#Japans #Luxurious #Sightseeing #Train #Beautiful #Seaside #Stars #Nagasaki #Chiwata
Good afternoon and welcome to Nagasaki, Japan! With the new Shinkansen bullet train just opened in September 2022, Nagasaki is getting excited. But excuse me, I didn’t hear that it’ s for exclusively for children, did I? Sad. Oh, Is that the real one over there? But we are not boarding today.
Well, today we board the brand new luxurious sightseeing train “Two Stars 4047” which debuted with the opening of the Shinkansen. Here is today’s route. It is a 1.5-hrs trip departing from Nagasaki Station and visiting Chiwata Station, famous for its beautiful sunset. Please enjoy!
I reserved my ticket online, so I just pick it up at the kiosk. I got the ticket. An express ticket is required in addition to the fare ticket. The train departs a little later at 2:53 PM from track 3. There is still some time before departure, but let’s go up to the platform.
The train is arriving. The white body with a gold band, the coloring looks like a little expensive tableware. What does the interior look like? I am looking forward to getting on board.
The “Two Stars 4047” is a sightseeing train that connects Nagasaki to Takeo Onsen in Saga under the concept of “Western Kyushu’s Sea Tour Train”. “Two Stars” refers to the two regions and two seas that the train passes through, Nagasaki and Saga. “4047” refers to “KIHA40” and “KIHA47”, the types of this train.
It is operated twice a day from Friday to Monday. The morning train goes from Takeo Onsen to Nagasaki via the Ariake Sea coast, and the afternoon train returns to Takeo Onsen via the Omura Bay coast. Let’s get on board right away.
This train is very popular, and even though it is a weekday, it is full. Luckily there was one last seat available. However, the online reservation said “NO WINDOWS”. That’s why it was available? Here is my seat, “13D”. Huh? There is a window. The train consists of three cars.
Cars 1 and 3 are reserved seats. Car 2 is a lounge car with unreserved seats. There are several types of seats. Regular seats for two. Window-facing seats. And box seats for four. Stamping!
It seems that if we press three different stamps on top of each other, We can complete the picture of this train. Yes, press the first one. And next… ??? Wait, he’s just going to leave? He seems to be into video recording… “Hey, it’s not finished yet! Notice that!”
We have come to the lounge in Car 2. Here is unreserved seating. There are sofas and tables for relaxing. Although the train name is “2-star”, the interior looks like a 5-star ryokan(Japanese inn)! These are traditional wooden crafts called “Kumiko”. The windows are fitted with shoji screens, a traditional feature of Japanese-style architecture.
There is a bar where you can buy drinks, snacks, and souvenirs. Departing! Nagasaki is a city of slopes. There are buildings up to such a high place. The train runs between mountains for a while. This Minecraft-like mountain is the mandarin orange fields of Ikiriki.
The warm climate in this area grows rich mandarin oranges. I bought a glass of Ikiriki mandarin orange juice at the lounge. Quite rich and tasty. Now we can see the sea. It’s Omura bay. It feels as if we are running on the sea since it is close to the surface of the sea.
The small window is nice, like a picture frame that captures the view 🙂 The train stops at Isahaya Station for 15 minutes. From Isahaya, there is Shimabara Railway, which is famous for the station with a superb view of the seaside, Ohmisaki. We are arriving at Chiwata Station.
The train stops for 10 minutes here, so everyone gets off the train. The station is known for its spectacular view of the sunset over the bay. See? The sunset on the station sign. I got “Sonogi” green tea, a specialty of this area.
It is said to be the best tea in Japan in a tea contest. The attendant rings the departure bell. The train is about to depart for Takeo Onsen. Bye-bye! As if the brief bustle was a lie, the station is enveloped in silence as the train departs. Retro station.
Decorated with dried flowers by local people, it has a very nice atmosphere. Although this station looks old, it was actually rebuilt 30 years ago. They made it look like the station building before it was rebuilt. I think it is a good attempt 🙂 Trains generally come once an hour.
Until recently, local trains were also operated by retro diesel cars like “Two stars 4047”. However, they have been replaced by the latest hybrid cars. Scary looking like something out of a dream. They are good for the environment, but bad for my heart. Well, we got off here to watch the sunset.
But there is still time, so we are heading to a somewhere special. Have we wandered into the world of Minecraft again? No, we are in the real world. Terraced rice fields on the mountain slope. To get there, we need to climb a steep hill. Huh? What’s that squealing? Ducks: “Suspicious! Suspicious!”
Sorry, I startled you guys. Sorry to bother you, Mr. Egret. We got there. The harvest season is coming, but there were still some yellow rice plants left. Terraced rice fields are beautiful especially in the spring before rice planting. The sky reflecting off the rice paddies is really beautiful.
I would like to come back at that time of year. Hurry back to the station. The next train was at 5:48 PM I believe… I think it took us about 30 minutes from the station to here… Do you think we can make it? Hello again, ducks.
Ducks: “Get paid for startling us. You’re going to miss the train!” You guys are mean 🙁 Wow, the sunset would be so beautiful. Lovely beach. I wish I could stay here and watch the sunset. It would be wonderful if a train passed by now… But it’s not coming, is it? Great 🙁
Oh man…, I shouldn’t have been doing that. Hurry up! We made it just in plenty of time! Oops, train is 5:42 PM, not 5:48 PM. The sunset made the atmosphere nostalgic at once. Madam A: “What a beautiful sunset!” Madam B: “Well…, it kind of makes me want to eat egg dishes.”
Madam A: “I know! Scrambled eggs, right?” I’m going to have sunny-side up for breakfast tomorrow 🙂 Thanks for the beautiful sea and sunset. Our journey continues. Thank you for watching! See you in the next video.
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