*Note: Yes I know I shouldn't be traveling during covid. I have my covid booster shot, wore KN95 or double masks, and didn't eat out. Cases are low but not zero so it's still important to be careful*
Recently, I got about 10 days off for New Years break. I decided to go visit family and friends around Japan during this time, but of course the day I decide to go a big snow storm hits the northwest coast of Japan, exactly where I live. My last day of work left the roads covered in 15-20cm(6-8in) of snow and the road sprinklers were on in full force. It kept snowing and snowing and snowing so the next morning when I trudged to the train station and told the station worker I want to go north, he told me there are no trains running north. The snow might get better the next day so I went home and obsessively checked the train status page.
That evening as I was chilling in my pajamas waiting to try again the next day, I notice a notice for a delayed train going south through my area. The train was set to arrive in about 25min, which is about how long it takes me to walk to the station. I quickly changed and turned on all my faucets to drip (because the water shut off doesn't work and we were expecting some low temperatures) and power walked my way through the snow and ice to the station. It's nearly 7pm at this point and has been dark for hours and the station now left open, but there is a scrolling announcement sign and some general announcements to read. Thankfully I could read enough kanji to figure out that the train was coming but 24min delayed so I bought my tickets with the abundance of coins I found in my wallet since the machine doesn't take any bills larger than 1000yen and I didn't have any 1000yen bills.
When I did manage to get on the train, which was an express train, I wasn't in the right section so the nice conductor helped me find the right section. There was a sign on a door that apparently said "out of order please open using your hands" but I can't read that fast so the conductor showed me I had to open it and we had a laugh over my not being able to read well. People here are honestly really friendly.
While on the train, I booked a night bus to Tokyo since Tokyo is going to have a lot more options for transportation than anything in my neck of the woods will. Had a couple hours to kill so I wandered around the area and enjoyed the lit up trees and the ice covered sidewalks. When the time came, I got onto the night bus and slept for all but maybe 30min of the 7 hour bus ride to Tokyo.
I arrived in Tokyo around 5am and texted various internet friends asking if anyone wanted to meet up. While waiting for people to wake up I wandered around Yoyogi Park and got a goshuin(shrine stamp) from Meiji Shrine (明治神宮), since you can always find a shrine to visit in Japan. Ended up meeting up with an internet friend who has spent the last 20 years living in Tokyo, which is pretty amazing. He gave me a walking tour around Asakusa and talked about his experiences living in Japan for so long. He showed me a famous gold sculpture (of somewhat questionable shape) and also pointed out that the building next door is meant to look like a cup of beer, which is pretty cool.
I made my way back to the station and the ticket machines said all the trains were full so I decided to give the ticket office a shot. The worker there was very helpful and managed to get me a standing room only ticket for the first leg of the trip and a seat for the remaining part. Several people were sitting on the floor of the car and I stood by the luggage rack knitting because what else are you supposed to do on a train for 5 hours. Luckily for me, the train arrived right on time, about one day past the original plan but got me to Hokkaido nonetheless.
Comments