(Tokyo) In service since 1885, the “Yamanote” is the most important and best-known railway line in Tokyo, with millions of passengers cramming into its distinctive green and gray carriages every day as it winds its 35-kilometer loop.
AFP photographer Richard Brooks travelled through all 30 stations on the line in June – one station per day – capturing the hustle and bustle of life at the heart of the world’s largest urban area.
Perched on overhead tracks, which provide an almost permanent view of the city, the trains circle the center of the Japanese metropolis in 60 minutes.
PHOTO RICHARD A. BROOKS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Perched on overhead tracks, which provide an almost permanent view of the city, the trains circle the center of the Japanese metropolis in 60 minutes.
These trains connect the main commercial areas of the Japanese capital, some of the city’s main tourist spots, as well as major stations such as Shinjuku, Shibuya and Tokyo, from where the famous Shinkansen, the high-speed trains that serve the entire country, depart.
Between 4:30 a.m. and 1:10 a.m. every day, the frequency of trains fluctuates between two and four minutes, with trains running clockwise, “sotomawari,” and counterclockwise, “uchi-mawari,” ferrying office workers, tourists out and about, children to school, and even lonely retirees who are going nowhere in particular and going in circles.
PHOTO RICHARD A. BROOKS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Between 4:30 a.m. and 1:10 a.m. every day, the frequency of trains fluctuates between two and four minutes, with trains running clockwise, “sotomawari,” and counterclockwise, “uchi-mawari.”
And so as not to lose the thousands of travelers, a woman’s voice echoes the information in all the stations about the meaning of “uchi-mawari” and a man’s voice that of “sotomawari”.
True to its legend and that of Japanese rail transport in general, the Yamanote experiences very few delays and when the wait between two trains is more than five minutes, the loudspeakers address sincere and lengthy apologies to the passengers.
PHOTO RICHARD A. BROOKS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
True to its legend and that of Japanese rail transport in general, the Yamanote experiences very few delays and when the wait between two trains is more than five minutes, the loudspeakers address sincere and lengthy apologies to the passengers.
Driven by safety requirements in the face of the influx of passengers on the platforms and after a visually impaired traveller fell on the tracks in 2011, the line’s managers decided to equip 28 of the 30 stations with barriers and secure platform doors, making this loop one of the safest lines.
Finally, the Yamanote, opened in the 19th centurye century, did not always have 30 stations. The latest, the “Takana Gateway”, located south of the loop, was put into service in March 2020 for the Olympic Games. It finally had an extra year to run in after the Olympics were postponed due to COVID-19.