August 31, 2004
Business Trip to Japan: Day 4 Commuting from AG-TECH to the Hotel
Today is Tuesday, and I am taking some more pictures today. Yesterday, Monday, was the first day of my class at AG-TECH, and usually the first day of a class is pretty hectic what with getting to know everyone and making adjustments to how the class will go. So I didn't think I would have much opportunity to take pictures, and I was right. Today, though, I would like to show you what it is like to commute from the office back to the hotel. On a subsequent day, I'll show you the reverse commute- my morning trip from the hotel to AG-TECH.
My afternoon commute begins about 5PM when the class is over. The office is located in a nondescript building on a pretty average Tokyo business street near the Imperial Palace, as you have seen already a couple of times.
When I come out of the AG-TECH building (actually, they just have one floor in the building), I can show you the
street scene in front of AG-TECH via the movie that you can watch with the player at left.
As I come out of the building, the subway station is about a half-mile to my right, so I turn and walk that way. But in this movie, I want to go down to the corner and then across the street (watch the movie of this process with the player at right)
so I can get a view of
the AG‑TECH building
from across the street.
While I was over on that side of the street, I made a movie of the entire intersection (watch it with the player at left),
including the "Japanese restaurant" on the corner across from AG-TECH. Here is a still picture of that
"Japanese Restaurant."
When I finished my picture-taking on the opposite side of the street, I crossed back over to continue my walk to the subway station.
I took the next series of movies and pictures as I walked all the way from the corner by AG-TECH to the stairs down into the Otemachi Subway station. While the movies are not particularly inspiring, watching at least a few of them will, I think, give you a better impression of what it is like walking around a typical Tokyo business district.
First, I crossed the street to what was a small park next to where the expressway ran (you can follow this on the aerial view) and ended with a quick view of a golden sculpture in the park. You can watch that movie with the player at left.
Next, I walked under the expressway and over a small river (taking the film that you can watch with the player at right as I went); to maximize the use of land area, the expressway has been built over the river itself. And, off to my right, was, I presumed, a toll plaza at
the expressway entrance.
I stopped to take a still picture of
the street ahead,
and you can see that the lights are just starting to come on. And as I continued on my way to the subway entrance, I took two more movies. The movies are not continuous; I just took one every block or so. But they do give you a feeling for how crowded it was and what the people were like. You can watch those two movies with the players below:
Now I have reached the entrance to the Otemachi Station. What I want to do now is simply film as much of my progress down to my train platform as I can. This station is quite large for three or four subway lines intersect here. My estimate is that the station is at least two blocks square underground and three levels deep (with trains on all three levels). As I learned, my own train line, the Hanzomon Line, is the deepest, and so it takes some walking to get down there. All I can suggest you do here is watch the movies in sequence; I think that you'll end up feeling as if you were on my commute with me:
Down the Entrance Stairs
Down a Long Access Hall
Walking a Block Underground
Walking to the Hanzomon Line Ticket Gate
To the Escalator Down to Platforms
The Escalator Ride Down
On the Train Platform
I must admit that all the signage is really quite good; if you can read signs and you know where you are going and what line you are on, the signs will direct you unerringly to the correct ticket entry and the right platform. Plus, there are
subway line maps
plastered everywhere, once you get into the area that is served by a single line. These maps also appear in every train car, and there is a full collection of them at the station entrance (for all the lines that serve that station). So once you find your line, it is easy to find your stop. On the map you just saw, mine is the second stop going east- Suitengumae.
At strategic points throughout the stations you can also find
wall‑size system maps
that show all the subway lines and all the individual stations that are served by more than one line (and a smattering of other, important stops served by a single line). It is these maps that can help you find the right line to take. But what is also interesting is that the maps contain abstract station diagrams, like the one at left for the Otemachi Station. Some of the stations are very complex, and these little diagrams can help you with the major twists and turns and hallways that you have to follow to get where you are going when in these complex stations. As an example, I have marked my own route through the Otemachi Station on the inset at left.
The rest of the commute is pretty simple, and consists of riding the train two stops, getting off at the Suitengumae Station and taking the escalator and stairs up to the top level where the underground entrance to the Royal Park Hotel is located. I learned that, like in New York, many major buildings and hotels have their own entrances into the subway system so, for many commuters, once they get into the system, they are never outside (and can never see outside). For me, once I descended the subway stairs back by the AG-TECH building, I never saw the outside again until I walked into my hotel room and looked out the window!
I hope you found the commute interesting; it was fun to film.
You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.
