Getting around underground

During the day Tokyo has around 20M people, at night around 12M. That 8 million difference travels at rush hour on the subway and JR lines. I found the subway system pretty user-friendly, and anyway there is an information booth and maps in English (I occasionally got confused, because I was looking at a bus map instead of a subway map!). The subway map is like a mass of spaghetti, but the lines are colour-coded. As one would expect, the JR line and subway cars themselves are very clean, with no litter, and no graffiti.

The JR Yamanote line runs around the centre of the city, so this was the one I took most often—travel on it was free with the JR Railpass. Travelling on this line is a good way to get oriented in Tokyo, though it's not a good way to see much of the centre, as you can't see much through the windows. It's also good for people watching, espcially if you like watching them when they're asleep! A good idea would be to walk all around the Yamanote line—don't have time for it on this trip though!

The only downside of using the underground trains is that they are usually packed, even in the off-peak times. During rush hour your chance of getting a seat is... well, there's no chance—it's a mad scramble to get onto the train, and everyone squeezes on until you can barely breath.

Early on the morning of March 20th 1995, the poisonous gas sarin was used on subway lines in the very heart of Tokyo. Ten people died from poisoning and over 5000 people were reported injured. The affected subway lines intersected at Kasumigaseki station, the office quarters of the Tokyo government. Poisonous gas was found on five trains heading for the station, and the entire city was thrown into confusion for a day. The perpetrators were the religious sect Aum Shinrikyo, led by Shoko Asahara (who prophesied that the world would end in a nuclear war in 1999).

To Niigata

The first game, against Cameroon, was in Niigata, on the nothern coast of Honshu island.

I had reserved a ticket the previous day for a town further up the coast from Niigata, as I had heard back home that all the hotels in Niigata had been booked out since January (one of the many myths that turned out to be untrue!). However, I had to change trains in Niigata, in order to take a local train up along the coast.

No problem finding the platform and train in Ueno station —the signs were in English as well as Japanese. Anytime I was unsure of anything there were lots of helpful attendents about, some of whom actually spoke a few words of English!

This Tokyo/Niigata line is reputedly the most expensive piece of railroad ever built in the world. It was developed after a native of Niigata obtained a high position in the government. I spent most of the trip talking to an English couple and their friend who were stopping at a town before Niigata. Their friend's luggage had not arrived on their flight from the UK, and they were concerned that it was gone.

They had been at a baseball game in Tokyo, something I would have liked to do, as I'm a softball fan. Baseball is the most popular team sport in the country. It was introduced during the Meiji restoration in the 19th century. It has developed its own ethos (based on wa (team harmony)), which differs somewhat from the US game. A Japanese writer summed up the popularity of the game by saying, "Baseball is perfect for us, if the Americans hadn't invented it, we would have!"

A Japanese riddle:
What has 18 legs and catches flies?
Answer: A baseball team.

Hunting for Tickets

As I had a two-hour stop-over in Niigata, I went to the hotel reservation service in the station to ask about accommodation. In the office I met Gerald from Cork and Martin, a second-generation Irish guy from Harrow. There was a constant stream of Irish fans going through the office, with all kinds of requests for hotels, but the two ladies who worked there were unfailingly helpful. In fact there seemed to be no shortage of hotels in Niigata! Along with Martin I took a room at the Single Inn 1 hotel, right next to the station, for about 4,800 yen.

We thought we'd have a quick drink to get acquainted, so I stopped the first Irish fan I saw, a happy-looking guy who looked like he'd already had a few.

"Where's the nearest boozer?" I asked.

"You're looking at him!" was the reply...

We legged it to the hotel and after unpacking we headed out to see whether there was any chance of getting a ticket for Martin at the FIFA office. There was no joy here—they just said to keep trying on the Internet. This was farcical, as it ws impossible to log onto the FIFA ticket site—we were surrounded by frustrated fans who had been trying to get in for days!

Some Irish fans whom we met on the street said that the FAI officials were meeting in the Beerhall, a bar next to Bandai bridge, about half a mile from the station. As Martin was looking for a ticket to the game we headed down there. Met Tim and Noel from Cork, with whom we remained for the rest of the evening, at a window with a great view over the river, discussing everything under the sun. Later Gerry, from Slane, a News of the World reporter, filled us in with all the gossip from the team's camp. Unfortunately, closing time at this bar was 10:00 PM!

Niigata, the City

Niigata, the capital of Niigata-ken (the prefecture), has a population of 480,000. It's a completely modern city, but appears very laid-back after the chaos of Tokyo, with a number of pedestrian zones, shopping arcades, no shortage of cafes and restaurants and very helpful and polite people who can't do enough for you (of course by this stage we were very polite ourselves, bowing to everyone we met!). Bars and internet cafes were a little more difficult to find (but find them we did!).

The city was lucky to have escaped being destroyed by a nuclear bomb in 1945. It was on the shortlist of cities to be hit, but Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the first to go because they were closer to the US airforce bases. The city was damaged by an earthquake in 1964, and a tsunami, triggered by movement of the sea floor associated with the fault rupture, totally destroyed the port area.