Yamanote Line - October 23-24, 2021 - Some sections suspended.

[TAG Manager]

Obviously, this is further down the line but just gonna stick this here for a reminder:

https://www.jreast.co.jp/shibuya-koji/

https://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2021/tokyo/20210719_to01.pdf

Due to the track movements at Shibuya station, they are suspending sections of the Yamanote line to allow the work around Shibuya station.

Yamanote trains going towards Shibuya and Osaki from Ikebukuro (and stations in-between) will be stopped. You'll have to use alternate trains (Saikyo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, etc.)

Trains going the opposite direction, from Osaki to Ikebukuro, are not affected.

I would assume that the other trains will be crowded during the closure of this section of the Yamanote line.

 

[Sudsy]

Sounds like the west siders should start getting to know the options in Ikebukuro to be prepared.

 

[Keihan]

As much as I despised life in Osaka, I have to admit this is one area where we probably had it better than Tokyo. Never in all my years there do I recall them taking such measures. I mean, this would be the equivalent of shutting down the JR Loop Line around Umeda/Osaka Station, and that would basically paralyze a good portion of Osaka proper. Could never be done. I suppose that's because you Tokyo folks have the luxury of so many intersecting lines that this can be done without ending the known world and provoking mass platform jumps by distraught salarymen.

I was actually watching the Japanese news earlier and saw a live-shot of the Hachiko exit and intersection. Even after a year and a half I don't miss that much around here. I don't really miss bars...shopping malls...bbqs...getting within six feet of strangers...even sniffing the hair of young girls without permission like our esteemed president. But I fucking miss Tokyo.

 

[Frenchy]

I don't really miss bars...shopping malls...bbqs...getting within six feet of strangers...even sniffing the hair of young girls without permission like our esteemed president. But I fucking miss Tokyo.

Sounds like your Japanese blood is stronger than you care to admit …

There are a few things I miss about the US though, come to think of it. Vegas. Hawaii. The Rockies. NYC clubs (but getting too old for that anyway). Good buffalo wings. Good hot dogs. NYC delis. Highway 1 in North California. Shows at Red Rock . Watching American sports in sports bars just for the ambiance coz I don’t know the rules and never cared to learn them. Ladies telling “oh you’re French?!” With either lust or disgust on their face. American ads on TVs or billboards or whatever … it’s always about being the best…. Like “The Best Pizza in [small town in Wyoming with only shitty pizzas]”. Hooters waitresses with big boobs.

damn I must have some yankee blood too…

anyway, back to topic… you can’t really compare Osaka’s crappy Loop Line with the most efficient and busy railway on earth. The Great and Holy Yamanote Line

 

[bergmann]

As much as I despised life in Osaka, I have to admit this is one area where we probably had it better than Tokyo. Never in all my years there do I recall them taking such measures.

C'mon, this kind of thing happens about once every blue moon and they rebuild like half the station over a weekend. If it was Europe it'd be six months of weekend closures in both directions and shitty bus replacement services which ends up taking 9 months, and in North America they'd be like "Fuck this commie public transit crap, gimme an All-American 28 lane highway for my pickup truck the size of a tank" (I guess). People trying to inspect trains from the underside cause way more havoc, I bet they get that in Osaka too.

 

[Ken1988]

So the Yamanote clockwise will still be in (reduced) service while the anti-clockwise will be suspended over the said section. Good that it happens over the weekend.

Ah, Sotesu trains reach Ikebukuro that weekend...there will be a small crowd there for sure.

 

[Keihan]

Sounds like your Japanese blood is stronger than you care to admit …

There are a few things I miss about the US though, come to think of it. Vegas. Hawaii. The Rockies. NYC clubs (but getting too old for that anyway). Good buffalo wings. Good hot dogs. NYC delis. Highway 1 in North California. Shows at Red Rock . Watching American sports in sports bars just for the ambiance coz I don’t know the rules and never cared to learn them. Ladies telling “oh you’re French?!” With either lust or disgust on their face. American ads on TVs or billboards or whatever … it’s always about being the best…. Like “The Best Pizza in [small town in Wyoming with only shitty pizzas]”. Hooters waitresses with big boobs.

damn I must have some yankee blood too…

anyway, back to topic… you can’t really compare Osaka’s crappy Loop Line with the most efficient and busy railway on earth. The Great and Holy Yamanote Line

You kidding?? The Osaka JR Loop is a fucking awesome line. If you've been in downtown Osaka for more than fifteen minutes and still haven't figured out a reason to hate Osakans, jump on the Loop. Only 180 yen to change your entire life perspective. The best is in the middle of summer when they randomly shut off the A/C.

But don't be so quick to knock small town pizza joints in that region. During a random road trip through the Rockies some two decades ago, a pothead friend of mine introduced me to a fantastic brick oven pizzeria in the middle of nowhere in an obscure little tourist trap called Idaho Springs, CO. Some of the best pizza I've ever had. Of course, we'd driven out to St. Mary's Glacier beforehand and gotten high as fuck while making snow angels and snapping photos of ourselves with our Kodak 35mm cameras so I suspect my judgment could've been suspect.

Whenever this shit is over I'm taking a trip out east again, most likely to D.C. with a stop on the way back in Chicago and possibly Seattle. Get my fill of shameless bullshit in D.C., deep-dish and beef sandwiches in Chicago and then see what's new at the old Seattle craft beer bars off Pike. Seattle and Osaka are very similar to me, in that I fucking hate them both and especially the people there but they both have just a couple of really cool things and I always end up crawling back for more.