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London Buses Spotted in Japan
By Nick on November 2, 2008
The picture below is a bird’s eye shot of the Hida Takayama Museum of Art in Japan’s Gifu prefecture. Takayama is a beautiful little city, often described as a mini Kyoto because of all its temples, shrines and traditional Japanese streets and buildings.
But there’s one thing missing from this picture of the art museum which is too recent for Google Earth to include in its satellite imagery…
That’s right, a London Bus!
It seems the museum got hold of one of the old London Route Masters when they were taken off the streets of England’s capital a couple of years ago.
It’s certainly a strange sight but no doubt a popular one, which I hope to take advantage of on my next trip to Takayama. Until then, I only need to drive 20 minutes from my house into Gifu city for a cup of coffee on the “Route Master” London Bus Cafe! Yes, there’s not just one such bus in Gifu, there are at least two!
From the busy streets of Picadilly Circus to someone’s backyard in Nishi Gifu, this bus has fallen from grace. Fortunately, there will still be Japanese tourists boarding this bus for some time yet.
Thanks to mambo1935, smsalamon, and the Hida Takayama Museum of Art blog (Japanese | English translation) for the pictures.
Posted in Asia | 5 Comments
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5 Responses to “London Buses Spotted in Japan”
Comments
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Mark Ramsay, globetrotting from an armchair in England.
2:06 pm on November 2nd, 2008
Route Master London Buses in Gifu…
Ever wondered what happened to those old Route Master double-decker London buses? Well I’ve found a couple of them in Gifu prefecture, one retained as a sightseeing bus in Takayama, the other serving as a cafe in Gifu city. Have you spotted a London b…
1:36 pm on June 13th, 2009
The cafe bus is a Route Master bus but the sightseeing bus is a Bristol Lodecker British Provincial bus fom outside London.
1:06 pm on January 31st, 2010
The first two buses are not Routemaster buses. The only Routemaster on this page is the one at the bottom with ‘Arriva’ on it.
The first two buses were never used in service in London, but rather Birmingham and the northern cities of the UK.
You can see how different they look to each other when you see the grill on the front and the positioning of the doors
1:07 pm on January 31st, 2010
Although I may have misread what you said, maybe I am confuzedd
3:05 pm on January 31st, 2010
Hi Okarafire, you sure know your buses! Thanks for the clarification. You have to admit, though, I bet even you were surprised to see these in Japan!