Hey, guys. Greg here. My quest to spend a day on the trains in and around Tokyo all began with this GIF. After seeing
what Google auto created for me, I thought, "Hey, there's so much you can see and do riding the trains. How about I spend a day, from first train to last
train, riding them?" Who rides the trains, and how busy they are, ebb and flow throughout the day. Many people have the idea that Tokyo's trains are crammed at all times, so I wanted to see for myself what it looked like
randomly going on trains throughout the day. This isn't a trip to show you the
coolest spots, or even anything, really. I had a couple places in mind that I
wanted to go, but beyond that, I was kind of going where the wind blows. Where I went in what I saw were but a
fraction of what's in and around Tokyo. I could have spent all day exploring any one of the stations that I stopped through. So, this is the first part of the day, and
I still haven't eaten or drunk anything yet. I thought it'd be cool to use the
vending machines for my beverages. As you'll see, I'll end up buying lots of
drinks, but even this early on my lips are chapped as... Well, they're pretty chapped. Oh, did I tell you? This is the busiest train station in the world. Over a billion passengers come and go through it every year. Since it's
about half past six in the morning, it's not too crazy yet. At this point in time, it's been a couple
hours since I'd woken up. Now it's time to find something to eat. All right, some soba! This morning, I'm
going with yuzu tori horenso soba, which is chicken, yuzu, and spinach soba noodles. The thing I like about traveling by train is that I can always find something
interesting at every station. Like this automated underground bike
parking. Or, how about these rental bikes? It's starting to get a bit busier at Shinagawa station, and it's time to get back on the train... ...and go to the washroom... ...and hydrate myself as well. At 7:30 a.m., the station's not at peak
busyness, but, you can tell that it's starting to get a bit squishy. What amazes me, with the volume of
passengers on Japan's rail systems, is that everything goes so smoothly.
There
are delays here and there, but, largely, you can plan your trips down to the
minute by using the trains—something that you can't really do when driving
cars around. Now, I'm on my way to the Tokyo Monorail,
which is at a different Hamamatsucho station. I've traveled back and forth between
Tokyo about a dozen times, but until this year, I never knew there was a monorail
going to Haneda Airport. When I thought about this trip, this was one train I
did want to show, as I think you get some unique views riding just above
street level. If you've never traveled to Tokyo before,
you might not know that there are actually two airports. It's most likely
that you'll not be arriving at this airport, since it's mostly for domestic
flights. The other airport, Narita, is actually located outside of Tokyo, to the
east. One nice thing about this train is that it's specially designed with
luggage in mind. If you do end up at Haneda Airport, something you must do, especially if it's
a nice day, is head on over to the flight deck. Not only can you get amazing views
from inside the building, but you can go outside and hear the full roar of the
planes as they depart. I'm now about to break the rules laid
out for this trip. I mean, I called the video "Tokyo by Train", but I find myself
crossing the border into the neighbouring Kanagawa Prefecture. But it's going to be
nice, so don't worry. I don't know if it's just me, but I enjoy watching the conductor and staff
working to keep the trains on the go. These cleaner guys were cool and let me film them. In Japan, there are "Silver Jinzai Centers"
that help seniors find community-based employment. I didn't ask
them to see if this was one of those jobs, but if you keep your eye out, you'll
see seniors in positions like that in other places, such as at parks or in bicycle parkades. A large part of the system is the
behind-the-scenes staff that work on and off the trains—from the conductors,
to the announcers, to the cleaners, to the people who refill the vending machines.
By the way, that contraption can climb stairs. Pretty cool, eh? I'm not about to say, "everyone loves their jobs." I'm sure, like most people,
it's to pay the bills. But I do admire how most can put aside whatever they
have going on personally to focus on the job and do it with pride. Part of me says, "Hmm. Maybe I should cut out some of these traveling shots, as
we're already 10 minutes in, it's not even lunchtime and, we're going all the way
until midnight. But then I think to myself, "What's the point of riding the
trains, if you don't sit back and enjoy the journey here and there?" But, hey, we're already at our next
destination–Kamakura! I really love this town. I was
going to say it's a cool place, but I'm trying to keep in touch with the
youngin's, so let me just say, this place is on fleek. In case you're wondering about school
kids, I believe they're on a field trip. French toast and ice cream for lunch—Oh, yeah! Little factoid: Kamakura used to be
the de facto capital of Japan back in the 12th to 14th centuries. This is the entrance to the main Shinto shrine in Kamakura. It actually used to be Buddhist
as well, but religions got separated during the Meiji Restoration in 1868. If it were the weekend or holiday, this
area would be filled with vendors. This is where you leave your fortunes
and wishes. Just your average Japanese wedding photos... Nah, just joking.
These are nice ones. Time for a ride along the Enoshima Dentestsu
line. Locally, it's nicknamed "Enoden". A lot of the route is along single-track
line, so you get really up close to the houses during the trip. Do you see that island in the distance?
That's Enoshima Island—really neato place with caves, shrines, and all-around
good times. We're not going there, but if you're in the area I highly recommend it.
