"Tokyo King's Cross"

On 25 April, a refurbishment programme at Seibu Railway's Ikebukuro station in Tokyo has been completed. Platforms 1 and 2 now look like King's Cross station in London. Seibu carried out the construction as Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo - The Making of Harry Potter opened at Toshimaen.

Signboards are replaced with new ones, some of which have a broomstick icon.

A brick pattern on the wall might attract Japanese tourists, even though it is clearly a fake and does not look real at all. There are several features at Ikebukuro station which King's Cross does not have, such as platform edge doors and obnoxiously vivid advertisements.

Seibu 20000 series with Harry Potter advertisements. Pictures of the three main characters must be taken in around 2002 when the film Chamber of Secret was released.

This is the genuine King's Cross, probably one of the most famous railway station in the world. Not only walls and pillars but also the high ceiling make the station magnificent.

Compared to London King's Cross, "Ikebukuro King's Cross" does not look majestic or glorious. Needless to say, imitation can never beat the original. However, it should not be forgotten that Ikebukuro station platforms are designed for children visiting Toshimaen. Even the imitation might be attractive enough for those are on a way to the amusement park and diving into the world of magic. Probably some children would be interested in British culture, and one day visit London to see the real King's Cross station.

The level crossing scandal in western Japan

Kotoden (Takamatsu Kotohira Railroad) is a small private railway in Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan. There are three lines: Kotohira line (the longest and busiest), Nagao line and Shido line. The network is precisely 60 km (37.3 miles) long with 53 stations in total. There are 80 train carriages for passenger use, all of which are second-hand trains of Keikyu, Keio or Nagoya City Subway. This company has been accused of poor maintenance of facilities especially level crossings.

According to the local media, Shikoku Transport Bureau, a part of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ordered investigation on 30th June of a broken down level crossing on Nagao line. On 11th April at around 4 pm, the level crossing did not activate when a train entered it, which could have caused a serious accident. Kotoden later conceded that a deteriorated fuse prevented the level crossing from working. The fuse, which was supposed to be replaced with a new one every 10-15 years, had been in use for nearly 40 years. The company replaced 454 old fuses in accordance with the order.

On 13 July at 11:30 am, less than two weeks after the order was issued, a Kotohira line level crossing did not respond when a train was approaching. The train stopped just in front of the level crossing, but TBS reported that another train passed the crossing a few minutes earlier despite barriers and bells were not working. It meant that the driver failed to check if the track was securely cleared. The company later acknowledged that the level crossing controller was somehow shut down at that time.

Furthermore, a similar incident took place at another Kotohira line level crossing on 19 August. In this case, two trains passed the crossing at a speed of 50-60 km/h and drivers failed to respond a signal warning them of abnormality. In spite of instructions by managers, the drivers did not take them seriously.

It was the seventeenth critical incident since 2015, and resulted in resignation of the president. Even after that, multiple videos of level crossings with bells and barriers not working in spite of an approaching train have been viral, indicating that the company has failed to deal with repeated troubles.

Why have there been so many serious incidents? In the August case, the barrier was 20 years old despite its manufacturer recommended replacing it in 10 years, though the president insisted in a press conference that it must not have been an issue. His statement clearly shows the lack of will to observe safety rules, and it is also evident that train crews and maintenance workers do not recognise how serious the cases are.

Some people argue that Kotoden's financial difficulties have led to those troubles. It is true that Kotoden once went bankrupt in 2001 after unsuccessful investment in a redevelopment project with a department store. However, Kotoden has been doing quite well in recent years (with significant amount of subsidies), as its railway sector recorded a profit of 13 million yen even with the aftermath of COVID. The company estimated in June that there would be much more profit in the next term. These facts show that Kotoden is not a company on the verge of bankruptcy, and it could have been able to do far better than what we see today.

It would take weeks or months for the things to be fixed even if Kotoden decides to deal with the poorly maintained facilities. In the meantime, it is essential for everyone in the area, both car drivers and pedestrians, to exercise increased caution. It is reminded that Article 33 paragraph 1 of the Road Traffic Act provides as follows:

"Before going over a railroad crossing, the driver of a vehicle or streetcar must stop immediately in front of the railroad crossing (or immediately in front of any stop line established by road signs or markings; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) and must not proceed until after checking that it is safe to do so..."

There is a good reason why driving schools in Japan instruct that the driver should open a window to hear if a train is approaching in addition to look both sides of the track. Not everyone observe them in these days, but it is important to exercise them especially when level crossings are not reliable.

