Hikari Railstar Shinkansen to Hakata
New Year is the most important holiday period in Japan and almost all businesses shut down for a week and people head back to their hometowns to spend time with their families. Shopping for bargains and
fukubukuro (a sealed happy bag sold at a set price at department stores containing clothes, shoes, accessory items) from the 2nd January is also on the agenda of many! This massive movement of people clogs the entire transport infrastructure causing 25km traffic jams in the worst case on highways around Tokyo, jam-packed trains with no seat vacancies and people packed in standing in the unassigned seat cars on the 16-car long
shinkansen (bullet train) despite services departing every few minutes and a similar situation on the special express trains that run on existing main trunk lines. Flights are also fully booked.
people on their way home getting all the sleep they can get!
Of course there are hundreds of thousands of people who decide to holiday so trying to get decent accommodation in popular tourist spots can be impossible if you don't book months in advance! Thankfully there is an alternative option for people who don't need to travel 300km in one hour and can take the time to enjoy the view from the train window and travel 30km in one hour!! This can be done by taking local trains which stop at all stops between major stations. Japan Rail (JR) has a ticket called the '
seishun-juhachi-kippu' which can be bought for about 11500 yen (AUD$110) and gives you unlimited travel on all local trains for 5 days with one day valid from the first train to the very last that day. How much value you get for your money depends on how long you are prepared to sit on a train, changing trains every now and then to get to your final destination. I have heard of someone travelling from Tokyo on the first local train at 5am arriving at Nimi, Okayama Prefecture at 10:30pm the same day!! That's almost 1000km over 18 hours!!
Hikari Railstar to Hakata arriving from Osaka
Having been in Japan for 4 1/2 years travelling from Hokkaido in the north, around the Tokyo area, extensively around the Kansai and Chugoku areas of western Japan, Ehime on Shikoku and Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands all the way in south, the only major Island left to visit was Kyushu.
With myself having 2 weeks off over the winter and Naomi 10 days, we decided to head to Kyushu! We decided to go by train using the '
seishun-juhachi-kippu'. We bought a JR countrywide network timetable containing every single train movement on every single train line with departure and arrival times for every single station with details down to the train number! This book cost a mere 600 yen! (AUD$5.50) an absolute bargain!
Mukaihara Station 向原駅 -
the start of the journey to Nagasaki
29th December 2007
KYUSHU BY TRAIN 電車で九州へOur travels start at Naomi's local station Mukaihara where we boarded a local train to Hiroshima, departing at 8:36am arriving at 9:31am travelling 43km. All seats were taken so it was a long trip standing with our luggage the whole way. We had a coffee while waiting to board the
shinkansen (bullet train) departing at 10:32am arriving in Hakata at 11:41am travelling a whopping 280km in 69 minutes. This was the only segment of the trip that we couldn't use our ticket and had to purchase a separate ticket costing 8900 yen one-way (AUD$85). Once in Hakata/Fukuoka, the largest major city of Kyushu, we had some lunch while relaxing. Since the bullet train travels at an approximate maximum speed of 300km/h, the only way to maintain top speed is to travel as straight as possible. As Japan is a very mountainous country, the bullet train has to go through all mountains blocking its way making the trip through Western Japan rather dull, speeding in and out of mountains for almost the entire trip.
train information screen on platform
After lunch we went to the Kagoshima Main Line platform to board the first of 3 trains to get to Nagasaki. Our train to Tosu departed at 12:56pm arriving at 1:55pm travelling 28.6km which was a very long trip but because there are faster express trains using the same line, the local trains have to let them pass making waiting times at stations long.
Naomi and I on the train between Hizen-yamaguchi and Nagasaki
Our next train, this time using the Nagasaki Main Line, left Tosu at 2:04pm arriving at Hizen-yamaguchi station at 2:43pm travelling 39.6km where we boarded the last train taking us the last 85.7km to Nagasaki departing almost right away at 2:53pm arriving AT LAST in Nagasaki at 4:50pm!! It sounds long but the trip is broken up changing trains, soaking in the surrounding scenery and people watching. To give you some idea of how fast you
could get there, let's say we went on an express train from Hakata, with time for lunch we could have been in Nagasaki by 2:57pm.
Nagasaki, 5pm 29th December 2007NAGASAKI 長崎Nagasaki, situated in the western part of Kyushu is a very picturesque and attractive city having a rich history with it being the first place in Japan to have had contact with the west back in the 15th century when the dutch discovered the inhabited Islands of Japan by mistake.
