[HN Gopher] 3D Map of Shinjuku Station in Three.js
___________________________________________________________________
3D Map of Shinjuku Station in Three.js
Author : brw
Score : 811 points
Date : 2023-12-27 20:50 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (satoshi7190.github.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (satoshi7190.github.io)
| brw wrote:
| Technical write-up (in Japanese) here:
| https://qiita.com/satoshi7190/items/23d192372877af75b283
| jareklupinski wrote:
| early 2010's, i land for the first time in Japan, with vague
| instructions to meet my AirBnB host "by the entrance to Shinjuku
| Station"
|
| story ended happily after finding a hotspot and sending an email,
| but this visualization makes that instruction seem even more
| hilarious in hindsight
|
| a pin pointing out a location using this map would be a perfect
| waypoint!
| TacticalCoder wrote:
| > early 2010's, i land for the first time in Japan, with vague
| instructions to meet my AirBnB host "by the entrance to
| Shinjuku Station"
|
| A famous and much easier one in Tokyo is to meet at the dog
| [1]. Now, granted, it's in Shibuya and not in Shinjuku.
|
| Darn do I miss Tokyo...
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D
| Larrikin wrote:
| Shibuya station atleast vaguely makes sense, even after all
| the construction.
|
| I firmly believe that the only people who can truly navigate
| Shinjuku station, are people who work there and people who
| live there. Seems like no matter what, Google maps/Yahoo will
| tell you exit via b14 and every exit sign will helpfully
| guide you to North East, East, and all the exits a1 through
| a10.
|
| It's always easier to exit the station and then figure out
| your final destination, which can still be annoyingly hard.
| Klonoar wrote:
| A fun skill to have is knowing how to reliably navigate
| Shinjuku in the rain without ever seeing rain - purely by
| moving via the underground, since it connects pretty far
| (e.g Sanchome).
| pests wrote:
| I did a similar thing on my college campus during the
| winter snow months. Most buildings were connected in one
| way or another and then there was a seldom used tunnel no
| one knew about connecting two science building basements.
| I could comfortably cross the majority of campus only
| stepping outside for a few brief steps.
| weberer wrote:
| In Shinjuku you meet at the Giant 3D Cat.
| nox100 wrote:
| the smart way to do it is to name an exit like Exit B5 or A12.
| The signs in the station, and Google Maps, will generally tell
| how to get to a specific exit. Or probably better would be a
| famous landmarks tho there aren't many to pick from in
| Shinjuku. A common one used to be "in front of the Alta
| building on the east exit" another still is "in front of the
| police station just outside the east exit
| dfxm12 wrote:
| Zoom in on shunjuku station with google maps. All those yellow
| boxes with letters and numbers are various exits/entrances. I
| wonder which one which entrance was meant as "the" entrance.
| I'm sure it was the one they use every day, but that wouldn't
| help a visitor. It's kinda surprising someone like an AirBnB
| host, who presumably has to communicate this with many
| travelers from many places, is so vague about it.
|
| If you're getting directions via google maps and you have to
| exit a subway station in Tokyo (and maybe some other cities),
| it will give you directions underground to the proper exit. It
| will even tell you which _subway car_ you should be on so you
| will be closest to the proper exit.
|
| https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shinjuku+Station/@35.69166...
| jonhohle wrote:
| In 2010 AirBnB would have been more novel, so maybe there
| wasn't the same expectation. I stayed on Seoul a few months
| ago and in addition to a specific entrance number, my host
| had made a YouTube video showing a first person walk from the
| subway exit to his place.
| jareklupinski wrote:
| yup my host profusely apologized and emailed me back with
| the specific exit and a line i could use to ask locals for
| directions, but when we met I felt he was almost
| disappointed that I didn't get that we were obviously to
| meet by the entrance closest to the road which led to the
| property (it was his apartment that he was renting out for
| the summer because his family goes somewhere north for the
| summer)
|
| obvious to someone who goes there every day yes, but not to
| a jet-lagged traveler visiting for the first time :)
|
| i enjoyed being in the first cohort of airbnb guests,
| quirks and all; felt more 'personable'
|
| but yea I also remember that being probably the last year I
| felt comfortable traveling somewhere without a mobile
| device constantly connected
| ranger_danger wrote:
| I can only assume that by "the" entrance they meant West.
| tkgally wrote:
| I moved to Japan in 1983, and for the first few years I lived
| and worked near Shinjuku Station and passed through it every
| day. I also spent most of my free time in the Shinjuku area and
| wandered around exploring a lot. It took a full year before I
| really knew the area and could find any entrance or tunnel
| without getting lost. The station has changed and grown a lot
| since, and acquiring that sense would take even longer today.
|
| As it happens, I will be going to Shinjuku later today for the
| first time in four years to meet an old friend for lunch. I
| spent some time online yesterday looking at photos and
| streetview of the area. My friend has been living in the Tokyo
| area as long as I have and used to go to Shinjuku a lot, too.
| But he doesn't use a smartphone and we're meeting on the south
| side of the station, which has changed a lot. So I prepared a
| four-page PDF with maps and pictures showing where we will
| meet, and I told my friend to print it out and bring it along.
| I hope we're able to find each other.
| notRobot wrote:
| Let us know how it goes!
| tkgally wrote:
| Thanks! We found each other without any problem. My friend
| was a bit miffed that I seemed to think that he would get
| lost. Otherwise we had a pleasant lunch.
|
| Later, I walked through Shinjuku and Kabukicho up to Shin
| Okubo to see how the city had changed. It was good to see
| that the Shin Okubo area is still as multiethnic and
| ungentrified as it was twenty years ago. A couple of
| backstreet one-person coffee shops I used to frequent were
| still there, though closed for the New Year's holiday.
