Trains running under the elevated tracks of the grade separation project
Higashimurayama Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line in Tokyo and its surrounding areas
Starting June 29, 2025, Seibu Railway will construct a grade separation project in Higashimurayama City, Tokyo, elevating one side of the tracks.
The sight of trains running underneath the elevated tracks will be impressive.
Now is the only time you can enjoy the complex structure, but passengers pass by without noticing.
在街頭，人群偶爾會突然分開，使人瞥見某個身影、某張臉，但那一瞬即逝，卻觸動了情慾神經。班雅明稱之為「最後一瞥的愛情（Love at last sight）」。百貨公司則提供這一現象的變體：透過那些輕薄帷幕圍成的小空間，女性離開觀眾群，成為被觀看的對象——不僅為了自己與其他女性目光的觀賞，也為那因帷幕掀開而勾引來的非法凝視所設（羅蘭・巴特曾問：「身體上最具情慾性的部分，不正是衣物掀開之處嗎？」）。我匆匆轉移視線；某些光線在鏡面空間內反射、延遲，在我視網膜上形成混亂（與其說是超現實，不如說更像立體主義），只能依靠記憶，在其中提取出一段熟悉的、被愛的身體片段。班雅明在論述超現實主義的文章中寫道：「在秘儀式的愛情中，女人本身並不重要。布勒東亦如此。他與娜佳（Nadja）親近的，不是娜佳本人，而是娜佳身邊的事物。」我們可以將這種「秘儀愛」以臨床術語命名——「戀物癖（fetishism）」。百貨公司，作為商品戀物的神殿，也召喚著佛洛伊德所言的戀物心理。男性漫遊者（flâneur）若欲前往正當之地，勢必得穿越洋裝海洋與香水濃霧的沙漠。他別無選擇，只能進入這些禁忌之地。他的藉口天衣無縫，而內心的罪惡快感則無可迴避。當他在衣架間無意識地翻看服飾時，或許以為自己在為情人挑選禮物，但同時他也正盲目地觸摸著母親的身體。某刻我在西武感到口渴，找到了飲水機，其透明上層水流覆蓋著石礫——彷彿是一段溪流被切割下來，擺放於展示台上的自然部件。
在這家百貨公司底下的有樂町地鐵站內，年輕的女性上班族也入睡著。她們從城市邊緣通勤，來回奔波於狹窄的住處與辦公地點，週末則重返澀谷、銀座、池袋，或其他西武分店。她們購買的是三宅一生（Issey Miyake）、Comme des Garçons 等品牌的服飾，而這些品牌對歐美的同齡女性來說幾乎遙不可及。從她們狹小房間出發，搭乘約一個半小時的列車，度過一天如遊蕩者般的生活，徘徊於西武那奢華至極的空間——這些空間透過無所不在的環境影像，開啟通往無限空間的通道。作為來自英國北部工人階級家庭的流離者，我想起了那位較富裕的姑媽家中的「前廳」（frontroom）。那是一間擦得發亮、充滿蠟香的房間，平時封閉，只在打掃或有訪客來時才會開啟。來客可以看，但不能碰，只能站在敞開的門前觀看，而不能踏入其中（這間「起居室」沒人坐，這間「客廳」裡也無人交談）。這房間彷彿是一個全息投影的模擬空間，只為提供心理上的額外生活空間，如同西武百貨所帶來的慰藉一般。在西武百貨，正如其西方對應對象（至少在這方面），家具部就如同無數富人家庭的前廳；彷彿從其原始情境中抽離，再「傳送」到這座城市的樓層中——這座由無數「前廳」構成的城市，雖然沒有牆壁，卻以內部街道相互隔開，主要用途就是用來閒逛（flânerie）。
In the mid '90s, a company called Seibu Kaihatsu put together a special arcade machine board called the "Seibu SPI System." With it, an arcade operator could simply change out a handful of game cartridges in one machine rather than plunk down money on new boards or cabinets.
There were 7 total games made to work with this board, most famously titles in the "Raiden Fighters" SHMUP series:
When you switched out a game cartridge, the system would then need to flash the ROM of that game, loading it into the board before it was ready to play. That would take an average of about 3-10 minutes.
A cool, totally-not-needed-yet-really-sweet-bonus feature is that 6 of these 7 games played a tune while the ROM was flashing. Such an incredibly awesome, very Japanese thing to do - Give bored arcade operators something to listen to while they set up their machine.
I'd like to share the entire collection of these songs with you - While they may not be groundbreaking as a whole, a few of them are honestly really, really good retro game tracks that should not be lost to obscurity!
I'll start you off with this laid back, Jazzy song from "Raiden Fighters Jet" that sounds like what you hear when you press the "Bossa Nova" button on an old synthesizer keyboard.
This track from "Viper Phase 1" is just a delicious, somber little lullaby that could easily be playing during the sad backstory of a character from a 16 bit Squaresoft RPG.
Low and rumbling with fast-paced drums and techno stingers, this "Raiden Fighters" track had to be exciting to hear while a whole new generation of promising SHMUP goodness was making its way into your arcade.
For the radically named sequel "Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive," the previous song was just mixed a bit more full and complex, though the high-ends in the song are insufferably loud to me. This is my least favorite out of the six just because of that.
Don't worry, though, I saved the best for last to heal up your ears:
This was the first ROM flashing song I heard, when I was testing out my arcade game set a ways back. It's for the romance/sexytime mahjong game "E-Jong High School."
While I had to wait quite some time for this particular flashing, ththis track made it a serene experience. It's just so peaceful and chill... Honestly, I was kind of bummed when the timer got down to 000 and the game started. Thankfully, the music is easy to preserve! :)
Hopefully you enjoyed at least one of these to make your day a little more awesome.
Every single one of these games' soundtracks were made by Go Sato, a very busy Japanese composer (check that link for the big body of work). The exception is "Raiden Fighters Jet," which was composed by Yasuhiro Hashimoto.
However, after listening to the ROM flashing song for Jet, I have an inkling that the track was made by Go Sato as well.
More recently, Go composed the music for Cotton Rock 'n' Roll!
Here is a picture of Go with a cuddly friend (Go is the one on the left):
