John Walton

sometimes, when I travel around Japan, enjoying places most tourists don’t go, I wonder what it’s like for people a good foot and a bit shorter than my hulking 6’3” form to suddenly encounter an enormous purple foreigner

modern Japan really isn’t doesn’t pose many tall people problems except sometimes at small restaurants where the chairs are *super* low the only place I bump my head is a castle or small temple room, not in, like, the Shinkansen or the Toyoko Inn or a FamilyMart

sometimes, when I travel around Japan, enjoying places most tourists don’t go, I wonder what it’s like for people a good foot and a bit shorter than my hulking 6’3” form to suddenly encounter an enormous purple foreigner

like, obviously there are tall people in Japan, especially among younger generations who grew up with modern nutrition and whatnot but there are also a lot of elderly folks out there who didn’t start out tall, and have now shrunk a bit and perhaps stoop a little now

So, the little two-car vermilion-coloured vintage diesel railcars on the closest track? After waiting out the typhoon… *Mariah Carey whistle tone* it’s tiiiiiiiiiime

Just a stunner of an evening trundling slowly through the Okayama countryside from Tsuyama. Delightful Totoroesque rural inaka vibes, gorgeous light peeking through the clouds, and the diesel depot at Okayama to finish off. Chef’s kiss. #JohnDoesJapan

So, the little two-car vermilion-coloured vintage diesel railcars on the closest track? After waiting out the typhoon… *Mariah Carey whistle tone* it’s tiiiiiiiiiime

Look, I’m not saying the KiHa 40/47 in their original configuration — like this one — are massively comfortable for more than an hour if you’re a six-plus footer like me. But they were made for Japanese height averages in 1977. And I have ibuprofen. #JohnDoesJapan

So, the little two-car vermilion-coloured vintage diesel railcars on the closest track? After waiting out the typhoon… *Mariah Carey whistle tone* it’s tiiiiiiiiiime

So the KiHa 47 is my *second* favourite vintage railcar still operating — it’s the two car version of my all-time favourite, the one-car KiHa 40. 50 years old next year and still going… #JohnDoesJapan

Bluesky has four types of user

These stories of 80-plus-year-old flight attendants still flying are just so insane to me. That’s a safety-related job, with gruelling hours, hard schedules and physical requirements. I don’t plan to retire at 60, but also I’m not in charge of getting 300 people safely down slides after a crash.

Change of hotel, change of station view — and to one of my favourites in all Japan, the Toyoko Inn Okayama-eki Nishi-guchi Migi (that’s Okayama station west exit right, because there’s one to the left too).

It just got a bit wet in Okayama, but elsewhere there was some local flooding and a few train cancellations. All in all, glad I stayed put and enjoyed the view.

Change of hotel, change of station view — and to one of my favourites in all Japan, the Toyoko Inn Okayama-eki Nishi-guchi Migi (that’s Okayama station west exit right, because there’s one to the left too).

One of the things you have to be prepared for when in Japan in the autumn is typhoons. I had a bunch of small rural line riding planned, but that’s exactly the type of spot that gets a landslide and then you’re stuck in Higashinishi-Kitaminami, population -21, and very wet.

Change of hotel, change of station view — and to one of my favourites in all Japan, the Toyoko Inn Okayama-eki Nishi-guchi Migi (that’s Okayama station west exit right, because there’s one to the left too).

As with many Shinkansen stations, Okayama’s is elevaated above and parallel to its slower conventional line station, which now serves regional, commuter and freight rail. As you can tell from the flashy lights, it’s also a commercial and entertainment hub.

It’s a good job this hotel room is not my office, because I’m not sure I’d ever get any actual writing done. Every paragraph would just tail off into, like, “and the importantrainsssssss” #JohnDoesJapan

Just so many relaxing, relaxing trains.

Them: Are you drinking the— Me: —the commemorative 500 Series Shinkansen bottle of Meiji coffee milk, on board set V8, one of the last two 500 Series trains in regular passenger operation? Yeah, I am. #JohnDoesJapan

So long, 500 Series! Truly you are a fantastic train, and I feel like I’ll want at least one of you per Shinkansen track of my N-gauge layout… #JohnDoesJapan

Them: Are you drinking the— Me: —the commemorative 500 Series Shinkansen bottle of Meiji coffee milk, on board set V8, one of the last two 500 Series trains in regular passenger operation? Yeah, I am. #JohnDoesJapan

Mmm, hear the power of the fruits of 1997 engine technology… look, I love the new quiet N700S as much as the next person faintly overstimulated by Japan! Trains! Everything! But there’s just something about the throaty hum of the 500 Series. #JohnDoesJapan

Them: Are you drinking the— Me: —the commemorative 500 Series Shinkansen bottle of Meiji coffee milk, on board set V8, one of the last two 500 Series trains in regular passenger operation? Yeah, I am. #JohnDoesJapan

Look, I don’t *just* love the 500 Series because the regular car seats are purple. But it sure doesn’t hurt.

Them: Are you drinking the— Me: —the commemorative 500 Series Shinkansen bottle of Meiji coffee milk, on board set V8, one of the last two 500 Series trains in regular passenger operation? Yeah, I am. #JohnDoesJapan

🎵 Gotta catch ‘em all… 🎶

Japanese placenames crack me up sometimes. I'm in Okayama tonight. That's 岡山, or, literally, Hillmountain. I'm here a bit unexpectedly because I was planning to be exploring the rural railway lines of Mountainmouth Prefecture (that's Yamaguchi, or 山口), but there's a typhoon en route.

I've learned from experience that Japanese train lines shut down at will during typhoons, so even if you end up wasting a day or two of Japan Rail Pass it's better than getting stuck on the three-trains-a-day line halfway back to Wideisland. (That's Hiroshima, or 広島.)