JAPAN | Railways

[stevensp]

The Yufu DX video on the top of this thread is really cool

nice develpoment in general in Japan i must say!

[k.k.jetcar]

Fuji TV news report:
http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlin...N00191422.html

*what a contrast to the uninspiring 701 series rolling stock on the neighboring track...

[coth]

Video won't work. Can you move it somewhere on another video hosting?

[k.k.jetcar]

Originally Posted by coth

Video won't work. Can you move it somewhere on another video hosting?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeIl1W778AY

[quashlo]

Kanazawa City submits design proposal for Hokuriku Shinkansen trains
http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/is...002000127.html

In preparation for the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen in FY2014, the Hokuriku Shinkansen Kanazawa Crafts Use Committee, comprised of Kanazawa City and the Kanazawa College of Art, assembled a proposal for the interior design of new trains for the line, featuring traditional craftswork from Kanazawa. Mayor Yamano Yukiyoshi and others visited JR West’s headquarters in Ōsaka City on January 19 and submitted the designs to JR West president Sasaki Takayuki.

Yūzen silk and gold leaf on the doors
Kaga-komon fabric for seats
A Kutani porcelain washroom sink

The design proposal exudes hospitality, comfort, and beauty to the passenger, and creates an atmosphere of luxury. The carpet is a reddish purple—one of the five so-called "Kaga hues"—while the cabin door decorations feature Kaga Yūzen silk and gold leaf. The elbow rests on the seats feature Kanazawa lacquer.

The fabric of the seats is dressed in an uroko (fish scale) pattern, a traditional Kaga-komon print seen in costumes from the Kaga Hōshō school of nō.

The deck area also features restroom door handles featuring Kaga damascening, washroom sinks made of Kanazawa Kutani porcelain, and gold-leaf planter boxes.

Train interior design proposal featuring an abundance of traditional craftswork from Kanazawa.


Design proposal for the deck area.

Very nice… Hopefully JR West will take this under consideration and then we might see a Hokuriku equivalent of the 800 series.

[quashlo]

Hitachi Cable to begin manufacture of electrical wire for Chinese trains locally
http://www.nikkei.com/tech/news/arti...EBE2E2E2E2E2E2

In 2011, Hitachi Cable will begin production of industrial-use electrical wire for railcars and other products in China. The company will invest approx. ¥1 billion to construct new facilities at a plant in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Construction demand for high-speed railways, subways, and industrial plants is expanding in China. By beginning local production in China, Hitachi Cable hopes to accelerate delivery of products and strengthen its cost competitiveness, aiming for ¥2.5 billion in annual sales of industrial-use electrical wire in China by FY2014.

Hitachi Cable Suzhou, which produces electrical wire and other products for electrical equipment, will be augmented with facilities to manufacture heat-resistant wire for use in railcar electrical systems and industrial-use motors. Construction of the new facilities will begin in February, with start of production at the plant scheduled for 2011. The plant will ship products to local railcar and motor manufacturers.

Hitachi Cable is the number one producer of electrical wire for railcars in Japan, currently manufacturing the wire out of its Hidaka Plant (Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture). Up until now, the company has produced wire domestically in Japan and exported it to China, but with a forecasted expansion of the market, the company will now switch to local production. By producing high-quality products locally, Hitachi Cable hopes to capture further demand.

With a large-scale high-speed railway plan and other projects in the works in China, railcar manufacturing is expected to grow by approx. 10 percent annually. It’s said that high-speed trains alone have about one to two tons of electrical wiring per car. It’s also expected that the market for high-performance heat-resistant wire used for feeder wires in industrial-use motors and other purposes will also expand by five percent annually.

In an effort to strengthen its overseas business, Hitachi Cable is moving forward with establishment of core hubs overseas to handle production of multiple high-potential products. Hitachi Cable Suzhou is one of those hubs, and Hitachi Cable is also moving forward with construction of a plant in Vietnam to serve as a core hub for the Southeast Asia market.

[quashlo]

JR East begins airing E5 Hayabusa CM

JR East just released the E5 CM, and it looks great…

15s and 30s version back-to-back:
“Faster…
More beautiful…
This is the ultra-express of dreams, from the 21st Century.”


