Always Read the Signs

MARCH 14, 2008 - PART 1

On our second full day it was time to make our way to the relatives. The first aunt that we visited was Aunt Yoshiko in Kanazawa. It was supposed to be a fairly easy trip to Kanazawa - one train, which is a nice luxury. We ended up heading out a little earlier than intended, thinking that would make the trip a little more leisurely. When we got to the station, we found out that train we were planning to take was sold out. No fear, there was another train available just a half hour later.
We strolled up to the platform and had lots of fun taking pictures of the station. We were a little confused by the lack of other passengers, but thought, “Meh, maybe it’s not a crowded train.” We even commented on the fact that although we were in the eighth car, it seemed to be at the front and the attendant had told us it would be at the end. “Meh, attendants can be wrong.”
NO, they canNOT be wrong. In Japan, customer service agents are never wrong. First rule. Second rule, READ THE SIGNS! The train arrived on time, but 170 m down the platform. We were the furthest we could possibly be from the train! You only have a few minutes to board the train, so we had to round up all our gear and SPRINT to the train. We made, but it was a quiet ride for the first half hour as we sat in silent humility.
The kicker, when I was loading the pictures for the blog, I saw no less than four pictures of the sign that told us exactly where to catch the train. Ouch.

More photos from today!

ジェン