| solardev wrote:
| This sounds like the beginning of an awesome indie movie :)
| lovemenot wrote:
| I might have suggested meeting at the "farm" above the South
| side of the station. I think it's on the fourth or fifth
| floor. Of course, theres only one farm in the vicinity and
| it's small enough that you won't miss each other.
| hinkley wrote:
| In '96 I was there and popped out one of the little side
| exits, nearly got lost enough to have to ask for help.
| gHA5 wrote:
| For your lunch: The Shake Shack there is fantastic!
| makeitdouble wrote:
| I learned to never let people dictate rendez-vous points at
| landmarks or stations if I can.
|
| It never makes sense. If it's a landmark or sizeable train/bus
| station there must be a cafe or a park with notable features
| nearby. If it's in the middle of nowhere there will be a bench
| at an easy to describe place.
|
| Telling people to stand in wide and potentially crowded areas
| for a significant amount of time if they dare coming early is
| just cruel.
|
| PS: for people using Hachiko as a meeting place, there's a
| Starbucks right the other side of the crosswalk dammit.
| Klonoar wrote:
| The Tsutaya building that closed for renovations...? I don't
| believe that Starbucks is currently an option due to that.
|
| Hachiko is a small enough area that's pretty much proven to
| work and is a location that any confused tourist can get
| pointed to easily enough - and signs inside Shibuya station
| will literally label it.
| glandium wrote:
| Except when the spot around Hachiko is crammed with
| tourists, local or foreign because of its 100th
| anniversary.
| numpad0 wrote:
| Why don't people choose somewhere random and empty, so that
| your counter-party is the only humanoid within 100 feet
| radius? I'm aware it's because that feels weird, but it
| should make more technical sense than knowingly going into
| mosh pits when you're just meeting someone.
| T-R wrote:
| Shinjuku station has also changed dramatically from all the
| construction over the last 10 or so years. I lived in Shinjuku
| (the ward; I was actually a few stations north on the Oedo
| line) in 2009/2010; was back there a few weeks ago and it was
| unrecognizeable. Right now, the whole area over by the
| Yodobashi Camera, and where they used to have the night bus
| pickup is all walled off under active construction (if they
| haven't finished already).
| kurthr wrote:
| Similar experience before the era of ubiquitous smart phones
| ~2006. The hotel was nice enough to say how to get there from
| Shinjuku exit E8 (at least it wasn't the A series which I think
| goes to 15) and it took we half an hour to even exit the subway
| with my rolling bag. But I was completely disoriented and
| actual street numbering and signage unhelpful.
|
| Then the fun started since I couldn't spot the hotel a kind
| Japanese couple decided to help. Their "crippling helpfulness"
| became clear only after 5 minutes that they were tourists and
| had no idea where the hotel was, but it took even longer for me
| to extract myself politely by pointing towards a taxi stand
| saying I knew where it was. I got in a taxi and gave him the
| address... he looked at me like I was crazy, drove forward 1.5
| blocks and pointed to the hotel sign. Best Y300 ever spent.
| tamimio wrote:
| Looks amazing!
|
| Off topic: I like how I understood the technical article below
| despite not knowing a single Japanese word, only by reading the
| code, would be interesting sometime in the future that people are
| using programming languages as a mean of universal communication!
| rtsil wrote:
| Assuming the code is written using English words. Here in
| France it's not rare to come across a codebase that uses French
| naming for variables and functions, or even a mix of English
| and French: void deleteCartes(Map[] cartes)
| clement_b wrote:
| are you vraiment sure?
| Seb-C wrote:
| As a French living in Japan, I can tell that it's the same
| thing for cheap companies that don't care about the code
| quality, but with an even worse mix of characters.
|
| To reuse your example, I've seen things like that:
| void deleteoWen iHe wase(Map[] otoiawase)
|
| I haven't seen old enough codebases to have encoding issues,
| but I bet that it would make me shrug the next time I see an
| A(c).
| esrh wrote:
| Very cool!
|
| I also like these hand drawn 3d illustrations of stations:
| https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/industry/x-ray-visio...
| tecleandor wrote:
| After visiting your link I've been looking for a while to see
| newer drawings from Tanaka, but they've lost the domain for
| their architecture studio site, and he has the same name than
| Godzilla's creator, so it took me a while but here's his
| updated studio site, where you can find more drawings on the
| "works" section.
|
| http://tassaa.html.xdomain.jp/index.html
| robin_reala wrote:
| You might also like a similar thing for London Underground
| stations from 2012: https://stations.aeracode.org/
| MyFirstSass wrote:
| Okay this is awesome!
|
| I feel like 3d visualisations are under utilised in general, for
| wayfinding, for organising stuff or files, revealing flows like
| here.
|
| It's like we're stuck in a 2d paradigm somehow, but everytime i
| see even rather simple visualizations like this, i'm reminded of
| 90's cybernetic future that never happened.
| immy wrote:
| Would love a library of these maps for places all over
| steveBK123 wrote:
| greatest train station in the world
| donkers wrote:
| I'm not able to rotate or manipulate the view except to zoom in
| and out on Chrome on a Mac, but I can rotate and do all kinds of
| fun stuff with this page with Safari on my iPhone. Am I just
| missing the keyboard commands to get this to work properly on a
| desktop?
| psygn89 wrote:
| I have a normal mice on my Mac and scroll wheel = zoom, right-
| click drag = rotate, left-click drag = pan
| zeusk wrote:
| they use mouse2 (right click) for rotation
| donkers wrote:
| Ahh, thanks! Somehow didn't think to try that instead of just
| clicking and dragging.