Source: archilabo on YouTube

CG animation was handled by Alexei Tylevich from Los Angeles design studio Logan, which has produced work for Apple (iPod), Sony, Nike, and Toyota, as well as for video games (Metal Gear Solid 4, etc.) and music videos (Madonna, etc.). Poster shooting was by German photographer Olaf Hauschulz, who is famous for his work for an ad campaign for the Mercedes CLS in 2004. JR East also has a “making of the CM” video which isn’t up on YouTube yet, but if you want to see it you can go to the E5 promo site:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e5/main.html#/campaign

[Xoser_barcelona]

While the train is indeed gorgeous and the service will bring train travelling to new standards, what's up with the Slogan Made in Dream? Is there a place called Dream or are we seeing another example of Engrish, such as 'no smorking in the bad' and 'next week, grand open?

[k.k.jetcar]

Originally Posted by Xoser_barcelona

While the train is indeed gorgeous and the service will bring train travelling to new standards, what's up with the Slogan Made in Dream? Is there a place called Dream or are we seeing another example of Engrish, such as 'no smorking in the bad' and 'next week, grand open?

The slogan, if intended to appeal to English speaking audiences, which it is clearly not, would read "made in a dream". In Japan, when English slogans or titles are used, grammatical articles are often omitted, because they do not exist in Japanese. Also with the case of omitting the plural "s".

Anyway, the slogan is meant to convey the evolution of a concept from a dream to an actualization. It has antecedents in the original 0 series shinkansen, which was dubbed the "super express of dreams" (夢の超特急), and indeed it was, when it debuted in 1964.

In contrast to the Western preoccupation with Japanese English malapropisms and grammatical mistakes, Japanese similarly laugh at Westerners preferences for wildly inappropriate kanji tattoos or t-shirt logos, worn seemingly oblivious to their meanings.

[ruready1000]

As an non-native speaker I hardly can catch the grammatical errors, but I would rather use 'MADE IN JAPAN' as a slogan if it's intended to appeal to english speaking audiences.

[2co2co]

Can't wait to play this sort of game out of Shinkansen or Maglev

Tetsu-1 Battle (PS2)


Densha de D (Initial D parody doujin) 0:45~


and from 6:22, the famous Multi-track drifting!!!!

[k.k.jetcar]

Originally Posted by ruready1000

As an non-native speaker I hardly can catch the grammatical errors, but I would rather use 'MADE IN JAPAN' as a slogan if it's intended to appeal to english speaking audiences.

Yes indeed. And Japanese firms are promoting their HSR technology along this tack to buying authorities, at least until they get the order, then the product will be (in the N.A. case) Americanized to comply with laws and political and PR considerations. Thus a model such as the N700i will be dubbed the "AmeriEagle" or something, built in Illinois by Joe the Welder who lives in Joliet, rather than Toshi in Toyokawa...

[Xoser_barcelona]

Originally Posted by k.k.jetcar

The slogan, if intended to appeal to English speaking audiences, which it is clearly not, would read "made in a dream". In Japan, when English slogans or titles are used, grammatical articles are often omitted, because they do not exist in Japanese. Also with the case of omitting the plural "s".

Anyway, the slogan is meant to convey the evolution of a concept from a dream to an actualization. It has antecedents in the original 0 series shinkansen, which was dubbed the "super express of dreams" (夢の超特急), and indeed it was, when it debuted in 1964.

In contrast to the Western preoccupation with Japanese English malapropisms and grammatical mistakes, Japanese similarly laugh at Westerners preferences for wildly inappropriate kanji tattoos or t-shirt logos, worn seemingly oblivious to their meanings.

This is not about who is better or who was first with whatever. This is not about dissing Japan, which, especially when speaking about public transport, would be showing a lack of intelligence. I love Japan, will always do so and utterly respect the culture and its people. As far as I am concerned this is about spending a shit load of money on 3D programming, spending weeks writing briefings for the communications agency doing the campaign and no one seeing that the slogan is limping. I agree that the slogan is not meant for us in the west and also agree with you that some of the Kanjis and other 'oriental' tattoos worn across the world are laughable. I have also seen hundreds of Japanese campaigns in shops, stations and on television channels across Japan, that use English in a perfectly correct and inventive way. The fact that Japanese does not use certain elements used in other By the way doesn't the particle GA sometimes function in a similar way in Japanese?). Anyway, water bridge under the, and big deal not it is Back on topic. Amazing train and amazing Japan, world leader in trains hands down! Hope to be back there in 2012 for a Kagoshima - Aomori shinkansen extravaganza.

