Another day, another prefecture.
I left Kagoshima in the dark hiking a few kilometers to catch the first train from the nearest station, Hayato, to go to the seaside prefecture of Miyazaki. From Miyazaki City there are several sightseeing trains that run up and down the eastern coast of the prefecture. The Nichinan line runs from Miyazaki to Nango, featuring trains with only one or two cars. The Umisachi trains are popular and easily recognizable with cedar wood panels inside and out evoking classic luxury train cars. I took a normal one car train all the way to Nango.
I exited the small station of Nango and looked at the map. It dawned on me that I may have traveled my way to the middle of nowhere. Despite it being the terminal for a resort train, there was nothing on the other side of its gates. Hoping I didn’t travel an hour and a half for nothing I started exploring the area in the direction of the sea. Lunch would be a good start I thought, so I searched for some local eateries. The closest was about a 15 minute walk away.
When I made it to the sea, there were several parking areas with buildings of gift shops and shokudo. I found a smaller shack that severed teishoku, set meals that feature a main dish, a soup and some pickles. I went in and had a kaisen-don which is a donburi with fresh cuts of sashimi. The fish and seafood used for kaisen-don can vary on the location and season. Being close to the sea I thought any seafood dish would be a good bet and it did not disappoint, but not sure it was worth a long train ride for.
I looked at the map and reassessed the situation. I could walk back to Nango Station, which would take 15 minutes and then wait about an hour to get on the next train back towards Miyazaki City. Since I wouldn’t see anything new that way, I decided to walk to the next train station up on the line and see if I find anything interesting along the way. That ended up being a great decision.
I made it past the rest stop like areas with parking lots full of mini-vans and saw a beautiful blue-green sea with islands poking out here and there. I followed the road a little ways until I made it to the train bridge I came in on. I took a few pictures of it and thought to myself it’s beautiful, but if only it had a train on it that would make a more compelling picture. A little further down the road were several stone steps from the road leading down to the sea. On a set of stairs ahead I saw a couple of guys perched out with cameras. I did the same on my set of stairs, checked the train times and waited. My patience paid off as I had two sets of trains go by. Now I could see why it was worth coming here.
I took my time and several pictures on my way to the next station. I got back on the train and headed up to my next stop, Aoshima, which is a small island covered with palm trees and a shrine of the same name nestled in its center. Souvenir shops and more shokudo guide tourists from the station to the beach. From the beach is a land bridge stretching out to the green island.
At Aoshima Shrine people pray to this particular kami-sama for either a happy marriage, safe child birth or the safe voyage of their ship or boat, naturally. The shrine itself is a beautiful orange surrounded by vibrant green palm trees, but it was a bit too crowded at the time of day I went to get any interesting pictures, so I made my way around the island along the coast.
I made my way through tide pools and found on the eastern most tip of the island stacks of rocks my camera and I couldn’t ignore. Further around the island was a seaside bar in Thai island fashion, with beach chairs scattered between palm trees all facing the sea. I couldn’t help but stop and have a Singha beer, which somehow seemed appropriate. They also served mango drinks, which Miyazaki is a big producer of in Japan.
Not having a clear idea of what to do or where to visit in Miyazaki ended up working out just fine. The journey along its coast is the attraction. And it is a great place to stare at the ocean and have a drink under a palm tree.
