Kate, WTF!

Tōhoku 2024 · Day #1: 3.23 (Saturday 土)

Today I move from Tōkyō area to the north using a lot of local lines

Japan Tōhoku 2024 Travelling Memories Trains

🏳️ Start station: 上野Ueno

I've prepared for the time zone difference, yet getting up at 5 still throws me off. There were several different variants for today, I ended up choosing the one with the most train running without backtracking. A quick walk from a hotel to the 上野Ueno station, where everything is still closed. I've visited the station multiple times the previous days, however this is the first time at the Shinkansen platforms. Few people are already waiting for the 6:10 service to the north that will arrive soon.

🛤️ Train #1: 上野Ueno新花巻Shin-HanamakiやまびこYamabiko51」

やまびこYamabiko is the slowest service on the line, but it still is one of my fastest rides ever! The views of the city, then the countryside, and then the 北上山地Kitakami Mountains is stunning. The landscape is so different in each part of the journey.

🚉 Station #1: 新花巻Shin-Hanamaki

A quick transfer at the 新花巻Shin-Hanamaki station. The Shinkansen station is big for a station that doesn't have any side tracks, but I understand that it is an important local hub, even though it is located at the edge of the city. It is one of the first Shinkansen stations that were originally not planned to be built and were included later and paid for by the local government.

There are some monuments around the station that might hint you that the book 銀河鉄道の夜Night on the Galactic Railroad is pretty big thing around here. That's because its author was born here in the city! SL 銀河Galaxy, a steam train that used to run on the line I'm about to take and that is loosely based on a train from the book, is also depicted multiple times.

Let's stop lurking in front of the station and move to the local platform. It is just a single platform stop, without any passing tracks. Suica area starts here, but only in the direction to the city center; I'm about to take the other direction, running only trains where Suica is not accepted for the next weeks. That's not a problem now, I still have a valid JR Pass, but its validity is going to end soon so I'll have to learn how to buy tickets!

🛤️ Train #2: 新花巻Shin-Hanamaki釜石KamaishiはまゆりHamayuri1」

There were two options I could choose from to arrive to 釜石Kamaishi in time. In the end I boarded this Rapid はまゆりHamayuri train that departs some time before the local one. I have a reservation at the right side so I can watch any trains we pass on the journey (at most stations, trains pass each other at the left side of each other) and also to have a view of the so-called omega loop and the spectacular 鬼ヶ沢橋梁Ogre’s Stream Bridge, however it's not the best side for the typical view from the 宮守川橋梁Miyamori River Bridge. That's fine, the other side is also nice!

The prototype キハ110-3 car has an express interior, i.e. reclining seats all facing the direction of travel. It has been used for express and rapid services in this area since it has been constructed in 1990.

釜石線Kamaishi Line itself is also called Ginga Dreamline (Ginga translates to Galaxy). Every station on the line has a station sign depicting a different scene featuring a steam train and a nickname in Esperanto.

🚉 Station #2: 釜石Kamaishi

My first moments in Sanriku. The vibe here is so different, it feels like a different world. In retrospect, I think it’s because there is hardly anyone around at the time. I wander a little around the station, making photos of shunting signals and former SL 銀河Galaxy facilities. Since I have quite a lot of time, I go into a department store just next to the station called シープラザSea Plaza. What a cultural shock! I’m used to the orderly department stores of Europe, but this one is something different. Goods are everywhere, you can’t say where one shops ends and another one starts, it’s not clear where one should pay for the items, in some places it even looks like I stepped into a warehouse… That’s fine, I just need to learn how to orientate myself in such places. Quickly looking for some souvenirs, but not buying any for now – I’m going to walk a lot with all my belongings, so weight is a concern. Also, I’ll be back in few weeks anyway so I can get something later. I duck into a cozy café called ユーモアHumor instead and order a lunch. The lady working here is quite talkative and interested, they don’t get many foreigners around here. Even more so after I mentioned that I’m a さんてつSantetsu (short for 三陸鉄道Sanriku Railway) fan. I try to deploy my rusty Japanese but ended up talking through a translation app, that works better. She gives me a SL 銀河Galaxy flag, that’s so nice of her, it’s a great memorabilia for a train fan like me. SL 銀河Galaxy got cancelled in June 2023 so I couldn’t ride it, and this way I can have a nice memory of it. I pull out some Czech sweets to give out to her and a local man sitting next to me as a thank you.

