I Rode the Train Today!!!

Its been a very busy day. Today was our free day to just "explore Japan". That's actually what it said in our book! After sleeping in (which was quite nice), I decided I better get up and take advantage of the ONE day we have to just goof around. Previously in the week i had talked to several others and decided that a good, relatively nearby place to go was this city called Kamakura, which actually used to be the governmental seat for the Tokagawa Shogunate (The Samurai).

The train/subway/metro here is really neat. I was scared initially -- it can be overwhelming to figure out all the lines and schedules, etc. Especially when you are a native Californian, and you've never spent a minute of your life on public transit. But, after taking a risk here in Tokyo, I have to admit that I really liked it! It's so EASY EASY EASY!!! It makes me wonder why we dont have more public transit available in LA.

Anyway, here are some pictures from my public transit adventure:


I was amazed at just how CLEAN everything is! I'm not sure what subways in the states are like, but the subways here are exceptionally neat and tidy. In the picture above you can see some of the shops that are lining nearly all of the walls of the underground. Its kind of like being in a subterranean shopping mall, with a train running through the middle of it! Super cool!



Here's another shot -- can you believe how clean it is? Its amazing! How do they keep it so clean?


Here's a picture of me on the train. I took it myself!! I know I don't look happy but that's because it feels really weird to smile big when you are photographing yourself. I was afraid my fellow commuters might think I was a total dork! Trust me though, I was really happy -- I wasn't lost! That made me REALLY happy!


This is the inside of one of the trains that I rode today. I don't know how I managed to get a picture with almost no one in it. That's really strange because the trains are really really crowded. I guess I just got lucky. You can probably see that even the inside of the trains are really clean.


Here is another train we passed -- they pass so close to each other!! At one point on the trip, I think there were like four trains of different lines, all passin each other at once. It's quite efficient!

Anyway, I really liked my train experience. I am no longer afraid. I think I'm going to check out the trains in LA and see if there are cool ways to ride those trains. Tokyo has a great metro system. I loved it! You can go anywhere in the city on these trains, and its so much cheaper than a taxi! Just make sure you have a map!