- 13 hours ago
- #japanrailways
- #greatjourneys
- #traveljapan
Embark on an unforgettable adventure through Japan's most captivating railway routes in this premiere installment of Great Japanese Railway Journeys. This episode unveils the breathtaking landscapes and rich cultural experiences that await passengers traversing these iconic lines.
Discover the intricate network of Japan's advanced railway system, from bustling urban centers to serene rural destinations. We explore the engineering marvels and the seamless integration of modern technology that define the country's world-renowned train travel.
Journey through diverse terrains, witnessing volcanic mountains, tranquil coastlines, and verdant forests. Each segment of the track offers a unique perspective on Japan's natural beauty and its deep connection to the land.
Experience the efficiency and punctuality that make Japanese trains a symbol of national pride. This series celebrates the artistry and dedication behind every mile traveled, offering a glimpse into a truly exceptional mode of transport.
#JapanRailways #GreatJourneys #TravelJapan
Discover the intricate network of Japan's advanced railway system, from bustling urban centers to serene rural destinations. We explore the engineering marvels and the seamless integration of modern technology that define the country's world-renowned train travel.
Journey through diverse terrains, witnessing volcanic mountains, tranquil coastlines, and verdant forests. Each segment of the track offers a unique perspective on Japan's natural beauty and its deep connection to the land.
Experience the efficiency and punctuality that make Japanese trains a symbol of national pride. This series celebrates the artistry and dedication behind every mile traveled, offering a glimpse into a truly exceptional mode of transport.
#JapanRailways #GreatJourneys #TravelJapan
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FunTranscript
00:04Japan.
00:05Michael, welcome to Japan, a railway paradise.
00:08Its huge population spread over Long Islands lives by its railways.
00:13I feel like I'm driving.
00:14My new adventure takes me through the land that launched the high-speed train.
00:19I love Shinkansen.
00:21Where millions of journeys are made each day through some of the most bustling stations on earth.
00:27Busy city.
00:28I'll ride Japan's vast railway network to uncover a land of bold innovation.
00:35Haven't quite got the hang of it yet.
00:37A place of enduring traditions, volatile geology and remarkable people.
00:44Kanpai.
00:45Join me on an excursion like no other.
00:48I'm too excited to sit down.
01:09I continue to explore Tokyo, one of the largest metropolises on earth.
01:15I think Japan could lay claim to being the greatest railway country in the world.
01:21Its Shinkansen moves well ahead of other high-speed rail systems.
01:25It seems that all its railways operate with extraordinary reliability.
01:30And here in Tokyo, I'm now using the world's most busy urban rail network.
01:37Japan was quite slow to adopt this technology, which it distrusted as Western.
01:42Japan.
01:42But it's certainly made up for lost time.
01:49Japan.
01:50This leg of my Japanese journey will take me almost 700 miles north from the capital,
01:55Tokyo, on Honshu Island, to Fukushima and onto Sendai.
02:00Then, through a 14-mile undersea tunnel, I'll reach Hokkaido, the most rural of the country's
02:06four main islands.
02:08I'll visit Hakodate and stop off at Lake Toya and Sapporo, before finishing at the port city
02:15of Otaru.
02:20I feel like I'm driving.
02:23Having got to grips with Tokyo's vast metro network, today I'll be travelling
02:28overground.
02:30Many cities that I know have the problem that they have pretty good communications
02:34from the centre to the outskirts, but very little opportunity for people to move around.
02:39For a century now, Tokyo has had the Yamanote Line, a circular railway with interchanges
02:46at almost every stop.
02:49The elevated service, with its distinctive green livery, forms a 21-mile loop around the
02:56city.
02:57With 30 stations, it's a vital part of its public transport system.
03:01From the tracks you look down at the streets, from the streets you look up at the frames.
03:07My first stop this morning is the western district of Shinjuku, one of Tokyo's major railway
03:23huts.