| solardev wrote:
| It's such an interesting UI thing... every time a 3D model
| shows up here, someone makes a similar comment. (Another
| common one is model-relative vs viewer-relative rotation...
| like if you go to https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/kiyosumi-
| shirakawa-station-t... and you move the mouse left, should
| the view pan left or pan right? It's an option you can set
| in the gear icon).
|
| That's not on you at all, I just wonder if there's active
| UX research in this specific area (3D viewing on the web,
| as opposed to in games or VR).
| aragonite wrote:
| Does shift+drag not work for rotating in your browser?
| pkdpic wrote:
| Reminds me of the beginning of ghost in the shell in all the
| right ways.
| GolDDranks wrote:
| Too bad it doesn't seem to include the railroad tracks and the
| staircases/escalators to the platforms, which are the most
| prominent features to people who use the station as passengers.
|
| I was able to make sense of the parts by looking at the
| surrounding road network, but without these, it's hard to make
| sense of.
| solardev wrote:
| I'm not sure (haven't been there in a long time), but isn't
| that what the flickering dashed blue lines are? In the legend,
| they're "Bu Xing Zhe netsutowaku", which Google says is the
| "pedestrian network".
| mastazi wrote:
| The dashed lines are too steep to be escalators and they are
| not vertical so they can't be elevators either. Elsewhere in
| this thread, it has been suggested that perhaps the height
| between levels has been exaggerated for clarity, and that's
| why the escalators ended up looking impossibly steep.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| It looks like they are exaggerated because there's huge
| distances between each level, even the above ground
| building.
|
| It's quite easy to see why it's done, so you can easily
| look into each level without clutter
| GolDDranks wrote:
| There are some pedestrian routes here and there. (Yup, "Bu
| Xing Zhe netsutowaku" means "pedestrian network") But the Gai
| Zha Nei / the area inside the ticket gates seem to be
| missing the pedestrian network. Also, the platforms
| themselves are missing, as there are the upper (2F) and lower
| (B1F) connecting passages, but nothing in between.
| modeless wrote:
| Relatedly, I just started playing this game where the concept is
| you're lost in the corridors of a Japanese subway station looking
| for Exit 8. Very authentic feel.
|
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/2653790/The_Exit_8/
| chupapimunyenyo wrote:
| I love the concept of this game, very well thought and engaging
| dividuum wrote:
| Why limit yourself to walking when you can build them :)
|
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/1122120/STATIONflow/
| samstave wrote:
| Or drive them :)
|
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/2546690/Tram_Simulator_Ur.
| ..
| solardev wrote:
| Lol! This is all too close to reality. Gives me goosebumps.
|
| There's also a few metro station sims (more sim than horror):
|
| STATIONflow:
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/1122120/STATIONflow/
|
| Overcrowd:
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/726110/Overcrowd_A_Commut...
|
| And of course Mini Metro:
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/287980/Mini_Metro/
| mock-possum wrote:
| mini metro my beloved
|
| and of course, mini motorways
|
| such fun little puzzle games, I spent a good month absolutely
| absorbed in the latter, thought I was getting pretty skilled
| - only to look online and realize that there levels of strats
| I hadn't even considered.
| majikandy wrote:
| That's so funny, I spent about an hour walking around Osaka
| station the first time I went there trying to figure out how to
| get out. Ended up back in same place quite a few times. Near
| the Hankyuu railway staircase.
| resolutebat wrote:
| In my backpacker days I once stored a backpack in a locker in
| Osaka and went out for the day. It took me _quite_ a while to
| find it again!
| paraselene_ wrote:
| LTP: Take pictures of the where you've stored your
| luggage/bags, "with" surroundings. That way you'll have a
| much easier time finding it. Especially in larger stations
| around Japan. Saved my ass in Shinjuku this year.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| LPT
| zie wrote:
| Do this for cars in parking lots too.
| majikandy wrote:
| Omg, snap! I didn't do it again after that. Also for the
| idea mentioned about taking photos. No camera phones back
| when I was doing this and it was actually in Japan that I
| bought my first proper digital camera, the Canon Ixus 3 I
| think iirc
| ekianjo wrote:
| Osaka is notorious for very poor exit labelling
| spike021 wrote:
| I got lost in Kyoto station the day I had to catch a train to
| Osaka to take a plane from KIX. So many platforms, different
| train lines, exits. It's crazy.
|
| Somehow I've always done fine at Shinjuku, although during
| rush hour it can be trickier.
| ChumpGPT wrote:
| It's impossible to get lost in in a Japanese subway.They have
| made their subway systems so even the most confused people can
| figure it out.
| AlotOfReading wrote:
| It's definitely possible. Try meitetsu station sometime. It's
| directly adjacent to the sprawling monstrosity that is Nagoya
| station (where it's also easy to get lost). Not only does it
| use a different, color-coded system of notation than other
| stations I've seen, trains stop at multiple platforms unlike
| virtually everywhere else. Consequently there are places
| where multiple signs are visible giving you different
| directions to the same train.
| Klonoar wrote:
| Many people skip Nagoya on their typical "visit Japan" trip
| and the trains there can be underwhelming compared to
| Tokyo/Osaka, so while I agree with you, it sounds like a
| case of OP not deviating from the "blessed path".
|
| And great, now I want red miso.
| ekianjo wrote:
| Osaka makes it possible.
| makeitdouble wrote:
| You should try going to Shinjuku with the Oedo line and
| change to the Odakyu line, it's an experience.
| Klonoar wrote:
| This one isn't as bad as long as you know that many Oedo
| transfers are a pain due to just how far underground it is.
| Oedo in Shinjuku should, once you finally make your way up,
| be near enough signs indicating where Odakyu is.
