January 11, 2026
The Sonic coastal train heading south was delayed; a tree had come down on the overhead wires in last night's storm, limiting the line to a single track. I therefore missed the connection with the limited express at Oita (oh-ee-TAH) to the Hohi line through the mountains (1).
Thankfully, there were a series of three trains crossing the Hohi line an hour and a half later. The first train was a red 2-car local, with an unobstructed view out the front window. The train ascended through villages, past rushing rivers, over bridges, and through cuts and tunnels; better than Disney World (2). The first connection at Bungo-Taketa was across the platform to a single Yellow one-man car (3). The train runs for 48 minutes, over the summit of the line. The summit tunnel was easy to figure out: the strain of the engine ceased, and the train began rolling downhill.
The final connection at Mikaji was to the "Aso Boy" train, with unobstructed views out the front window. Taking a seat directly in front, I was delighted by the driver's eye view until the conductor came and (politely) threw me out to sit in the back of the coach (4). Descending via two switchbacks, the driver walked through the train with the brass handle in his white-gloved hand to reverse out. Soon, the train was in suburban Kumamoto. From there, a quick ride on the Shinkansen to Fukuoka, and my flight home tomorrow.
(1) Knowing the connection would be tight, I bought a ticket from the conductor on the Sonic Express. As we neared the connecting station, he came back and refunded the ticket price with apologies; we missed the connection by about 10 minutes.
(2) As I stood near the train driver, I noticed him pointing. I first thought he was going to point at me to tell me to sit down. However, his white-gloved hands were pointing at the various signs, signals, &c., presumably to indicate that he saw them. At stations with passing tracks, he pointed at the track the train was taking. At single track stations, he pointed straight ahead. Having the mind and body do the same things is believed to reduce errors.
(3) The words "Yellow one man car" were actually written on the side in English. A one man car means no conductor to collect tickets, just the driver. There is a fare box near the driver just like on a city bus.
(4) Whether it was a first class or reserved seat, I could not determine. From what I was able to discern, there are two main types of Japan-guage (3 feet, 6 inches) trains, based on where the doors are (not based on the wide variety of train colors):
● Trains with doors along the length of the car (like a subway) which are called local, commuter, or rapid, and on which any ticket works. There are a wide variety of seat configurations on these trains.
● Trains with doors at the ends of the cars, called limited or express. In addition to a train ticket, these trains require a seat fee, which can be either unreserved or reserved, with reserved and unreserved seat passengers sitting in different coaches. If you board one of these trains without a seat-fee ticket, you can purchase one on board (cash only).
A completely separate, standard guage (4 feet 8 1/2 inch) high-speed train system, called Shinkansen, requires different tickets and entrance gates, has all-stop and non-stop trains, and has reserved and unreserved seating coaches.
Travelling from Kumamoto to Fukuoka can take 33 minutes (non-stop Shinkansen), 49 minutes (all-stop Shinkansen), or 2+ hours (local trains).
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