On the way back to the Miyazaki station from Aoshima Island, we waited for nearly an hour. We did so until the train arrived. The train comes every hour and we should have checked the schedule first before we went to the island.

When the train arrived, it was not the regular train but rather the one being advertised in one of the posters at the station. It is called the Umisachi Yamasachi train. As I’ve said it’s not a regular train but a sightseeing train. It travels along the scenic Nichinan coastline between Miyazaki city and Nango in Miyazaki Prefecture. The train starts from Miyazaki Station at 10:06am, spends 4 hours in Nango, and returns to Miyazaki by 5:15pm.

The 51-seater train doesn’t run every day but only during weekends, national holidays, and holiday periods. It was Sunday, so we got a chance to ride on it accidentally.

The train was designed by Eiji Motooka, a famous train designer responsible for many of Kyushu’s special trains. These include the Sonic and Yufuin no Mori. There is also the luxury excursion train Seven Stars in Kyushu. Others are the Hayato no Kaze and the Kumagawa Railway Yunomae Line diesel cars. Finally, it includes the 800 Series Shinkansen. The wooden interiors and exterior cladding are made from cedar wood from the Obi Castle Town in Miyazaki.

More than the appearance of the train, its name has a deeper mythological meaning to it. Umisachi literally means sea harvest, while Yamasachi means mountain harvest. The Sun Goddess Amaterasu sent her grandson Ninigi to rule over Japan. She intended to make it a better nation. Ninigi begotten 3 sons from Princess Konohana-Sakuya. Two of them are Umisachi and Yamasachi, to whom he has given magical tools for fishing and hunting, respectively. The train takes people to beautiful tourist spots. It also teaches them about the mythical gods of Miyazaki.