You see what I did with "neato"? Bringing it back old-school. I think this section is just awesome. Yep, I'm on a train. Whatcha gonna do? I just love these little stations, and
how you walk across the tracks to get to the opposite platform. If you can manage, go up to the front to
get an almost "conductor-like" view. I like these station hubs with overhead
walkways. Don't really see stuff like this in Canada. Onigiri. This is a rice ball wrapped
in seaweed. If you're hungry and want a quick and healthy snack,
these are the bomb. All right. Back at Yokohama Station. I
wasn't going to stop here, but I was running low on batteries, and decided to
go to the big Yodobashi Camera store next to the station. Unfortunately, when you buy
new batteries, they come pretty much dead, so that didn't help at all. I thought I might assuage
my disappointment with fruit, but a bit too rich for my blood.
But, while I was here, might as well get some quick shots of the scenery. I'm not
from a fashionable part of Tokyo, so whenever I visit Yokohama, I always feel
like a slob. People here so nicely dressed. The oceanfront was a bit farther
than I thought, so I hopped on the subway. Night is starting to fall, and I still
haven't made it back to Tokyo, but I'm going. Man, I love the station music. Throughout the day, I noticed a calm sort of rushing, like you'll catch hints of
people all throughout the day doing a little jog, or a mini sprint to here and
there, but it's generally not pushing others out of the way. I was wondering if
I'd get the same type of busy footage if I took my camera to cities around Japan.
I suspect there wouldn't be as many people with that hurried step. This is probably my favorite scene of
the day. If this doesn't scream "salaryman", I don't know what does. It was quite fascinating seeing the
different architecture at the various stations. Now, I was almost completely out of juice,
and by that I mean batteries, so I searched the mall for a restaurant that
had an outlet next to the chair. This Ferris wheel was the largest in the
world back in 1999—that is before the London Eye, in the same year, took that
title away. Thanks, London. Right now, we're traveling through Odaiba. This whole area is built on reclaimed
land. "Daiba" can mean "fort" or "battery", as in things you use to defend your nation
from gunboats. These artificial islands didn't do much
good in that regard, but in the late 20th century, these lands were developed as a
sort of futuristic living city. That also didn't really pan out. It then became an
entertainment district, and that... That's working out okay. Throughout the trip, I wanted to put out
an accurate count of daily passengers for each station. However, after a few
hours of trying to collect stats, I realized I was getting conflicting
numbers, as some only contain departures, while others would count passengers who were
both coming and going. What I can say is that Tokyo has many of the busiest
stations in the world. There are millions that go through them on a daily basis. We're now back on the mainland, and we'll
head out to Ginza, the shopping district for the rich. In this part of town, you can hit up
several famous areas on foot, so I did just that. In Ginza, all the brands compete
designing ostentatious flagship buildings. I don't shop here, but if you
like crazy buildings, it's a fun place to stroll by. Make sure to also go down the side streets, which look quite different than
the main strip. I stumbled through Yurakucho, which has
tons of hole-in-the-wall places to eat— quite different in tone from Ginza, yet
they're right beside each other. Remember that battery issue? I'm running
low again, and need to top up. Luckily, there's a Starbucks in the area, which is
always good for a power socket. These alleyways are about as ghetto as
you get in Tokyo, but they're completely safe to walk around at night, so don't worry. We're now in Marunouchi, which has the Emperor's palace. Nice place to
visit, but it's closed at night. So, I headed up to the Marunouchi Building to get a free view of Tokyo Station.
They're still working on renovations. If you ever walk through
Tokyo at night, you'll know there's always lots of construction going on at
this time. To me this music sounds kind of like
things are wrapping up, and it's getting close but it's only 10 p.m., and we're
going to midnight—remember? I've never seen a wheelchair ramp like this in a Tokyo station, so it was cool to see. And this is where I realized the
train I wanted to catch was leaving. Many people die falling on the tracks
every year, so I wish they had these kind of automatic barriers at all
stations. I'm stopping over at one last place—Ebisu. This place is named after
Yebisu Beer, which used to have its main brewery here. And Yebisu Beer is named for one of the
seven gods of fortune. And this tower we're riding up?
This is Yebisu Garden Tower, which stands on the grounds of the old brewery. This is probably the busiest train I
rode on the whole trip. Little tip—on this line you can actually stand between
the cars and get some more breathing room. There's this feeling I get near the
end of the day. Everyone's saying their goodbyes. It's kind of relaxing to me, and I'm
almost right to say goodbye, as well. But let's take a stroll through Shinjuku
first, a major government and business district. Here, you'll see a lot of the salarymen and -women wrapping up their nights and heading home. And finally—finally—I'm catching the last train. Some trains run as late as 1
a.m., but where I'm going, this is the last one for me. Would I recommend doing what I did?
Goodness, no, but I would recommend taking the trains wherever they may go, and to
make sure to relax and enjoy the scenery along the way. Thanks so much for riding along with me.
I hope you enjoyed it. Good night. You're still here? Well, that's good, because I need to thank all those
who support my mini-documentary projects like this on Patreon. Despite taking only
a day—a very long day—to film, I also needed to spend a week editing. Your
support really helps me out, so thanks. Also thanks to my wife, who translated
the announcements for me. And as always, thanks for watching, and I'll catch you
on the flip side. Good night. For real, this time.
The little mermaid - Under the sea