By Shinkansen to Osaka

The fabulous bullet train – We were about to find out if the stories were true. Is it smooth? Is it quiet? Is it comfortable? Is it as exciting a machine to look at in the ‘metal’ as it is in pictures?

Two views of our train arriving at Tokyo Station.

Details of our train: Shinkansen 700 Series (Hikari 505), bound for Shin-Osaka.

The ladies in pink are the cleaning team, waiting at the platform as our train arrived. 20 minutes later (if that!) the train was ready for us to board.

Two views of the inside of the train. The first shows the extreme length of the carriage. The second shows the width and the comfortable amount of leg room each seat has.

The rear of the train, when the train returns, the white headlamps turn red to act as rear lights.

The ‘Pilot’ and his train. This highly prestigious and coveted position means that his uniform is more like an airline pilot’s.

A different Shinkansen spotted at Shin-Osaka station, not sure which type.

For the enthusiasts amongst you, the Hikari 505 that we were on, is the fastest Shinkansen that you can ride with a JR Rail Pass (A special discounted travel card only available to overseas visitors). It travels at a maximum speed of 270km/h, and covered the journey of 514.4km (from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station) in 3 hours. This particular service stopped at several other stations en route.

So what’s the verdict?

Visually it’s a beautiful machine, inside it’s very much like being in an aircraft. The ride is very smooth, quiet and apart from the occasional banking when it takes a curve, there is not very much obvious feeling of movement. There are times when it does whine like it has jet engines, but this is not really obtrusive. A great way to travel and a great experience.

Joypolis

Odaiba is an area very rich in attractions. There are numerous museums, shops, amusements and sights to be seen.

The Sega Joypolis theme park is one of these attractions.

At first you think that is it just a simple amusement arcade but it is a little bit more than that. There are numerous themed rides/games that are not quite the video games you would expect to find in such a place.

I confess one of my main reasons to visit WAS a video game, but not just any video game.

Initial D was originally a Manga about illegal street racing in Japan, particularly focussed on mountain races and drifting. The game has been around in various forms for a few years now, but Sega have decided for Joypolis to take the ‘4th Stage’ revision of the game and make it a little bit more special…

The game is now played by sitting in a full size car – one of the three that the main characters drive, which is mounted on hydraulics that react to every twist, turn, and of course drift, the car makes in the game. The idea being you are actually drifting on these mountain roads.

The Cars:

Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86)

Subaru Impreza WRX

Mazda RX7

Sadly you couldn’t pick which car you went in, as I would have chosen the Toyota. Instead I ended up in the RX7 which was quite an experience. The car was very low and it was almost like sitting on the floor! On the bright side they let you take a passenger so it was great to take Old Dave for a spin and throw him around a little. I dare say he won’t go anywhere near my car back home now…

Other attractions included the fairly recent addition of ‘Gyakuten Kenji’ (Which translates as Turnabout Prosecutor – though as fans will know in the UK the game is called ‘Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth’)

The premise here was that (much like the game) you have to solve a crime, but you only have about 20 minutes to complete this one. Sadly as my Japanese is a bit rusty (that’s actually non existent) I could not have a go at this one 😦

(Not my picture – Thanks Google images!)

Next was the “Wild Jungle Brothers” ride – we sat side by side in a 12 seater “Jeep”, the doors opened, and we “drove” into a dark space. The doors closed behind us, and the huge wrap-around screen lit up. A manic Japanese voice started shouting away from behind us, and the “Jeep” lurched forward on a mad, high speed “drive” into the jungle, that seemed to be all around us. We bumped up and down, lurched from side to side, then nearly went over a “cliff”.

All the women and kids on the ride, (everyone else but us, that is), screamed, as the “Jeep” hung over the cliff edge. The we fell, and you could feel the “wind” blowing into your face. We raced down narrow canyons. teetered on the edge of vertiginous mountain roads, rased over swaying rope “bridges” that fell to bits as we drove over them. Tremendous fun – The mums and kids all loved it, and so did Old Dave and I. When it was over, there was a spontaneous round of applause from the audience, and it was well deserved – a very cleverly done ride!

