Saturday, August 01, 2009

"Tokyo Night Bus Ride - July 1991"

August 1st, 2009 - Just when I'm feeling used to summer being here and happy that it's not winter - thinking that last winter is long gone and next winter is far in the future, the calendar clangs into August and I look ahead and see September (shudder) on the other side. Best not to look ahead too much at times like this!

My time machine travels to July 1991 continue (via video & sound recordings I made at the time). In: "Ikebukuro to Hibarigaoka - July1991", I sat right behind the driver (engineer?) of a Seibu-Ikebukuro Line train outbound from Ikebukuro, and recorded him accelerating away from... Shakujikoen Station with independent power and braking controls (they are often integrated into one control lever these days). The clip ends when I get off the train in Hibarigaoka:

Later that same day, I went back out and took a late evening bus. The "Tokyo Night Bus - Hibarigaoka to Tanashi - July 1991" video clip starts near the bus (terminal) stop in front of Hibarigaoka Station. The bus had (as most buses did at the time) a manual shift transmission, with the type of (recorded) announcement that all the buses I used back then played (is it the same woman who made all those recordings?)

The clip shows scenes and sounds from the time, beginning with the walk to Hibarigaoka Station, and then finishing with the walk to Tanashi Station (on the Seibu-Shinjuku Line) when I get off the bus on the other end of the ride:

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

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