There are several train stations in my neighborhood, all of which can be reached from my place in 30 minutes or so. And it took about 15 minutes by car to get here. I usually don't take advantage of this station, but as this is relatively clean, I decided to take some pics of it to show you.
This station is called "Hitachino Ushiku Station" and it is run by a private railway company called JR. JR is short for Japan Railways. Though I said I didn't use this station usually, I often see this as this is very close to a WonderGoo, which sells anime, manga, cds and dvds.
There were statues of peasants from Japan's old times. I wish I could explain which period they belonged to, like Edo, Heian, but there wasn't any explanation available. Probably they're drinking sake, or Japanese liquor, out of a bottle called "Tokkuri".
Most of the JR stations are very old, but as this station was built in 98, the concourse is spacious and clean. There are many newly built houses around this station that are intended for young couples.
You can buy ordinary tickets to go through this ticket gate, but people usually use prepaid rail pass cards called Suica or Pasmo. You can store some money in the cards, and by flashing the card over the green circle on the gates, you can go to the platform.
The terminal station of this Joban line is Ueno, from which you can reach Akihabara in 10 minutes or so. Many Shinkansen or the bullet trains depart from the Ueno station, and it is one of the biggest stations in Tokyo.
This is the Joban line. Decade ago or so, the Joban trains were sold and jolted sideways when it was running fast, but since this new train cars replaced the old ones, people can commute to Tokyo more comfortably.
In order to cater to the rush hour, this Joban line has two-storied train cars. People prefer the upper seats, as they can command a nicer view than the lower ones.
This is a train car that usually tows freight trains. As you can see, this wasn't towing any cars, so I think it was on its way back. Officially this train car is called "EF 8198".
I'm not familiar with trains and I'm one of those people who just ride a train when it's necessary. I tend to use the TX line that takes me directly to Akihabara since I like anime so much, but when I want to go to many places in Tokyo I take advantage of this JR line. This line allows you to buy a ticket that lets you go almost everywhere within the Tokyo Metropolis.