(Not my picture – Thanks Google images!)

Then we went on the “Wild Wing” ride – a very similar sort of thing, but we were sitting in a kind of sled, that was “towed” through the “sky” on the end of a “rope” by a “biplane” A similar sort of story to the previous ride – Huge fun, and very entertaining. The only problem with both rides was that the seating and legroom was very cramped for my western frame – and I really had to suck the gut in to get the safety bar down!

Next we went to “Unfair – The Attraction”, based on a Japanese movie I’ve not seen, nor previously heard of. It was popular, (as all the attractions were), so we had to queue for 15-20 minutes, to get in. We were “inducted” into a platoon of “combatants” by a small man, but he had more than enough shout to make up for his lack of stature!

We were issued with our “Guns” (laser guns with lots of flashing lights and sound effects), and told how to use them. Through the curtains into the shooting range, where we were all given a shot at 3 targets, (which were lights on a soldier silhouette). Our platoon leader was impressed when Old Dave scored 3 out of 3 – (so was he because he had his reading glasses on!). Then, through another pair of curtains, into an area where there were a number of crates and boxes for us to hide behind.

Behind a chain-link wire fence in front of us, the “enemy” appeared – soldier mannequins, who were “shooting (invisible infra-red light beams at us) – (3 “hits” on our gun, and we were out of the game). As we were all shooting at the targets, another soldier crept down the side of us, but Old Dave spotted him, and the enemy was driven back by the intense fire from our “platoon”, and fell to the floor, “Dead!”

Our platoon leader then informed us that we had a “Bomb” to defuse. As usual, all the girls and kids were screaming, as he yelled out (in Japanese) “Which wire shall I unplug? The Red? The Green? The Yellow? Quick, Quick, the timer is counting down! Quickly! Which wire? What one next!” Old Dave and I were in fits, and he pulled out the last wire with just one second left to spare. (Talk about clichéd!) Then the “bomb” went off anyway! Another great laugh, and we really enjoyed it.

(Not my picture – Thanks Google images!)

We finished the day with “Dark Chapel”, a 3D theatre, and we had to wear special specs. The theatre was made to look like an old church, and the show was (unfortunately) voiced in Japanese, but we got the gist of the story, which was really secondary to the 3D effects – a skull that seemed to fly out of the screen and into our faces, a fire-breathing dragon, whose hot breath you could feel on your face, and when it was killed by being frozen, you could feel the cold air, too. Now and again the pews bumped, and at one stage all tipped forward with a jolt. Again, hugely entertaining, and very cleverly done – the 3D effects were brilliant!

Unfortunately we were unable to take photos of these attractions as photography was not allowed. We do however recommend these attractions as being suitable for the elderly (like Old Dave), the sceptical (like Old Dave), and the terminally miserable (surprise surprise, like Old Dave!). Joypolis is a great day out for all the family, even the old ones. Go and have a great time!

The History Garage (Mega Web)

This is a fantastic collection of old cars, and includes representatives from a lot of famous marques from around the world.

Enough said – I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

It’s one of those German Fokkers…

Oh no – It’s a Messerschmitt!

Old Dave remembers one of his teachers, way back in the early 60’s turning up to school in one of these, to riotous laughter from all and sundry, plus the obligatory ‘Battle of Britain’ jokes!

Can you see what it is yet?Big clue for all the petrolheads out there.It’s a 1970 Nissan Skyline GTR!

An old Alfa Romeo

Mazda Cosmo Sport

Nissan Fairlady Z432 – Anyone for a race on the Wangan?!

Toyota Corolla Levin – a real Drift machine. Not quite a Trueno, but the closest thing here!Interior is a bit of a let down though.

Toyota Celica

Toyota 2000GT – Beautiful! As seen in ‘You Only Live Twice’ (In soft top form)

Chevrolet Impala – See you in Havana!

GREAT SCOTT!







De Lorean – Sadly, no ‘Flux Capacitor’

An early MG. As we all know, a car’s power is measured in ‘Horses’, this MG is no exception. However many modern MG’s have a second power figure – ‘The Pony’ – that is the measure of how fast their owners CLAIM they can go…

Vanden Plas Princess (Reminded Old Dave of his first car – an Austin Maxi).