| makeitdouble wrote:
| This one is pretty messy right now as they're redoing the
| building, but yes with enough RPG skills one should find
| the way. Conversely, I've been avoiding Shibuya with all
| the construction, didn't know it also touched the
| Tsutaya/Starbucks building.
| modeless wrote:
| I also found in my recent two week vacation that it was easy
| 99% of the time, thanks to good signage and Google Maps. But
| I did miss one sign in a way that was difficult to recover
| from; if my partner hadn't noticed it I might have gone
| pretty far before I realized my mistake.
| robotresearcher wrote:
| I managed to get lost there. An incredibly nice person
| stopped and asked in English - I'm a tall white person - if I
| needed help and insisted on walking me to my exit, several
| minutes out of her way.
|
| I love Japan and traveling around there is easy.
| AlunAlun wrote:
| This is very Japanese. My experience was that if you ask
| for help directly from a stranger, they will stammer and be
| flustered and not be so helpful; but if you stand around
| and look like the lost tourist you are, within a minute or
| two somebody will approach you and offer to help.
| beretguy wrote:
| An incredibly nice Japanese person in subway who cares.
| latentsea wrote:
| I take it you've never been to Nagoya?
| bugglebeetle wrote:
| I love all the people responding with "Nagoya" to this
| because this was my first thought too.
| GuB-42 wrote:
| Shinjuku station is a special case because it is so huge.
|
| More precisely, the problem is not the train/subway station
| part of the station, that part is surprisingly easy to
| navigate. The problem is when you leave the station. There
| are 200 exits, and there is a good chance you end up in a
| place you didn't expect.
| anilakar wrote:
| You just need to memorize this handy song then
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpKbR_iHwio :-)
| numpad0 wrote:
| OT but since multiple others are mentioning Nagoya: what's
| the best place to get some sweetened miso in mayo bottle
| thing(the tsukete-miso) around or inside Nagoya station?
|
| I mean, I'm guessing I can just buy online, but it's
| something Nagoyans refuse to admit that every household in
| Nagoya/Aichi has one despite all having one in their fridge.
| It's almost strange there isn't an akafuku and kakete-miso
| bundle package in souvenir shops.
| latentsea wrote:
| Reminds me of the time I tried to leave a Japanese train
| station and wound up in an underground department store. Then I
| tried to leave the department store and I wound back up in the
| train station.
| al_borland wrote:
| I had this experience in real life in Shinjuku station. It was
| the first station I needed to navigate when showing up to
| Japan. I didn't care about which exit I went out of, I was just
| trying to get up to the surface so I could see where I was at
| with GPS and orient myself. After the flight (I don't sleep on
| planes), I was very stressed out and sleep deprived. I tried to
| look like I knew what I was doing, but I was freaking out
| inside, I felt trapped. It was a really bad time. Thankfully,
| after some sleep, navigating the subway went much better.
| Naracion wrote:
| This reminds me of an internet phenomenon I learnt about
| recently: the Backrooms [1]. The concept instantly reminded me
| of some psychedelic horrors from the 80s in terms of emotional
| response. I think this game might trigger a similar response.
|
| [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Backrooms
| jakeinspace wrote:
| I stayed at a capsule hotel just a block away from the station
| this summer, that was quite the experience. I was there for not
| even 3 full weeks but I think I'll feel nostalgic for Japan for
| the rest of my life, a strange and stunning country.
| jonplackett wrote:
| Went in 2014 for just a week. Still feel nostalgic.
|
| And still miss burnt miso ramen. Nowhere else in the world
| seems to do it.
| latenightcoding wrote:
| Kinton Ramen just added it to their menu
| quelltext wrote:
| Not even sure it's easy to find in Japan these days to be
| honest. The place I knew closed a few years back.
| seanmcdirmid wrote:
| I was there this August with my family. I got my 6 year old
| kid hooked on Coco's Yichiban.
| solarwindy wrote:
| Now you have me pining for the sansho pepper ramen I will
| never forget in Ginza.
| hinkley wrote:
| Did you make it to the park? One of my favorite spots in Tokyo.
| dr_kiszonka wrote:
| I have long wanted to go to Japan, but I am afraid it is not in
| my cards. What are you most nostalgic about?
| seanmcdirmid wrote:
| Japan has a weird mix of nice people, affordable/good food,
| historical structures that are well preserved, and
| modern/futuristic buildings/transportation. It is an "easy"
| place to visit, not expensive, good public transportation,
| and lots of well known things to go see (that are more than
| just tourist traps).
|
| For a first timer, I suggest spending more time in Kyoto and
| Osaka and less time in Tokyo (but generally, you do Tokyo,
| Kyoto, Osaka on your first trip there and then diverge from
| that if you go back).
| AuryGlenz wrote:
| For me, it was simply how it was incredibly alien and
| incredibly familiar at the same time. Everything was
| different, but if you're at all a nerd (and you're on HN
| so...) you've been exposed to Japanese culture.
|
| That and it was all so friendly, easy to get around,
| beautiful, etc. It's a wonderful vacation for people that
| just like to walk around and explore.
| dr_kiszonka wrote:
| Sounds like I would really enjoy it. Thank you. I would
| love to see the place that inspired both "My neighbor
| Totoro" and "Ghost in the Shell."
| wkat4242 wrote:
| Is it not really claustrophobic being in a capsule hotel for 3
| weeks? Spending a night there for the novelty I can imagine but
| 3 weeks wow.
| GuB-42 wrote:
| I spent a few nights in capsule hotels, I was surprised at
| how _not_ claustrophobic it was.
|
| What most people don't realize is everything there is
| _around_ the capsules. Usually, when you enter the hotel, you
| start by going to the locker room. There you put in all the
| stuff you won 't need for the night, that is, essentially
| everything. You may even get a yukata robe, a towel and some
| toiletries, so it can be literally everything, including your
| clothes.