The famous Portuguese influenced Castella Cake of Nagasaki
The weather in Nagasaki was pathetic with near 0 degree days, heavy hail falls, freak periods of sunshine, rapid black cloud cover coming in with gale force winds repeating in cycles throughout the 3 days we were there. Most of Japan had heavy snow fall with 20cm on my car at Naomi's house in Mukaihara, Hiroshima. The peculiar weather made it difficult to plan sightseeing around the area but we managed to visit the Nagasaki City Museum which had excellent exhibitions on the history of Nagasaki and about Dejima (
a small fan shaped man-made Island made especially for the Portuguese and Dutch when Japan shut its doors to the west and was the only place Japan had contact with the west over that period). The city has also restored, on the original site, all of the buildings that existed on the Island. Inside each building you can learn about what they were utilised for, mainly storage of imported food items and sleeping quarters for the ship captain.
scale model of Dejima located on Dejima itself
The awesome view of Nagasaki from Glover Garden
We also visited Glover Garden which is probably the most popular tourist destination with it containing the houses of the wealthy European traders of the Meiji Period. The views of Nagasaki are absolutely breathtaking and with the weather on our side for the morning we were able to enjoy 3 hours walking around the gardens learning about the history of Nagasaki. The paths are made from small stones and there is one that is formed in the shape of a heart and they say those who find it will lead a happy life! The hint that I found nearby lead me to the exact location of it! I won't say what the hint was though!
Spectacle Bridge, 眼鏡橋
NEW YEARS EVE 大晦日
Naomi & I singing a duet!
Naomi and I ate at the Izakaya (
Japanese style restaurant) that we had booked before the trip which turned out to be just okay but we sang the last 3 hours of 2007 away at the top of our voices in a dodgy Karaoke box. We had our own 10 second countdown to 2008 and saved the best songs till last. It was definitely a different way to spend New Years Eve compared to being on the ski slopes the previous year.
The massive Hokke fish that we ordered!
the waiter brought a fork to eat the small portion of green tea cake but isn't that a dinner knife??!!!
KUMAMOTO 熊本We decided to use New Years Day as a travel day hoping that there would be few passengers taking the train but we were wrong! It was the start of the long journey to Kumamoto City travelling eastwards back to Tosu located several kilometres from the north eastern edge of the Ariake Sea and changing once again back to the Kagoshima Main Line to take us southwards to Kumamoto. So with sleet falling from the snow cloud covered sky we boarded the 2 carriage train and departed on time at 1:05 bound for Tosu. Unlike the Tosu - Nagasaki trip where we had to change trains half way, we were able to remain on the same train. We also managed to get a seat! For a good part of the trip, the Nagasaki Main Line travels along the edge of the Ariake Sea, a relatively long and narrow inland sea with land surrounding almost the entire area. Luckily, with good visibility that afternoon while passing through a place called Tera, we were able to see right out to the other side of the sea where the Kagoshima Main Line passes through a place called Omuta. We would eventually be travelling on the train through that area making it a rather bizarre sight! We arrived at Tosu at 3:51pm after travelling 125.3km. With only 4 minutes to change to the Kumamoto bound train we found ourselves racing against time trying to workout which platform the train was departing from! Thankfully, Naomi had checked prior to the trip what the final destination of each train we planned to board was and finally worked it out with a minute to go! We departed at 3:55pm. Passing through Omuta we could see right out to Tera on the other side of the Ariake Sea knowing that we passed through that area a few hours ago! After travelling 89.8km from Tosu, we finally arrived in Kumamoto well after sunset at 5:46pm.
armed and ready to attack!Kumamoto is famous for its raw horse meat however we decided not to eat the local delicacy. Kumamoto is also home to one of Japans finest castles built in the 16th century located in the castle park in the centre of town. Unfortunately the upper stories were under renovation making it impossible to take a decent photo. The castle museum has an excellent display of armour, furniture and paintings amongst other interesting artifacts all from earlier centuries. There was a ninja roaming the castle grounds and I happened to be lucky enough to team up with the ninja have a photo taken!
MT. ASO 阿蘇山
a rare sight, the spectacular snow-covered landscape from the top of Mt. Aso
Mt. Aso is located in east of Kumamoto Prefecture east and is the worlds largest volcano caldera. The crater is absolutely huge and spans tens of kilometres in diameter. The outer edges of the caldera are so steep that the train doesn't have enough power to go over the hill in one hit hence making it necessary to traverse backwards for a couple kilometres gradually increasing altitude. The train line then continues once again in a forward direction ascending getting the train safely up and over the caldera wall. The system used is called a 'switch back' and with no warning in any language but Japanese most tourists would at first mistaken that the train was headed back to Kumamoto! Along the way you can see wind power generators built up on mountain slopes. Thanks to the heavy snow fall over the past week, we were treated to a magnificent snowscape.
