Japan Update Monday 29th

We travelled on the subway from near where I am staying to Umeda. It is all on the same line. Some interesting facts about the subways.

1. There are no sumo wrestlers pushing people onto the trains contrary to popular belief.


2. The ticket machines are horrifically complicated but the pricing scheme is simple. You look at your destination on the map and it tells you how much it costs.


3. The trains are very smooth and quiet but not ridiculously so.


4. The line I travelled on was not in a tube but in a cut-and-cover where you dig the road up, lay the track and then cover it so you can see the trains on the other side and there is more draft to keep cool.


5. The trains are all air-conditioned


6. The direction signs are totally complicated and mostly in Japanese. They don't seem to like symbols (like for exit or whatever) very much.


7. It cost me 270 yen (£2) to travel about 8 stops on the subway. That is the standard ticket price and the exchange rate is quite bad, it would have been about £1 about a year ago.