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Retro video: 1994 Halloween Yamanote

mdchachi

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It's October now so a good time to post videos of the Yamanote Halloween Party Train ride around Tokyo in 1994. I knew nothing about it but my Japanese friend asked me to join him in this annual event and so we went. We dressed up (if you can call it that) as Beavis & Butthead. I had no idea what to expect but, in short, a crowd of mostly inebriated young people boarded the train at Shinjuku at the designated time. And (noisily) rode the train for the loop around Tokyo which takes about an hour. I'll add additional videos of the ride to this thread throughout the month.

1994 Halloween Yamanote Party Train Boarding at Shinjuku - YouTube | Japan Forum
 
Thank you for another great video! I always like to watch 80's and 90's Japan related videos to see how things were back then.
 
Thank you. I have more coming from this ride. In fact I may as well post one now.

The Halloween Party train makes its first stop after Shinjuku (must be Yoyogi). We're pushed out of the train with the crowd and we realize we need to get back on. At every stop people would run out, run to another car and get back on an unorganized fashion. It's called a <insert certain Asian ethnicity here> Fire Drill but that's a derogatory and a not-politically-correct phrase these days. Unfortunately there's not a very good substitute for it that I'm aware of.

1994 Halloween Yamanote - First Stop - YouTube | Japan Forum
 
Thank you. I have more coming from this ride. In fact I may as well post one now.

The Halloween Party train makes its first stop after Shinjuku (must be Yoyogi). We're pushed out of the train with the crowd and we realize we need to get back on. At every stop people would run out, run to another car and get back on an unorganized fashion. It's called a <insert certain Asian ethnicity here> Fire Drill but that's a derogatory and a not-politically-correct phrase these days. Unfortunately there's not a very good substitute for it that I'm aware of.

1994 Halloween Yamanote - First Stop - YouTube | Japan Forum


Thanks!
Totally not related to the purpose of the video, but the woman 10 -15 seconds into the video is very good looking😅

Is it correct that in the 90's most foreign exchange students in Japan came from the US, Canada and maybe Australia? I don't think Japan was a very popular destination in the 90's in Western Europe, or at least where I am from. That came later when internet became mainstream.
 
I thought so too. That's why I included her in the first video too. :inlove:
I can't really speak to the exchange student experience since I was working. In my I.T.-related office of a U.S.-affiliated company there were mainly Americans & Indians but also some Australians, Brits, Irish and maybe one Canadian. Oh and a few Japanese people too. ;)
So that seems to support your notion of not too many Europeans. There's no good reason for a European to work in Japan. To go from 7-hour work days and 8-week vacations to 14 hour work days and almost no vacation would be tough.🤦
 
I thought so too. That's why I included her in the first video too. :inlove:
I can't really speak to the exchange student experience since I was working. In my I.T.-related office of a U.S.-affiliated company there were mainly Americans & Indians but also some Australians, Brits, Irish and maybe one Canadian. Oh and a few Japanese people too. ;)
So that seems to support your notion of not too many Europeans. There's no good reason for a European to work in Japan. To go from 7-hour work days and 8-week vacations to 14 hour work days and almost no vacation would be tough.🤦

I have worked for both profit and non-profit organisations, and the amount of holidays and working hours varies heavily. During an internship in Japan I was there from 7.45 to 18.30 (I still went home a little bit earlier since I didn't get paid), but to be honest I would give up my 38 hour workweek with 48 holidays in a heartbeat to work like that in Japan again. I really liked the teamspirit, and if everyone stays till 19.00 it feels not like overtime at all to me. Being the only one in the office after 17.00 does!
 
That's fine when you're young but once you have a family and you're regularly taking the last train home and you're spending more time with your colleagues than your own family, then the long hours with team spirit becomes less appealing. I do know what you mean though. I miss that part of it. But I think what I really miss is being in my 20s in Japan. If I went back now I'm certain it would not be the same at all.
 
OK due to the overwhelming demand, here's the next video in the series.
Here you can see many people living out their dream of riding on the luggage racks of a JR train. Something I'm sure many have thought about as they stand squished in a Tokyo commuting train. But this can only done be during the special witching hour of the Halloween Yamanote Train.

1994 Halloween Yamanote (3) - YouTube | Japan Forum
 
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