Retrospective 53 Minutes - Blue Sea of 53 Minutes

(Backup video from Youtube [Originally Uploaded by: Yuuka Kazami])
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Track 2 of ZUN's CD Album: 卯酉東海道 ～ Retrospective 53 minutes
Original Title: 53ミニッツの青い海
Released on: 2006-05-21 (Reitaisai 3)
Original CD Track Story:
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A journey of the mind along the Boyu Line.
-The Tokaido Subway is the most Japanesque subway in Japan.
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--Blue Sea of 53 Minutes--

"Hiroshige has large seats and runs very quickly, so it's convenient...
:But to me, this 'fake' scenery through the Kaleido-screen is so boring."

"Maybe, but because of the pictures they display on the tunnels, it's much brighter than the subways in the past.
::It feels just like we're above the ground, doesn't it?"

"The Mt. Fuji above ground might not be this beautiful, but I wanted to see the genuine one.
:I wish we could have taken the old Tokaido Shinkansen."

"Don't talk like a spoiled kid. Nowadays, the only people who ride that are Tōhoku people, Indians and celebrities.
::You might be as carefree as the Tōhoku people though."

"I'm a celebrity."

...The Boyu Tokaido had been in operation since before they were born.

After the relocation of the capital in the Jinki era, many people were faced with the necessity of coming and going between Tokyo and Kyoto. Suddenly the former Tokaido Shinkansen alone wasn't enough, so, in a pinch, the government started developing a new Shinkansen as soon as they could.

And the result was the creation of the Boyu Shinkansen Hiroshige. It runs between Kyoto and Tokyo in 53 minutes. This Shinkansen enabled the commuters to come and go between Kyoto and Tokyo, and it instantly became the main traffic artery of Japan.

The surprising thing is that the Shinkansen runs entirely underground in a straight line. From the departing station to the terminal, you cannot see sky, sea, mountain, forest, Sun nor Moon.