Stuck in Yufuin (...for like an hour)

I was supposed to be home at around noon on Sunday morning. Key phrase: supposed to.

Since I would have had to catch a really early train from Yufuin, Rebecca had offered to drive me to Oita City since she was also taking Rachel there later in the day. This also meant that we didn’t have to rush to get ready and out of Yufuin. The night before, we had a very flexible plan of walking around some more and enjoying the morning until we needed to leave that afternoon.

However, Mother Nature had different plans.

Change in Plans

A typhoon had been raging north of Kyushu, bringing an insane amount of rain. The thunder was so loud that I, along with the others, had woken up multiple times that night. When I woke up again around 7:30, the thunder had finally let up. It was still raining lightly, but nothing compared to what it had been.

Rebecca was awake beside me, but since we had some time before we needed to check out, we just stayed in bed, on our phones. At around 8:30, there was a knock at our door. Becky came in and told us that the tracks had flooded and every train out of Yufuin had been canceled, but there might be one to her city leaving in twenty minutes.

We all immediately rushed to get up and out the door so that we could take her to the train station.

After parking the car, we waited for Becky just in case there was a problem. It wasn’t long after she left that she returned to the car and told us that there was no way for her to get home. The buses that had been ordered as an alternative transport were only going to Beppu, which would only take her further from home.

Our final decision was to return to the Airbnb, pack up and check out, then head to a café to make a plan…because, where else would we go? At the café, it was decided that Rebecca would drive Becky home before dropping Rachel and I in Oita. And since we were going on a detour, might as well make a journey of it!

Kusu: Suzume no tojimari

Since Becky had been in Oita before, she was able to tell us about some tourist attractions on the way to her city.

Our first stop on our little Oita tour was the inspiration behind Suzume no tojimari (better known as just Suzume in English). I had just watched the movie a few weeks before this for the first time and I really loved it! I had known that it takes place in Kyushu, but the fact that it was in Oita, just made it more special.

We drove into Kusu, an extremely quiet, little town that to me, seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t really anyone around, and understandably so. The weather wasn’t fantastic; it was pretty cloudy and humid, so more of a perfect day to stay inside and watch TV.

We found the old railway turntable that had inspired the look of the abandoned setting in the movie. It was really cool to see, not only because of the movie, but as an interesting, somewhat-abandoned sight…not that those are unpopular in Japan at all. Then, as a tribute to Suzume, a door had been placed by the turntable:

With it being such a picturesque spot, we obviously took some photos, had a chat with some other people who were also doing some sightseeing, and then we were off to our next stop.

Hita: Attack on Titan Statue

I don’t necessarily consider myself a huge anime nerd. I really like it, I enjoy watching it, but it’s not the only type of media that I consume.

But it’s different with two specific animes: Attack on Titan and Haikyuu!!. I absolutely love these shows and they were actually a part of what got me interested in Japanese media, culture, and so on. I was practically buzzing when we went to the Attack on Titan statue in Hita.

Our ride included a terrifying drive up a mountain on a single-lane, two-way travel road. Death flashed before our eyes at one point and we all let out a collective scream of terror when a car suddenly appeared around a corner. And to put it into perspective some more, it was mountain on our left, a speeding car to our front, and a cliffside on our right – that scream was justified.

Luckily, we safely made it to the dam where the statue was. Here, there were a few more people, all taking photos with or of the statue. We ended up spotting the same people we talked to in Kusu, and chatted a little more. After many pictures taken, it was time to drop of Becky.

Heading Home (Finally...)

There was an all day festival happening where Becky lived, so we met up with some other JETs in the area and all went together. We grabbed some food – karaage and kakigori (fried chicken and shaved ice) in my case – and walked around a little before it really was time for Rebecca, Rachel and I to make the trip to Oita City.

We had about an hour and a half drive ahead of us, but thankfully, it was filled with talking (as if we hadn’t done enough of that). After arriving in Oita City, Rachel and I said goodbye to Rebecca, thanked her for driving us and waved her off as she headed home.

At the train station, I didn’t help my ability to deny being called an otaku (something that the eikaiwa crowd later in the week found very funny) since there was a pop-up Haikyuu store that I desperately wanted to go to. Rachel and I looked around the station for a good twenty minutes, essentially walking in circles, until we finally found it. I bought a shirt, because why wouldn’t I, and then it was finally time to go home. By now, it was past six in the evening.

Rachel and I said our goodbyes, I got on the train, and went home. By the end of everything, I was so grateful that it was a long weekend because I was exhausted.

All in all, it was a super fun and exciting trip despite the problems we faced. It was definitely one that I will never forget and I’m so happy that I got to spend the time with those people!