The department store still features a big advertisement for the 2019 Rugby World Cup above the main entry, probably the last big international thing that happened in the city (more about it later). Time to say goodbye to the department store, however the train is not yet ready to leave so I go for a walk around the station and into what we might call a city center. Southeast from the station, the railway goes over the river to the other side and then back using a series of red girder bridges and elevated concrete viaducts, making it an interesting scenic spot. Almost immediately, I’m rewarded with a train slowly pulling into the station. I jump with joy because it is what locals call 旧車kyūsha, which translates as “old car”. These diesel cars of class 36-100 and 36-200 has been running on 三陸鉄道Sanriku Railway since its opening in 1984. Only 8 of them remain in service today, and most trains are served by the new 36-700 class, which makes seeing one of them on the line rather special.

The river gets wider as I walk closer to the sea. The port area is surrounded by a several meters high concrete wall to protect the city from high waves. It’s quite chunky, with small windows made of thick glass in it. I hope I won’t see any waves coming anywhere near to it. After walking through an industrial area, I arrive at the little city center. It’s nice, quite green, but where are all the people? Never mind. Some buildings have signs that show the height of flooding during the 2011 tsunami, it’s around 5 meters above street level in this area, unbelievable. A quick walk later, I arrive back at the station. The JR station building is decorated with yet another SL 銀河Galaxy art, however this time I’m more interested in the small building next door which is the 三陸鉄道Sanriku Railway station. The JR Pass is not valid on their リアス線Rias Line, so I need to get a ticket. I manage to get one from the ticket window without falling back to a translator app, what a feat. Few station stamps later (one of them rotated the wrong way as I missed the little dot marking the top of the stamp) I go find my train at the platform.

🛤️ Train #3: 釜石Kamaishi宮古Miyakoさんりくリアス号Sanriku Rias

さんりくリアス号Sanriku Rias is a special train service in cooperation of JR東日本JR East and 三陸鉄道Sanriku Railway that runs only during two weekends in the spring. It consists of direct trains between 釜石Kamaishi and 盛岡Morioka via 宮古Miyako, one in each direction on Saturday and Sunday. A 三陸鉄道Sanriku Railway train set runs the Saturday service to 盛岡Morioka and Sunday one back to 釜石Kamaishi while a JR東日本JR East train set runs the Saturday service to 釜石Kamaishi and Sunday one back to 盛岡Morioka. Through-service was common in the area before the 2011 disaster, there were even trains that ran from 仙台Sendai to 八戸Hachinohe via all the coastal lines, but nowadays it is much rarer. I’m about to take one of these trains, the direct service to 盛岡Morioka operated by さんてつSantetsu cars.

The fun begins on the platform. The conductor tries to explain something to me, but my translator app is shit and just can’t work correctly with the pauses that the conductor does to communicate as clearly as possible. Whatever, I understand the core of the message that there is some problem with the first car of the train and the rest will come up later if important. I’m directed into the second car then. Not sure if this means some delays, but the train leaves in time without any further problems. There are mostly train fans as me on the board, but I can see few people that are not that enthusiastic to ride a special train, probably just want to get to the prefecture capital without the usual transfer. As the trains run outside the usual schedule and does not stop at most stations, I assume most people don’t know about them.

