Shadowing Practice: Why Does Japan's Shortest Railway Go Nowhere? - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Higashinarita Train Station The Higashinarita Train Station
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Higashinarita Train Station The Higashinarita Train Station
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Oh hey, I didn't see you there.
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That's because you're not there and I'm actually talking to a camera in this haunted train station.
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join me today at Higashi Narita train station,
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which is underneath Narita Airport,
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the larger of Japan's two big international airports,
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to the east of the city out in Chiba Prefecture.
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There are plenty of odd things about Narita Airport.
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They have funny little quiet rooms,
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they have security robots, they have places to put your baby while you have a piss,
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and they have an ongoing legal battle with multiple farmers and other citizens that has led to a home,
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a shrine and a farm being trapped within the airport grounds.
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But we're not here to film any of that.
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Now in case you're worried about whether
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or not what I'm here to film is thrilling enough to live up to all of those things,
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never fear, for this is the terminus of the Shibayama Railway.
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Actually now that I'm saying it out loud that's not a very exciting reveal is it?
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Never fear, for this is the terminus of Japan's shortest railway.
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Yay!
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Due to an extremely complex privatisation process that mostly took place in the 1980s and 1990s,
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Japan has literally hundreds, potentially over 200 different railway companies and they're split into a number of tiers.
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At the top you have the JR Group East,
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West, Central, Shikoku, Kyushu, Hokkaido and Freight.
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These are the big boys of Japanese rail.
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They're the remnants of the dismantling of the state-run Japanese national railways in 1987.
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Collectively they own tens of thousands of miles of track and an ocean of rolling stock,
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from Shinkansen to luxury sleepers to regular old commuter trains.
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These four are privately owned,
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East, Central, West and Kyushu,
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and these three are government owned as they are far less profitable than the others,
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Shikoku, Hokkaido and Freight.
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Below them are the Ooteishitetsu,
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which literally means like big private railway and I think there are 16 of them.
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They're smaller than the JR boys though, they're still quite big.
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And they range from about 500km in length,
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in track length as per like the Kintetsu Railway to like maybe 14km on one of the smaller ones.
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Well, it's a good job I had to retake that because the smallest is actually 42 kilometres as per the Sagami Railway.
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Below them you have the mid-sized private railways which are the same thing but just smaller.
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They go down to about 7 kilometres in track length, I believe.
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But then below that we have the third sector railways,
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the most interesting tier.
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The ones below that are just subway and tram operators and aren't really relevant.
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Where the two private railway tiers are fully profitable and thus privately owned,
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Japan Japan is also covered in a mammoth web of quite unprofitable railway lines.
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But because Japan doesn't like sacrificing basic public needs for the sake of the profit motive,
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they didn't follow in the UK's footsteps in ripping up all these lines
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and instead turned them into joint private-public operations called third-sector railways.
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Because yes, Dr. Beeching, even people who live in rural communities deserve to have access to trains,
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whether or not those trains turn a profit for shareholders or not.
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Isn't that a radical thought?
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There are about 40 third-sector railways in the country.
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The longest, the San Riku Railway,
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is about 160km long with dozens and dozens of so-called train sets shuttling up and down the coast.
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And the shortest is right here,
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the Shibayama Railway, with one train set running between just two stops about 2.2km or 1.4 miles away from each other.
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Yes, that's an entire private-public partnership company set up for just one train.
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Now this might seem to make sense to some.
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Think of the Waterloo and City Line in London.
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That's a tiny line at just 2.37 kilometres,
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with just six trainsets in service at any one time.
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But it serves a very important purpose,
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directly connecting Waterloo with Bank,
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the centre of the UK's financial sector.
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The Shibayama railway, however, that's not quite so useful.
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At one end of the line is Higashi Narita,
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which is where I am now.
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If you're a fan of Jetlag the Game,
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you might have seen this station before.
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Or if you're a fan of the late Vocaloid Master Wawaka and his extremely underrated band Hitorie,
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they also filmed a music video here.
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But yeah, this station is not hugely useful,
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hence me being one of...
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I was going to say there were two people sat there before.
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I was going to say hence me being one of three people here
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but everyone else is just passing through now so it is just me really.
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But it wasn't always.
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The construction of Narita Airport was first announced in 1966 with an opening date of 1971 scheduled.
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But a genuinely frightening public backlash now known as the San Rizuka struggle
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which saw farmers and local residents violently oppose any attempts to break ground on the airport
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delayed the completion of the airport by seven years.
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So the airport eventually opened in 1978.
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And what does a new airport need? at least in functional countries,
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a nice new train link.
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Part of the plans for Narita Airport involved the construction of a new Shinkansen line,
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the Narita Shinkansen, which would zip riders from central Tokyo to the airport in no time.
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The line began construction in 1974
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but it was not remotely close to completion by the time
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the airport opened in 1978 due to a mix of construction costs and the Sanrizuka lads kicking off again.
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But into the 1980s the government persevered,
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trying to make the Narita Shinkansen a reality and clearing space for the new line.
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Meanwhile, since the 1930s, Keisei Electric Railway,
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one of the Ote-Shitetsu, or big private railways,
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had had a line that happened to head out east from Tokyo to very near where the airport was due to be.
