Wild Japan: Closer Than You Think

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Photo Credit: バタートーストさん on PhotoAC https://www.photo-ac.com/profile/1124897

Top photo: バタートーストさん on PhotoAC

MUSUBI celebrates 200 articles with one writer’s up-close experience with Japan’s wildlife.

Wildlife in Japan is amazing, beautiful and sometimes shows up in the strangest places. Japan is an amazing country, full of wondrous things, but sometimes these things are much closer than you think. Sometimes even, they’re alive and not so friendly. I have had some amazing encounters with wildlife in Japan, and I would like to share my experiences with you so that you can laugh a lot and learn a little.

All Aboard!

My first memorable experience involving wildlife in Japan was when I was a student in Hikone City. Hikone is a small town famous for its castle and being on the shores of Lake Biwa. Hikone is in Shiga prefecture, which is a very rural place. It is great if you like the outdoors. Some of the nearby mountains even get a enough snow to host ski resorts in the winter. One of my friends from Australia was teaching in Sanagu, Mie prefecture and he invited me out to take in the sights of this village famed for producing Ninjas.

It was at the end of the semester so I had just finished my exam and I was looking forward to getting out of the dorms to have some fun and see my friend. It was already around six at night by the time I was able to get to the train station near my university. It was going to take about an hour and a half to get there according to the station information. Perfect for a late dinner near the station and then we would go see the ninjas in the morning, I thought to myself.

I hopped on the train which is affectionately known as the “beer train” at Hikone station. It’s real name escapes me as I write this. In the fall the small local train dedicates one or two cars as a rolling bar so that people can drink and enjoy the fall colors of the mountains. It winds it way through the mountains to the east servicing a few small villages, never reaching a major metropolis.

The sky was already almost completely dark by the time the train left the station, but you could still see stars peeking between gaps in the mountains on either side of the train. It was a one-car train so I decided to sit near the front so that I could look through the driver’s window. The scene alternated between dense forests and rocky mountain outcroppings that the train would trundle along over looking a river far below.

Something Out There In The Dark

Photo: takapeさん on PhotoAC

We passed a few stations and I was getting very excited to get off the train. Just then we plunged into a bamboo forest. The limited light from the stars was completely gone. Only the one lonely light on the front of the train illuminated the bamboo tunnel we were traveling through. To the left and right of the train was the blackest night I have ever seen.  All seemed well but then I saw a shape on the tracks.

It was huge, brown and incredibly fast. It moved like a blur towards the train. While I was still trying to figure out what I was looking at there was a loud boom followed by screeching of metal on metal as the emergency brakes engaged. “Whatever it was we hit it!” I thought, upon reflection I am not sure if we hit it or if it hit us.

After the train screeched to a halt the driver informed us of what happened by opening the tiny window on the door that separated the drivers cab from the rest of the train. He told the four of us on that train that we had hit a wild boar and he was going to go take a look. As he jumped out and inspected the front of the train the look on his face told me everything I needed to know. “That thing is stuck”.

The driver made a few pitiful kicks at the creature stuck in the train and started walking back to the door. He promptly informed us that we were not going anywhere and that he was going to radio for help. After he finished his radio conversation I could tell that he looked remarkably relived. This gave me hope because I was already desperate to get off the train. He informed us that the repair crew was on its way to take care of the animal and that a back up train was being sent from up the line to pick us up.

We were nearly at my destination so I was incredibly relived with this news. I called my friend to let him know that I would be a little late but everything was going to be fine. I am not sure if the time frame for the back up train was mentioned when the driver addressed us, but in my mind it was soon. Then the hours started to tick by and I became desperate to get out of that train. Eventually, after a three-hour delay, we were able to board the back up train and make it to the ninja village.

I exited the train to a completely deserted station. That station definitely had the feel of a bygone era. Nearly everything was made from wooden planks with white and blue flecks of paint indicating that at one point in the distant past this may have been a busy station. Now a wooden box with a small hole in it stood in front of the ticket window.

Our Shared Experience

Photo: Ruriiさん on PhotoAC

Luckily the battery on my phone lasted long enough to call my friend to pick me up at the station when I arrived. My friend was shocked at how late I was in getting there and suggested we get something for dinner before we went back to his place. We went to the local “inn” as it was the only restaurant in the tiny village. I recounted my story to the people of the village to which I got many nods and affirmations.

In my experience hitting a pig with a train was rare and unique thing. It was also very inconvenient, but to the people of this village it was almost a rite of passage. I can definitely relate to this. In my home state of Michigan we also have a rite of passage to complete before we can be accepted into the group.

If we switch the pig with a deer and the train with a car, it all makes sense. In Michigan it is expected that you have hit at least one deer with your car by the time you are twenty-five. My brother had three vehicle/deer encounters by the time he was twenty-five, and two of those were with a firetruck.

Even half a world away, it is still the same strange things that bring us together. No matter where we are, we all have more in common than we think.

Ready to create your own memorable adventures in Japan? Become an Assistant Language Teacher in Spring 2023, and start making some memories!

Photo Credits:

Top photo: バタートーストさん on PhotoAC

1 – n********************tさん on PhotoAC

2 – takapeさん on PhotoAC

3 – Ruriiさん on PhotoAC

All other content (text) created by the original author and © 2022 MUSUBI by Borderlink

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Kevin H.

From the United States
Has experienced Japan for 6 Years!