Two years ago today…Limited Express Yakumo heading towards Okayama. It was painted beige and red just, the traditional livery for intercity trains on the Japanese National Railways network.

JR East has decided to close the Kururi Line between Kururi and Kazusa-Kameyama, replacing it with road transport on 1st April 2027. www.chibanippo.co.jp/articles/156... The permanent closure was a matter of time. I am honestly surprised by how long JR East kept it open after the privatisation.

I was honestly sceptical of her popularity, as very few people I know support her. But alas, it has been proved that I was totally wrong, and I suspect I was also in a bubble.

12 years ago today…A four-carriage unit of Keikyu 1000 series was heading towards Kurihama maintenance depot, with two two-car emergency engineering units. I forgot why those yellow trains that hardly run were on move.

LDP - the incarnation of corruption Ishin - Osaka noise Centrist Reform - sounds like terrorists when abbreviated DPP - facile acrobats Reiwa Shinsengumi - left-wing populists JCP - repressive communists SDP - nearly extinct Sanseito - ultra right-wing Team Mirai - Anno the unknown

11 years ago today…Yako sidings of the Nambu Line. The new rolling stock E233 series was next to an old commuter train 205 series. Until the 2010s, Japanese National Railways trains were not uncommon even in the Greater Tokyo Area.

Seven years ago today…There was an unprecedented amount of snowfall in Tokyo and surrounding area. According to the Meteorological Agency, it still remains the heaviest snowfall in record. I was at Waseda then, but the university looked very much different from what I knew.

Waiting for the President to start calling Greenland "Disneyland".

Just watched the PM speech and I struggled to understand what she meant. Only showed how abstract and baseless her visions are.

10 years ago today, a bus crash in Nagano Prefecture killed 13 university students and two drivers. A friend of mine was among them, and I still remember the immense shock I felt when I saw her name on a news report while preparing for breakfast.

"The proposed consolidation of the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito is reminiscent of primary school mergers in rural Japan, driven by rapid population decline and an aging society." I think this is the best joke so far this year.

Station closed 😭

Dissolution~🎵 Disillusion~🎵

"Planned engineering work"

Getting ready to dispose of my old smartphone. It is said that an iPhone 6s is quite popular among teenage girls these days, but I don't think anyone wants this one.

Two years ago today…Toei 5500 series at Kanazawa-bunko. The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation adopted the kabuki-like design, which is my favourite.

Good to see a map showing how far I travelled with my mobile Suica. Or maybe not so far.

The first train photo of the year: JR East HB-E220 series, a brand new diesel train for the Hachiko Line with notoriously small windows.

I have never recognised the Nobel peace prize as something praiseworthy, but I must say that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has distinguished itself again by causing adverse effects on peace.

Deleted Instagram, Threads and Facebook accounts. Good riddance!!

I wish all of you a 🎍happy new year🎍 As a railway enthusiast, I think there is no better photo than this one to celebrate the first day of the year of horse 🐴

📅The Last Blog Update📅 "Looking back the year 2025"...In the last blog article, I looked back this year with a few favourite photos. 👉 tokyomegaloops.blogs...

12 years ago today…Toei Class E5000 locomotive near Kurihama maintenance depot in Yokosuka city. This is the only locomotive for underground in Japan, though not for passenger use. The loco came to Keikyu line for the first (and probably the last) time due to a major overhaul.

I am delighted to hear that the country's most expensive firework, which has been funded by our taxes, seems to have successfully blown up again.

farewell

GOOD RIDDANCE

🌠Blog Updated🌠 "Akebono, the memory of Blue Train"...A little travelogue with photos of an old sleeper train, with reference to its history and cultural context. 👉 tokyomegaloops.blogspot.com/2025/12/blue...

11 years ago…Housing and Urban Development Corporation 9000 series for Haneda Airport. It is not well known that the Corporation, now called Urban Renaissance Agency (UR), actually owned railways in the past. However, this train was effectively Hokuso Railway's train.

