Sunday, October 25, 2009

Stations along the Ibusuki-Makurazaki Line

Some pictures of train stations I passed through riding the Ibuski-Makurazaki Line in southern Kagoshima Pref..

08.09 指宿枕崎線の駅-1
Some benches along an unknown station.

08.09 指宿枕崎線の駅-2
The monument to the most southern JR train station in Japan. Nishioyama station.

A comment came in about this picture asking if there are trains in Okinawa. The most southern station in Japan is Akamine station on the Okinawa Monorail in Naha opened in 2003.

Nishioyama is the most southern of the JR stations. Further up the line is Yamakawa station which is the most southern manned station. Nishioyama is an unmanned station and all fares are collected by the engineer.

According to the Wikipeda on Nishioyama station (accessed 10/26/2009 09:00 JST):

現在は標柱に「JR日本最南端の駅」と記されている。なおこの標柱の書き換えの際、当初は「本土最南端の駅」としていたが、「沖縄は本土ではないのか?」という意見を受けて2004年に再度変更した。

Currently the pillar reads "The most southern station of JR," but the pillar was rewitten from "Most southern station on the mainland." The Okinawans said, "We're not the mainland?" and it was changed in 2004.

08.09 指宿枕崎線の駅-3
The end of the line: Makurazaki station.

08.09 指宿枕崎線の駅-4
Makurazaki station is hidden behind a row of cafes and a drug store. This alley is the only entrance.

08.09 指宿枕崎線の駅-5
Some of the stations are built right up against the hillside. Eiokawa station.

08.09 指宿枕崎線の駅-6
Underneath the staircase at Ibuski station.

2 comments:

Thomas Hammerlund said...

No trains in Okinawa? (I've never been there.)

sleepytako said...

The most southern station in Japan is Akamine station on the Okinawa Monorail in Naha opened in 2003.

Nishioyama is the most southern of the JR stations. Further up the line is Yamakawa station which is the most southern manned station. Nishioyama is an unmanned station and all fares are collected by the engineer.

According to the Wikipeda on Nishioyama station:

現在は標柱に「JR日本最南端の駅」と記されている。なおこの標柱の書き換えの際、当初は「本土最南端の駅」としていたが、「沖縄は本土ではないのか?」という意見を受けて2004年に再度変更した。

Currently the pillar reads "The most southern station of JR" But the pillar was rewitten from "Most southern station on the main land." The Okinawans said, "We're not the main land?" and it was changed in 2004.