Higashi Fuchu Station

Drying mops behind the scenes. Actually, I saw this when walking from the restroom.

Recycled benches. Different height options. Check this post for more information about recycled benches.

Train Crossing

The sign warns that there is a train crossing ahead. That is an overpass for cars in the background. Click on the labels below for more about trains.

Eye Chart At the Station

When I looked across the train tracks from the platform at Harajuku station, I was surprised to see the eye chart used in doctors' offices. Click on the photo to enlarge it. It is an ad for a store. The name of the store is near the bottom. Can you see the ad slogan?

Click here for an explanation of the chart.

Restroom Map for the Blind

In the future, the train tracks at our local station will be underground. They built a station above the present station building and train tracks. So, there is a new temporary station to figure out.

This is a map of the restrooms! It is located outside the Men's restroom but it is a map for both. It was designed for blind people. See the speaker at the bottom? When someone walks up, a recording starts describing the map of the restrooms. There is braille at every point on the map, too. Once a blind person can find this map, he will know where to go in the restroom!

As I was leaving the station, I noticed there was a map like this for the whole station near the newspaper and snack kiosk. Oh! Maybe there are other ones at the entrances to direct them to these other maps. I'll check next time. If not, how would they find the other maps?

P.S. No, there were no maps at the entrance!

Bomb Evacuation

A bomb was found down the road from us. It was left from the U.S. bombing of Tokyo in WWII. Posters like this one have been in stations along our train line. It tells about the evacuation and the planned removal of the bomb from 9:30 to 3:00 today. 16,000 people had to be evacuated from the area. The evacuation continued through early morning. We didn't have to leave our house, but we couldn't use the train and we couldn't go through that area. They finished removing the bomb around 12:00. We heard the announcement on the public loudspeaker system and checked the TV news.

Poster in Train Station

There is another new style of benches in stations. Our neighborhood station only has a poster of them.

New Station Benches

The station near the American School got new benches. There are even small tables between some of the seats. Very unusual, but homey.

Braille on Station Railings

I went through several stations today without the big camera. I noticed that most of the railings on staircases had Braille on them. My mobile telephone doesn't take very distinct pictures, so I looked through my archives. I found this picture. I took it a long time ago, but I didn't post it. Click on the labels below to see more aids for the blind.

Tokyo Station

Tokyo station is the old red brick building down the street. It is one of the busiest stations in Tokyo. There is now a lot of construction around it.

Golden gingko leaves.

Emergency Button on a Train Platform

This is an emergency button on the platform of the train station. The yellow sign with the red stripes to the right is written in English and Japanese. The button is not directly under the sign.

The red button is the one to push to alert train station employees. The others are for their use.

The Japanese can be translated as "Emergency Call Button".

Umbrella Stand

It was a dark and rainy day. And it was cold, too. So, no pictures outside. Click on this one to get a better look.

I took this picture the other day. This umbrella stand was at a small station. It looks like a rocket, doesn't it? The umbrellas were 500 yen. Shopkeepers put these cheap umbrellas in a bin outside their shops when it starts to rain. They usually sell them for 300 yen. I guess this Space Age display was expensive.

Train Station: Waiting Room

Most of the train stations on the Keio line are open to the outside. That means the stations are wet and cold when it is rainy and windy. They can also be hot. In recent years, waiting rooms have been built on the platforms. They are heated and air-conditioned. There is now a dry place to wait in the rainy season and a warm place to sit in winter. There is a cool place to wat in the summer.


There are some rules, however. You can tell by the pictures what is prohibited. Notice the sign says "Prohibition" in English.


Why do you think this sign was put here?


The blue sign is pretty low to the ground.

View from A Train Platform

This is an apartment building that is behind a train station. The station opens at 6:00 A.M. and closes at midnight. There are many apartment buildings and houses along the train tracks.

Samples of Passnet Cards

These cards are used to make the benches that were shown in the May 19th post. See the post for pictures of the benches. The cards are made of lightweight plastic. They are flexible. Train passengers can buy these cards, so they don't have to stand in line at the ticket machine each time they need to ride the train. These are for the Keio train line. They are sold in denominations of 100 to 5000 yen and they come, as you can see, with many different designs.

This is the basic design. It shows different kinds of trains.



Some cards are Disney,




some are cute animals,






and some are seasonal.



In the May 19th post, I mentioned that the turnstile kept the cards after they were used up. That was incorrect. (I have edited the post.) The turnstile only keeps tickets that are bought daily for specific trips. Used up passnet cards are turned in at the station either by handing them to a train station employee or by putting them in a box.

Big Sister has a few points still on some of these cards. At first, she wanted to start a collection of them but has decided to turn them in at the station. Here is the box at our station.

At the Station 2: Lines for the Blind

These are the stairs leading to the train platform. Note the red and white markers along the side. They are raised strips for people who are blind, but they also reflect light in case the lights go out in the station. The yellow strip at the bottom of the stairs is for blind people to follow to find the stairs. They can also follow them to find the exits when they are coming down the stairs. There are raised stripes on it so they can feel where to go.


Blind people can follow the yellow strip up the stairs. There are three squares of raised dots that signal to them to stop. There is a yellow strip along the platform of raised dots. It is a signal to stop and not go beyond the line.


The train will stop and the door will open at the squares of raised dots. That is where a blind person will most likely be standing to catch the train.

At the Train Station

What do you think these spikes are for? On the train platform, they are everywhere up above.

On the signs,



on the camera,



on the beams and outside walls of the building,



and even on the clock.



They were put there to prevent pigeons and other birds from building nests up above. Because of the spikes, the birds can't even sit above the platforms. All the train platforms on my line are open to the outside, but not all of them have these spikes. Surely, birds know to stay away from these places. At least, I hope so.

Recycled Bench

These benches are on the platform of a station on the Keio Line. It is the train line that runs west from Shinjuku Station. The benches are made from used pass-net cards. Pass-net cards are sold in increments of 1000 yen. You can use them to go through the station's turnstile without stopping at the ticket machine each time you ride the train. You can use them for 1000 yen worth of rides.



Above is the label that explains that the benches were made out of the cards.



I went on to another station on the Keio line. I was surprised to find this bench in the shopping area. Can you see that it is chained down? I wonder, is someone afraid it will be taken?

P.S. Notice the bench in the shopping area has an arm rest. Nowadays benches on streets and in parks are built that way. People can't lie down to sleep on them.