International Railroad Discussion > Japan Trip 2025: Tokyo and Kyoto

It was an international trip so this is the proper forum for posst about Japan, but below are the links to my trip reports I added to the Passenger Forum:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,6012936
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,6013650
 

Sorry to clutter up your 2nd report... so I'll post additional information here instead.

Train stations in Japan are going through major redevelopments in multiple locations. Tokyo has mostly finished theirs, and underground Tokyo Station has become a city inside a city. Your mention of GRANDSTA is an example.

On the east side, past Yaesu exit is Tokyo Ramen Street, collection of well-known ramen shops with satellite shops there. I've already sampled some of them during past visits.

Not to be outdone, Kitte on the west side (Marunouchi exit) has the Ramen Gekisen-ku (Ramen Battleground) to compete with Tokyo Ramen Street. Stumbled onto it while exploring around Tokyo Station on my recent visit.

I've found some high quality/budget eats in and around Tokyo Station, where high traffic can justify lower margins, despite the potential high cost of rent/real estate due to the area being Tokyo Station. For example, Kobe Beef Pie, Taiwan-style bento, and Singapore chicken.

Sapporo Station in Hokkaido finished their redevelopment more than a decade ago, and when I visited in 2014, I was overwhelmed by their underground city. Weather-wise, it kind of makes sense for City of Sapporo to encourage this, so people can continue to spend money during the harsh winters. The completion of Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo, current estimate at 2038, might create another development wave there.

Shinjuku Station (world's busiest) on the JR side has an ongoing minor redevelopment, rearranging stairs, escalators, and passageways. Small shops are opening along the underground passageways, despite competition from nearby department stores of competing railroads - Keio, Odakyu, and Seibu. I suppose JR East's strategy is to prevent passengers from leaving the station by opening these stores inside the ticket gates?

Shibuya Station (world's 2nd or 3rd busiest) is also going through major redevelopment, but most of that are on real estate abandoned by Tokyu Railway 12 years ago, migrating their Shibuya terminal to underground, making it a through station with Fukutoshin Subway Line. This is the terminal --> through station idea I discussed in one of your reports.

Other cities are redeveloping, too, as far as Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku, and Hiroshima, most of which should be done this year.

Found a monument on the Marunouchi exit side of underground Tokyo Station, commemorating the Sobu/Yokosuka Line underground platforms and the 100th Anniversary of Railroading in Japan. Drivers are from 4-6-4 C62-15 steam locomotive.

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Thanks for this. It had been more than a decade since my last visit to Japan, and a lot had changed with the integration of train service with various Metro and Toei lines as through lines for suburban railways, etc. It seems to be a much smarter system, and some of the stations and trains seemed a little less crowded than I remember in the past.

Kyoto Railway Museum has a C62 as part of their display collection. I would have loved to have visited, but given our limited time in Kyoto, it wasn't going to be in the cards on a family vacation.

broken_link Wrote:
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> Kyoto Railway Museum has a C62 as part of their
> display collection. I would have loved to have
> visited, but given our limited time in Kyoto, it
> wasn't going to be in the cards on a family
> vacation.

Kyoto Railway Museum has both C62-1 and C62-2 in their collection. And C62-2 is operable within the museum grounds. I got a video of that during a railfan mission in 2017 - for a future report.

If you choose to go to the SCMaglev Museum near Nagoya, C62-17 is displayed there, which I reported on in 2014.

I'm pretty sure you'll be planning more trips to Japan... I'm looking forward to your future reports.


 

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Some Tokyo Station stuff to add...

- Tokyo Station North Dome.
- South Dome.

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Kyoto Station Platform 0 stuff...

- Underground passageway, east side of the station.
- Limited Express Thunderbird arriving.
- Typical crowd waiting for a local eastbound train.

Normally-used upper floor passageway is visible in #2 and #3, especially in #2.

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