|
| Then you can take advantage of the amities and relax. You may
| find showers, hot baths, massage chairs, etc... Only when it
| is time to sleep you go to your capsule, which is essentially
| like a bunk bed with privacy, maybe with a bit of equipment
| like a TV, alarm clock, charging plug...
|
| Now, I probably wouldn't stay in a capsule hotel for 3 weeks,
| but I could definitely spend 3 weeks backpacking, stopping in
| capsule hotels for the night. It is not really designed as a
| place to stay, more like a place to spend the night with no
| preparation. Also, while it is cheaper than regular hotels,
| it is not that cheap, and if you really want cheap, there are
| other options.
| ehnto wrote:
| I stayed in APA business hotels for two weeks, often the
| same price as the capsule hotels even when I booked them
| the same day and you get a very acceptable room and
| bathroom.
|
| Often when I say that people tell me not to support the big
| hotelier chains and offer some independent options, which I
| might try next trip. I do think people might be a bit
| misguided though, independent or not they are still
| faceless hotel chains. Which one gets my $60 is hardly a
| matter of social responsibility.
|
| If you are like me and are there for the urbanism, staying
| in a businesd hotel fits the atmosphere honestly. They're
| commoditized hotels, perfectly serviceable, pragmatic like
| much of urban life there.
| GuB-42 wrote:
| Things may have changed, but I remember capsule hotels
| being more around $30 than $60, so, about half of what
| you pay for in a business hotel. Ballpark numbers.
|
| It brings me to my other point. Capsule hotels are best
| when you are travelling alone. As a couple, they don't
| really make sense. In fact, some capsule hotels are for
| men only, or have men and women in separate areas. This
| is because they often feature public baths and there is
| some nudity involved, which is normal in Japan.
| TulliusCicero wrote:
| I'd be down for capsule hotels if there was a locked
| door/screen with some real heft, but apparently they're
| basically just curtains?
| avianlyric wrote:
| Curtain is still a step up from a bed in shared room at a
| hostel. Personally I've never felt unsafe in a hostel, a
| little exposed at times, and annoyed when people turn up
| drunk and make noise getting into bed, but not unsafe.
| TulliusCicero wrote:
| I realize it's extremely unlikely that anything actually
| bad will happen, it's just a psychological thing for me.
| esrauch wrote:
| I was at a hotel in the UK in a big shared bunk room and
| some French dudes got into a drunken fist fight in the
| room at 3am and after it was settled proceeded to snore
| the loudest I've ever heard anyone snore. Most people
| left at 5am. Do not recommend that experience.
| weberer wrote:
| It depends on the place. Most of them just have curtains,
| but some have plastic doors that your can close and lock.
| jakeinspace wrote:
| Oops, I meant Japan for 3 weeks. Capsule hotel was 2 nights.
| Yes that would have gotten very psychologically difficult.
| corethree wrote:
| I hear the first impression that is the dominant experience
| most foreigners get is very superficial. When you live there
| it's actually very different and it doesn't quite match up to
| the initial illusion you get from vacationing there. But I
| wouldn't know, I just vacationed there and had the exact same
| experience as you.
| seanmcdirmid wrote:
| Is that some sort of play on Paris syndrome [1]? But in that
| case, it is expectation not corresponding to a first
| impression.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome
| corethree wrote:
| Nah I think the negative aspects of living there aren't
| apparent when you're vacationing there. The working culture
| there and making friends is very different.
| Klonoar wrote:
| I lived there for ~7 years and would +1 this. Living and
| working there is very different.
| throwaway2037 wrote:
| London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Seoul,
| Shanghai, Sydney... All Global Alpha cities would be
| similar.
| Klonoar wrote:
| People who visit Asian cities the first time romanticize
| the hell out of them and base their entire understanding
| on a culture they couldn't hope to penetrate on a first
| viewing. This is a known problem with pretty much every
| "expat" circle in these cities - it's noticeably more
| pronounced.
|
| (I have lived in or spent significant time in all of
| these cities you listed)
| maleldil wrote:
| I'm not so sure about London. I visited once for a week
| and decided that I wouldn't like to live there because
| it's so crowded, but maybe the big city goodies
| (especially the museums, access to global food and public
| transport) would make it worth it. If it wasn't obvious,
| I come from a very small town.
|
| Now that I have lived there, all of that was very much
| confirmed.
| IAmGraydon wrote:
| Is that not the case for pretty much anywhere?
| corethree wrote:
| Nah. The experience in Japan is especially jarring.
| elymar wrote:
| Beautiful map!
| josteink wrote:
| I can believe this is an accurate 3D map, because I'm looking
| around, and just as I was in the real thing, I'm totally lost and
| confused again.
|
| This place has to be my nemesis when it comes to public transport
| :D
| _the_inflator wrote:
| Some sort of a Digital Twin, fascinating. Nice model to play
| around with.
| chenxi9649 wrote:
| It's crazy to me how well this works, especially on mobile.
|
| If league or even TFT was as accessible as a tab like this it'd
| be the end of me.
| solardev wrote:
| Maybe I shouldn't tell you about GeForce Now, which can run
| League in a browser tab...? It works so well it's ruined my
| life, lol.
|
| But yeah, it's an awesome JS demo!!
| tempodox wrote:
| Impressive, and interaction on an iPad touchscreen is fun.
| sand500 wrote:
| Very cool, I visited Shinjuku station earlier this year and got
| lost in it more than once. Google maps does a decent job of
| giving walking directions through the station but finding my
| current location was difficult.
|
| I think something like this would have helped me build a mental
| model of the station.
