Yakatabune

[Viator]

On the webpage of EITAI Tokyo (see PAPERMAU: Eitai District Tourist Spots Miniature Papercrafts In 1/600 Scaleby Thousand Design) one can find a few simplified paper models of five buildings from the bridge itself (Eitaibashi) to the Inari shrine to the animal clinic to the public toilet to the Eidai Post Office (located near the bridge) as well as an additional pdf-file containing a two-sheet printable waterline model of a river boat called yakatabune - a cruising boat or a "pleasure boat". All the models were marked as 1/600 by the Papermau though obviously they are in different scales, approx. 1/100 to 1/300.

The model of the boat is perhaps designed as near to 1/100 but I decided to scale it down slightly, reaching 1/120...1/150 (it's 18 cm long while the real boats length is predominantly 30 m or slightly more). The original sheets can be counted as a WIP or at least a Beta-version, containing no gluing tabs, no cutouts marked and not very well suited parts, as well as a very awkward system of fixing of the superstructure and the deck (and no instruction). After few atempts I decided to reverse the system of fixing a deck and a superstructure to the hull (filling the space between the hull bottom and a deck with 8 mm wide paper zig-zag spacers - see the first images - and reducing the height of the superstructure walls by 8 mm), I adjusted the width of the additional elements to the width of the hull and finally I made a cockpit hole with a frame of the fold-down windshield (some boats has one on the front like a jeep Willys had, and some has three: on the front and on both sides) but I attached no transparent material into the frame, and finally I added the hatch cover, a ladder, a few lifebouys and beverage crates and an air conditioneer after the photograph documentation. I removed the printed flat lanterns too and replaced them with the 2.5 mm dia styrofoam balls, painted red, in the correct spacing (they are the only non-paper item there), gluing them to the edge of a red cardboard, painting them, cutting off the 3 mm wide strip of the cardboard with the balls attached and gluing the strip to the edge of the roof from below.

[Philip]

That's an engaging subject, Andrew. The inventiveness of some folks here never ceases to amaze me.

[Don Boose]

An interesting website and an excellent model of the boat that plies the Sumida River in the Eitai neighborhood. I do not think I was ever in that area when I lived in Japan.

I am intrigued by the name of the noodle shop (秦唐記) on Sagacho Gashi Street near the bridge. It looks like it is called "Chronicles of Qin and Tang." If so, I wonder if they serve classic Chinese noodles?

Don

[Viator]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

An interesting website and an excellent model of the boat that plies the Sumida River in the Eitai neighborhood. I do not think I was ever in that area when I lived in Japan.

I am intrigued by the name of the noodle shop (秦唐記) on Sagacho Gashi Street near the bridge. It looks like it is called "Chronicles of Qin and Tang." If so, I wonder if they serve classic Chinese noodles?

Don

Perhaps you are right! I tried to find the webpage of the restaurant called 秦唐記 and this is what I found in their menu. They have three sections in the menu: modern dishes, traditional Biang Biang Noodles and Hand Made Noodles (see attached auto-translated from Japanese to English by Google).

I must build a similar restaurant serving Chinese noodles in Nekomura...