The iconic E-Type Jaguar.

The History Garage at Mega Web in Odaiba – Another great FREE attraction in Tokyo!

Mega Web

Mega Web is a Toyota theme park, which consists of:

Toyota City Showcase – See and drive Toyota’s newest models.

Toyota Universal Design Showcase – Other cars and commercial vehicles. Also implementation of future technologies and personal mobility aids.

The History Garage – Historic cars from Toyota and other manufacturers from around the world. (Expect a post on this one soon!)

Mega Web is located in Odaiba, which is a large artificial island, situated in Tokyo Bay, accessible via the Rainbow Bridge. Our journey required us to change to the Yurikamome train, Tokyo’s first fully automated train system (similar to the London Docklands Light Railway). At Shimbashi station where we had to change to pick up the Yurikamome line, we noticed the Hogwarts Express..

The Yurikamome was a very interesting ride as the train passes high above the roadways and loops out over the bay to gain height as it turns to run up to join the Rainbow Bridge. Total Journey time is about 15 minutes, and if you are lucky to get into the front car, you can stand or sit where the driver would be, and get a driver’s eye view of the journey.

Our visit to Mega Web was primarily to see if we could get a test drive on any of the vehicles currently available from the Toyota range. Test drives last about 20 minutes, and give two laps of a closed circuit, the course is about 1.4km in length, and costs 300 Yen (about £2.50).

I chose a turbo charged monster – A Toyota Corolla Fielder GT TRD Turbo!

(*Note* Not my picture, stock Toyota photo)

For those petrol heads amongst you, here is a picture of the engine.

(*Note* Not my picture, stock Toyota photo)

You might not realise that ‘TRD’ is ‘Toyota Racing Development’, the in-house tuning department for all Toyota, Lexus and Scion cars, so this car does have some go in it.

Old Dave had a ‘Hannibal’ moment and wanted to drive a Toyota ‘Voxy’ – Which looks a lot like an updated version of the ‘A-Team’ van!

As he wanted to sit in on my drive as a passenger,  he had to book a later drive. So we could both enjoy two drives, one as a driver, one as a passenger. I love it when a plan comes together!

The drives were loads of fun, the only downside was you weren’t allowed to exceed 40km/h. I thought it was a waste having all that power so I did hit a whopping 50km/h at one point. The course was quite twisty with some narrow tight bends, and twisty chicanes, (much like some of the back streets in Tokyo are).

Here are a few photos of the cars that we drove.

Corolla GT

Voxy

After the fun of the test drives, we had a good look at some of the other cars on display.

There was an interesting exhibit about the Toyota Prius, featuring a very clever cut away car, showing the inner workings of the hybrid technology.

Here is Old Dave in the car he should have bought instead of that French thing…

Here are a couple of ‘his and hers’ cars designed by OIOI.

I quite fancied the look of this little run around…

But on closer inspection I don’t think even I could fit inside, let alone any shopping!

Then we found my Brother’s next car…

To be fair this was actually a really nice little car – small but surprisingly spacious inside, and the doors opened to almost 90°, giving tremendous ease of access.

There was also plenty of room in the back.

However this was at the expense of boot space.

And finally, I’ve saved the best till last! Why make all those trips to Halfords to make your car look shit… Sorry ‘Pimped’, when Toyota will do it for you properly, fresh out the showroom!

Check out the ‘bB 1.3S Aero-G Package’.

Look at all the blue LED lights inside!

Notice the pre installed bass woofer!

And the futuristic multi-function controller built into the central armrest!

Here is an artist’s impression of what it would look like on “Da streets”.

“Yes bruv! Check out my blinging wheels innit! Wicked!”

Overall, a fantastic day out, and we haven’t even posted about all of it yet!

The Tranny Van…

At first glance this van looked quite interesting…

However, on closer inspection, it looked like most of the ‘ladies’ pictured here might have been men, or had just been hit with the ugly stick.