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And so once the airport opened,
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Keisei asked to extend the line a little bit further to
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the airport to take advantage of the huge passenger transport that would follow.
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The airport authority said sure,
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but the new station needed to be away from the terminal buildings,
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as the Narita Shinkansen, once completed,
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would be given its own station at a prime spot in the heart of the airport.
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But until that was open,
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this little station had to do.
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It was opened along with the airport and was known as Narita Airport Station,
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and it was the airport's main terminus,
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despite the fact that you had to get a bus to the terminal once you actually got here.
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Oh well, it's better than nothing.
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The Sanrizuka lads reached their zenith of violence in the late 70s and early 80s,
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and while it failed in stopping the construction of the airport,
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it did actually succeed in derailing the Narita Shinkansen .
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The project was put on hold in 1983 and formally cancelled in 1987,
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leaving a bunch of half-finished track infrastructure and stations in its wake.
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Keisei took one look at the remnants of the failed Shinkansen project and said to the airport,
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please, can we use it?
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And the airport said, do whatever you want with it,
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as one solitary tear fell from its cheek.
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So in 1991, with the Shinkansen all but a memory at this point,
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Keisei completed works on what was supposed to be the fancy new Shinkansen station in the heart of the airport,
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and called that Narita Airport Station,
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renaming the old one that we've already seen to Higashi Narita.
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And just outside the airport grounds,
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they created a new little branch line that went into the new station.
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So what do you think happened to the old one?
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That's right, despite the fact that some Keisei trains still stop there,
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almost nobody bloody uses it anymore.
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But the story didn't stop there.
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In the early 1980s, at the height of the Sanrizuka lads losing their share,
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Narita Airport offered a compromise to local residents of the town of Shibayama.
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One of the main issues the residents had had was
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that the airport would cut off their access to Narita and massively increase their transport times if they headed west.
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And so the airport offered to build a tiny little railway line to appease the locals and lower their transport times,
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setting up the Shibayama Railway Company in 1981.
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But negotiations over how the line would be formed,
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along with the complications from the collapse of the Shinkansen line meant
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that it took 15 years for the plans to even be finalized
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and then the line didn't open until 2002 when we finally got the Shibayama railway.
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So as I said earlier,
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this is the shortest independent railway line in all of Japan.
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There are some shorter lines operating but they're like branch lines of larger lines
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or they're owned by companies that also own loads of track.
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This 2.2km stretch from Higashi Narita to Shibayama Chioda is the entire extent of the Shibayama railway.
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And this train is about to leave and if I don't get on it,
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I'm going to be stuck here for about 40 minutes.
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The line's one little 1970s train,
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leased from Keisei, leaves Higashi Narita every 40 minutes and snakes its way under the airport.
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One of the main reasons it took so long to finalise the line is
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that right in front of the exit of Higashi Narita station is a small house
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and farm stuck within the grounds of the airport.
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You might have actually heard about this man in the news.
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And when Narita Airport was under construction,
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they tried to relocate him,
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but the Sanrezuka boys kicked off and he was allowed to stay where he was.
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As a result, it took ages to negotiate how the line should be laid out in order to avoid his property,
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so the lines got this slightly wobbly shape.
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Initially the Shibayama Railway was supposed to be a tiny little narrow gauge line with small people mover type trains.
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But can you guess what happened?
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That's right, the Sanrezuka boys absolutely lost their shit again and the train got upgraded to a proper standard gauge line.
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of Higashi Narita station, it races out of the tunnel
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and reaches a surprisingly high top speed of like 53 miles an hour or about 85 kilometres an hour.
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And about two thirds of the way down it leaves the tunnel
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and becomes an elevated railway that ends at Shibayama Chiyoda station just up here.
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But why was this chosen as the site of the other terminus of the line?
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Shibayama, the actual town is all the way down here,
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and this station is still within the airport grounds.
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So why here?
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Well, it's because the railway was never really a compromise to help the people of Shibayama,
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it's just the minimum the airport could do to appease the
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citizens nearby without having to buy up loads more land and encounter further legal issues with the San Rizuka boys.
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So rather than running down to Shibayama proper,
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it just stops here at the edge of the airport in what is sort of a big industrial estate,
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full of cargo facilities.
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So it's used a lot by airport staff and maintenance staff rather than,
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well I say it's used a lot by them,
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but I mean, the video you're seeing begs to differ.
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So, what's it like?
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Oh my God, if you ever come down here, remember to bring cash.
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It's down an incredibly long corridor.
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You can still access it,
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but it's down this very long corridor.
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And they don't accept card.
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I should have known, and there's no ATM near here.
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I had to run all the way back to the terminal and get cash.
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Oh my God, that was exhausting.
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So occasionally you do still see people here.
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Case in point, because the Kesei train still stops here,
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but the Shibayama train often arrives with literally nobody on it.
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So yeah, I'm gonna go take it now, I guess.
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Please touch the button of your choice.
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Thank you.
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The next step is to get to the next step.
