It's a trip on a bus tour
for two consecutive weeks.
Even though I've been on bus tours
many times before,
this time I was excited since the day before.
As I walked along the road,
I found myself humming
Kylie Minogue's
"LOCOMOTION"
”Everybody's doin' a brand-new dance now
Come on, baby, do the locomotion
I know you'll get to like it if you give it a chance now
Come on, baby, do the locomotion”
The bus tour will take SL Hitoyoshi
from Kumamoto to Tosu,
then take a bus to Kurume
and return to Kumamoto.
By the way, SL seemes to be
"steam locomotive"
instead of
"steam locomotion" in English.
I thought there would be many children
on the bus tour.
It wasn't like that,
it was just my generation or
my parents generation.
After I arrived at Kumamoto Station and
was waiting on the platfoam,
the SL
pulled up to the platform.
It had a beautiful small polished black body.
SL Hitoyoshi is a passenger car
with a sophisticated design,
typical of Mitooka Eiji-san.
Above the aisle,
there are cornices resembling the transomes
of Japanese-style rooms,
On the decorative shelves,
models of the SL train aredisplayed.
As it slowly departed Kumamoto Station,
the whisle sounded.
It was an indescribable. pleasant sound.
Outside the window, there was a faint drift of
black smoke from the locomotive.
I put the cup sake and barley tea I bought
the day before in front of me
and started drinking.
Next to me was an old man
who has been riding SL since junior high school.
He was a cheerful person
who loved traveling and used a smartphone.
When he saw me drinking alcohol,
he couldn't stand it anymore,
so he drank the shochu
sold inside the passenger car.
By shinkansen,
it takes about 30 minutes
from Kumamoto to Shin-Tosu.
SL Hitoyoshi runs in about 3 hours.
On SL Hitoyoshi, there is enoough time
take your time while eating the ekiben
prepared by the bus tour.
When I arrived at Tosu Station,
I got off the steam locomotive and looked at the train.
There was a cool black electric locomotive
behind the steam locomotive.
Sightseeing in Kurume cosisted of
visiting Ishibashi Cultural Center,
which was donated by Bridgestone.
It was a large garden with blooming roses,
irises, hydrangeas, and more.
Afterward, I bought some Japanese sake
at a roadside station in Kurume
and bought it back.
We arrived in Kumamoto around 6 p.m.
I brought it back.
I thought that this amount of time was
suitable for a day trip.
