Japanese Nostalgic Car

The dramatic-looking Shinkansen 500-series was the very first train in the world to break 300km/h on its regular route (between Tokyo and Osaka), and after 13yrs blasting flat-out across the Japanese countryside, it was retired from ultra-high speed service on the weekend.  As reported on the Muza-Chan blog, lots of fans gathered in Tokyo and Osaka to bid farewell to the mighty train.  The Tokyo-Osaka run will continue to be serviced by the less elegant, duck-billed 700 series Shinkansen (which is equally fast).

The 500-series will remain in service, but on a slower line which won’t require it to stretch its 320km/h legs. Have a rest, big fella.

Moody pictures of abandoned towns and factories make for interesting eye candy. Rarely do you find any content that’s in Japan, but here’s some from Michael John Grist.  His latest photographic explorations are of abandoned Japanese mining towns. Eerie. His blog takes up the story: “Grist also explores and photographs the ruins of Japan, known as ‘haikyo’, including abandoned theme parks, military installations, and ghost towns. Over a period of 6 years he has visited over 60 ruins locations throughout Japan”.  You can find more of his cool stuff here.