Going To Beppu, I Woke Up In Hiroshima
Sometimes traveling can get away from even the most seasoned adventurer. Not that I’m seasoned or anything, but I’d like to think I could get from point A to point B with minimal issues. As you might glean from my previous post, titled “Grounded in the Good Old U. S. of A.” which chronicles my having missed my original flight from the U.S. to Japan, I got off to a rocky start with this trip. Ending up in Hiroshima while trying to find my way to Beppu, only added to the sorry state of affairs but this story has a happy ending anyway.
Originally our itinerary included a trip to Hiroshima but I figured we’d start at the farthest point of our journey — Beppu — first. After checking out of the Sunroute Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, my son and I stopped by the JR station right next door to the hotel to exchange our Japan Rail coupon for the actual rail pass and to reserve our seats on the shinkansen to Beppu.
We easily located the JR Ticket area and spent just a little time in line before being called to the counter to receive our tickets. The ticket agent spoke very little English and I utilized absolutely none of my rudimentary Japanese. All was well, however, until I read the time of departure on our tickets. With just under 15 minutes to make it from one side of the station to the other, we were dead in the water from the start.
The wheels were burning on our rolling luggage as we wheeled our way to the platform, stopping briefly to ask directions to the correct shinkansen track. We made it just as the train pulled off and a sense of utter disappointment dropped over us like a cloud. Luckily, all we had to do was wait until the next train and pick up from there. There are times , however, when the simplest task becomes the most difficult. This was one of those times.
We hopped the next train from Tokyo, heading to Shin-Osaka. We were to catch a connecting train from Shin-Osaka to Kokura and then again from Kokura to Beppu. The late start, however, threw off our entire schedule and we encountered even more trouble in Kokura.
Since we’d missed our connecting train as a result of missing the initial one, we were pressed to find the platform and track from which we were to depart. We asked a few people we passed when finally, a JR employee pointed us to a train on the opposite track to where we stood. The conversation was strained as he did not speak much English and again, I did not use any of the Japanese I’d learned. This, I learned, would turn out to be a drastic mistake.
Heeding the JR の かいしゃいん(JR no kaishain = JR employee’s) pointing finger, we boarded the shinkansen he indicated and rode off into the sunset. Well, not exactly. Shortly into the trip, I realized we were on the Nozomi. Firstly, the Japan Rail Pass does not include the Nozomi line. It is the only train NOT covered by the pass and there we were, riding it as if we’d purchased a legitimate ticket. Secondly, this particular train was not headed in the exact direction we wanted.
Panic set in as we rode the Nozomi into the afternoon but after a while, I just figured “let the chips fall where they may”. No one ever asked us for a ticket and when I finally got my bearings, I decided we’d just go to Hiroshima with a side-trip to Beppu instead of the other way around as originally planned. No big deal, right?
Wrong.
Pulling into he Hiroshima station a couple hours later, we jumped on a steetcar, missed our stop and traveled several kilometers before being able to disembark and get turned around. Finally, we made it back to our desired stop and walked down the main street in search of a hotel. The one we’d booked for the night after next, The Hotel Intelligent, was full and just when we thought we’d be sleeping in the streets, we lucked into the Hotel Active a short ways down the road.
The Hotel Active, at 8800 yen/night turned out to be a great hotel. Comfortable and centrally located, it was a welcome end to the harried day we’d had.
The geat ending to this story … we ended up being able to visit the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park on the 64th annive
rsary of the atomic bomb.
It was a sobering journey but there was also a feeling of peace and celebration in the air as we were greeted excitedly by two of the sweetest おばさん (Obasan - aunt, auntie, old lady) who cheerfully welcomed us to Japan and Hiroshima, and were just excited to meet アメリカじん (Amerikajin - American) up close and personal.
LESSON LEARNED: Sometimes fate convenes and lays to waste the best laid plans. Be flexible and open-minded during your trip. You just might end up where the Universe intended you to be, regardless of where you expected to be.
