International Railroad Discussion > What Type of Railfan (in Japan) Are You?

The previous thread titled "Food and trains" and my being asked if I was a "Nori-tetsu" or "Tori-tetsu" inspired me to do a quick research on the type of railfans in Japan. Found a nice wikipedia summary that I'm "interpreting" here:

Sharyo-tetsu: Railfans concerned with car types, trucks, consists, special consists, etc. This probably includes locomotive foamers, but majority of trains in Japan are EMUs and DMUs. The biggest group in Japan, according to the entry.

Tori-tetsu: Railfans who take photos. Sharyo-tetsu who are also Tori-tetsu would focus on roster shots, for example. As with American foaming, many Tori-tetsu go for action and scenery shots.

Oto-tetsu: (also "Tori-tetsu" using a kanji character of "record" for "Tori") Railfans who are interested in sounds of trains, and not just clickety-clack, prime mover, traction motor, dynamic brake, horns, and other mechanical sounds we foam in the U.S. Many passenger trains in Japan have automated announcements, usually with music. Train stations, especially in large cities have unique "Hatsumelo" or departure melodies that play when a train is about to depart. You can hear snippets of that in some of the videos I posted recently, and especially onboard the Hiroshima Streetcars, where you can hear various music and sound.

Shu-shu-tetsu: Railfans who collect stuff related to trains. Not just railroadiana, but related stuff like ekiben (bento) wrappers, and getting their stamp book stamped at every station they visit (I got one when I rode the SL Hitoyoshi).

Nori-tetsu: Railfans who ride trains. Lots of subcategories here, for example, those who go for "kanjo" tries to ride to every station on a line, every line in an area or the whole country, etc. Ori-tetsu (Ori, or the verb oriru means to get off, or detrain) try to detrain mid-journey and do impromptu tourism. Ori-tetsu going for kanjo would try to detrain at EVERY stop along a line.

Ekiben-tetsu: Supposed to be a subset of Nori-tetsu, since they ride trains to sample ekiben (station bento) everywhere. Some stations have "Tachigui soba" where vendors sell freshly made hot noodle soup on platforms, and you eat them while standing up. I saw a few, but with transfers made with 5 minute margin or less, I didn't have a chance to sample any on my recent trip.

Jikokuhyo-tetsu: Railfans who show deep interest with schedules and timetables. New passenger timetables are published every month, and they cover the entire JR system, in addition to some of the non-JR lines. Many of these railfans generate their own service planning diagram for analysis and fun. As mentioned in the "Food and trains" thread, some enjoy "virtual train travel" by just studying the timetables.

Eki-tetsu: Railfans who show interest in train stations. They are interested in the names, history, architecture, and other relevant information like highest point, southernmost point, etc. Eki-tetsu who are tori-tetsu would shoot and collect photos of station name plates.

Mama-tetsu: Supposed to be a recent phenomenon, where the mom takes the kids to go railfanning (while the husband is being a workaholic and maybe an alcoholic). I think we need to convert all soccer moms to mama-tetsu. :-) I saw quite a few mama-tetsu during my recent trip to Japan, more so than in the past. There might be one or two in the photos I posted recently.

I'm sure there are other categories I haven't mentioned.

Unlike what was implied in the CNN article in the "Food and trains" thread, many railfans in Japan are not necessarily "otaku" which implies it's a mysterious subculture frequented by obsessive and possibly anti-social types, similar to the derogatory definition of foamers. Appreciation of trains is far more mainstream in Japan, compared to the sometimes train stupid U.S. For example, I met two young women friends onboard the SL Hitoyoshi, who rode the entire journey, then backtracked on a DMU to a previous stop to do some touring and hiking, definitely a nori-tetsu.

Anyway, the above categories aren't too different from railfans here, for example, Evan Werkema would be a combination sharyo-tetsu/tori-tetsu/oto-tetsu/eki-tetsu. Maybe he needs to start a new category, "Warai-tetsu", or train humor. :-)

- I'm a nori-tetsu and a ekiben-tetsu (Shinkansen Sakura Bento).
- Sausage, fried shrimp, hamburger steak, eggs, vegetables over rice, menu and utencil tailored for kids. I kept the bento box for my collection, so I'm also a shu-shu-tetsu.

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Nice post. It's kind of like the inuit and their many names for "snow." I wonder if the Japanese have "ideo-tetsu"* railfans like we seem to have a lot of here on TO.

Ray

*: ideo-tetsu: railfans who could care less about anything related to trains other than injecting an ideological viewpoint into discussion threads.

列車の収集? The restaurant was closed and I wanted to ask where all these items came from in Minakami. It is on 291 heading toward the Tanigawadake. I have ridden the Watarase Railroad to Ashio and he had many destination signs from the Tobu Ryuomo Limited Express.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/14 03:59 by Railpax71.

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Railpax71 Wrote:
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> 列車の収集? The restaurant was closed and I
> wanted to ask where all these items came from in
> Minakami. It is on 291 heading toward the
> Tanigawadake. I have ridden the Watarase Railroad
> to Ashio and he had many destination signs from
> the Tobu Ryuomo Limited Express.

Interesting! Shu-shu-tetsu for sure! How close was this restaurant to Minakami Station? If I don't rent a car, I might go for a bus visit.

Don't know when I'll visit next, but I hope to visit Minakami again, since there are many things to do, including the hot springs, hiking the ultra-scenic, but sometimes deadly Tanigawadake (781 deaths in 83 years, unfortunate world record for a 6500' peak), and checking out the double loop on the Joetsu Line between Minakami and Echigo-yuzawa. I saw several freight trains on this segment while being a Tori-tetsu and Nori-tetsu for the SL Minakami last week.

Ray_Murphy Wrote:
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> Nice post. It's kind of like the inuit and their
> many names for "snow." I wonder if the Japanese
> have "ideo-tetsu"* railfans like we seem to have a
> lot of here on TO.
>
> Ray
>
> *: ideo-tetsu: railfans who could care less about
> anything related to trains other than injecting an
> ideological viewpoint into discussion threads.

Hehe. Politics is far too much of a mainstream activity here (in the U.S.). Those who insist on viewing the world through brainwashed partisan politics should be considered "otaku" and go hide in a corner somewhere and leave the rest of us alone.

Not that Japan was free from that, either. While in Minakami last weekend for the D51 #498 steam locomotive, there was a political candidate blasting her name and greeting the populace on a loudspeaker mounted on a car that was driving everywhere within town limits. I was trying to record video of the D51 at the same time, and unfortunately, I recorded the sound of the political jibberish, too.

The collection is on 291 across the Tone river from the station and upriver about 2 km. Walkable, but there is frequent bus service up past the double loop.

I'd really like to read Hiroshi's input on this.
...Lorenzo