5 November 2019
Quiet coastal city under construction
Taking the Shinkansen from Takasaki to Niigata
Now I am in Niigata, it seems very quiet. I believe my hotel is in the busy part of town, called Furumachi, which is more than a kilometre from the station. Theres lots of covered streets and covered footpath things where they cover just the bit over the pedestrians, but it is so very very quiet. It does not look old and abandoned, it looks new and shiny, but there are no people and many places seem shut but not abandoned. There is also a lot of construction going on, even the local Mitsukoshi store is closed. Do stores close the first day after a long weekend I wonder? Like museums? That would be weird. OK I just looked this up, and Mitsukoshi is indeed closed on Tuesday, at least it is today which happens to be a Tuesday after a public holiday. So I will have to hold on my verdict as to whether or not Niigata is a zombieland.
The train from Takasaki to Niigata was only an hour, for some reason I thought it was 2 hours. I was also at the Takasaki station way too early, so I went to a local bakery, bought a pastry and a tea, and sat to eat it. The cashier girl came over and told me something in Japanese with a great deal of authority. I told her I only speak English. She made me get up and go over to see the tray return area, and the water dispenser, then asked me forcefully, UNDERSTAND? Yeah I understand. My description is not making it sound as weird as it was, she seemed very concerned that if I did not get myself a glass of water or return the tray, that she might get fired or killed.
Later in the day, while waiting to check into my hotel in Niigata, I saw a cool demolition site, in amongst all the similar demolition and construction sites in Furumachi. So of course, I took a photo. Next thing, two construction workers start running at me yelling, one of them was waving a hammer or a large spanner! I turned and ran off, and crossed the road as the lights were thankfully in my favour. They missed the lights, and being Japanese, would never ever jaywalk, even if they plan to kill a person. So they stood on the other side of the road and continued to yell at me! That was weird. The land where evey single camera company in existence today is based is banning all cameras.
I was up early in Takasaki. Behold the beautiful tree lined streets! I saw them elsewhere doing this to the trees. They do this BEFORE the leaves change color and fall off. They were doing it in Niigata as well. Its easier than cleaning up the leaves.
The Takasaki station area is vast.
They are really, really super excited about the visiting Uzbekistanian Uzbekistani Uzbek Uzi rhythmic gymnastics team.
I climbed up the wall of the local arena to get a nice shot of the town. Who left the leaves on that tree?
Here comes a train. Not my train. This line has the double decker trains, I dont think I ever rode on one in Japan. This however is a normal, single level train.
The station area was all but vacant. There is one guy on the other platform.
Here is a photo of Niigata. Those trees need to be cut down immediately!
This is basically where my hotel is in Furumachi. It all looks nice and modern and colorful, but shut and without people.
There are underground shopping areas also, these are old, but still, abandoned or closed, apart from a second hand shoe shop!
I found the local market. Not a lot happening. One place is selling used bits of barbie dolls. Mainly pieces, not whole dolls.
This is the demolition site mentioned above. Those two guys are the ones who chased me.
And here is my hotel room. I know it looks similar to the last one, but its quite a bit bigger and much more comfortable as a result. The desk is much bigger too. Now I have a theory about the last hotel. I had a double room booked, but when I checked in, they asked me if I was just one person staying, and the check in girl thought it was unusual that I had booked a double room if I am on my own, she said as such. I think she changed me to a single room! Now I am going to check photos on their website..... hmm, inconclusive, they mainly have photos of the extensive collection of ear cleaning apparatus they provide to all guests.