Tokyo's New Subway Line: Fukutoshin

As soon as I heard that there was a new subway line opening while I was in Tokyo, I knew I wanted to take it on its first day.

The Fukutoshin line (副都心線) literally means "secondary city centre line" and is the most recent addition to Tokyo Metro's other lines:

Chiyoda line (千代田線)
Marunouchi line (丸ノ内線)
Hanzomon line (半蔵門線)
Namboku line (南北線)
Tozai line (東西線)
Yurakucho line (有楽町線)
Hibiya line (日比谷線)
Ginza line (銀座線)

There are also four Metropolitan lines, called Toei (都営) lines.

These are the:

Toei Asakusa line (都営浅草線)
Toei Shinjuku line (都営新宿線)
Toei Mita line (都営三田線)
Toei Oedo line (都営大江戸線)

You can transfer between the Toei and Metro lines, but it is expensive as you have to pay your fare, and the starting fare for the next line too.

I have been on all the subway lines in Tokyo except the Namboku line, so I will try to get on that one at least once before I leave Japan. I'm so sad. You can see a map of the Tokyo subway system here.

The Fukutoshin line now connects Shibuya (渋谷) with Ikebukuro (池袋), and then goes north to Saitama prefecture (埼玉県).

In typical Japanese efficiency, the signs all appeared over night with the new line on them. I got on at Shibuya.

It all looked so clean and brand new, and it had that fresh paint smell too.

As we went down to the platform, there was a recording of birds singing, just for good measure.

It didn't all work perfectly, because at one point it announced that the next station was one we had passed three stations before. It was funny, when the announcement came on it got halfway through the station's name before it was cut off.

The new line connects existing stations, and even created some new ones, like Kita-sando (北参道駅) and Nishi-Waseda (西早稲田駅).
I had never been to Ikebukuro before, so today was a good opportunity. And, even though I was surprised Tokyo had room for a new train line, it was fun to be one of the first people in the world to ride it. Who knows how many years it will be before they make another one? Or will they even need to make another?

This line isn't hugely useful for me, but it will definitely make transportation between Ikebukuro and Shibuya much quicker and easier. Signs in literally every station in Tokyo proclaim that it takes just 16 minutes by local train, and 11 by express. Hopefully this will ease some congestion in the big centres like Shibuya, Shinjuku (it goes through Shinjuku San-chome and Higashi-Shinjuku stations) and Ikebukuro.

Family Visit: Asakusa & Imperial Palace

On the third day we went to the traditional area of Asakusa to see Sensoji Temple. I visited when it snowed in February, and you can see the photos here.
It was much busier this time, but it was Sunday. I guess it would be quieter during a weekday.
This is the view I sent on a postcard to my family, and they saw it for real! The sakura (cherry blossom) was out 100% by now, so their visit was really perfectly timed. Thank you to the Church for making Easter early!
My mum was really taken with these samurai swords. We were all really surprised! We didn't buy one because we weren't sure of the laws regarding bringing a sword to the UK, especially after someone was killed with a samurai sword. We guessed they'd be banned so decided against it. Would be great to have one though!

We did buy a Throwing Star though, which will look very impressive. Obviously it's not sharpened.

We went into the gardens that last time were covered in snow, and were now flooded with blossom!

Then we had a wander through some more stalls, and had a tapas-style lunch with lots of different Japanese dishes forming one huge meal. Japan has changed my appetite and it was the first time in my life my mum gave me more food because she thought I needed fattening up! (Don't worry, I'm eating chocolate as I write this!)

Then we had a coffee in a very expensive coffee shop that was playing Lily Allen and planned our afternoon. I had written Ueno Park on the itinerary but everyone was too worn out for that so we decided to skip and go straight to the Imperial Palace near Tokyo station.

We took the Ginza subway line to Ueno station, and then transferred to the JR Yamanote line for Tokyo station.

Of course, as soon as we left Tokyo station's Renaissance-style facade, it started pouring with rain, but we pressed on to find the Imperial Palace.

The view was very atmospheric, albeit a little wet!

We went back to the station for dinner (the restaurant area inside Tokyo station near Yaesu North exit is actually really good - you'd never go to a station in the UK for a nice meal!) and headed home for some rest.

Family Visit: Odaiba & Ginza

On the second day, my family came round to my house (wow, that sounds strange) for breakfast (even weirder) before we set out for our first day of sight-seeing in Tokyo (okay, I need to make my peace with the fact that it was strange!).

