In Japan there are multiple subway companies. There is Japan Rail, government owned and operated, which sprawls throughout the Tokyo metropolitan area, and Japan; think bullet train. As my friend Oka noted, if people have a choice, they prefer jumping in front of a JR subway car, because the government takes care of the bill, whereas private lines tend to pass it on to the family.
In Tokyo, there is also the Tokyo Metro, which conveniently operates the Tokyo Subway, but there is also the Tokyo Subway, which is separate from the Tokyo metro. Confused at all? Just refer to the images below.
The Metro/Subway are privately owned because the JR is so large, it is not as intricate, in which case, the private lines fill in the gaps, but the JR are the most dependable, and if I might say, prettiest, cleanest, and most user-friendly for foreigners (please refer to the images below).
I stayed pretty close if not exclusively on the Yamanote Line, which is apart of the JR East Railway. It's pretty small on the map below, in an emerald green, and encompasses the major parts of Tokyo: Ikebukuro (a burb, and where I stayed - me me me!), Ueno, Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza, Meguro, Ebizu, and many many MANY more.
Look closely, you can find the Yamanote Line. Its the grey and white line that takes up about one third of the page. The Tokyo Metro, a privately owned transit company, operates an intricate web of trains that run in between the JR lines. The lines are color coated and each stop is numbered, to "help" you keep track.
The Tokyo Subway, that sprawls over the greater Tokyo area.
Japanese transit is a billion times more efficient and punctual than any form of transit I have used in the USA. Case in point: The New York City Metro. Praised for being the best railway in the US, the NYC Metro is a plagued system. Its 100 year old tracks shake and wiggle with every ride, and forget about a schedule, like Mariah, those things show up when they feel like it.
The JR Yamanote line, a circular line that encompasses the inner metro area of Tokyo, has millions of passengers a day, and operates on a tight schedule. Above each door there is a computer with the all of the stops along the line. Each stop has a number next to it that indicates the number of minutes until we reach that destination. The Shinjuku station alone hosts over 3 million riders a day. Ikebukuro, which is where I stayed, hosts over one million, and this area is considered a suburb. With that, this line has more standing room than seats, and cars are decorated with over a hundred handles dangling from the ceiling like plastic chandeliers. Each car is also outfitted with eight doors, to make it easy for people to get on/off, and since these cars on a schedule, they must stop at each station for a little time as possible. Also, a train might have as many as fourteen (14) cars, and in each car a pleasant voice that speaks in both Japanese and English inform their riders to turn their cell phones off, or put it on silent.
It was refreshing to see such dedication to public transportation. Transit is cherished, almost worshiped in Tokyo, and the punctuality of these railways, in a way, shows respect for their patrons, and their time. If MUNI operated on such a rigorous schedule, I would worship that system too.
The first movie is of my ride on the 'bullet train', Nazomi. This train makes only four stops from Tokyo to Kyoto, and travels up to 277 miles per hour. On my trip home, the plane was traveling at 530 mph. This is a fast train. The second movie is of a Tokyo Metro train station.
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