Train Saga- Reading Your Train Schedule

(A group of statues placed randomly in Ube city) 


There is little one can't do with a little logic on their side. One can build, cook, educate, and yes, figure out the Japanese train system. Still, it is advisable that you have an expert give a you a quick crash course before you start planning parties all the way up in Iwakuni. While I'm not an expert, and I can't explain what those little kanji things mean, after three months of traveling the trains I'd be next to useless if I couldn't at least describe the operation. Lets start with a look at my handy-dandy train book:

(The train book; never leave home with out it)



Hikari's time-line is highlighted in pink, under it, highlighted in yellow, are the Tokuyama and Honyura lines. Looking just the Hikari line, you'd read until you find a departure time that's good for you. Say you want to leave at 6:40,  well the closet time is 6:48.  Put your finger on that time and trace the column down until it bumps into Tokuyama's row. Lift your finger up and you've got your arrival time, 7:01. (7:03 is the departure time. Tokuyama and Shinyamaguchi have train changes and waiting times that smaller stations don't have. Thus their double time lines). Conversely, if the arrival is the important thing, start with the Tokuyama line and trace up. Can you figure out which train you'd have to catch in Hikari to get to Tokuyama by  7:50?* (Try clicking on the photos to enlarge them, it will make reading the schedule a billion times easier). 

To go from Tokuyama to Hikari you just flip to another page. This page has trains going to Iwakuni - the first page showed the Shimonoseki line. Let's forget about about Tokuyama now and look at my old Honyura schedule:





          The line with the circle is Honyura, then Tokuyama, and finally the blushing Hikari. Planning a trip from Honyura is just like planning other trip. Except, did you notice the strange little "jump" in the column?  Yup, that means a train change. Sometimes you have one minute to change trains and, when there are a whole swarm of people getting off and geting on, it can be very alarming. Thankfully, these one minutes changes seem to only occur when the train you are on and the train you need to get on next are pulled up to the same platform. However, there are other train changes, and for those the surest way of figuring the right platform is to go on the second floor and look at the information board.  Just find the your departure time and proceed to the corresponding platform. Also, they you can see they include the names of the lines above the LED display, if you forgot your book  (unlikely!) you can just follow your track.

So, that's the basics of train travel, but I've one more situation: The local track. These tracks require a bit of fancy finger work, and the ability to plan ahead. Here is how I work the system to get to Hikari:
1) firgure out required arrival time of arrival (Time D)
2) Find that time in Hikari and trace it to Shin-Yamaguchi (time Time A)
3) Flip to the back of the book and find trains leaving Shin-Yamaguch after time A (Time B)
4) Trace trace time B to Tokiwa.

Of course, I have to reverse this process to get back to Tokiwa. That's why it's so nice to have a set schedule, I never have to worry about what train I'm going to catch. 

Whew! Now that I've finally posted that the rest of the saga should be easy. In fact, I'm hoping to be able to give you a feel for my day to day life. No promises though! 

*The 7:31 train would get you to Tokuyama at 7:46. Four minutes to spare.