03:24This is Shinjuku Station, first opened in 1885 in what was then countryside.
03:31It is now the world's busiest station by passenger numbers.
03:36Three million people a day make use of its 51 platforms.
03:41They enter and leave by its 200 entrances and exits.
03:45You can walk long distances underground, from one part of the station to another, searching
03:51for your line.
03:52But, oh, the sense of achievement when you master Shinjuku.
04:01This is a neighbourhood of business and retail, crammed with some of the city's tallest
04:06skyscrapers.
04:08Crowds, energy, vibe, Tokyo.
04:14Shinjuku is a temple of capitalism with high-rise office blocks, vast shopping centres, nightlife
04:22and neon.
04:23The map on your mobile phone is inadequate here because life is lived in three dimensions.
04:28Your destination may be high up, suspended above the railway tracks, or it could be deep
04:32in the ground between the subway lines.
04:34And the signs advertising the businesses from the sky to subterranean basements.
04:42Japan is one of the largest and most advanced economies in the world.
04:46And its population enjoys one of the highest life expectancies.
04:50But it's grappling with a looming social problem.
04:57Almost 30% of the Japanese population is over 65.
05:01And there's recently been a collapse in the birth rate, raising the prospect of a shortage
05:07of carers for the elderly, which has made worse because there are very few immigrants
05:11in Japan.
05:12This must be painful in a country that reveres the aged.
05:16At a practical level, at least, robots may be part of the answer.
05:21And Japanese universities excel at robotics.
05:30At Shinjuku's Waseda University, a pioneering centre of robot development, I'm meeting assistant
05:36professor, Yushi Wang.
05:40Seems I've come to the right place.
05:43Are you Yushi?
05:45Hi.
05:46Hello.
05:46What is happening to you?
05:48The robot is dressing in a sock for me.
05:52How fascinating.
05:54How's it doing that?
05:56It sees where my foot and the sock are and tries to adjust the forces and the position
06:03of the hand.
06:05So little by little it pushes.
06:07You say it sees your foot.
06:10Where we have eyes, it has cameras.
06:12Yes.
06:12This university has a long history of robotics, doesn't it?
06:16Waseda University is the birthplace of humanoid robots.
06:20Really?
06:21How far back does it go?
06:241973.
06:25The first one is called Wabot One, which means Waseda robot.
06:31And it's the first humanoid robot in the world.
06:35And just three years later, we built the second robot.
06:39He played the piano.
06:43Extraordinary.
06:44In the 1970s, you were doing that sort of thing.
06:46Yes.
06:47And now we have an AI-driven robot for care.
06:51His name is Irak.
06:52You are using AI to train the robot to adapt to different people.
06:56That would be really, really useful.
06:59Like, imagine a robot helper in your home.
07:02Absolutely.
07:03Now, obviously, this is of great interest in Japan, isn't it?
07:06Yes, because of the aging population, also the labor shortages.
07:11And what about acceptability?
07:12Do you think Japanese people will accept robots in their homes?
07:16I think so.
07:17Because in Japan, it's easier to see the robots working in public places,
07:23like airports, in the restaurant.
07:25So, I think that helps people to get used to robots.
07:29Are you Japanese?
07:30No, I'm from China.
07:32And what brought you to Japan?
07:34What brought you to this institution?
07:36Previously, most robotic research was about industrial robots or military robots.
07:43But in Japan, especially in our labs, we have a long focus on the service robots.
07:50So, it's more challenging and, to me, it's more useful.
07:54You want a robot that's going to help society?
07:57Yes.
07:58To complete common household tasks, the robots are being taught to mimic natural human movement.
08:06Hello.
08:07Hello.
08:08Ah, so this is being manipulated by a human being?
08:12Yeah.
08:12So, it learns how the human moves and it perceives the consequences.
08:18Okay.
08:19So, it's done very well there.
08:22Now, would the robot eventually be able to perfect that?
08:26Would it be able to improve on its own performance?
