Dramatic Kagoshima, Kyushu

  

Kagoshima

Let’s stay in a ryokan in Kagoshima, Kyushu!

Kyushu 九州 きゅうしゅう

 a German map – very clear

Bullet Trains 新幹線 しんかんせん

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This is your seat ticket travelling from Nagoya to Kyōto, Tokyo to Nagaoka etc. on the Shinkansen, or Bullet Train.

For tourists from outside Japan there is a much cheaper option to travel longer distances. This is easier if you buy a so-called Japan Rail Pass outside Japan first. You can exchange the voucher for a pass, which would entitle you to unlimited travel on JR for one or two or three weeks.  Remember though that the Rail Pass can only be bought OUTSIDE Japan.  Here is the link to more information on this subject.  

JAPAN RAIL PASS

It is an important piece of information to know that all Shinkansen (Bullet Train) stations are quite separate from ordinary stations. The Shinkansen stations tend to be “upstairs” and you need your tickets before you can get in. In order to separate the two stations, the Shinkansen stations are talked about as “Shin Osaka”, or “Shin Yokohama”, or Shin Kōbe “; that way no one is confused.

On the platform the space where the train doors will be opening, with their numbers, has already been marked.

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First class Green Seat Compartment

博多 はかた Hakata

 

is the old name for

 

福岡 ふくおか Fukuoka

 

 and it is still used by the railways

(for the western line, it is the end of the line)

The lady with the trolley will travel up and down the train for passengers who would like to buy some food or drinks and who do not wish to make use of the dearer option in the dining car. You could of course bring your own prepared food with you, as long as you do not impose on other travelling guests. 

A little commercial break

Here is an important Japanese word; Japanese HATE it, they LOATH it;

it is sooooo un-Japanese:

迷惑　めいわく　imposition  meiwaku 

bother, nuisance, trouble

bubble-crushers, loud-mouths, mess-makers, whingers

To bother other people, to impose on them, to make someone else responsible for your issues, to waste other people’s time, to burden them with your problems, to not know your limitations, to play it out in public, to cause a scene, to intrude into someone else’s bubble, to bore other people, to leave your mess for someone else, to be loud and overbearing, to forget that you are a guest, to forget that life is not about you, to seek attention unnecessarily. Do these sound familiar to you? If this is your way of getting by in life, then Japan is sooo not your place to visit! 

“But what if…” – stop whingeing! Deal with it! It is your issue, not the world’s. Get help, if you need it; they’ll gladly give it to you, you can get help everywhere and anywhere and anytime, but then MOVE ON!  As a nation, the Japanese are perhaps the most helpful people in the world, but DO MOVE ON! They all have a train to catch somewhere and it is a fast train and it isn’t in your direction. Get the idea?

迷惑　めいわく　imposition  meiwaku 

Now back to the Bullet Train again:

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Don’t worry:

they also have western-style toilets on the train.

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“oh, dear, is that the price of petrol?”

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Look! There’s your “Shin” reference!

and here’s your real “Shin”! Oh, what fun!

The dearer option, but very pleasant indeed…

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upstairs downstairs

Enjoy your trip!

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