Mt. Aso from the train window
Aso Station
We departed Kumamoto Station at 8:32am on the Kyushu Overland Express travelling 49.9km to Aso Station where we boarded a local bus that took us up the slopes of the main active crater. We got off at the Museum stop and were surprised at the amount of snow! The visibility was poor where we got off at 'kusa-senri' where the ground is covered with grass in the summer months. Unfortunately we couldn't even see the settled snow beyond the road!
'senri-kusa bus stop frozen with snow'
We went into the museum across from the bus stop and spent an hour learning about the history of Mt. Aso and how the landscape was formed millions of years ago with a massive eruption creating the caldera that the town of Aso now lies in!
from the bus window you can see the town of Aso below from an altitude of about 1000 metres abouve sea level. Out in the distance you can see the outer edge of the caldera which rise steeply, appreciating the sheer size of the crater!
1506m at the top of Naka-dake, Mt. Aso. The white smoke is not cloud but volcanic smoke rushing out of the mouth of the volcano. The posionous fumes contain sulfur dioxide. There are emergency shelters in case of sudden eruptions.
You can go right up to the mouth and have a peep inside but there was nothing to be seen except for white smoke! Usually you can see down into the crater. 10 seconds at the mouth made me feel nauseus so I stepped right away from there to recover. Mt. Aso is one of the few currently active volcanos in Japan.
After having lunch and relaxing up at the peak, we headed back to Aso station on the last bus at 3:30pm. We boarded the 4:15pm train changing trains once and arrived back in Kumamoto at 5:34pm.
BACK TO HAKATA
After our morning of sightseeing at Kumamoto Castle and a quick lunch, we headed back to Kumamoto Station to board the local train back to Hakata via Tosu. We departed at 2:39pm. We had planned to change trains at Tosu once again however the train made the scheduled stop at Omuta at 3:42pm when we learnt that the train waiting on the opposite side of the platform was a 'rapid local train' departing before the train we were sitting on. Everyone on the train picked up their luggage and ran across the platform so they could get to Hakata earlier! Naomi and I decided to make a run for it and we managed to with the doors closing seconds after jumping on there! We arrived on a jam-packed train at Hakata Station at 4:43pm having travelled 118.4km. Had we stayed on the original local train we would have arrived at 5:41pm.
IN FUKUOKA/HAKATA
Well it was the last day of our trip and after sitting on moderately comfortable chairs for hours on trains we found at a hotel that had a massage chair! These state of the art relaxtion machines can cost anywhere between AUD$2000-$4000! You can almost fall into a deep sleep while it rolls a mechanical finger from the top of your neck down the sides of your spine, slowing squeezing your calf muscles up and down and at the same time clamping the heel of your foot and running something prickly along the ball of your foot. You can control the strength of the massage and ask it to concentrate on your neck and back or lower body and the best thing of all is that it is consistant, never getting tired except for an abrupt end to your massage in the case of a powercut!
just what I needed!
No trip would be complete without trying Hakata Ramen. The broth is made from pork bone. There are heaps of ramen restuarants but we decided to head to Ichiran which has been open for a few decades. The fun thing about this place is that besides waiting in a line for 30 minutes you get a special order form where you choose exactly how you want your ramen to taste! You can choose the quantity of garlic and fat as well as the tenderness of the noodles amongst a few other things. Once inside you sit in a private booth that has an opening at the one end where the cook is working away making order-made ramen. The waiter then takes your order form and tickets and gets to it. Once your ramen arrives the curtain closes and you are left in peace to enjoy your noodles. For those who aren't yet full, there is button you can press to order more noodles or an egg if you forgot to order one outside when purchasing a ticket. With people in the dozens waiting to eat here it is the last place you would come for a long quiet lunch so once your finished you pretty much have to leave!
almost there!
Hakata 'tonkatsu' Ramen in the small private boothBACK TO MUKAIHARA!
Sunset eventually came later that day and it was almost time to board the Shinkansen (
bullet train) back to Hiroshima. We decided to drop in at the station kaiten-sushi restaurant for a light dinner. After purchasing a few food items for friends and family we proceeded to the platform and boarded the brand new N700 shinkansen! It's very roomy inside compared to the older models and has bright blue seat covers giving it a nice feel. Departing at 6:25pm and travelling at the same speed as other models, we arrived at Hiroshima Station at 7:49pm. We then caught the 8pm Geibi-line train arriving back it Mukaihara at 8:54pm.
The brand new N700 series shinkansen
It was a fantastic week travelling around Kyushu by train. There is still a lot more in Kyushu including Beppu in the east and Kumamoto in the south where we hope to go to later this year. Taking the local trains in Japan certainly gives one the time to admire the beauty of the surroundings and time to absorb in more of the culture along the way.
OVER 1 WEEK
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY TRAIN : 1234.6km
