Hockey game's almost over, and while goofing around at Wikipedia, I fond this great picture of a Chichibu Railway train, at the platform at Kumagaya Station. I rode this very train.
For those who don't care, most of the railways in Japan are run by Japan Railways, or JR for short. but, of course, there's lots of smaller railways that aren't run by JR. I loved riding the non-JR trains. They just had more personality...more character.
I didn't ride the Chichibu Railway that much, though. The first time I did, I rode it to the very end of the line, to this tiny mountain village called Mitsuminiguchi. That was a spectacular day.
The best time, though, was in the fall, when me and a bunch of friends went down the Chichibu Railway to a small town called Nagatoro. It was fall, the leaves were changing colour, and word got to us that Nagatoro had a kick-ass fall festival.
It was riding back the evening from Nagatoro where I have one of my favourite memories of Mike, my American co-worker at AEON. It was getting late...the train was kind of deserted...we stopped at one station where the doors opened, no one got on or off, and then the doors closed and we continued on our way. After the third stop like this, I turned to Mike and said.
"Did you ever wonder that when the train stops, and the doors open, and no one gets on or off, that maybe, in reality, there's a whole bunch of ghosts or spirts or something getting on and off?"
Mike just looked at me and said, "Dude, you have got to see Spirited Away."
the Chichibu Railway was spectacular. I'd go back someday, just to ride it again.
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