Farms...

This is a farm near my apartment.
It's nestled between the road, houses, a car dealership and the Shinkansen (新幹線)tracks.This is the the Shinkansen that goes by my town on the Tokaido/Sanyo Line. The track is about a mile away (I can almost see it from my window) but I can hear it (and feel it) when it goes by. Some stop at the station ((新横浜駅 Shin-yokohama-eki), some don't. You can tell the ones that'll stop at the station - they roll on in at normal train speeds...the ones that don't stop at that station fly through there like a plane on train tracks.
A few months ago some guy threw himself in front of the Shinkansen somewhere around Tokyo - not an uncommon occurrence here - but he had to scamper accross 2 or 3 regular train lines to do so.

I guess people want to make sure.

"Trains are also used as a means to commit suicide. The Chūō Line, one of Tokyo's major train lines, is so infamous for people committing suicide that many English editorials in Japan have taken to using the word Chuicide to refer to the means. Its relative popularity is partly due to its practical ease, and to avoid causing a nuisance to one's family, though families are often charged or sued by the railway companies to compensate for the trouble caused by the accident. A typical suicide may cause delays between one and a few hours[citation needed] on one or more lines and is horrifying for onlookers who are present. Related suicide trends include taking off ones shoes, as well as wearing a signal orange cap. According to the Daily Yomiuri in recent years the total suicide rate in Japan has remained above 30,000 per year.

The costs to the surviving families by the railway companies' "delay fee" is often in the 100 million yen (approx. 850 thousand U.S. Dollars) range."

..but anyway..I digress. back to the 'bed-towns'.

As I mentioned before there isn't a lot of space here, especially 'bed-towns' like the one I live in. A 'bed town' is typically small town with few businesses and mostly private houses where Japan's working elite, and not so elite, retreat after their daily toil to spend time with their families. Basically the suburbs. Some of the houses and apartments are quite quaint (like mine) others...not so much.

Like This one:


This is the view from my bedroom window. It's like living opposite a park. The guy's tv is so big that sometimes I check the weather on it from my bed when he leaves it on in the morning. I'm not kidding.

And this one:

Again from my window (I'm lazy - what can I say..)

It costs a great deal of yen to own a house like this in a country where most people live in shoeboxes. The owners of these houses are typically company CEO's or retired company presidents and the like.

Here's the guy from the apartment next door going to work.
He always parks his scooter right in front of the staircase...ass..


Ok, I have to get ready to go to work; this country needs me. They want English and I give it to them.

Next I'll have to write about the ravens here..