An Observation on Living in Kyushu

It was fun being a commuter for a while. I had a train pass and everything, although it was kind of an adventure getting that. ("No, I don't want the 11 tickets for the price of ten, I want a pass for the whole month of August!") So, I got to see the train stations every day. And, I began to notice some things.

To a lot of young people here, Kyushu is a place to move out of as soon as possible. So, the population is dropping every year, and evidence for this can be found at the train stations. For example, let's take a look at Higashiichiki Station.

Most of the trains that stop here have a consist of two or three cars. During rush hour, an occasional four-car train comes through. Recently, Japan Rail has been upgrading the platforms at various stations, including putting colored tile safety markings to replace the old painted lines, as well as raising the platform at some stations to make it easier to get into the trains.

Now, when I saw the finished work at Higashiichiki Station, I was impressed. But, I noticed that the new tile markings stopped about 2/3 of the way down the platform. As I walked down to the far end, I saw where the older markings continued on for another car-length or two. And, past that, I saw that the platform sloped down to what must have been the original platform level, which had been appparently raised up at some point before.

The original platform extended on another two or three car-lengths, before it also sloped down to grade level. Instead of the asphalt surface of the newer part of the platform, it had a gravel-and-dirt surface, through which a multitude of weeds were growing.

When Higashiichiki Station was first built, it was designed to handle trains that were six or seven cars long. After a while, they raised the platform to eliminate the step up into the train, but only for four cars. Now, with the number of commuters continuing to decline, they've renovated the station again -- but only for two cars.

Starting October 1, there will no longer be a full-time JR employee staffing Higashiichiki station.

I find this kind of sad, really.