Have a good day!

Ahhh, thank you so much for the really kind words, and for your support too!! This is so encouraging and makes me really happy to hear! Happy to find someone who also enjoys the style of travel I do. And also who takes claims of currencies on signs at face-value… :P

Have a blast in Sapporo! I’m headed up to Hokkaido again in August and am excited to see it in the not-snow for the first time.

Hi, Thanks for replying! The president’s blog is quite something hahaha.

Hey, glad you found it useful!

Yeah, Google Maps isn’t going to be able to figure out transferring to the bus that connects the two lines, but it (or other tools like Ekispert https://roote.ekispert.net/en) should help for timetables on each of the two lines – though I’m partial to looking at them manually, too! Assuming you’re not stopping at Okuōikojō or anything on the way back (I did all of that as I worked my way up, so heading back down was just a straight shot for me too) that should indeed be enough time. From the page you linked, piecing together the (out-of-order) info shown there:

15:15 Ikawa -> 17:00 Senzu (Ikawa Line)
17:45 Senzu Stn. -> 18:30 Ieyama Stn. (Kawane-Honcho Town Bus)
18:48 Ieyama -> 19:24 Kanaya (Oigawa Main Line), or the next 20:26 departure

Limited Japanese should be no problem – Google Translate is good enough to get you around most of Japan I think, and transport stuff is especially not too bad, since most everything’s in English too. Oigawa Railway has even specifically been trying to market to inbound tourists recently, to help raise money to restore the full line by 2029, so they’ve been investing in a lot more foreign language materials as a result.

The new president of the company as of June 2024 is Akira Torizuka – who is, as my Japanese friend put it, “famous among railfans for bold marketing ideas targeting fans and residents” and is the one behind these investments. By the way, his blog is, uhhhh, interesting: https://i.imgur.com/aSHFpKr.png

One of the NHK WORLD programs actually did an episode on him recently and the company’s efforts to restore their line, if you’re interested: “Oigawa Railway: A New President Steps Up – Japan Railway Journal” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxDykdqd04o

I just went with a backpack for my one-day overnight trip, so yeah, no real luggage. The Ikawa Line trains in particular are smaller than most in Japan. I think you’ll enjoy it a lot more if you stash any sort of carry-on bag in a coin locker at Kanaya. Oigawa Railway has them available there: https://daitetsu.jp/faq/facilities-06

1. Google maps wasn’t much help, but I was taking a look at the official timetable (https://daitetsu.jp/eng/ft_timetable) and it seems that there’s two trains down from Ikawa to Sensu. Assuming I grab the 15:15 one, would that be enough time to make it down to Kanaya? I can see from your images that it was already a bit dark when you got back to Ikawa.

2. Would you be able to get by with limited Japanese?

3. It doesn’t seem like you had luggage on you. If I’m planning to stay near Ieyama on the way up, should I bring luggage or are the trains a bit tight? Should I try and find some locker near Kanaya?

Thanks!

Luke, thanks so much for the comment – apologies it took me a while to see this! (And for being so far behind with my reports too, hahaha.) So cool you’re doing that as well – would love to hear about where you’ve gone/ridden so far, or which lines you want to ride next! Do you have a Noritsubushi account? If you have Discord you should join the server! There’s a few of us in there who do it and there’s a list of everyone’s profiles. Or if it’s easier, just shoot me an email or something if you want :D Please do stay in touch!!

MR. PRICE!!!!! SOOOO sorry for my extremely late reply here. Finally catching up on things. I actually vaguely remembered that you had lived in Saga!! Since this trip I’ve actually been or passed through there two more times, even, hahah. I stayed in a great little guesthouse in Arita for a night in February of this year – near an unmanned station, run by a Dutch woman – and it was a blast. It’s one of the least-visited prefectures, but I like it a lot, and it feels super underrated. They have some cool stuff like the ceramic/pottery fair, the hot air balloon festival…

Fukushima is, actually, possibly the place in Japan I’ve wanted to go back to the most though. Aizuwakamatsu is one of the prettiest areas I’ve been to (all too briefly) and I really really want to make it back there. Maybe this fall/early winter to see some autumn leaves??

Love that you still have the sixseven site and linked it here!!! :) Thanks a lot for reading! I hope you’ve been doing well!

Ahhh, thank you so much for the kind words and taking the time to comment! Hahaha, yeah, this has definitely started to veer toward becoming a place for me to write about travel & trains but I also, admitted, enjoy some great live theater!! I haven’t been to any in quite a while so I should probably fix that :) So glad you enjoyed and I hope you’re able to check out some of Mitani’s movies (or plays)! They’re all so great!