08:28Yes.
08:29That's why we collect many trials of data and try to train the robots.
08:36I'm interested that you have made robots look somewhat like human beings.
08:40I mean, I guess a robot could look like anything.
08:43But you've given them eyes and arms and hands.
08:47It's easier for human-like robots to do the human tasks and for the people to accept the robots in
08:54their environments.
08:56It's important to make the robots look friendly, kind of a cartoon look.
09:02Well, exactly.
09:03Now, I have another test for you.
09:05Do you think it could do that with my jacket?
09:07Okay.
09:09My jacket is obviously heavier.
09:12Yeah.
09:14And more precious.
09:19This is, for me, a nervous moment.
09:22Careful, why careful.
09:35Oh!
09:36That's a bit heavy.
09:39Work in progress.
09:43In another part of the lab, a robot is learning how to lend a hand to people most in need.
09:50Hello.
09:51Well, hello.
09:53Nice to see you.
09:54Nice to see you.
09:55Another robot?
09:55Yeah.
09:56So, the robot is going to take care of the human in bed.
09:59Would you like to be our subject?
10:02Your guinea pig?
10:04Have you tested it on human beings before?
10:07Yes, many times.
10:08You have?
10:09Okay.
10:10Right.
10:10So, shall I just lie down?
10:13Please.
10:13I'll pretend very hard to be an old person.
10:18The robot is literally sizing me up.
10:21He also talks to you in Japanese, but…
10:23Oh, okay.
10:26Konnichiwa.
10:29The robot is measuring your upper body.
10:34Oh, look at that.
10:37Oh.
10:41Now, this is the alarming moment.
10:43The hand is advancing.
10:47Pushing my knee now.
10:49This machine must be very strong.
10:51It is strong, but gentle at the same time.
11:04I've been turned.
11:07We've all got used to using machines.
11:09And why don't use them in the home for these purposes?
11:12The one thing that I worry about is that what you need probably
11:16when you're elderly and on your own is a cuddle.
11:21And I don't know whether the robots can do that yet.
11:37Continuing my travels on the circular Yamanote Line,
11:40my next train takes me around five miles south to Takenawa Gateway.
11:52Built in 2020, this state-of-the-art station forms the centrepiece
11:56of a futuristic urban community.
12:01Japan's privatised railways now make a lot of their money out of property,
12:05not just from running trains.
12:07This is Takenawa Gateway development.
12:09So this has been built on old railway land.
12:13And it consists of gleaming towers of shops and offices and convention centres.
12:20150 years ago, where this vibrant neighbourhood now stands,
12:25Japan's railway history began.
12:30During the two and a half centuries that the Tokugawas were shoguns of Japan,
12:34the country rejected Western technology.
12:38When that dynasty was overthrown,
12:40it very quickly moved towards modernisation
12:42and opened its first railway in 1872.
12:47I'm keen to hear about the British engineers
12:49who helped put Japan on track to such an outstanding railway system.
12:59Christopher Hood is an author and historian with a special interest in Japan.
13:03Hello, Chris.
13:04Michael, welcome to Japan, a railway paradise.
13:08Well, it is indeed, isn't it? What an amazing view.
13:10And we're quite near the place here, aren't we, of Japan's first railway.
13:14Tell me about that.
13:15Absolutely. About 100 metres from where we are
13:17is where the railway initially was connecting Tokyo down to Yokohama.
13:22This section would have been an embankment above the sea,
13:24but the city of Tokyo has gradually grown and grown
13:27and the river and the sea has been pushed further and further back.
13:30I've seen pictures of this embankment built a few yards offshore.
13:34Why was this?
13:35One, they needed to do this to make the route as short as possible,
13:38but also near there is an army base
13:40and the army people didn't want any passengers being able to look in
13:44and see what they're up to.
13:45Japan begins to modernise and build railways,
13:47but it needs outside help and, in particular, turns to the British.
13:51Absolutely.
