平成1年8月12日 (土)

    Dateline: Saturday August 12, 1989

    First train ride to Beppu.

    • First train ride to Beppu.
    • Walk around neighborhood, up towards the jikoku.
    • Midnight madness at Marushoku Kamegawa.

    We left the States two weeks ago, and this is the first day we are free to explore on our own, unsupervised.

    Accounts

    ¥540 train 1.5
    Kamegawa – Beppu – Kamegawa
    ¥580 junk food
    3 colas, 2 pastries
    ¥300 2 pieces BBQ chicken
    ¥200 JQS allowance
    video arcade games
    ¥500 25 post cards
    ¥150 115 thumbtacks
    ¥40 Scotch tape
    ¥148 consumption tax
    ¥2800 umbrellas for each of us (on sale)
    ¥1106 groceries
    ¥6414 Total

    Notes from 2009

    Cheap Day Return

    We don’t learn about the concept of “cheap day return” tickets until December and thus we pay full price for one-way tickets each way for months. JQS is 10, so his ticket is half fare.

    Video Game Heaven

    JQS is happy to find video games to play. I let him play in the arcade while I’m shopping. At some point I learn that not even my high school students are allowed to hang out in the video arcade. Usually he plays game consoles at the department store electronics department or at the toy store. We are both surprised to see fireworks for sale at the toy store.

    Notes from 2019

    Beppu Eki Stamp

    Beppu Eki Stamp
    In 1989, a popular thing to do was collect stamps from all the places one visited. So every town’s main train station, and most site-seeing attractions had their own stamps. When I realized this, I started collecting stamps. This one from Beppu proclaims that it has more steam rising from hot springs wells than any other place in Japan.

    In fact, some of the first postcards and photos I sent home were met with questions. Did Beppu have lots of factories? Was that industrial pollution on a grand scale? Nope. Hot springs. Most of the sulfurous. So Beppu does spell distinctively like rotten eggs.

    Related

    This article has some great photos the steam.
    Beppu Onsen: The Unique Hot Spring Town in Oita Japan

    What To Eat

    On our first outing alone, we wander up and down Eki-mae-dori (literally the street in front of the station) looking for something to eat. We play it pretty safe with BBQ chicken and little cakes.

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