| ayakang31415 wrote:
| I just came back from Tokyo and while I was there I stayed at a
| hotel in Shinjuku. I used the train station so frequently that I
| can now navigate easily within the station, but if you are not
| used to Japanese train system, it is not so friendly to
| foreigners. For example, in Korea, Seoul metro subway system is
| so well organized that you do not have multiple platforms in each
| subway station. In Tokyo, there are multiple platforms in each
| station and each of the platforms can have different subway
| lines. Sometimes, a particular subway line can change to a
| totally different line at some station, and sometimes if you are
| not paying attention you are now all of a sudden going in a
| totally different direction. Also, there are multiple railway
| companies operating in Tokyo, which means if you buy a paper
| ticket, you need to exit the subway and buy another (or rather
| different ticket) to transfer if you need to transfer to a
| different line managed by different railway company (fortunately
| I have an iPhone, so I added Suica card to my apple wallet and
| used it to pay for subway as well as transfers). I started to
| wonder the reason why Japan has such complicated subway system.
| Then again, I am not an expert in this area so there might be
| reasons for it which I am not aware of
| jncfhnb wrote:
| It's very easy these days. Apple Maps can tell you exactly
| where to go including platform and boarding time.
|
| Paper tickets are confusing but basically nobody uses them. I
| don't think it's true that you need to get separate tickets for
| separate train lines. You do need to adjust your ticket if you
| prepaid the wrong distance.
|
| Unless you mean two entirely separate lines separated by
| different gates.
| ayakang31415 wrote:
| There was a station (which I don't remember) I had to leave
| the subway and buy a different ticket to transfer. Some
| stations have multiple platforms stacked next to each other
| that it is easy to transfer even if the lines are managed by
| different railway companies, but that is not the case all the
| time. That's how I learned that there are multiple railway
| companies in Tokyo that are not cooperating with each other
| enough to make the transfer seamless. Once you make a few
| mistakes, it gets easier, but it is not so friendly to
| foreigners. Also stations like Shinjuku is so huge that it is
| very complicated figure out where your exit is. Then again,
| once you get used to it, it becomes easy.
| Klonoar wrote:
| If you're trying to remember a station in Shinjuku that was
| confusing with paper tickets, maybe you somehow used the
| Seibu Line? It's "Shinjuku" but effectively separate from
| JR and Metro and a bit different as a result - or at least
| was the last time I needed it.
|
| I don't know many who ride that line unless living out on
| it or wanting to take the less crowded way to 'Baba tho.
| jncfhnb wrote:
| You might have to switch to, say, a JR train line. But
| that's not a function of the paper tickets. Just different
| lines. Honestly the much crazier thing is that some trains
| go over tracks of different companies because they simply
| cooperate for the benefit of the consumer. You mostly don't
| need to know whose line it is ever. The niche exception is
| for tourists with a JR Pass.
| resolutebat wrote:
| The key to understanding the Tokyo rail network is that it's
| operated by lots of different companies, Shinjuku alone has
| five (JR, Keio, Odakyu, Toei, Tokyo Metro). So if you're
| looking for the JR Yamanote line, first make your way to the JR
| station, and then find the Yamanote platforms.
|
| You don't need to get separate paper tickets to transfer across
| companies, but you do need to get a special transfer ticket,
| which can be complicated. The good news is there's really no
| reason to deal with them these days, just get a Suica/Pasmo
| card and tap on/off.
|
| The one complication is that there are extensive through
| services, meaning companies running on each other's tracks.
| This is super convenient, because it avoids having to transfer,
| but can be confusing. You can board a train in the Yokohama
| Minatomirai line and travel smoothly through the Tokyu Toyoko,
| Metro Fukutoshin and Tobu Tojo Lines to emerge right on the
| other side of the metropolis.
| zzygan wrote:
| Is it still difficult to obtain a suica / pasmo card in
| Tokyo? Last time I was there it was difficult to obtain the
| card.
| SSLy wrote:
| I got mine from an ATM like machine years ago and it was
| very smooth.
| Klonoar wrote:
| They're referencing the recent shortage in them.
|
| I passed through visiting old friends last week and they
| had them at some stations but not all.
| klausa wrote:
| https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/news/pdf/2023731_pres
| s_r...
| klausa wrote:
| Apparently as of ~last week or so regular Suicas have
| started popping up again.
|
| But it was never a problem to get one at the airport, which
| where a vast majority of people should get them.
|
| If you skipped that part, it was quite painful in the past
| few months because of the IC chip shortage.
| ayakang31415 wrote:
| If you have an iPhone, just change your phone region to
| Japan, and use wallet app to add Suica card to your apple
| wallet. You can charge whatever amount to your Suica card
| using Apple pay and it's good to go.
| klausa wrote:
| You don't need to change regions anymore.
|
| And I think recently when you look up directions in Apple
| Maps, it even suggests adding a transit card if you don't
| have one!
|
| Here, under Transit Cards in Maps.
| https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-16-maps/
|
| It would be a _fantastic_ feature if I wasn't a control
| freak and didn't add one before I even boarded the plane,
| but still a very nice touch.
| aspenmayer wrote:
| There's no need to change any region; just open Wallet,
| press the + sign in upper right corner, scroll down to
| transit cards, and scroll down to Japan section to find
| Suica as well as PASMO and ICOCA.
| modeless wrote:
| As long as you aren't using a foreign Visa card! They are
| having some sort of spat with Visa right now.
|
| Tourists should get a physical card at the airport. There
| are too many caveats and exceptions to phone wallet
| support for non-residents.
