A few weeks back, we were waiting for a friend at Myogadani station. She was late and we had time to examine the bronze relief map of the station. It showed the layout of the exterior and interior, marking all of the key points: ticket vending machines, wickets, stairs, toilets. Everything was labelled in Braille and Japanese and popular spots were worn to a shine.

I closed my eyes and ran fingers along the stairs and other prominant features, but I’m hopeless. Even when I know what I’m touching, my fingers are insensate. If I were blind, I think I’d spend a lot of time tripping and falling down.

For the touch-impaired, the map features a talking legend. When you press the button for “toilet”, it tells you (in an embarrassingly loud, clear voice) how to get there: thru the wickets, then straight ahead about 10 meters. Ticket machines: behind you about four meters away. Posted by kuri at September 19, 2001 08:36 AM