They gave me the things they had brought for me from home, including decaff tea (impossible to find anything remotely decaff), lots of Cadbury's chocolate, some books and kanji cards that I had made for myself to learn some of those crazy Chinese characters.

Then I introduced some of my housemates to my family and it was nice that they could finally put faces to the names!

We walked up to Ningyocho and took the Toei Asakusa line down to Shinbashi (pronounced Shimbashi) station, where we changed to the Yurikamome monorail line which goes from Shinbashi to Toyosu in Odaiba, and back.

We bought a Pasmo card each (there's a Y500 deposit, which you get back when you give the card back, and then you charge it with money for subway journeys), which made all our journeys a lot easier and quicker. We charged each one with Y3,000 (£15) and that was perfect as they all had nothing left on them after our last journey!

We got on one monorail train but it got a bit crowded, and one going to the same place pulled in on the platform opposite, so I suggested we get that one. As we were getting off, the doors closed and my dad was trapped inside that one! He motioned that he'd go to Daiba station and meet us there. My mum, my brothers and I got the other one and followed him. Thankfully, we all got off at the same station and there was no harm done. The views were lovely over Tokyo Bay and Rainbow Bridge, just like last time I visited Odaiba.

We went to places I hadn't seen last time, like this Statue. Recognise it from anywhere?


Near here, there were a group of salarymen taking photos of each other (it was Saturday) and my dad tried to get a shot of them, but they caught him and roped him into posing with them as they took photos of the gaijin. It was so funny to watch, I tried to take a photo but missed it.

We walked to the beach and had lunch in a restaurant there. We passed two hilarious shops geared to dogs. One of them was a dog restaurant where you order a meal for yourself and your pets, and the other was a pet grooming salon. You could even rent a dog for an hour at a time!

We walked to a place called Joypolis (I'm sure they meant Joyopolis), which is a SEGA-themed amusement park and my dad and brothers went in, while my mum and I (who were too tired) wandered round some shops and then had a coffee to catch up with news and things.

By the time we were ready to leave, twilight had been and gone and the light was fading fast. That gave great photos opportunities of Rainbow Bridge and the city, including Tokyo Tower, beyond.

We took the Yurikamome monorail back to Shinbashi station, changed to the Toei Asakusa subway line and went to Higashi Ginza. Somehow my sense of direction took us to the famous sight of Ginza Yon-choume (fourth block) crossing. I think this is the second busiest pedestrian crossing in the world.

It was an amazing sight at night with the neon glow making it seem like midday.

We walked all the way to Tokyo station, and ate dinner there. Then we walked through the maze that is Tokyo station to ground level to find Otemachi subway station. We then got on my line (Hanzoumon) and I recited everything the announcement says as the train approaches the station.

It goes something like this:

"三越前。三越前です。銀座線・ＪＲそうぶ快速線はおのりかえください。出口は右がわです。足もとにご注意下さい。"

"Mitsukoshimae. Mitsukoshimae desu. Ginza-sen, JR Sobu Kaisoku-sen wa onorikae kudasai. Deguchi wa migi gawa desu. Ashimoto ni go chuui kudasai."

Which means:

"Mitsukoshimae. It's Mitsukoshimae. Please change for the Ginza line and the JR Sobu Kaisoku line. The exit is on the right. Please watch your step."

You might think that it's very sad that I know that by heart but if you hear it twice a day then you do find it nestling in your memory.

My family were very tired as they didn't sleep well last night and had had a full day, so they went straight to bed. I chatted to one of my housemates for a bit and then followed suit.

The guiding was going well so far. I realised I knew more Japanese than I thought. I'm constantly comparing myself to my amazing housemates and native Japanese people, and I think that's not the way to go about it, as that way lies madness!

Family Visit: An Arrival and A Departure

Okay, it's about time for some catch-up I think! I'm very sorry about the huge gaps between posts at the moment, but things keep happening, and then nothing happens, and then huge things happen!

But the really huge huge thing is my family's visit last week. The original plan was for them to come to Japan for my birthday (9th April) but because the Church decided that Easter would be early this year the school holiday didn't coincide (for the second time in my entire life!) with it. Of all the years to make it early!

But anyway, they booked the holiday, having to miss my birthday by a mere four days. It still worked well, as it was very close to the halfway point through my trip, and split it into two bitesize pieces of being away.

The morning they arrived, another of my housemates moved out. It was very sad as I like him a lot. I had gotten him a small leaving gift, because he always chatted to me when I was feeling down or homesick, or just felt like talking to someone! And he never complained when I babbled away for hours about nothing in English, and asked for random translations to Japanese. I think that deserves knighthood, but unfortunately that gift wasn't at my disposal so a book had to do!