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| Suica:
|
| > Sales of JR East's Suica card (image of a penguin on the
| front) will be discontinued for the time being as of June 8
| due to a worldwide semiconductor shortage. [1]
|
| Welcome Suica (for short-term visits):
|
| > Welcome Suica sales will be limited to the following for
| the time being from December 18th:
|
| > * JR EAST Travel Service Center, Haneda Airport Terminal
| 3 Station
|
| > * Welcome Suica exclusive vending machine, Tokyo Monorail
| Haneda Airport Line Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station
|
| > Please note that only one Welcome Suica will be sold per
| person.
|
| > Please note that IC cards will not be sold at Narita
| Airport after the 18th. [2]
|
| PASMO:
|
| > The sale of blank PASMO has been temporarily suspended.
|
| > The sale of Personalized PASMO has been temporarily
| suspended. [3]
|
| PASMO PASSPORT (for short-term visits):
|
| > The card is available for purchase at 21 locations. [4]
|
| [1] https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html
|
| [2] https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomes
| uica....
|
| [3] https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/normalpasmo/
|
| [4] https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/
| resolutebat wrote:
| This is partly misleading and partly out of date: Welcome
| Suicas have been available at the airport throughput, and
| regular Suicas are available again at major JR East
| stations.
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| Thanks for the additional info. I didn't intend to
| mislead; the quoted passages are straight off the Suica
| and PASMO websites, so they are only outdated insofar as
| those websites are outdated.
| Klonoar wrote:
| Six, technically - if you count the nearby Seibu Shinjuku
| line. ;)
| ayakang31415 wrote:
| Something I just realized is that the reason why huge stations
| have multiple platforms is because there are so many people
| using the station they had to add multiple platforms to
| accommodate more subway trains to manage the crowd. But again,
| as a foreigner, I had much easier time using subways in Korea.
| ekianjo wrote:
| > started to wonder the reason why Japan has such complicated
| subway system.
|
| Because it's not just one company.
| lmm wrote:
| Pretty confusing to have a map that doesn't show the train lines
| - of course a station doesn't make much sense once you leave out
| what a station is for. Also the area around the Miraina Tower
| exit looks smaller than it should be? It seems weirdly
| inconsistent about what's included or not too - the Odakyu
| station isn't there, but the Toei and Tokyo Metro ones (and even
| the bus station) are?
| Havoc wrote:
| I find these 3D maps exaggerated reality a bit.
|
| e.g. London Bank - nowhere near as insane, but even after going
| through it for years daily I still couldn't make heads or tails
| out of the 3D internet map.
|
| Reality <> Internet
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| Presumably, as a regular commuter, you'd never use the entire
| station (instead sticking to one or two entrances, lines and
| platforms).
| diath wrote:
| This definitely needs inverse mouse control for moving the map
| around.
| lelandfe wrote:
| This is really lovely, it looks like something I'd see in a Deus
| Ex game on a giant screen.
|
| On a different tip, this Catalan chap has done nearly 900 3D
| models of stations, ranging from huge and complex, to tiny and
| simple. They've been quite a hit in r/nycrail.
|
| http://stations.albertguillaumes.cat/
| chris_wot wrote:
| What is the license for these?
| lelandfe wrote:
| The images have a (c) watermark, so all rights reserved? I
| wish they had a contact button - I'd love to get some prints
| of the stations I've lived near. I may try messaging them on
| Twitter.
| cschep wrote:
| https://www.etsy.com/shop/projectsubwaynyc perhaps?
| franciscop wrote:
| > "I'd love to get some prints of the stations I've lived
| near"
|
| Why don't you just print them then? The copyright police is
| not going to barge into your home, and even if so this
| might fall into fair use (depending on your
| circumstance/situation/etc).
| api_or_ipa wrote:
| I'd interpret it as offer to support the project and
| receive high quality prints. The author is clearly
| gifting the world an incredible portfolio; one ought, if
| able, to financially support such unique, open datasets.
| franciscop wrote:
| Agreed, but from the thread it seems the author is very
| hard to reach/doesn't have a store/etc.
| imjared wrote:
| Immediately dove in to the Foc and Foneria stations in
| Barcelona. I thought we had some long escalators here in
| Washington DC but after exiting there and taking escalator
| after escalator after escalator (repeating) to exit the
| station, my mind was sufficiently blown.
| http://estacions.albertguillaumes.cat/img/barcelona/foneria....
| Daz1 wrote:
| I never go to Shinjuku station, just isn't worth it.
| pcurve wrote:
| I'm guessing the reasons why the escalator angles are so steep is
| because the height between the floors haven't been increased for
| greater clarity and are not to scale.
| mastazi wrote:
| I was thinking the same thing, at first I assumed they were all
| elevators, then I realised they are not quite vertical, just at
| a very steep angle (speaking of which: what's the steepest
| angle that is practical for an escalator?). And of course, a
| station that is served only by elevators is not realistic, it
| would be a nightmare during peak hours :-D
| vikingerik wrote:
| There is one NYC subway station that is served only by
| elevators (and it is indeed a nightmare during peak hours):
| https://classicnewyorkhistory.com/new-yorks-168th-street-
| sub...
| burcs wrote:
| I don't know the overlap of anime & HN, but it would be really
| cool to see the events of Jujutsu Kaisen mapped out on here too.
| They do a really good job of using real landmarks and scenery in
| the show.
