There’s one thing barely mystical and Harry Potter-like about these platforms and one has to surprise why some stations have them whether or not it’s as a result of it’s been added on that individual aspect of platform 1 or simply as a result of they started their numbering from zero! I’m undecided if I’ll ever go to all of them however definitely hope to tick a couple of extra off because the years go by!
Situated on the western tip of Honshu with coastlines on the Sea of Japan and Seto Inland Sea, Yamaguchi prefecture was as soon as the king of platform zeros in Japan with 5 of them however sadly that quantity has been decreased over time. Niigata now has the crown however Yamaguchi is joint second and my problem was to go to all of them.
1. Ube station, Yamaguchi Prefecture
Realizing I had no selection however to trip the Shinkansen (bullet practice) again to Hiroshima at night time, I made a decision to save lots of a bit of cash on the outward journey by taking the lengthy and sluggish native practice path to Ube by way of the San-yo Line. There was a brief cease alongside the best way however total it took about three and a half hours. It’s fairly a pleasing trip crawling alongside the coast and I had time to spare on this event.
Ube publicises itself as “a metropolis of greenery, flowers and sculptures. While I definitely didn’t see any of that up shut (I didn’t exit the station!) I may see some mountains and countryside within the distance as quickly as I disembarked. Additionally clearly seen was loads of zero-style signage!
Regardless of having only one aspect platform and two island platforms (related by a footbridge) there are literally six platforms at Ube as the previous has a cutout thereby permitting it to serve two tracks. Certainly one of them is the Ube Line for Inō and Ube-Shinkawa which runs on platform zero itself.
My practice out of Ube was departing on that line and platform by means of a 33.2 kilometre practice trip north to the capital metropolis of the prefecture.
2. Shin-Yamaguchi station, Yamaguchi Prefecture
By likelihood I had a transit at this station as I continued on to the fox-blessed scorching spring city after which to see what turned out to be a really entertaining soccer match at a stadium I had by no means been to. Finally although my first ever go to to Shin-Yamaguchi station was fairly disappointing because the platform zero is not in operation. There are some very restricted indicators of its existence down on the finish of platform 1 the place there’s a closed gate to the a part of the platform which presumably served platform zero up to now.
These days Platform 0 refers back to the sq. positioned to the north of the station which possesses bus stops, a taxi rank, and different amenities the place individuals collect and relaxation. The title comes from “the picture that the station is advancing into the city” in case you can think about such advertising strains!
3. Iwakuni station, Yamaguchi Prefecture
As a result of its pretty shut proximity to Hiroshima (about 45 minutes) I’ve visited Iwakuni a couple of instances over time with the primary motive normally being to see the awe-inspiring Kintaikyo Bridge which is the main attraction within the space. While out that manner in December 2022, I took a slight detour to Iwakuni station within the title of getting some new photographs as my earlier visits have been earlier than I obtained the platform zero bug!
The all-important platform 0 is a notched one on the Shimonoseki aspect of platform 1 that sereves the 38.3 kilometre-long Nishikagawa Seiryu Line for Nishikicho.
4. Nagatoshi station, Yamaguchi Prefecture
This station is positioned within the north-west of the prefecture and one which I’ve sadly not been to. In case you haven’t already stopped studying this put up in anger and disappointment at that information then please notice that it’s positioned on the San’in Major Line which runs (on this space of Japan) between Masuda and Shimonoseki. To my annoyance I have to’ve been pretty near this station a few years in the past after I was on a household journey within the area and even stayed in Nagato for an evening when going between Motonosumi Inari Shrine and Hagi. It’s certain going to take some effort to ever be in that a part of Japan ever once more!
- Right here is the entire listing of stations which have a platform zero. Let me know of any errors or omissions…
Morioka & Kitakami (Iwate)
Sakata (Yamagata)
Kashiwazaki, Echigoyuzawa, Shibata & Higashisanjo (Niigata)
Tatsuno, Okaya & Matsumoto (Nagano)
Anamizu (Ishikawa)
Takasaki (Gunma)
Nippori & Ayase (Tokyo)
Sawara & Yotsukaido (Chiba)
Okazaki (Aichi)
Toba (Mie)
Gifu-Hashima (Gifu)
Kyoto (Kyoto)
Himeji (Hyogo)
Gobo & Shirahama (Wakayama)
Yonago (Tottori)
Hashioka (Kagawa)
Naruto (Tokushima)
Gomen (Kochi)
Nagatoshi, Iwakuni & Ube (Yamaguchi)
Tagawagotoji & Haruda (Fukuoka)
Ishaya (Nagasaki)
Kumamoto (Kumamoto)
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