After saying my farewell (he has visited since then and still lives in Tokyo so I will meet up with him again), I headed out to Narita Airport to meet my family.

I took the Keisei line, which originates from Tokyo as the Toei Asakusa Line and then transforms past Oshiage station into an above-ground train. This was a hideous mistake. There was no direct train to Narita Airport, and I ended up changing train four times along the route until I finally found one that could actually take me there. It was ridiculous. On the way back to the airport when my family left we used the JR Sobu line from Tokyo station, which was direct. But if you want to use the Narita Express (N'EX) then you need to reserve. There is also a Skyliner from Ueno station.

My mum rang me when I was two stops away saying that they were waiting in the Arrivals Lounge and the plane had arrived half an hour early. Surprisingly, her phone worked in Japan as it was quad-band and 3G. I don't think any other phone types work in Japan at the moment.

I arrived at the station (the train stops at Narita station first but this is the town, not the airport, then Terminal 2, and finally Terminal 1, which is called 'Narita Airport') and a sign said that my bags would be inspected at a checkpoint, but they just asked for ID. Passport or Alien Card is okay.

I had a choice between North or South Arrivals Lounge, and naturally I chose the wrong one. I walked round to the other and ambushed my family. I saw my mum first, and ran forward to give her a hug. She told me that my youngest brother, Dominic, was waiting at the entrance downstairs, and I should go down and see him.

I found him, then we went to find my middle brother and dad. It was so incredibly surreal, and so incredibly amazing, to see them in Japan.

Just like me, none of them had slept on the plane journey over but they were all wide-awake with excitement. We had a bit of lunch in the airport, but I couldn't eat anything because my stomach was so jumbled up with emotion.

After that, I bought our Limousine Bus tickets from the counter, and we wheeled the luggage out to the front. It was exactly like my first day in Japan, which added to the surrealism.

We didn't have news to catch up on, as we email and Skype each other regularly, so we chatted about random things, just like normal. I was the guide right from the off, translating signs and annoucements, pointing sights out from the window of the bus.

We hit bad traffic on a road into Tokyo and my brothers and mum closed their eyes to get some energy back but my dad was busy reading the travel guide and asking me questions about the language. During our conversation he pointed at me as he said something, like people do naturally, and I was shocked to find that I was really taken aback by the forwardness of the gesture. I have been careful to always use open hand gestures when indicating direction or a person. If you want to point to yourself, you should point to your nose, and never use a direct motion towards another person. So that was interesting as I hadn't realised how 'Japanised' I may have become.

The journey from Narita Airport to Tokyo City Air Terminal (TCAT) was meant to take 55 minutes, but I think it must have been more like 90. I live very close to TCAT and my family's hotel was about 15 minutes walk from there. They stayed in a new Toyoko Inn, which was surprisingly cheap, and very convenient as it was so close to me.

I took them to the hotel, pointing things out from my local area as we went. They couldn't check into their hotel until 4pm, and it was only noon or something. Getting up early makes the day a lot longer!

We left our luggage at the hotel, and went to find some lunch. We went to my local supermarket, Daimaru Peacock, and bought some ready meals. This is not as bad as it sounds, Japanese ready meals are surprisingly good quality.

Of course, it started to rain as soon as we sat down outside, but we didn't care. We were together!

After that, I showed them my local shrine, Suitengu Shrine. My mum got her fortune from the fortune telling drawers. You put Y100 in the slot, and then shake one of the wooden cylinders full of thin wooden straws, then tip it upside-down until one comes out. Then you match the number painted on the stick to the right drawer (the numbers are in kanji) and take a fortune slip from the drawer. If it's bad then you can tie it to a string nearby and give it back to fate, but you can keep it if you like it. Unfortunately, I couldn't decipher my mum's so we don't know if it's good or bad!

Everyone was pretty tired after that, so I took them back to my guesthouse via a Doutor coffee shop and showed them my home. It was really nice to be able to show them my life, so they could have an image to attach to the information and stories I'd told them.

After a bit of recovery, we went back to the hotel and had some dinner, and sorted luggage out. Everyone then went to bed, except my dad because he was still hungry and went to a ramen (noodle) restaurant nearby.

My family had difficulty sleeping that night due to jetlag and maybe a bit of excitement, but I slept quite well.

The next day it was time to start the itinerary I had made for the holiday. Everyone needed to be well rested because it was very full!