13:52The British have been known for developing the railways across the world.
13:55Of course, this is the time of the British Empire.
13:57So, one of the key people who first came was Edmund Morel,
14:00who had been with the British Railways out in New Zealand.
14:03He dies in November 1871.
14:06And John England, who'd been working with Morel,
14:09he's the one who's working alongside the Japanese
14:11just to make sure everything's ticking over.
14:14The railway's grand opening took place on 14 October 1872,
14:20a little north of here at Shimbashi Station.
14:23Emperor Meiji addressed the crowd before boarding the train
14:27for the inaugural 18-mile journey from the capital
14:30to the port city of Yokohama.
14:33How did the public react to these first railways?
14:36There was lots of excitement among some people.
14:38We see it being commemorated in paintings,
14:41but there were also concerns,
14:42because Japanese houses are often much closer to the railway
14:45than we would see in many other countries around the world.
14:48And although the steam trains are mainly emitting steam,
14:51now and again bits of coal are coming out,
14:53and with Japanese houses being predominantly wooden,
14:56this leads to fires.
14:57I've been very impressed by this circular line,
15:00the Yamanote line.
15:01Is there a connection between the first railway line and that?
15:04Yes, so the Yamanote line, part of the eastern side of it,
15:07is essentially running parallel to the original railway line.
15:10And so for that section,
15:11you're literally travelling alongside history.
15:14Could I ask you a question, Michael?
15:16I mean, you've seen railways all around the world.
15:18How do you view Japanese railways?
15:20I think they're absolutely supreme.
15:22I mean, they have the reliability and the punctuality of the Swiss,
15:25and they have the speed of the French and, I suppose, Chinese.
15:29And then it's just such an extensive network
15:32dealing with 120 million people.
15:35I think it really is unparalleled.
15:37Absolutely, I'd agree.
15:39Chris, thank you so much.
15:40Absolutely no trouble.
15:42Before I continue my journey on the circular Yamanote line,
15:46I stop off a mile south at Osaki
15:49to examine what happens behind the scenes.
15:52I've come to the rolling stock centre
15:55to see how they keep it all on the rails.
15:58And this historic building reminds me
16:01that it is now a century since that ring was closed up.
16:09Yuta Kondo is the depot's train inspector.
16:12Well, once you go to the railway,
16:15you'll always be able to see the right,
16:17right, left, left, left, right, right.
16:20Then we go to the left and right, right.
16:21OK.
16:24YOSH.
16:25YOSH.
16:29YOSH.
16:30YOSH.
16:30YOSH.
16:32YOSH.
16:33YOSH is a word I have learned.
16:34YOSH.
16:35Yosh, it means clear, and although this feels a bit like a routine, Yosh, Yosh, obviously
16:43in a stock yard like this it's important, Yosh, Yosh, because any train could be on the
16:49move at any time.
16:52The carriages of these E-235 commuter trains are given a full daily inspection.
17:05Everything has to be perfect before it sets out, and the attention to detail is striking.
17:12Look at this floor, I mean really it's so shiny and so perfect, I could comb my hair in the
17:19reflection.
17:22Spotless.
17:28Tokyo prides itself on an efficient public transport network, despite operating in one
17:34of the most densely packed metropolitan areas in the world.
17:40It's a challenge to house a population of over 38 million, with land being expensive here
17:46in the centre, tiny apartments and micro houses known as Kyosho Jutaku are seen by some as
17:54the answer.
17:56In the smart district of Minato, I take a little look inside one.
18:01OK.
18:02Come in.
18:04Hello.
18:04Hello, Kan-san.
18:06Hello.
18:06Hello.
18:06I'm Michael.
18:07Hello.
18:08What a pleasure to meet you.
18:09Please.
18:10Come in.
18:13Kan Lijima and his wife built this house in 2014, and won a prize from the Tokyo Architects
18:20Association for its design.
18:22You're quite central here.
18:24You're well within the Yamanote line, aren't you?