The first stop is 鵜住居Unosumai station, where we wait for an opposite direction train. We have 5 minutes before the train arrives, so everyone gets off the train and takes some photos of the train and the surrounding area. Just when I start to be bored a little, the opposite direction さんりくリアス号Sanriku Rias train pulls into the station. I take few photos when it goes over the turnouts, then jump back into my train in fear they would leave me there. The opposite train consists of two cars, キハ110-2 and キハ110-4. These are siblings of the car I used in the morning. キハ110-2 is also a prototype car, but キハ110-4 is considered a mass production car. Fun fact: even though they are the same series and have consecutive numbers, キハ110-2 and キハ110-4 have been constructed in a different factory than キハ110-3! That’s quite usual in Japan, train blueprints were often made inhouse and the construction of actual trains was contracted to two or even more train factories. Only these two cars that I just met have a special wrapping featuring art of a local artist 田﨑飛鳥Tazaki Asuka who is backed by ヘラルボニーHeralbony, a local company that promotes art of disabled and neurodivergent artists. Both arts feature a forest road, a narrow one in green colors is on キハ110-2 while キハ110-4 has a wide one with a red vibe. They are certainly striking! Read more about the company in English here at nippon.com.

Just after few more minutes, we stop again at the next stop, 大槌Ōtsuchi station. Here we are passing a regular opposite direction train. Not much time to lurk around, I just get few photos from the train doors and the train continues its journey again. When we pass by 織笠Orikasa station, I take few pictures to send to a friend. This station is featured at the end of $[blur すずめの戸締まり] (titled $[blur Suzume] outside Japan) movie and we talked about that movie some time ago (I later find out that they don’t remember the scene though). We glide through 陸中山田Rikuchū-Yamada station to stop at the last passing station of this section, 津軽石Tsugaruishi station, to pass yet another regular train. Or is it? Well yes, but actually no. It is a regular train but includes the 三陸元気GoGo号Sanriku Genki Go Go wrapping car, one of my interests in the area. It runs on a fixed train every Saturday and Sunday, and the train we are just passing is one of them. Other than that, it runs where needed so it can be spotted on other trains as well. It is actually the last-but-one weekend of its fixed operation (I plan to ride it on the last weekend). I’m very happy to see the train for the first time! There is some time, so we once again jump out of the train and took a photo as the train approaches the station. Just as before, as soon as the train gets into the station, I jump back into my train and make more photos from the inside. Moments later, we are on the move again.

In the meantime, the conductor comes to the train and tells everyone that we need to transfer to a different train at 宮古Miyako station. That’s a pity, it’s no longer a direct service, but I understand it’s better than sending a broken car onto the special service. The conductor opens the passage between our car and the front car, but I don’t know why, that car is supposed to be broken. Probably lost in translation.

🚉 Station #3: 宮古Miyako

I didn’t understand all the fine details earlier, so I just follow the other people in the train that follow the conductor. He leads us into the first car through the passage, where he opens the door using an emergency lever. Looks like the first car has broken doors! That might be the problem the conductor talked about back in 釜石Kamaishi. Not sure why he did that instead of opening doors of the rear car just as the train did at the previous stops, but as the unscheduled transfer is pretty quick, I don’t think about it much. There is another two-car train just in front of our train, at the same platform, so the transfer is just few steps away. I don’t notice anything suspicious at the time, take place in the new train and wait a couple of minutes for the departure.

🛤️ Train #4: 宮古Miyako盛岡Moriokaさんりくリアス号Sanriku Rias

Just moments before the actual departure, 三陸鉄道Sanriku Railway employees appear at the platform with banners and flags to wave the train off. They are so happy and enthusiastic! Everyone in the train waves as well. Apparently waving special trains off is a tradition at many places in Japan, and as most of the さんてつSantetsu personnel is here in 宮古Miyako, such ceremonies usually happen at this station. So nice! We leave the platform through the only set of turnouts that connects the networks of 三陸鉄道Sanriku Railway and JR東日本JR East at this station.

山田線Yamada Line runs along a river, then through the mountains, with a lot of curves and valleys and views and bridges and tunnels… It feels quite romantic. The first station we stop in is 茂市Moichi station to pass a regular train. The railway archeologist in me wakes up and takes some photos of the station in its current form – it is sad compared to what it used to be. Most tracks are removed, both station building and old platform overpass are demolished. The station used to be a starting point of 岩泉線Iwaizumi Line, a line infamous for being the least used line in its last years of existence (average of 46 people per day in 2009). Its end came in 2010 after a landslide and train derailment, however the final decision was made in 2012. If you ever think about reviving the line, it’s no longer possible – the 押角トンネルOshikado Tunnel through the mountain pass has been reused, after widening, as a road tunnel. I plan to use some earlier version of 茂市Moichi station layout as an inspiration for a central station of my model railway in the far future.

