This is just outside the wickets and is very unusual these days - coin operated telephones. They used to be everywhere but since cell phones (keitai in Japanese) have become popular, the telephone company has removed most of them. As you can see, one of the green mounts is empty. In the past, the color of the phone told you how they functioned. The green ones took coins or prepaid cards, a black phone could be used for any calls and the owner got a bill, and a pink phone took coins but the owner could take out the money but would later receive a bill from the phone company. The pink phones were found mostly in restaurants and bars.
I could not resist showing you how much Japan has changed in the last 20 years or so. In the past fathers never took care of babies. But now it is an accepted practice. This is the men's room in the Kita Sendai Subway Station. The toilet, which is just out of sight, is Japanese style, but there is a child's seat to hold the baby while the father is otherwise occupied. These are surprisingly common now, in spite of the fact that you still seldom see a man alone with a baby.
This is the main hall in the station. The wickets are at the far end on the right. I take the last exit on the left. The reason that I was at this end was that I used the men's room. Notice the map on the immediate left. It shows the stations, its exits, and the above ground roads and main buildings. Every station has a number of these, making it very easy to get around even if it is your first time in the station.
This is the stairs I take to exit the station. The nearest flight of stairs is quite short with only 10 to 15 stairs. The flight you can see in the distance is much longer and has a landing in the middle. However, on the left (the black area) is an escalator for those who do not want the exercise.
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