Update of my Last Few Weeks

I realise that I've been a bit rubbish with my postings recently. This is because I've been so busy and tired with work. Today is my first day off since I started teaching a month ago - so tired!

So this post is just to catch you all up with what I've been up to, and things I've noticed.

First, let's have some pretty photos! This is the building where I work at twilight.

This was in Omotesando towards the end of February. I had to fight through the hordes of couples after Valentine's Day to take this photo.

Now for some of the random things I've seen around the place.

Some vending machines around bus stations and train stations accept Pasmo cards as payment for the drinks or food! Brilliant!

One day on the way home from work I passed a girl in Omotesando station who was staring at me (more than usual I mean) and I glanced at her. Then I realised that I recognised her! She'd been sitting opposite me a few days before on the subway!! A city of 12 million people odd and it's still not impossible to see someone twice!

After that, I went up onto the platform and there were two Americans shouting at the top of their voices. Absolutely everyone was staring at them and I wondered if they were drunk, but they seemed perfectly sober. Just very loud. You're giving gaijin a bad name! Shut up! They got on the same train carriage as me and continued their conversation, or shouting match. Grgh.

Bratz dolls are available here. Enough said.

I was waiting for a student at Gaba one day and I started rumaging through the bookcase they have in the waiting area, and I came across a book all about the best places to drink tea in Britain! It was written in Mr Scruff's trademark handwriting so I'm sure he must have had something to do with it. It was an amazing experience. Mr Scruff is a British DJ who plays up and down the country, and pretty much every year at the Big Chill festival, at the beginning of August. If you can go, I really recommend it. It's a great, relaxed weekend.

Last one now. I saw the most random thing in Omotesando last week. Driving along the road was a huge bus with a giant picture of the Pink Panther painted on the side. The windows were screens showing animations of the Pink Panther. And, the best bit, it was playing the theme tune! As embarrassed as I am to admit it, I did find my feet moving to the beat of the music, and I had to bury my face in my coat because I started laughing. Only in Japan.

Bus Tour to Chiba

I realise that I haven't posted for a few days, and one of the main reasons is that my life hasn't been particularly interesting recently! I've just been settling in to my work routine, and now my legs take me where I need to go and my mind can shut off - I'm becoming a Tokyoite already! I even close my eyes and appear to be asleep on the subway. The other reason is that I haven't had time to post anything because of work and my general tiredness at the end of each day.

However, my lunchtime lesson was cancelled today and I don't have to be at Gaba until 18.15 this evening so I can tell you about my fun day out on Sunday! A housemate invited me to go on a bus tour (basu tsua) to Kamogawa, in southern Chiba. I had originally planned to go and watch the Tokyo Marathon, but I thought this would be more fun.

Before I launch into the story, the pictures below show the Valentine's Day chocolate I got from one of my students last week. I thought that was very nice.


Three of us went in the end, and we had to get up at 6am. So we left bleary-eyed and tired at 7 and went to the subway station.

If you're interested, this is what some subway stations and trains look like.
Extremely empty at 7 on Sunday mornings.

The next station is 'Kanda'.
The train is approaching. Only some stations have signs that light up like this, others have electronic screens with the times etc. of the next two trains, and they come up with 'The train is approaching' in Japanese and English. It's announced as well, but only in Japanese.

I look far too cheerful for 7am.

The trains were very empty too.

Different lines have different ways of telling you the next stop, but this one flashes in Japanese. Others show the name of the next stop and the lines you can transfer to from there in English and Japanese, as well as the usual announcements, which are sometimes done from the driver in Japanese, or pre-recorded in English too.

Many train-tracks near Ueno station on the Yamanote line.
An advert for Gaba on the train.

We got off at Akabane station.

It was so quiet!

We were a bit late, but our bus waited for us. The tour cost Y8,000 (£40) including lunch.

We saw some amazing views of Tokyo. The great thing about the weather here (at least in Winter) is that it's so clear! Because it's a dry season, the sky is mostly pure blue. The UK is so rainy and grey for so many days out of the year, it's lovely to wake up almost every morning to bright, chilly days. But when the sun gets on you it's very warm! In the shade, there's still snow left from two weeks ago but the sun is very warming and I had to do a lesson in just a T-shirt last week because I got overheated walking to the cafe! It's probably because I'm not used to the sun closer to the Equator. I was very surprised to learn that Tokyo is on the same latitude as LA and Athens, Greece. The Pacific Ocean keeps it cooler though, and much more humid! Winter is fine, but from the rainy season (tsuyu) in mid-May through to typhoon season (September-October) it's very humid. That's not so good for me, as I hate humidity! And Tokyo can get up to 40C in Summer. How hideous! If you're interested, all the information is on this Tokyo average climate graph.