18:27Now, tell me about the house.
18:28It's quite a small plot, if I may say so.
18:31And that's quite typical of Tokyo, isn't it?
18:34Nowadays, the Japanese people prefer to leave a small house because it's cheaper.
18:39What's your square meterage here?
18:41Do you know?
18:4119 square meters.
18:44Which would be about 200 square feet, which is actually the size of many a hotel room.
18:50Ah, yes.
18:52Over the last five years, the number of compact homes in the capital has doubled to over 2,000.
18:59Where do you store things at a small house?
19:01There are many storage.
19:03For example, especially my wife doesn't like the Japanese fridge, then we decided to hide.
19:10That's lovely.
19:11Tucked away.
19:12And also, there is some storage.
19:17Yes.
19:18With the stair passing above.
19:20Ah, yes, yes.
19:22Storage everywhere.
19:23And also, there is some secret storage.
19:28That's so clever.
19:30So, every step is storage.
19:33Yes.
19:33Oh!
19:34That's fantastic.
19:36Minimalist living is popular in Japanese culture and has its roots in Zen Buddhism.
19:42Surprisingly, even a tiny house like this, with just two rooms and a bathroom, can be clutter-free.
19:48Again, you've got a wonderful window, haven't you?
19:51Yes.
19:52Beautiful views of greenery.
19:53Yes.
19:53And your bathroom is extremely neat.
19:57Do you enjoy living here?
19:58Of course.
20:00We decided to have this one.
20:02Yes.
20:02A little drinking fountain.
20:03Yes.
20:05For making the Japanese cocktail on the bed for my wife, because she loves drinking.
20:12Ha-ha-ha!
20:13For me, I love taking the bath.
20:16Yes.
20:17Maybe twice in a day, we decided to have a big bathtub.
20:21A sunken bath, which is very Japanese and very, very lovely.
20:25Well, thank you so much for inviting me in.
20:28Thank you very much.
20:28And thank you for sharing this beautiful house and may you be very happy here together.
20:32That's our pleasure.
20:33Thank you very much.
20:46As evening beckons, my final destination is the district of Shibuya in the southwest of
20:52central Tokyo.
20:57This is one of the city's most popular entertainment hubs, renowned for its bars, clubs and restaurants.
21:06Tokyo caters for every niche, including classical music buffs.
21:11For us, sound reproduced on a portable speaker simply won't do.
21:15We demand high fidelity and listening bars meet our needs.
21:23I've come to check out this intriguing Japanese tradition with Tokyo-based documentary maker
21:28Nick Dwyer.
21:30Tell me then, Nick, what is a listening bar?
21:32So, the culture goes back a hundred years, Michael, and what they're called originally
21:38are the ongaku kisa.
21:40In Japanese, kisa is short for kisaten, which means a tea house or a coffee house, and ongaku
21:47means music.
21:47And basically, Japanese men and women could listen to vinyl records played over incredible
21:53sound systems and everyone listens in silence.
21:55And you just get to experience recorded music greater than you've ever heard it before.
21:59It sounds absolutely superb.
22:02And do you find quite a lot in Shibuya?
22:03There is a lot, of course, in the post-war period in this district where we are right now.
22:08There are a lot of jazz kisa.
22:09Also, as the 70s were ushered in, rock and roll was taking over Japan and this is where
22:30it is called Kamei Kyoku Kisa, or Masterpiece Café, customers here are treated to a considered
22:36program from a collection of 5,000 classical records.
22:43The seats face the speakers, and chatting is forbidden.
23:03Actually, Michael, we're very lucky today, we're actually being given permission to talk.
23:08Usually, there's a strict no talking policy which is adhered to.
23:12If they find you talking, you'll get shushed, but we can have a conversation.
23:15So, what are your first impressions?
23:17Oh, I think it's absolutely wonderful.
23:19I love the decor and the quality of what we're hearing is absolutely brilliant.
