Pic
Michigan Flyer
Ypsilanti
Trip time: 0:45
Toronto
Trip time: 1:12
Trip time: 5:15
Vancouver
Trip time: 0:22
Today's travels: 11:22
Sustainable housing project
Simon Fraser University:
New sustainable housing →
Sustainable social housing
Modular sustainable social housing
corner of Terminal Avenue and Main street →
Burnaby
Metro Vancouver government
Metro Vancouver Council Chamber: where grand plans are made and growth boundaries enforced →
EcoCities World Summit 2019
Canada Place →
Vancouver at night
Canada Place looks like a large ship →
City Hall; Oakridge redevelopment site;
Oakridge redevelopment site: vision →
Oakridge redevelopment site: now
↘
Vancouver
(Pacific Station)
to
Seattle
(King Street Station)
Trip time 2:35
Paul →
and Eden Martin
"This is why nobody takes the bus..."
- Eden Martin
Transit exchange at University of Washington
→
SEA → SAC
Trip time: 20:30
Golden One Center →
Golden sunset over California State Capitol →→
[The Salesforce] Transbay Terminal north corner: Beale Street at The North Cut →
Transbay Terminal going up → →
Transbay Terminal part of rooftop park → → →
Transbay Terminal ground floor bus bays ↘
California High Speed Rail construction site visit
Viaduct #203 and San Joaquin River bridge →
(pardon the selfie ;-)
Sacramento
Trip time: 1:26
Bay Area
Trip time: 1:15
(and North America)
In flight
Flight time: 11:10
NRT → (Keisei) Ueno
Trip time: 1:05
Ueno
Sacramento to Ueno: 34:22
Ueno → Kawasaki
Trip time: 0:26
Kawasaki Air BnB →
Windows on the second floor of this funny yellow triangular building are for the bedroom and kitchen of the Air BnB. First floor is a Nepali/Indian restaurant. Best nan I've had anywhere!
Kawasaki Solid Square Office Complex
→→
Directly across the street from the funny little yellow building where I stayed.
Kawasaki: Keikyu Railway →
Keikyu corporation owns building, restaurant and train. Keikyu Kawasaki Station is just out of sight to the right.
Kawasaki JR Station main concourse →
JR East owns the building and the seven-story shopping mall to the east; the elegant Hotel Metropolitan Kawasaki to the southeast, and JR Kawasaki business hotel to the west.
Kawasaki Tama Riverbank →
Japan's homelessness problem is not as severe as in the US and Canada, but the homeless are just as sad. There are severe penalties for panhandling. This encampment in the Tama River recreation area is nearly invisible from the adjointing street,
Kawasaki Dai-ichi Shinto temple →
Very recently built in the Hindu style, this is part of a much larger temple, monastery and Shinto/Buddhist studies center. It is most famous for its annual spring fertility festival which attracts participants from around the world.
SuperView Odoriko train at Izu Shimoda →
From Kawasaki to Shimoda is about 2.5 hours on this handsome train, named "Super View Odoriko". Odoriko is a type of folk-dancer.
Shimoda is one of the three Japanese ports "opened" by Commodor Matthew Perry in 1854. There is a nice exhibit with models of Perry's flotilla of "black ships".
Shinagawa → Nagoya
Trip time: 2:04
Sunset over Nagoya from the Marriott Asocia Hotel →
The Nagoya area compares in population with the San Francisco Bay area, and is the "Detroit" of Japan for auto manufacturing.
Tennoji → Wakayama
Wakayama → Kii-Katsuura
Wakayama costline →
from the next "Kuroshio" train, three hours later.
Katsuura → Urashima
At the magnificent Urashima resort complex, Kii-Katsuura. View at dawn from the room →
The resort features hot-spring bathing in a cave that opens up onto the Pacific.
Four-level pagoda and Nachi Falls. →
A well-known ancient Japanese spiritual center. Many worship the spirit of the waterfall.
(This picture is found on hundreds of tourist brochures and Web pages...but promise I really took this one myself!)
