Fly by

Trip Start Oct 07, 2010

Trip End Mar 13, 2011

Loading Map

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Flag of Japan Tokyo, Kanto, Japan
Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Tokyo was a true fly-by. The things that stood out to me was how new the Shinkansen was from Osaka. After getting up a sparrows fart (really early!) I was in Narita by 10am. Even more surprising was the shiny new Narita Express which was very impressive indeed.

One of the things about traveling as an ever so slightly wizened citizen is how I am looking at the world in terms of 'sensible' ideas and how societies are progressing.

Japan is an aging society, it's really visible to see the old peeps and just how many of them there are! Trains out of hours are filled with pensioners. To keep up employment there are some off employment programs. Why on earth were there at least 1000 cabs on Osaka when we came back from Kyoto late. Our cab driver was about 75 and looked like his eyes were closed the whole time. That's just inefficient as a society, though great to any late night consumer of taxis. Whilst cute, why on Earth did the train from the airport in Osaka to town have 2 conductors. They had a very formalized role and it was fascinating from a cultural perspective but did they really need to be there and to have 2 of them?

That said, seeing shiny new infrastructure and some new trains means that the wheels haven't figuratively fallen off. The recent travels to the US have shown me that it is possible for countries to turn around and start to re-invest in their infrastructure. Maybe living in Switzerland has made me appreciate the need for maintenance!

Slideshow