１０月５日

The plan was to take the overnight train from Tokyo to Hakata on Friday (10/5) night and end up in Hakata by morning. This saves on hotels, but also if I can get sleep allows for more use of the daytime. Unfortunately when I tried to book my seat on this train, I was unable to. It was made to seem like this isn’t covered by the JR Rail Pass, so I that option was gone. This is where my Japanese classes helped, given it was *really* rough, but it would have been really bad without it. Seeing as I couldn’t get the overnight train, I asked what the next train would be. She set me up with the next train to Hakata, which was just enough time for me to walk out of the ticket office, ask someone which platform it was on, and go to my seat on the train. About a few minutes later I was on my way to Shin-Osaki with a connecting train to Hakata. I have no hotel booked, but Hakata should have plenty of options assuming they haven’t all gotten booked up (which I know at least one of them is). There’s supposed to be a nice capsule hotel with an open air bath so maybe It’ll be another night in a capsule hotel, but we’ll see. Because I’m arriving a little early I’ll probably get a train to Beppo tomorrow too. A touristy little town with a lot of onsen, should be nice. I also want to checkout an internet cafe in Hakata that you can crash at if things get really bad for about $20. Has a shower and all the internet you want/need. (I’m sure there’s some manga and video games to keep you busy as well).

PS: the people working on the train all bow whenever they enter or leave one of the cars. Seems like a bit much, but also seems very Japanese.