50 years on: a comparison (part 5)...Tokyo to Hokkaido

Hokkaido is the northernmost among four main islands in Japan. More than five million people live in the island, and its capital city Sapporo has a population of nearly two million people. Sapporo has dominated the local economy, and it has been popular among tourists. Hence, transport between Tokyo and Sapporo has been heavily used by millions of people.

Today, very few people use trains. According to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, over 6.2 million people travelled from Tokyo to Hokkaido by air while just 190 thousand people chose trains in 2019 (before the pandemic). However, most people travelled by trains in 1973 because flights were not as common and affordable as they are today. This article consists of three main sections: the train journeys in 1973, those in 2023, and sleeper trains that ran in 1988-2015.

Ueno to Sapporo in 1973

Before getting into the whole journeys between Tokyo and Sapporo, it is worth noting that there were ferry services between Aomori and Hakodate. In 1954, a ferry sank amid a powerful typhoon claiming at least 1,155 lives. That was why Seikan Tunnel was constructed (and opened in 1988).

In 1973, there were seven ferries registered in total, and each ferry was as large as 5,300 tonnes. There were 20 Class B (standard class) beds, 310 Green (first class) seats and 870 standard seats. The ferry timetable from Aomori to Hakodate was as follows.

Aomori	Hakodate
5:25	9:15
7:30	11:20
10:15	14:05
12:05	15:55
14:35	18:25
17:00	20:50
19:50	23:40
0:35	4:25

There were more services during holidays, but regular services were as such.

From Tokyo to Sapporo, Japanese National Railways provided six sets of services a day with the abovementioned ferry as listed below.

Ueno	Aomori		Hakodate		Sapporo
(dep)	(arr)	(dep)	(arr)	(dep)	(arr)
11:05	19:30	19:50	23:40	23:59	6:13
Hatsukari 2		ferry		Suzuran 6
16:00	0:15	0:35	4:25	4:45	8:55
Hatsukari 4		ferry		Ozora 1
20:00	5:08	5:25	9:15	9:35	13:45
Yuzuru 2		ferry		Ozora 2
22:30	7:10	7:30	11:20	11:40	15:48
Hakutsuru		ferry		Ozora 3
23:05	9:55	10:15	14:05	14:25	18:36
Yuzuru 5		ferry		Hokuto 1
23:21	11:39	12:05	15:55	16:15	20:38
Towada 4		ferry		Hokuto 2

There were many limited express and express services from Ueno to Aomori as shown in the past article. Towada was an express train that ran via Joban Line (the same route as Limited Express Yuzuru). Limited Express Hokuto, Ozora and Express Suzuran ran via Muroran Main and Chitose Lines.

As the timetable shows, the journeys between Tokyo and Sapporo were exhausting. The fastest one took nearly 17 hours even when all services ran on time. It may sound ridiculous today, but railway transport was in fact the most affordable for the majority of people 50 years ago.

Tokyo to Sapporo in 2023

Today, Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed trains run from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, which is about 18 km (11 miles) north of Hakodate station. Limited Express Hokuto calls at the station with annoyingly long name as well. The timetable from Tokyo to Sapporo is as follows.

Tokyo	Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto		Sapporo
(dep)	(arr)	(dep)	(arr)
6:32	10:53	11:05	14:38
Hayabusa 1		Hokuto 9
8:20	12:17	12:34	16:04
Hayabusa 7		Hokuto 11
9:36	13:33	13:50	17:30
Hayabusa 13		Hokuto 13
10:44	15:01	15:20	18:47
Hayabusa 19		Hokuto 15
12:20	16:30	16:58	20:35
Hayabusa 23		Hokuto 17
13:20	17:47	18:11	21:37
Hayabusa 25		Hokuto 19
14:20	18:29	19:06	22:41
Hayabusa 27		Hokuto 21

Needless to say, the duration was significantly reduced. The fastest journey today takes less than eight hours. Sadly, almost nobody (probably except a few enthusiasts) uses trains as flights are incomparably faster and often cheaper than trains. Those in Europe who are familiar with the word flygskam might think that the timetable above is not bad, but it is not regarded as a feasible option in Japan so far.

