloading my camera memory cards, containing around 15,000 images. Anyway, here are a selection from the first couple of days of the trip, spent in Tokyo and Kobe:


Safety notice on the train from Narita Airport:




Don't let your panda get stuck in the doors:


 Downtown Tokyo in pissing rain:


On a commuter train at rush hour; fortunately, I stood head and shoulders above nearly everyone else, so while my lower three-quarters were packed in tightly, my top quarter was in air conditioned splendour above the melee:



Tokyo commuter lines map - where to begin?


 Down at the waterfront:




Tokyo by night:




 A wax model of German cuisine:



 My dinner - mmmmm!






 The morning after:







Monorail:


Shinkansen entrance:


Luncheon options for the Shinkansen, again exquisitely modelled in wax:





Onboard a Shinkansen:


Luncheon bento box:


Whizzing past Mount Fuji, en route to Kobe:



At the end of the journey, all the seats get turned around so that everyone faces the direction of travel:



 Shinkansen at Shin-Kobe station:



 Downtown Kobe:


Kobe Art Deco:


 The harbour front:


 Earthquake memorial - Mother Nature does deconstructivism:



A car boot sale - irresistible:




 Things you may not do in Kobe:


Locally-built Maersk freighter and Kansai Kisen ferry models in the Maritime Museum:



 Kawasaki Good Times World - bliss was it:



'Good morning, this is a Sakura Super-Express bound for...'


Model railway with cab-cam so that you can see the driver's eye view of your own model train:


Kawasaki robot which eats noodles - their best ever invention, I think:


 Some Kobe signs:





Luncheon in a restaurant where you had to place your food order at a machine - with signs only in Japanese. Oh, calamity!



 Luncheon as delivered, looking reasonably similar to its depiction in the picture (two images up):



Striated flea market and junk shops beneath the railway arches - this proved a rich source of vintage shipping photographs, launch brochures etc:




Some psychedelic murals:




Kobe Port Tower:




Kobe by night:



The dinner venue:





More to follow soon - watch out!


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