After taking photos of two different trains, we continue onwards. The line continues up along 閉伊川Hei River. There are more than 30 bridges just over this river, and more than double of that in total! As we climb up, snow patches start to appear, and the scenery completely changes to white in just few minutes. It doesn’t last long though as we quickly pass through the longest section without a stop in this part of Japan (25.7 km). There used to be not one, but two switchback stations in this section, created to ease the steep climbs and descents, but they are long gone and even the stops that remained were later cancelled, because the area is very sparsely populated. I’d like to have a switchback station on my model railway as well, but probably based more on 押角Oshikado station from 岩泉線Iwaizumi Line as that one is the only one that was required to be used – the other two on this line could be passed through without reversing if a train didn’t need to pass another one and was not stopping at that station.

The next stop is 上米内Kami-Yonai station, where we wait for yet another opposite direction train for around 10 minutes. We already started to descend from the mountains, but there is still some snow here and there. I’m starting to feel the early wake-up, but there are still so many kilometers in front of me. This station is the first one considered to be in the 盛岡Morioka area so the scenery along 米内川Yonai River is slowly changing from mountainous to urban. Just as we pass across a bridge over 北上川Kitakami River I take photos of 岩手山Mount Iwate, the highest mountain of the prefecture. As it is also a high stratovolcano like 富士山Mount Fuji, it has quite a resemblance to its more famous counterpart.

🚉 Station #4: 盛岡Morioka

盛岡Morioka station is a large station, that’s not up to debate. I lurk at the platform for some time, taking photos of the train I’ve just got off. There’s some time before my next train leaves so I pick a random exit and go out of the station. I follow a random person for a minute or two to get out of the maze of pedestrian overpasses and underpasses and then go to the river to relax a little bit. I end up at the 雫石川Shizukuishi River which is not the one I originally aimed for as there isn’t that nice view of the mountains, but it doesn’t matter for a little pause. The riverbed is quite wide here, but there isn’t much water in the river. As the sun starts to set, I realize that I won’t be able to see much from the next train – a big planning mistake! I should account for the early spring sunset in the future.

🛤️ Train #5: 盛岡Morioka八戸Hachinohe

After coming back to the station and finding the platform my train is starting at on the departures board, I wonder where the platform zero is located. No surprises here, it’s just next to the platform 1! When first planning the trains, I wanted to take the local train running on いわて銀河鉄道線Iwate Galaxy Railway Line as I wanted to experience the ordinary trains, but right now I’d rather have a Shinkansen ticket and get to bed earlier. Never mind, let’s continue the original plan, backing out now and getting a new ticket might not save any time in the end. The outside gets dark soon after departure, so the rest of the journey is mostly about processing memories and sending photos to my family. It starts being much colder than during the day, even inside the train, so I immediately regret dressing up for the morning southern temperatures. I don’t even notice the change to 青い森鉄道線Aoimori Railway Line in 目時Metoki station as all the trains here run as a through-service between the two cooperating railway companies.

🚉 Station #5: 八戸Hachinohe

I wanted to lurk around the platforms, but the cold is unbearable outside, so I just took few very quick photos and duck into the station building. Yet another TOHOKU EMOTION advertisement here, it’s like this special train is calling me. It’s too late for the actual train to be seen here in the station though, I’ll need to wait a little more. When I get the local station stamps and find out the next platform number, I head directly to the train.

🛤️ Train #6: 八戸Hachinohe本八戸Hon-Hachinohe

When the departure time comes, the train does not move. I’m not sure why, there is no announcement (and I wouldn’t understand it anyway). After few long minutes, we finally start moving and leave the station with 11 minutes of delay. You might ask, there are delays in Japan? It is not common, but it can happen, especially in this kingdom of single-track lines. The ride is very short, and I can’t recognize much in the dark outside.

🚉 Station #6: 本八戸Hon-Hachinohe

My hotel is just across the street from the station exit. Few minutes later, I’m starting up a heater in my room with a nice view of the train station to make it more comfortable. Good night!