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/JuJutsuKaisen/comments/17w7v9x/juju...
| pasmat wrote:
| Fun story: Visited Shinjuku station in 2014 and left luggage on
| those machines that store luggage for coins to go on a quick
| stroll in town
|
| Came back later, and had to spend almost an hour to find the
| place where we left them
|
| That place is big
| pimlottc wrote:
| I really wish Google Maps et al did a better job for
| subway/metro/transit stations with multiple entrance and exits.
| Oftentimes a station is shown as a single point on the map, while
| in reality the point(s) of entry can be a block or more away from
| what's shown. Likewise, choosing the right exit when you leave
| the station can save you multiple blocks of walking, depending on
| your final destination.
|
| Even just showing the general shape of the station in 2D on the
| map would be helpful, though obviously this can be tricky when
| there's other points of interest above/below the train line.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| Yep here in Barcelona it's like that too. Single point on the
| map even when there's multiple exits (there usually are) and
| not showing which entrance is closer to which line. Real pita.
|
| Open Street map is so much better for this but that totally
| lacks live public transport info with delays etc. So I end up
| switching between both which doesn't help.
| glandium wrote:
| Google Maps has subway exits in Tokyo, for that matter.
| rondrabkin wrote:
| Yes they do but how many are wrong /out of date?
| throwaway2037 wrote:
| > out of date
|
| How often to metro exits change???
| pimlottc wrote:
| Stations undergoing maintenance or upgrading may have
| certain exits closed or even temporary platforms that
| change as the project goes on. Here in Chicago, the Red
| Line is undergoing a major rebuild that started over 2
| years ago and will not be completed until 2025. Temporary
| stations have been set up at multiple stops, with
| different entrances that have changed as the project has
| gone on [1].
|
| It may have only changed a few times over the last 2
| years, but it's certainly a rude awakening when you're
| running to catch the train and you find out your stop is
| now a block away from where you thought it was.
|
| 0: https://www.transitchicago.com/redahead/
|
| 1: https://www.transitchicago.com/ctas-red-and-purple-
| moderniza...
| imp0cat wrote:
| Yeah, that's the sad thing. They should be easily able to
| keep up with the changes.
| shiroiuma wrote:
| I've generally found they're all correct. Sometimes, I run
| into situations where a particular exit is closed because
| it's after-hours (some stations close certain exits when
| it's late), and Google Maps doesn't realize this, but I
| haven't noticed any exits being outright _wrong_.
|
| I think this is probably a local issue: Google Maps is
| better in some places than others. Google has a huge office
| in Tokyo, in Shibuya overlooking Shibuya Crossing, so Tokyo
| is probably one of the best-supported cities in GMaps for
| this reason. Other cities might not have such accurate
| information.
| xyst wrote:
| Reminds me of how hacker scenes are portrayed in Hollywood films
| brightball wrote:
| I'd never heard of Three.js until I saw a talk on it at a
| conference this summer. Really mind blowing what you can do with
| it.
| chris-orgmenta wrote:
| simondev on youtube is porting his expertise across to js &
| three. Very entertaining.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQt0exToUEY
| holografix wrote:
| I remember my wife and I being lost at Shinjuku station several
| times trying to find a particular exit and random Japanese people
| seeing lost tourists would stop and do their absolute best to
| speak to us and help us out. One gentleman insisted on guiding us
| to the exit and walked with us for about 10 minutes
| ngcc_hk wrote:
| Amazing. And even as a game ...
| llamaInSouth wrote:
| zooming in or out with the touch-pad is a nightmare (way to slow)
| Findecanor wrote:
| I'm using a mouse without a scroll wheel, and can't zoom at
| all. + and - on the keyboard would have been useful.
| workfromspace wrote:
| When visiting Japan, I heard from the locals that Tokyo has three
| dungeons: Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Tokyo Central (Kayabacho,
| Nihombashi, Otemachi): these 3 station complexes are confusing
| and easy to get lost, even for locals.
|
| OTOH, with some travel experience, Google Maps and my very basic
| Japanese, it was quite easy to navigate these. I only got lost
| once in Tokyo central area for 5-10 minutes (out of <= 100 metro
| usage). Shibuya and Shinjuku was much easier. I guess this is
| what happens when a city has 37 million people and some metro
| stations having dozens of exits. Google Maps navigation was
| incredibly useful, too: showed me which vagon car to take so I'll
| be closest to the stairs I should take when I get off the train.
|
| And this 3D scanning makes things much easier. I'm looking
| forward to see Shibuya and Tokyo central versions.
| rpearl wrote:
| This does not include the 1km+ underground passageway you can
| take (exit E1) that takes you all the way through Shinjuku
| Sanchome station and then out near Golden Gai. I know it's
| technically a different station but you can get there without
| ever going above ground.
| nielsbot wrote:
| If you like this, you must check out Tomoyuki Tanaka's hand-drawn
| 3-D illustrations of several Tokyo subway stations:
|
| https://www.wired.com/2016/07/lose-tomoyuki-tanakas-x-ray-il...
|
| (Tokyo Station, Shibuya Station, Shinjuku Station)
|
| Fun side note: I liked these so much I contacted Tanaka-san
| directly and he agreed to sell me prints :)
| wiseowise wrote:
| > Web doesn't scale
|
| > You can only do X in native
|
| I wonder where are the Web haters now?
| sonar_un wrote:
| Please do Les Halles next. I need that!
| ngmc wrote:
| This is the first time I've "seen" Shinjuku Station. What a
| beautiful introduction. I first read about the station in
| _Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage_ and always
| wondered what it looked like. Neat.
| harha_ wrote:
| Very cool, I've been to shinjuku station last summer.
| CommanderData wrote:
| Reminds me of the Resident Evil's scene of the Hive schematics
| used through out the film.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktn8w3-RyNs
| krick wrote:
| Cool, but I am completely unable to read it. I'm not very apt in
| graphical design, so I wonder how it could be improved to be
| actually usable.
| integricho wrote:
| now do one of Kisaragi station
| padjo wrote:
| Stayed near Shinjuku for a few days, never managed to come out
| the same exit twice!
| alexalx666 wrote:
| I thought it's from Alien
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2023-12-29 23:02 UTC)