[quashlo]

Originally Posted by Xoser_barcelona

The fact that Japanese does not use certain elements used in other By the way doesn't the particle GA sometimes function in a similar way in Japanese?).

What k.k.jetcar is saying is that there is no "a" or "the" in Japanese.

For example, if you say 本を買いました it could mean:
"bought the book" or
"bought a book"

And as he also said, there are no plurals in Japanese in the same sense as in English, so it actually could mean any of the following:

"bought the book" or
"bought a book" or
"bought the books" or
"bought books"

If you think along these lines, it's not that hard to see why the "slogan" came out the way it did.

I'm less concerned about this translation, though... As others said, it's not for English-speaking audiences, but is just a marketing tool targeting native Japanese. I'd be more concerned about signage in stations or announcements in trains, which are intended for English speakers.

[Xoser_barcelona]

Originally Posted by quashlo

What k.k.jetcar is saying is that there is no "a" or "the" in Japanese.

For example, if you say 本を買いました it could mean:
"bought the book" or
"bought a book"

And as he also said, there are no plurals in Japanese in the same sense as in English, so it actually could mean any of the following:

"bought the book" or
"bought a book" or
"bought the books" or
"bought books"

If you think along these lines, it's not that hard to see why the "slogan" came out the way it did.

I'm less concerned about this translation, though... As others said, it's not for English-speaking audiences, but is just a marketing tool targeting native Japanese. I'd be more concerned about signage in stations or announcements in trains, which are intended for English speakers.

Thanks for the further explanation. Point taken.

Is there any way the Tohoku Shinkansen will be conected to Shinagawa, seeing that the Chuo Shinkansen might call at that Tokyo Station?

[quashlo]

I doubt there's any major technological barrier... The most likely option would seem to be to free up some track capacity between Tōkyō and Shinagawa by having some Tōkaidō Shinkansen trains terminate at Shinagawa... There are three sidings north of Shinagawa which could be used for this purpose. Then you could have a few Tōhoku Shinkansen trains an hour come down and terminate at Shinagawa. Any more than that, and they might need something more, like through-servicing between the two Shinkansen lines, which presents its own set of issues.

[loefet]

Would it be plausible to see JR Central "give up" 2 of the tracks Shinkansen tracks at Tokyo Station to JR East when they open Chuo Shinkanens? Since I doubt they would really need 6 tracks when they reduce the traffic on the Tokaido line?
JR East could really use the upgrade with all the coming extensions...

[quashlo]

Presentations from JITI’s HSR seminar in Los Angeles

Seems they finally got around to posting them on their website…

• Opening Remarks
  Shukuri Masafumi, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)
• Regional Developments through HSR Projects
  Tanaka Yuki, Director, International Affairs Office, JITI
• Operator Proposal: Realization of the HSR Project and Maximization of its Economic Impact
  Seino Satoshi, President and CEO, East Japan Railway Company (JR East)
• Introduction of Safe and Efficient N700-I bullet System, and Countermeasures against Derailment during Earthquake
  Morimura Tsutomu, Senior Executive Director, Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)
• Efforts to Maximize the Effects of HSR
  Aoyagi Toshihiko, Director General, Railway Operations HQ, Kyūshū Railway Company (JR Kyūshū)

[quashlo]

Originally Posted by loefet

Would it be plausible to see JR Central "give up" 2 of the tracks Shinkansen tracks at Tokyo Station to JR East when they open Chuo Shinkanens? Since I doubt they would really need 6 tracks when they reduce the traffic on the Tokaido line?
JR East could really use the upgrade with all the coming extensions...

Yeah, will be interesting to see how JR East handles things in the future... Five lines funneling into one line, and two of them are in the process of being extended. But I don't think JR Central wants to reduce train traffic on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen... I think they will just replace runs that are now Nozomi with "commuter" Shinkansen and shorter intercity journeys like Shizuoka ‒ Tōkyō or Hamamatsu ‒ Tōkyō. In that sense, they may want to hold on to all six platforms at Tōkyō.

[TheKorean]

Alright....Planning trip to Japan summer of 2013....

Is there any rail service from Haneda to make connection to Shinkansen?