23:25Yeah, I mean, this is a march through memory lane for me because when I was a teenager,
23:29I had this whole, you know, ritual of taking the LP out of the sleeve and then out of its
23:35inner sleeve, touching it only by the edge and lowering the stylus onto the record.
23:41Yes.
23:41All of that is so familiar to me.
23:44So you've made a study of these places.
23:47Well, I've made a documentary series that tells a 100-year history of this culture of
23:52music cafes.
23:52So, when Café Lion started in 1926, we were still talking about the gramophone era, you
23:59know, the chiku onki as it's known in Japan.
24:02During the war, 1945, a lot of Tokyo was raised to the ground and Café Lion was bombed.
24:101950, it was rebuilt to exactly how it used to look.
24:14In the immediate post-war period, how did Café Lion have records to play?
24:20So, all the original record collection was destroyed, but a lot of the American GIs that
24:25were stationed here bought records with them.
24:27They bought jazz, but they also bought classical music, and a lot of them, when they left,
24:32they would sell their records to the market.
24:34In the post-war period, you know, life was tough, and a lot of people wouldn't come to
24:39Café Lion and just sit and escape into, you know, this world of beautiful music.
24:46The way we access music has changed radically since the heyday of places like this in the
24:511950s and 60s.
24:53But listening cafes have remained popular in Japan, and recently, they've begun to appear
24:58in European cities, including London.
25:01You come to places like this, and you just listen to a record from beginning to end.
25:07You're not on your phone, you're not disturbed, you're just here to listen.
25:10Every single weekend, it's full, and it's such an incredible environment.
25:14Everyone is listening together, it's a beautiful thing.
25:16And it's no surprise that it's taking off around the world.
25:20The man curating today's listening pleasure is the owner, Naoya Yamadera.
25:28Hello.
25:30Hello.
25:31Hello.
25:31Hello.
25:32I'm Michael.
25:34This is such a wonderful place.
25:36I'm absolutely loving it.
25:38Who was it who founded it?
25:39I'm my father.
25:43I've never seen a sound system like this.
25:45What's the history of that?
25:53I've never seen a sound system like this.
25:57What's the history of that?
25:59I've never seen a sound system like this.
26:27What is the history of that matter?
26:34I'm so happy about it.
26:35I've never seen an sound system like this.
26:38I've never seen an sound system like this.
26:38I've never seen an sound system like this.
26:54To round off my last night in Tokyo,
26:57a short walk brings me to one of the capital's most famous landmarks.
27:02This is Shibuya Crossing,
27:04a giant intersection of seven different roads
27:07known locally as the Scramble.
27:10At its busiest, up to 2,500 people
27:13are thought to traverse it every two minutes.
27:17It perfectly captures the press of humankind in Tokyo.
27:22At first, this seems like an intimidating megalopolis,
27:26but in fact, its vast rail network
27:29is very well signposted in the Western alphabet
27:31and the people of Tokyo are friendly and helpful.
27:35The metropolis bustles by day,
27:37and buzzes by night.
27:39The skyline is dominated by the towers of big business.
27:43But up innumerable stairways,
27:45there are thousands of tiny restaurants,
27:48and down below, there are so many bars and so much music.
27:52And when you decide that it's time for bed,
27:55you'll be walking back
27:56through some of the safest streets in the world.
28:01Next time, the tsunami actually came about 10 kilometers inland,
28:05and in places it was 10 meters high,
28:08and in some places, 40 meters.
28:11That's what they call an open outcry auction.
28:14I guess the bidders don't know exactly what they're in for.
28:17Now they find out what quality they've bought,
28:20whether they've got a bargain or not.
28:21I never saw myself as a rice farmer,
28:25but I am enjoying this so much.
28:45But I thought,
28:50no one wants us because at least once it's sheer constraint,
28:51All right now,
28:51the unexpected place is near all at the time
28:52the matter of climate change is near the woods.
28:58We are évidemment
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