So where do we get on? Most urban Japanese end up getting on at their local stations which run on local train lines that connect to the more major ones. Many small towns have even grown up around trains stations and therefore they are a central part of smaller urban districts. For instance, when I studied abroad, I was housed in a smaller town within the greater city of Tokyo that was off one of the main lines. In order to get to the train station I would walk down a couple of narrow streets to come to a slightly wider thoroughfare that took me to the station itself. Depending on which direction I wanted to go, I might have had to cross at the railroad crossing, which itself is often used as a major metaphor for separation or maybe the shock of seeing someone across the tracks that you weren't expecting (or maybe even catching a glimpse of someone just before a train comes by and they disappear when it's gone) all the time, such as in this scene from the opening to the anime
where the main character, Miharu spots future sick friend Yoite on the other side of the tracks just before a train flies by between the crossing guards.
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Actually the train already left,
Shinji just decided not to leave with it. |
Another popular general location that anime likes to use is the platforms where people get on and off the trains. Usually, once you've bought your tickets and you've made it to the platform, you wait for the train, and that often gets used metaphorically and dramatically at times where a character is undecided about going somewhere or leaving an established plot (you can still turn around before the train comes after all) such as in this scene from
Neon Genesis Evangelion. Of course there's always the more mundane uses of seeing friends off when they leave to return home or getting on the train itself. Whatever the scene the platform is a gateway to a network of rails that spans the country. It could be a crossroads in itself, or simply a way point before the journey continues.
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A lot of the time, the trains rent advertising space on banners
hanging from the ceiling. You can see them in the
upper right corner. |
Throughout Japan there is a vast network of local and branch lines, and as mentioned above, it isn't unusual for whole towns to have grown up around the stations that have been erected. As a result there are a huge number of scenes that take place on them. While I was in Japan, I noticed a number of interesting things about the local lines. For one thing, you're a lot less likely to find signs in other languages besides Japanese. Another common thread (and this only gets worse once you get to the major rail lines) is rush hour. During rush hour, the trains get so crowded as everyone is trying to go from home to work or work to home, that there are even employees on some lines specifically hired to help push people into the cars so everyone can fit. Unsurprisingly this circumstance does have some serious drawbacks. For instance some women have reported being groped by perverts while in the compromised position of being shoved into a car with other people like sardines in a can. For this reason some lines have resorted to having a car set aside for female passengers so they can avoid these characters (called chikan in Japan). However, that shouldn't be the main focus here. The main significance of the local rail lines is that they are transition points that help the local populous get from point A to point B, or maybe even to point C, D, and even E if the person traveling is planning to transfer to one of the major rail lines or even a bullet train, like Takaki who is on his way to see the girl he likes in the film
5 Centimeters Per Second.
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At the time of this writing, I haven't seen the whole show yet,
but good god, this scene is really chilling. Light totally
Pwns this poor FBI agent! |
To get further out into Tokyo proper, one generally has to transfer out to the
JR Yamanote Line in order to get to more areas of the city. Since it's a much busier line than the local ones, the stations tend to be bigger and connect to more well known places such as Shibuya, one of the major shopping districts, Shinjuku, the central corporate district (as well as the location of the Metropolitan Government Offices Building, and Police Headquarters). and even more obscure places such as Takadanobaba (the fictional birthplace of Tezuka Osamu's
Astroboy). As one of Tokyo's major landmarks and the key artery for non-automotive traffic, it's also a favorite conduit for dramas and thrillers to mess around with. For instance the extended universe of
Detective Conan has made use of it multiple times, using it once in a movie, as well as a couple of times within the manga and anime, though as I have mentioned before, Gosho Aoyama calls it the Touto line in order to avoid trademark issues. However, no such issues occur with the anime
Death Note, apparently, since in the scene just before the one shown here, Light uses the proper name freely.
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Around the corner or down the Toukaidou, wherever Conan goes,
you can almost guarantee there will be bodies. |
Our last stop in exploring Japan's railroads is a brief look at bullet trains. Called shinkansen within Japan, these high speed lines run through most major cities throughout the country providing long range travel without having to use a car. Perhaps the best known out of the shinkansens is the bullet train that runs along the
JR Toukaidou line between Tokyo and Osaka. This line has a history in itself because the
East Sea Road (which is what the kanji translates into) was the primary mode of transport for vassals during the Feudal Period who wanted to pay their respects to the Emperor and the Shogun (mostly the Shogun). Even today, it's one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the country, and therefore, it's no wonder that a character or two will end up traveling it. Again, in
Detective Conan, Conan, Kogorou, and Ran often use this as means of transportation to get to Osaka (the other end of the line) in order to visit Heiji Hattori and the characters he associates with and vice versa.
And that's it for today folks. Check back next week when we review the final season of Inuyasha. Jya ne!
Images taken from 5 Centimeters Per Second, Death Note, Detective Conan, Galaxy Express 999 (film), Nabari no Ou, and Neon Genesis Evangelion