Shin-Osaka
Urashima resort →
This is only half of the complex. The rest lies at the foot of the hill to the left (north). The hot-spring and caves are on the far side of the hill (east) facing the Pacific Ocean.
Shin-Osaka
Wakayama countryside at sunset →
Shin-Osaka station east side →
The Air BnB where I stayed is quite close on the left-hand side.
Woody Town Central Station →
Woody Town is briefly mentioned in a 1997 video by Ron McElrath as a community planned around the railway station. By 2019, it has become pretty auto-oriented. It's in a largely rural area about an hour northwest of Kobe.
Umeda Sky Building →
As is my custom when visiting Osaka, I made a night-time pilgrimage to this fascinating buiilding, designed by Hiroshi Hara.
Nagoya University Hospital →
Nagoya Tsurumi Park Fountain Tower →→
Nagoya → Tokyo
Nagoya
Trip time: 4:27 including 40 minute layover in Tokyo
Sendai
I call this the "Harry Potter" house because, like Harry, it was the only one to survive the wrath that killed every one else. (In Harry's case, Voldemort's killing spell; in the house's case, the tsunami of 2011-03-11.) Both retain the scars. I visit the devastated area and check on this house whenever I come to Sendai.
Natori: The House the Survived →
Natori coastal remediation →
Eight and a half years after the tsunami struck this cost, remediation continues.
Sendai to Hakodate* by Shinkansen
* technically "Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto" station
Sapporo
Trip time: 3:40
In 1640 Koma-ga-take exploded, blowing its top 1/3 into the air, causing abnormal weather and contributing to famine that killed up 100,000 in Japan. From this angle we can look directly into the blasted caldera.
Sendai to Sapporo: 6:06
Hakodate* to Sapporo by high-tech diesel express
Volcano Hokkaido Koma-ga-take seen from Super Hokuto Limited Express →
Most people traveling to Sapporo choose to fly. This view illustrates so clearly why I take the train.
Sapporo - Kushiro - Nemuro
A strange thing happened on the way to Nemuro: the express from, Sapporo left 45 minutes late! So I missed the connection to the local train to Nemuro.
Nemuro
Trip time: 2:31
Sapporo to Nemuro including layover in Kushiro: 7:03
Kushiro Bridge Maidens →
From the station, Kushiro has a very unappealing, rather gritty look. Due to missing the Nemuro local, I had time to walk into the city as far as the Nusamai Bridge over the Kushiro River. It soon became clear that the City of Kushiro is doing its best to be attractive.
These are two of the four statues of women, by women sculptors, representing the four seasons. (I don't know which seasons these two represent.)
Nemuro Town →
Lake Akkeshi ↘
Oboro region
↘
↘
Hakodate
Trip time: 3:10
Nemuro to Hakodate: 6:51
Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji) was trainling a long veil of cloud or snow in an otherwise perfect sky. →
Another great illustration of why it's worth the time to take the train.
Honimachi
Trip time: 0:44
Hakodate to Akashi: 9:24
Air BnB
Akashi Castle (as reconstructed) →
This from the Akashi JR Station platform, just as a golden sunset illuminated wall and guard towers.
Tower of the obervatory-planetarium on the 135th meridian. Now a museum and working planetarium, it served as the official time-keeper of Japan. →
The fountains adorn the remains of the castle moat.
Honimachi
Trip time: 0:43
Akashi to Sendai: 5:31
Coastal tsunami remediation (again): no more houses in this zone. Instead, a forest, protected by lattice barriers, is being planted. →
Sendai
Best translation I could get of the sign:
Citizen's Forest
Miyagi Sea Forest Restoration
Multi-Use Forest for the Benefit of All
Resulting in 89.98 hectares
@OISUKA Public Foundation
Natori City Coastal Reforestation Association
Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture
Sendai → Kawasaki
Trip time: 1:32
Kawasaki Cittadella →
Charming restaurant and entertainment zone in downtown Kawasaki.
Kawasaki
Trip time: 0:16
Kawasaki Cittadella →
Club Città , a live performance venue
Tokyo
Trip time: 11:40
Detroit
Trip time: 1:27
Ann Arbor
Trip time: 0:45