I took the interesting train to travel to Ibusuki City on 29 April 2015!
Signtseeing Train IBUTAMA
The express runs between Kagoshima City and Ibusuki City.
You can see the wonderful scenery of Kagoshima City, Mt. Sakurajima and Kinko Bay from windows of the train.
This is the front side view of the train.
Name of IBUTAMA (Ibusuki-no-Tamatebako)
I found the name plate of the train at the entrance door of the train. What does the name of the train mean?
The train is named after Japanese legend story of Taro Urashima.
There are lots of stories Taro Urashima in Ibusuki City!
The name of the train reads “IBUSUKI-NO-TAMATEBAKO”. Local people call the train IBUTAMA or abbreviation of the formal name.
TAMATEBAKO appears in the story of Taro Urashima.
In the story, local young fisherman Taro opens a box called TAMATEBAKO. Much smoke comes out of the box and Taro changes into old man.
When you get off the train, you will notice that the water mist springs up from the top of the doors just like the story!
Serial Number of IBUTAMA
This is the serial number of the express train.
There are many train manias in Japan. They are very eager to know the number of each train.
Do your countries have the similar serial number on each train?
JR is the abbreviation of Japanese Railway. Kyushu Railway Company operates trains in Kyushu area.
My friend works at the company and I heard it pays him very good…
Another unique train was staying at the left side of IBUTAMA express. The train is called the Hisatsu Orange. It runs between Satsuma-Sendai City and Yatsushiro City.
Train staff check the security of train and platform before departure…
Let’s depart for Ibusuki City, Japanese Hawaii!