52. I heard a loop of birds chirping in various places in a big subway station. (Sorry for the shoddy video.) It didn’t add up then, but I read now it’s a guide for vision-impaired people, telling them about the beginnings of escalators leading towards the exits.pic.twitter.com/rzQiw74zQO
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(By the way, I really enjoy all of you jumping in with context, stories, corrections, and so on. This is very informative and I appreciate it!)
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62. In addition to 2+ writing systems, each subway station in Tokyo also has a letter+number identifier, e.g. E09. Also, I liked the convention “grayed out text = stations already visited.” It helped me once I got it. Does it mean each line is always shown in the same order?pic.twitter.com/tpUchRfwb8
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63. I didn’t know I had so many feelings for vending machines until I started seeing dozens of them outside, exposed to elements. (Which explains the money cover above.) Also, vending machines don’t seem to be gross here! Which is becoming kind of an overall theme.pic.twitter.com/iVDps94mxs
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64. Speaking of vending machines, this Tommy Lee Jones encounter was very Lost In Translation.pic.twitter.com/Vd8sPdIRqN
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(Something tells me you can unpack a lot about Japanese culture from the name Pride Of Boss alone.)
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65. …aaaaand this just happened. That’s a wrap, everyone! I don’t think I am ready for anything more.pic.twitter.com/iAo8ygga5R
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66. After a few readers told me red labels mean “hot” and blue “cold,” I had my first hot coffee in a can, from a vending machine. It was good! Plus, it arrived within a second of pressing the button.pic.twitter.com/rjkxbrPydM
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67. One-bit train arrival indicator. (Unless it’s zero-bit, always lit up to brag how often trains run here.)pic.twitter.com/tU8FIqtrPi
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68. The circle of life is universal, I suppose? (I read this top to bottom: Friends abandon you when you have a kid, your kids grow up, eventually you die and they take over.)pic.twitter.com/9IGNZJVV5Q
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69. This ATM has a hook where you can hang your groceries or bags for the duration of the interaction. Nice.pic.twitter.com/7qCCIkQmYc
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70. On a whim I followed the arrow to see the line of gingko trees. The line of gingko trees held a surprise.pic.twitter.com/pg4ogsZOeP
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71. Akihabara, or Electric Town, a Tokyo area filled with electronic and special interest stores. It’s a bunch of city blocks that look like this. I don’t think I know how to explain how much of an assault on senses this was.pic.twitter.com/pBSd2xGwur
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72. The huge stores (many with names having “Camera” in them?) are multi-floor shrines to personal electronics, with unprecedented to me density. If I was a kid, I think I would just live here. This would be my Terminal.pic.twitter.com/QG5CzeHzNy
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73. And there’s hundreds (?) more tiny stores, like this unassuming electronics one where I saw… * pause for dramatic effect * …SONY’S FIRST EVER WALKMAN!pic.twitter.com/hGCRULR2Cj
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74. My brain is still recovering, so I’ll leave you with this video of trains going in and out of the station. I watched them to relax, although there was rarely a time where there was no moving train in sight.pic.twitter.com/In8T4xF5Ie
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(Spoiler alert: I have enough material for this thread to be twice as long. Make yourself comfortable!)
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(Love how many people are like “don’t leave without buying X from a vending machine.” So now I have my life’s first vending machine to-do list.)pic.twitter.com/Y1bDLEVU96
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75. Speaking of recommendations, this matter-of-fact one from a grocery store made me smile. “Best.”pic.twitter.com/wiZNrAYA06
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(Despite best efforts of new hotel translators and three different iPhone apps, my room momentarily became sauna. But I actually really, really like trying to figure the Japanese language out on my own!)pic.twitter.com/xiLEoVz96l
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77. An interesting way to wrap a magazine to prevent you from reading it in a store! And yes, this does appear to be a magazine about spreadsheets?pic.twitter.com/JYbzonzMvl
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78. It seems that construction sites are supposed to tell you ahead about their work schedule for the week? Some of those displays are even electronic! (I drew the complicated one on my trackpad. It says 解体工事: demolition work. February 4 is Sunday = no construction.)pic.twitter.com/aVUnNHaP2a
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79. I liked this little drawing on the door in between subway cars. (And infinite bendy subway cars where you can move in between without the fear of falling off the train.)pic.twitter.com/Hl2e3IBcDy
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80. Water fountains in subway stations! (Fun moment elsewhere: A nice lady tried to help me when lost, and I said “subway” and then tried to visualize it with my arm going underground, after which she asks “metro?” and I’m like “I’m European! Why on earth didn’t I say that?!”)pic.twitter.com/YLWH4lQy9R
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81. The subway very often tells you how far things are, exactly.pic.twitter.com/fLCFv540eD
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82. This anthropomorphized, walking, smoking forbidden sign (with dead eyes) is lovely, and also conceptually really confusing, and also I hope it gets its own TV show.pic.twitter.com/HcTnpoR9aI
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(Amidst all this, I actually wonder how much stuff I’m *missing* because I sadly know so very little about the language and the culture.)
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83. American hotels often have bibles, this is what I found in the new one I’m in. (However, this is not typical. I just learned, post factum, that by visiting this hotel I put money in the pocket of a person who’s looking like Japan’s Trump: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshio_Motoya … :·/ )pic.twitter.com/k14QOntT86
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84. A 100 yen shop! I wonder how similar it is to dollar stores in America…pic.twitter.com/lz5bLYek0Z
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85. A used electronics store where everything’s shrink-wrapped, which was… eerie. (Also, not an expert, but I haven’t seen this type of PlayStation before.)pic.twitter.com/ZIVM9e5QHk
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