Sleeper Trains

Finally, it might be interesting to look into two sleeper trains: Hokutosei and Cassiopeia. They were limited express trains that ran between Ueno and Sapporo, and had been very popular among tourists. Hokutosei was launched when Seikan Tunnel was opened in 1988, with up to three trains a day. JR East launched Cassiopeia which consisted only of Class A beds (first class) in 1999, and it ran every other day. They were discontinued in 2015 and 2016 respectively as the high-speed rail was extended to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.

In 2014, the timetable of these trains was as follows.

	Cassiopeia	Hokutosei
Ueno	16:20	19:03
Omiya	16:45	19:30
Utsunomiya	17:48	20:29
Koriyama	19:13	21:53
Fukushima	19:52	22:29
Sendai	20:59	23:30
Ichinoseki	22:08	-
Morioka	23:16	-
Hakodate	5:08	6:49
Mori	5:53	7:38
Yakumo	6:19	8:05
Oshamambe	6:43	8:29
Toya	7:13	8:59
Datemombetsu	7:25	9:16
Higashi-Muroran	7:46	9:36
Noboribetsu	8:01	9:51
Tomakomai	8:34	10:21
Minami-Chitose	8:55	10:41
Sapporo	9:32	11:15

These trains were purely for tourists, not for business purposes. Their schedules apparently served the purpose, but they were discontinued. Had there been sleeper trains even today, they would have been used heavily by foreign tourists with Japan Rail Pass.

Shichirigahama, Kamakura

Enoden is a small private railway in the ancient capital of Kamakura, and the railway itself is recognised as a tourist spot. There are many places to visit, such as Hase-dera (temple), The Great Buddha and Enoshima. In these days, many Slam Dunk (a basketball manga) fans from other countries such as China and South Korea visit a level crossing near Kamakurakokomae station.

Trains run along a beach. Sadly, the Sagami Bay (also known as the sea of Shonan) has been infamous for being dirty mostly because of pollution. Even so, there are a few places where magnificent scenery is available. Shichirigahama Beach is one of them.

When it is sunny, you can see the sunset and the island of Enoshima. When it is clear and dry, you can even see Mt. Fuji as well.

As time passes, the colour of the sky changes dramatically. These photos were taken in less than an hour, but look very different. Which one is your favourite?

Shichirigahama station is approximately 16 minutes from Kamakura, seven minutes from Enoshima and 20 minutes from Fujisawa by an Enoden train. Trains run every 14 minutes except in the early morning and late at night. The beach is just 200 yds from the station.

(Updated) About my social media accounts

And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023

Twitter has been changing with significant negative impact on users, and frequent technical troubles have been observed as well. Getting rid of the blue bird logo and replacing it with X does not necessarily mean that the service will terminate, but it is unlikely to be something useful without (or even with) charging. Hence, I would like to list up alternative social media accounts that I currently use once again.

Mastodon

networker_365@famichiki.jp is my English account, and I appreciate your following. Some other servers which do not regulate illegal or antisocial posts including mstdn.jp and pawoo.net have been blocked or restricted, meaning that users of those servers may not be able to follow or even find me.

I also post some train photos to KHKQ@fedibird.com. All posts are written in Japanese, but I recently started attaching English alternative text (ALT) to each photo. At the moment, I generally do not follow back any non-Japanese speakers from this account (except those I know well on Twitter or other platforms).

Bluesky

I recently created a Bluesky account. I will use it more and more in coming months as I stop frequently checking X (Twitter) timeline. (*Update: 16 September)

Threads

I also have a Threads account, but I do not use it daily. When Threads connects to fediverse, I will follow Threads accounts from Mastodon mentioned above.

Sadly, it is reported that the number of active Threads users plummeted after a honeymoon period. I believe that unless Meta provides a timeline only showing accounts that one follows in a chronological order, Threads will never be an alternative for Twitter.

X (Twitter)

Seven changes to possibly quit Twitter (list updated)

⬛️ Subscription effectively compulsory
⬛️ External URL prohibited
✅ Tweetdeck ceased*
✅ Third-party apps banned
✅ Frequent service disruptions
⬛️ Mass exodus of users
✅ A cap on daily posts/reads

*Due imminent

— Hiroshi Deng Luma (@networker_365@mastodonapp.uk) (@Networker_365) July 24, 2023

Twitter is still an easy tool to communicate with a large number of active users, and it is also easy to attract a wide audience. That is why I still retain my Twitter account even though I use it far less than I did until last year.

I do not think that the platform will be closed anytime soon, but there is nothing certain about its future. Therefore, I would like to kindly ask considering alternative options and follow me on other platforms before it is too late. I appreciate your understanding.