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It's a short little ride,
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it's quite comfortable, it's a bit rickety,
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really annoyingly I was trying to film the Shibayama train,
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its own train service, but I happened to catch a Keisei line train that was passing through Higashinarita to Shibayama Choda.
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So I'm on that instead,
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which means it's hard to film.
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But I guess we should go and see what the station's like.
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Editing Gabe here.
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I'm not 100% sure what I meant by that,
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by saying it was hard to film, because it wasn't.
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It's the same as a normal train.
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But yes, this is Shibayama Chiodo Station.
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I didn't have very long there because the train went back almost immediately,
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so I guess we're also going to head back and instead take a look at Higashi Narita Station,
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which is the more interesting of the two anyway.
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One thing that I would say is pretty surprising,
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apart from just how dead this station is,
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is that there are other platforms that look like they haven't been used in probably decades.
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There also are advertisements over there that I think must be from the early 2000s.
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Yeah, it's very creepy, this place.
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And it's not helped by the birdsong that they keep playing.
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I assume they probably meant for it to be like,
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oh, it's a nice calming sound that reminds you of the outdoors and that you're not stuck in this liminal space.
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But no, it just makes it more creepy.
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There's also a sink here.
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What's that doing?
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It works.
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There's definitely a lot of stuff left over from the 70s here,
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obviously with this being a 1978 station and airport.
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Yeah, it's very surreal and I don't like it.
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Maybe I do like it and I'm just not being honest with myself.
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Set 3540 of the EMU 3500 series,
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dating from 1973, is the only train set that runs on the line,
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trundling back
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and forth from Higashi Narita to Shibayama Chiyoda every 40 minutes from just before 6am to about half past 11 at night.
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All day, every day.
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Sometimes when the Shibayama Railway is inoperational,
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set 3540 has a little holiday over to the adjacent Keisei electric line,
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where you can tell it apart from the others due to its red-green colour scheme
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and the little Shibayama Railway logo in the top corner.
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So in the end we're left with a tiny,
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slightly wonky railway line that cost a fortune,
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took two decades to negotiate,
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was only built to pacify furious farmers
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and now mostly shuttles airport staff from a ghost station to an industrial park about 2km away.
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It's not only Japan's shortest independent railway line,
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but also possibly its most useless.
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And yet it still runs like clockwork every 40 minutes,
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because in Japan, even if a railway line or station serves one person,
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it gets kept open.
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Because that's what trains are for, serving people.
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The Shibayama Railway is a monument to stubbornness and protest and compromise,
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and it's an interesting slice of Japanese history and culture in
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that it shows that they really do believe that Everyone deserves a train,
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even if it's not financially viable to do so.
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But also, it gave me something fun to film.
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But the Shibayama Railway, I had to email them in advance to ask
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if it was okay to film at the station and on the train.
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And they were like, yeah,
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go for it, as long as you're not getting in anyone's way.
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Which I don't think I am.
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So thumbs up to the Shibayama Railway.
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I've got to get off here,
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or else I'm going to miss my flight now, actually.
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I've waited around in this creepy ass railway station for ages to see
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if I can actually see one of the Shibayama railway trains rather than a Keisei one
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And I think this should be one Yes,
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it is it's got the logo Ohayou gozaimasu This is it this is the train
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I started filming it
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and then I thought I didn't really get a very clear shot of the logo
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so I should probably go down to the front and do that.
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So I started running but then the train started leaving
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and I didn't quite make it to the front
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so I gave up and the video is going to end on me saying...
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Thank you.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English listening and speaking skills using a fascinating video about one of Japan's quirkiest railways. Through this engaging content, you will focus on improving English pronunciation and intonation. The video highlights the unique features of the Higashinarita Train Station and the concept of third-sector railways in Japan. By shadowing the speaker, you will refine your ability to emulate natural speech patterns, which can significantly help in your IELTS speaking practice and overall fluency. Get ready to learn English with YouTube in a fun and informative way!
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Higashinarita Train Station - A unique train station located beneath Narita Airport.
- Third-sector railways - Joint private-public railway operations that prioritize public access over profit.
- Privatization - The process of transferring ownership of a public service or asset to private entities.
- Unprofitable railway lines - Train routes that do not generate enough revenue to cover their operating costs.
- Quirky - Having a characteristic that is interesting or unusual.
- Profound impact - Taking action that has a significant effect on a situation or community.
Practice Tips
To make the most of this lesson, aim to engage in shadowspeak by imitating the speaker's tone, pace, and expressions. The speaker's delivery is conversational, so take your time listening to individual phrases before repeating them aloud. Here are some tips to enhance your practice:
- Start Slowly: If the video's pace feels fast initially, pause after each sentence and repeat it. Gradually increase your speed as you gain confidence.
- Focus on Intonation: Pay attention to how the speaker emphasizes certain words. This will help improve your English pronunciation and make your speech sound more natural.
- Record Yourself: Use your phone to record your shadow speech sessions. Compare your recordings to the original video to identify areas for improvement.
- Practice Regularly: Consistency is key in language learning. Aim to practice a few minutes each day using this video and other similar materials.
By incorporating these practice strategies, you'll not only enhance your speaking skills but also deepen your understanding of cultural elements in the English language. Happy learning!
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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