So the Finnish PM apologised to Japanese people (and by extension, the Asian people as a whole). Too late, too little, but still slightly better than doing nothing.

📅Blog Update📅 "2026 Timetable Changes on JR Network"...The most significant changes will be not timetables per se, but the fare schemes. See what will change in March 2026. 👉 tokyomegaloops.blogs...

米 should definitely be the kanji of the year, not just because of rice prices but also the president who must not be named.

12 years ago today…Keikyu's DeTo 15 and a four-car commuter train were sent from Kanazawa-Bunko to Kurihama maintenance depot at night. The yellow train is an emergency stock that deal with major accidents, but it was just its once-in-three-month maintenance work this time.

JR East expands maintenance work during the daytime. From April 2026, planned daytime engineering work takes place between Tabata and Tamachi on Keihin-Tohoku Line as well as between Tokyo and Shinagawa on Yokosuka Line, both of which can be covered by other railways. www.jreast.co.jp/pre...

Learned that there was a powerful earthquake in Aomori last night. Please stay safe!

⛰Blog Updated⛰ "Tokyo to Sapporo by Rail"...Three weeks ago, I travelled from Tokyo to Sapporo by rail. There are two routes, and I enjoyed both - something that only insane enthusiasts would do. 👉 tokyomegaloops.blogs...

The government has decided to amend the law to reduce the rice production, which farmers across the country overwhelmingly support. mainichi.jp/articles/202... Fine, no reason to buy Japanese rice to feed those who support such suicidal policies. I don't care about so-called "food security".

Three years ago today...I visited Yokoamicho Park in eastern Tokyo by chance. There are Metropolitan Memorial Hall for victims of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, melted iron pillars found nearby after an immense firestorm, and a memorial for Koreans killed by false rumours after the quake.

Foreigners living in Japan always accuse Japan of "going wrong", such as raising admission fees at museums, tuition fees for foreign students and visa fees, while they totally ignore the fact that most of these measures have already been implemented in their own countries.

Yamanote line's E235 series entered into service precisely ten years ago. There were multiple troubles like overshooting platforms, braking and door malfunctions, causing severe disruptions for the whole day. JR East withdrew it on the next day, and it took more than three months to be reinstated.

Updated 🚃The Red List of Trains in Japan🚃 with four new articles and many new photos! 👉 bateman.monologue.jp... Another blog article about the rail trips between Tokyo and Sapporo is coming next Saturday.

JR East apologised after a Sobu line train left Akihabara station four minutes early, leaving about 200 passengers behind. www.asahi.com/sp/articles/... (1/2)

Seven years ago today...Class 43 (InterCity 125) in the original livery at Paddington. One of the most famous trains in Britain was repainted as such to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the High Speed Train. I was lucky to see it before its retirement, as it was withdrawn half a year later.

Christmas is approaching. But my favourite Christmas song is no longer a trendy one, how sad it is. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbFh...

An astonishing encounter in the middle of Tokyo (immediately reported to a nearby koban)

⚫Blog Updated⚫ "Memorials at Soji-ji Temple" Many temples and shrines in Japan have a strong connection with railways - and not always in a positive way. Soji-ji in Yokohama reminds us of some of the darkest days in the railway history. 👉 tokyomegaloops.blogs...

Two years ago today...Nishi-Oyama station on Ibusuki-Makurazaki Line, Kagoshima Prefecture. It is the southernmost railway station in Japan excluding a monorail in Okinawa. The lovely mountain behind is called Mt Kaimon.

Rail journeys between Tokyo and Sapporo were a bit hard of course, but I enjoyed them.

Good morning ☁️

Whenever possible, I fasten my seatbelt on a coach. Whilst I know that coach trips in Japan are mostly safe, I still think of the tragedy in Nagano nearly ten years ago, in which a younger clubmate of mine at university, whom I knew well, lost her life just weeks before graduation.

Nine years ago today...Keikyu 800 series train was restored to its original livery with a sticker commemorating the repainting, which also implied that it would retire within years (actually withdrawn in 2019).