Kagoshima Fail

The idea of going to the southernmost part of Japan via shinkansen is thrilling. Of course, ideas and realities are two different things and if it isn’t already obvious from my title, my visit to Kagoshima was a fail.

First of all, I wasn’t supposed to be in Kagoshima; I was supposed to be in Hiroshima. The plan was to visit Hiroshima’s WWII areas. If time was on my side, I figured I’d just visit Miyajima Island again.

So, how in the world did my trip itinerary change from Hiroshima to Kagoshima? (The cities are 550 km apart!)

Well, I was on the shinkansen en route to some station that I needed to get off of in order to get to Hiroshima. Inside this shinkansen, I hear the employee announce how it’s bound for Kagoshima-something. I thought it was amusing that there’s a station called Kagoshima outside of Kagoshima. And then I thought how great it’d be if this shinkansen really did go all the way down to Kagoshima.

Some time later, the employee announces every stop the shinkansen will be making. I wait to hear my station’s name. I hear it and ignore every station name mentioned until Kumamoto is mentioned. At the mention of Kumamoto, I was like, “Really?” And then when I heard Kagoshima-something again, I was like, “Wait, is this shinkansen really going down to Kyushu?” Because if it was, I was so down to just go all the way down to the southernmost part of Kyushu!

I hopped onto the complimenary Wi-Fi to confirm that this shinkansen was going all the way down to Kagoshima-chuo station. It was indeed going down there and with this knowledge, I had to make a decision. Do I stick with Hiroshima or do I visit a southern city (Kumamoto vs Kagoshima) instead? I of course chose to just stay put on the shinkansen until the very last stop for Kagoshima-chuo.

It was a long ride but a good one, I think. And I must say it’s times like this that I am glad I had a JR Rail pass. If it weren’t for the pass, I probably wouldn’t have been able to on a whim decide to visit Kagoshima instead of Hiroshima.

Anyway, the stop being Kagoshima-chuo kind of irked me. With my desire to catch a ferry for Sakurajima, it was in my best interest to get off at Kagoshima station, which is just one stop away from Kagoshima-chuo station. Sounds easy, right? Right, except it wasn’t easy.

Let’s get lost

First, there were only four tracks to board from, but I couldn’t figure out which track to wait at. I couldn’t read Kanji and I didn’t notice anything in English either. (To be fair, I think the signs outside of the tracks slowly change into English, but I am not sure.) Got the mystery solved from an employee but that wasn’t the last thing that needed to be solved.

Next, the train on track two waits in a very hidden area. I don’t know why and I almost didn’t get on it. Once I got on it, I couldn’t help but to wonder if I was actually on the right train. (Yeah, I was tired at this point but had enough common sense to realize that other trains heading to who knows where could also be using this track.) Since it left at the time I was expecting it to leave, I figured I was indeed on the right train. I couldn’t confirm beforehand via the signage on the train as it was in Kanji and the announcements were all in Japanese. Not really complaining here but it wasn’t user friendly.

When the first stop wasn’t Kagoshima station, I knew I was sitting in the wrong train. I don’t know where it was heading to but I knew I needed to get back to Kagoshima-chuo station and start all over.

Getting off some stop only to wait and get on a train that was again not bound for Kagoshima-chuo was mind boggling. At this point, I decided it would be best for me to just stay put until the very end. Translation: I would chill until the train does a turn around for Kagoshima-chuo.

The train ride was excruciatingly slow and long. If it wasn’t because I was worried about how much time I had left to get to Sakurajima, I may have enjoyed this train ride a lot more.

By the sea

The thing with this train is that it’s along the coastline and extremely beautiful. In between my worries and dozing off, I didn’t catch sight of the magnificent scenery early enough. I wished I had though as it had such a calming and uplifting effect on me. (Kind of needed this considering the situation I was in. Lol)

During the turnaround towards Kagoshima-chuo station, you could see Sakurajima and it was just so surreal. That volcano in that ocean looked so mystical.

You’d think I have pictures of this amazing-ness but I don’t. My phone’s battery was low and the view was nonexistent once the gazillion students got on board.

Back to Kagoshima-chuo

I was supposed to hop off the train asap upon getting to Kagoshima-chuo in order to board the Kagoshima station bound train. The thing is I forgot that trains in track 2 look nonexistent because they park so far back. By the time I realize this, it was too late for me to board the right train! Ugh! Do we see a trend here?

At this point, I said F it. I decided that I’d walk to the ferry because there was no way I was going to accidentally board the wrong train again.

So, that’s what I did except I never got to the ferry.

Ferry, where are you?

I walked, walked and walked only to never get near the ferry.

My GPS was supposed to be handy but there must have been something off with it because it was wrong in whatever it was telling me to do.

After a lot of exercise and getting closer to nowhere, I decided it would be better if I just left Kagoshima altogether.

I know I could’ve just asked for help but I honestly didn’t like the idea of seeking help from a random stranger. Considering how my day had been going, I didn’t want to take any risks, be it with a female or male stranger. Besides, it was pretty obvious to the people there that I’m from elsewhere and having a female student give me bad looks for whatever reason was already enough of a nuisance for me to deal with in one day.

Goodbye, Kagoshima

So, did I ever manage to get back to Kagoshima-chuo? Surprisingly yes.

I don’t know how I managed to get back but I did. It had begun to rain right before I made it to the station and all I can say is that I’m grateful that I found the station before it began to pour.

The second and most important thing I was thankful for was being able to catch the northbound shinkansen. Not sure if it was the last shinkansen leaving Kagoshima-chuo but it sure as heck was the last one for the particular station I needed to get to.

Once inside the northbound shinkansen, I felt relieved.

Once at my destination of sleep, I felt warm and comforted even though I wasn’t staying at a Sheraton. Far from a Sheraton actually.

Sidenote: I wonder if my trip would have been more productive had I chosen to just stick with Hiroshima or opt for Kumamoto instead? Hmm. I guess I’ll never know.