I must thank my housemate, Hyunwoo for letting me use some of the photos he took. He sat next to the window on the bus and took some great shots. Visit his blog, it's very interesting, even if you don't read Korean! If you speak English and want to learn Korean, this blog of his is also very good.

The bus was very comfortable and everyone was relaxed. In fact, some people slept through the journey!
This shot isn't so good, but there's Mt Fuji! My first sight of it! And it's so magnificient, bigger than I could have imagined. Very impressive.
Hyunwoo took this one, his camera's zoom is 6 times more powerful than mine! You can see Fuji in the background, honest.

The tour took us through Tokyo, down past Haneda Airport and into Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture. From there, we went through a very long tunnel under Tokyo bay to Umihotaru, a view point and shopping area. Then there was a long bridge to Chiba prefecture.

It was nice to see a non-skyscraper orientated landscape.

A map of southern Chiba at a rest-stop.

It was the first time I left Tokyo since arriving one and a half months ago, so it was nice to see a rural area.

Somewhere in this photo, there's a monkey eating some fruit. I can't remember where though, it might be behind the tree. There were actually about 7 small monkeys playing by the road, but I couldn't get a good photo.

As we neared the coast, they passed a microphone round the bus and everyone introduced themselves! I was very nervous but my miniature speech (most people spoke for five minutes, I said about five sentences) went fine and everyone clapped at the end of it. It was an experience.

We arrived at our destination, Kamogawa, in southern Chiba perfecture. We visited the local shrine.

I had to put this on here! Hyunwoo's camera is really quite clever.
Me and Hyunwoo in front of the main gate.

There were stalls selling fruit and vegetables. I even tried some fresh squid!

The sea was so beautiful! Really clear and blue. You could see the bottom! The town was like a Bournemouth with Japanese houses.

Hyunwoo. Incredible language ability, and a breakdancer! Then we went to a very expensive-looking hotel for lunch. It was my first real Japanese meal. We all knelt on tatami mats in front of low tables in rows.

This is what covered the meal.

I lifted it up - and this was lunch!

Okay, that's not true.

This was the meal.


There was so much of it, and it kept coming! I had to stop several times because I just got too full, but it was delicious. The only thing I didn't like was a weird egg thing.
This was the room we ate in. So Japanese!

An introduction and exchange of meishi (business cards).
Picturesque. No, not picture-squ!

After lunch, we went to the observation deck on the tenth floor of the hotel and looked over the bay.

The sun was too bright for me to look at the sea directly! I was the only Westerner on the trip (out of 500 people) and everyone else was fine. The curse of having blue eyes.

And the best part was that they had free massage chairs and electronic foot massagers facing the floor-ceiling windows! So relaxing!

This is the lobby of the hotel.

We took the same route back home, this is the tunnel to Umihotaru.

With total disregard to road safety (no one wore their seatbelts on the entire trip), they did karaoke on the bus. It was very interesting and everyone joined in singing, except me as I didn't know any of the songs! There was a great atmosphere and it was the first time I'd seen real Japanese karaoke!
Thank you Hyunwoo! Great shot of Mt Fuji in the light of a sunset.
Back in Tokyo, we saw the city in the twilight. These aren't great shots, but I think they're quite atmospheric.

We got back at about 7pm and were exhausted, but we stopped off at Ameyoko market near Ueno station.

It's the home of cheap clothes and food in Tokyo. It was great to wander round the narrow, crowded streets under railway tracks through stalls and kiosks at night and feel safe! I tried takoyaki there too, which are dumplings stuffed with things like octopus and vegetables. It was very nice!

There's even a shrine there!

And a Claire's.
We had dinner in a cafe under the railway tracks that shook whenever a train passed over it. It was great! We were there chatting for well over an hour, and I made my first hilarious mistake in Japanese.

Somehow the conversation turned to Wales, and I wanted to say that my father was born in Wales (Watashi no chichi wa weiruzu ni umaremashita) but it came out as 'Watashi no chichi wa weiruzu ni uremashita', which means 'My father was sold to Wales'. I was laughing for ages after they told me what I'd said.

'Give me all your money.'

'Oh, I can't be bothered. Let's just sleep instead.'
We got home at about 11pm and went straight to bed! It was an exhausting day, but I'm so pleased that I went, I had loads of fun.