Shin-Ōsaka: In a Loop
09/09/2007
‘Shin’ doesn’t stand for ‘station’ as I’d mistakenly assumed—unless it refers to ‘Shinkansen station’. This means that Shin-Ōsaka does not equal Ōsaka.
And this is why I couldn’t find the train to Tennoji/Nara.
After circling a few times, I whipped out the phrase book, stared blankly at the transport section for a while, then stepped up to the information counter and said meaningfully: “Nara?”
The poor guy was trying to sink into the ground when he spotted my approach. He ended up scribbling on his pristine timetable, circling Shin-Ōsaka several times with a black ballpoint pen, then drawing a short line to Ōsaka.”Fifteen,” he said pointing at the platform signs. “Fifteen or sixteen.”
He said it in Japanese. I have counted to ten in Japanese for what must be hundreds of times over the years, but trust me not to understand until he scribbled the platform numbers on his timetable as well.
I’m an cretin when it comes to travelling. I constantly get lost. I can’t pick up any phrases unless I’m reading the words at the same time, and if I do pick up a few words, I mis-pronounce them. I’ve given up getting uptight about it and have accepted my role as a gibbering idiot. But I endeavour to do better. Next time.
Another case in point: I made a stupid snap-decision when I saw somebody jump from the carriage and run across the platform to a waiting subway train (a subway train—I have a JR pass!) which said ‘for Nara’ in the window.
What was I thinking? I was on the Nara Loop train. But the conductor said something which made me think it might be quicker to change. Endless slogs around the London Circle Line sprang to mind. I thought I was being clever.
Anyway, here is the problem: this is Greater Ōsaka, not greater London. And I don’t have a multi-script map. No Kanji, Katakana or Hiragana. Roman letters only. So I couldn’t read any of the stop signs. This wasn’t a tourist train, and the time of Romanji transcripts was at an end.
I couldn’t just hop across the platform and wait for the next loop line because they don’t stop at every station. I couldn’t make out where the loop line intersected with my current train because lines on the map looked like vividly coloured soba noodles, occasionally running in parallel strands to unknown destinations. I couldn’t go back either, because I had forgotten the name of the station.
But at least Nara should be the last stop. Which left me wondering if I would be arrested or fined for travelling without a valid ticket.
And all the time, I felt the eyes of the CCTV cameras on me, the security guy laughing at the stupid gaijin.
I’m getting too old for this
Tags: Japan without a Clue, Travel, Tag Index
Denni