in 1853 the American, Commodore Perry, set sail for the Orient.
He had orders to do whatever necessary to end Japan's
self-imposed isolation.
Perry both intrigued and frightened the Japanese
with his Western inventions
like the steam train and the telegraph.
By the time he finally left
the country had started down the road
 to modern technology
and they've never looked back.
Perry steam train caught on quickly.
Once there were over a thousand of them in Japan.
I find them fascinating precisely
because they're so difficult to operate.
You see, the steam train is a fickle
piece.
To get it going in the morning you have to start feeding in a diet of wood and water
two hours before you actually want to leave.
Steam trains used to carry
coal and other raw materials.
Nowadays the cargo is mostly tourists.
Though I think they're missing out on the best part
because when I asked the engineers
they let me ride up front.
First of all, this is the accelerator
only you have to climb at several minutes before you need to power.
If you let it get too hot then you either 
have to dump your precious steam
or risk blowing the boiler up.
and you have to know the track.
What's coming next.
How steep it is
and how much coal you'll need to
 get your cargo to the top.
It's an endless balancing act.
And it's filthy work.
It's hot and stressful
and it doesn't even pay that well.
So why do they do it?
Because every day, when other people go to work,
they get to climb on board and watch the
countryside roll by
aboard the world's best toy .
Their very own full-sized steam train.
