We visit Kyushu’s oldest wooden train station building, get hit with a nostalgia overload
Think about trains in Japan and the first thing that might spring to mind is that they are crowded as heck. After all, Japan is home to not only Shinjuku Station, the busiest station in the world, but out of the 100 busiest train stations in the world, 82 of them are Japanese.
However, these crowded train stations are all located in Japanese cities like Tokyo and Osaka. Venture out of the big cities, as our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma did, and you’ll be met with an entirely different experience. The Japanese countryside is home to train stations with a more old-school, rustic vibe, like Kyushu’s Yusubaru Station, located in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Not only is Yusubaru Station quaint and charming, it happens to be the oldest wooden station building in Kyushu, having first opened way back in August 1895.
Just from this picture alone, the first thing you may notice is the complete lack of any vending machines. Most places in Japan, regardless of how remote they may seem, will have the familiar glow of a vending machine, yet Yusubaru was completely vending machine-free.
Above the entrance to the station is a small, wooden sign with the station name in full — Heisei Chikuho Railway Yusubaru Station. Above the bench on the left was another wooden sign, with a sign pointing to a baggage room to the right, and to the bicycle parking area on the left. But hang on a minute…
Source: japantoday.com
