Tokyo sights: transit

Back in Matsuyama after an exhausting but also exhilarating four days in Tokyo. I had a really good time meeting and talking with scholars of Chinese and Tibeto-Burman linguistics from around Japan at a one-day conference at Aoyama University and a visit to Waseda University. Much of the rest of the time was spent sight-seeing.

Spent a lot of time on Tokyo's very extensive, interconnected public transportation system, including metro, light rail, heavy rail, monorail, and water taxi.  Although all the systems are distinct, the connections are so easy and the ticket purchasing is so integrated that it's easy to remain oblivious to which system you are on.

I think these pictures are from light rail, not metro, but I can't be sure.  At rush hour the cars can be brutally crowded, but I took these pictures when the cars were relatively empty.  You are not allowed to talk on cell phones in the cars.

This is a car that is reserved for women at rush hour, when the crush of people apparently makes groping irresistible to some male riders.

You can tell this sign is intended for kids, because (1) it's affixed three feet off the floor; (2) it's written entirely in kana (instead of using the kanji 注意 for the word ちゅうい; (3) it features a naked bear.

Plenty of Ichiro ads around.  Here he's plugging Kirin beer: "When it comes to beer, go to the era of 100% barley."  Or something like that.