Tsukuba Express begins service

We've all seen the pictures from Japan: some guy wearing white gloves shoving people into a train so the doors can close. Yes, the Japanese take their trains quite seriously. That's why when the new Tsukuba Express line that runs from Akihabara (in Tokyo) to Tsukuba (of racing fame, in Ibaraki) began service yesterday, over 300 people stood in the rain, camera in hand, to be onboard for the train's maiden voyage. Why would we care? The Tsukuba Express is amongst the first trains in Japan to feature WiFi connectivity. This brings us to our next question: would you really have room to use even a tiny Japanese laptop on a train where there are some 50 people within 3 feet of you?

[Michael @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

First post!

A PSP would be quite handy in that situation. What with the new web browser and all.

[Hammo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Might also have something to do with the Japanese public's fascination with trains in general.

Games like "densha de go" sell rather well in that country. ;-)

Mata ashits.

[aDub @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

#1 - exactly, nevermind laptops. A PSP would be sweet. Imagine the competition on any of the multiplayer games. The browser is just icing on the cake. Plus now they will have a reason to use their PSP's -
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000463056006/

[Prepostra @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

I remember riding the train to Akihabira in late 1999 and thinking how empty the trains were outside of the peak hour. My brother and I were riding from the Ginza district and Shinjuku and nearly always copped a seat. BUT we always dove into a coffee shop or a computer shop and waited for peak hour to sail on by.

[Felix @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

when do we get these in the city? (2 train, please?)

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

The Nintendo DS has Wifi...

[Rich Pav @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

The seats on a shinkansen are like seats on an airliner. Plenty of room. In fact, if you sit in the right hand side of the first row of a train car in the window seat, you're next to an electrical outlet. It actually for the cleaning crew to vacuum the carpet, but it ain't locked.

Also, trains that start off crowded in Tokyo become less so the further out in the boonies they go. If you're sitting down, wifi on commuter trains would be frikkin' awesome. That would give me a reason to move back to my adopted hometown, which is 2 hrs. from my workplace. Mostly likely it would be available only in the luxury cars that cost an extra 1000 yen.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

"The seats on a shinkansen are like seats on an airliner. Plenty of room."

Ack! There are at least two things wrong with that statement.

Shinkansen are really glorified commuter trains (most people don't ride them more than an hour). I'm 6'4" and I have my knees pressed right up against the seat back. I guess you could say the seats are similar to an airliner, but I'm not sure how many people consider airliners bastions of comfort either.

US (Amtrak) long-distance trains are actually much, much more comfortable. But they have to be, because people ride them sometimes for days (I do this once in a while - I love the train). Even if you're in coach, you can still stretch way out.

But the Tsukuba Express is not a shinkansen and the video I saw on Fujisankei News the other night made it look like many other commuter trains. There is room to use your laptop if you manage to get a seat. It's the people standing up that are gonna be stuck using iMode for 45 minutes... but that's no different than what they usually do anyway.

[julius @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Damn, Tokyo trains are CLEAN and SEXY. WTF NYC? BBQ?!? Why do I gots to be taking this ghetto ass 1890's subway system to work everyday.

(Yes, the 4 5 6 is nice, but not until you actually get on the train.)

[Justin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

"would you really have room to use even a tiny Japanese laptop on a train where there are some 50 people within 3 feet of you?"

Both KDDI and NTT (DoCoMo) are already on the WiFi-enabled cellphone bandwagon - and if there are any companies that can roll-out a new tech like that, quickly and properly, it's them! =)

"Tokyo trains are CLEAN and SEXY. WTF NYC? BBQ?!?"

Different culture completely - it's unfortunate that the US (or even NYC) will likely never be like that. I have to take the 4/5/6 train all the time and it's dreadful - overcrowded, steaming hot stations, etc.

[Knievel @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

FINALLY!!!

I taught English in Ibaraki-ken after college. Had to drive my car to the bus in Tsukuba to get to Tokyo. No train service (for one of the largest tech centers in the world, weird).

Actually, Japanese buses rule... much more scenic and better than trains. A little more expensive per mile-- but the drive into Tokyo is gorgeous.

Ah, f it. I would have stuck with the bus.... but nowadays with the PSP.... hmmm. :)

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Thanks for the electrical outlet tip 'Pav'. I've got a little tradition of watching Big Trouble in Little China at least once on the train ride from Tokyo to Toyohashi. Now I don't have to worry about my dang blasted semson battery extender, I'll just use the AC!

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

"Why do I gots to be taking this ghetto ass 1890's subway system to work everyday. "

Because NYC didn't get bombed to hell and back 50 years ago and then have hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction money thrown at it. I mean that's the unfortunate reality of the situation. NYC is limping along with its antiquated system because it's never had either a real impetus to change or the money to do so. It is at least making small improvements where possible, like the new trains on the 2-6 and L lines (with more coming) and the computerized system they've now got running on the L that will eventually give us the sort of accurate train arrival times you see on signs in Japan and the UK today.

It's not just Tokyo, though - it's the whole country of Japan that has awesome trains. And tons of them; the first time I went, I was struck not just by the quality of the trains but by how many of them there were and how many different kinds. Riding the rails there is like driving on a highway; there is that much traffic, but it all works smoothly.

All is not totally rosy there, though. There was the accident in Amagasaki that killed more than 100 people, in part because their trains are made of the construction equivalent of cardboard. They're extremely weak, they just crumple right up in a crash. No safety standards at all in construction, the idea being they'll put those resources instead to maintaining the track and signaling. Obviously, this means one messed up train operator can kill a whole bunch of people.

Plus, privatization has had its issues there just as it has everywhere else. It hasn't been as bad as what's happened to the rail system in the UK but there are some problems with the overall system that didn't exist before privatization, and generally speaking I think most people feel train service in Japan is getting slowly worse overall. (Higher fares for a lower level of service... no more dining cars on the shinkansen, for example.)

[paul @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Um...

http://www.gner.co.uk/GNER/Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi.htm

paulie

[Lars @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Umm.. indeed. What most people seem to have missed here is the fact this Wi-Fi trial is actually running from equipment installed on the train.. a TAN (Train Area Network). I ride the Tokyo rails almost everyday and for the most part along the way I can get a decent connection. Getting a seat, as mentioned above, really does depend on the peak hour rush.. same logic as traffic on the freeway in LA..?!!