Reprint Timetable

A customer gave me a reprint of a Japan Travel Bureau timetable from before I was born, and I have been looking through it almost every day since.

It was the heyday of the Tokaido Line’s splendid limited-express services, on the eve of the Shinkansen’s opening.

Today again, I ride the trains of that era and travel all around Japan.

There is no final destination—just a carefree, endless journey.

Timetables really are such enjoyable reading.

Being a reprint, even the advertisements are just as they were at the time!

Above all, this was what I loved most! The train formation charts!

It was great fun comparing the formation charts with the timetables and imagining how the trains were operated.

These days, even local trains offer a smooth, comfortable journey. On the other hand, even limited-express trains no longer have long-distance workings, so it is no longer possible to trace a single train across the pages of a timetable.

You can quickly find the train or itinerary you want with an online search, but it is also fun to deliberately trace your way across a paper timetable with your finger.

When I was in elementary school, I used to go almost every week to Ueno Station or to the railway overpass in nearby Higashi-Nakano to take photographs.

Railways are fun, now as they were then.