When the Master Traveler Stops Running

I usually take multiple trains to Sendai Airport from Onagawa, and then I board a plane to Kobe Airport. Next, I get on the monorail to make the connection to Sannomiya and then transfer to the JR Kobe Line to Maiko Station, where I can hop on a bus to Tokushima at the Kosoku Maiko bus stop if I just rush upstairs. This is how my trip from Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, to Tokushima ends. That night, everything went smoothly as scheduled down to the minute, and the train was just arriving at the platform in Tarumi Station, which was just one stop before Maiko Station.

At around 9:50 p.m., the train suddenly hit the brakes. The train was already at the platform and I could even see the passengers on the platform, but the doors did not open. Everybody on the train just stayed silent for a while. I was sitting in the first car of that train because it was the closest to the exit at Maiko Station where I had planned to get off the train. I didn’t understand why the train suddenly stopped. It was then that the conductor announced, “Contact has been made with a passenger. Please wait a moment.” “What does that mean?” I thought to myself. Did baggage or something hit the train when it was arriving on the platform? After about five minutes, the same announcement was repeated that there had been contact with a passenger. I didn’t know what actually happened.

A few moments later, ambulance sirens blaring. I saw many rescue workers through the window gathering onto the platform with a stretcher. I figured that it was an accident. Moreover, I was in the first car, so I was thinking that it might have been this car that had made contact with the passenger. Then I saw rescue workers looking at the gap between a train car and the platform with a flashlight and I heard them shouting aloud, “Are you alright!?” This meant that there was an injured person right under my feet. This person probably jumped into the train’s path just before it stopped.

Suddenly, the lights inside the train were turned off for the train car to be inspected. If it really was an accident that caused injury or death to someone, the train was not going to be running for a while and I was going to miss the last bus of the day to Tokushima unless I could get out of the train right away. The last bus to Tokushima was leaving from the Kosoku Maiko bus stop at 11:00 p.m. I started to feel anxious. At around 10:30 p.m., which was 40 minutes after the accident, another announcement was finally made: “We will be lifting the train car shortly, so please exit the last car.” As I expected, we had to get off after all.

I then quickly checked hotels near Tarumi Station, but nothing was available because it wasn’t a big station. I seriously thought that I was going to have to sleep outside. I also thought about taking a taxi, but Tarumi Station was not a place where cars could enter, and it was a small station with only pedestrians walking nearby. When I exited the station, I looked at my watch and it was already 10:40 p.m. “Oh, no! There’s no way that I’m going to make it...” I thought to myself. But, at that same moment, I saw something quite unexpected!

To my surprise, Akashi Kaikyo Bridge looked big from Tarumi Station, and it wasn’t too far. The bridge seemed to be about 1 km away, and Google Maps said it was exactly 2 km away. I thought that I could make it in time if I ran because it was only 2 km away! I asked the station attendant if getting to Maiko Station was easy, and I was told that I could get there by going mostly straight. I made up my mind to not give up and I started running at full speed with my carry-on bag. I didn’t mind getting sweaty since this was a life or death situation. If I had stopped, I would never have made it in time. I tried to run as fast as I could to Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and I ran as hard as when I did rigorous training for a full marathon!

However, I couldn’t run as fast with my carry-on bag and casual attire, but I just kept running with sweat pouring down me all the way down the open prefectural road at night. I kept thinking that there’s no way that I’m going to make it in 10 minutes. But, just then a red light caught my eye in the distance. It was a vacant taxi coming toward me. I waved to it and thankfully, it stopped for me. I told the driver, “To Maiko Station, please! Hurry up!” The driver made a U-turn with his car and drove fast, and I was able to get to the station just in time for the bus to depart. My strong will to not give up till the end eventually made my ‘dream’ to get on the last bus to Tokushima come true.

After that, the next leg of the journey also didn’t get any easier because I had parked my car at Tokushima Airport, and I had to get off the bus at Tokushima Tokutoku Terminal in Matsushige, which was located on the national highway near the airport. There were no taxis available because I arrived after midnight, so this was my final mission of the day! I decided to run from the bus terminal in Matsushige to the Tokushima Airport in the middle of the night. However, my carry-on bag was still a drag because I wasn’t able to run as fast this way, so I changed into my running clothes on the bus and stuffed them into my bag. As soon as I got off the bus, I looked for some bushes to hide my bag and I just shoved my bag under them! “Alright! To Tokushima Airport at full speed!” I fired myself up and started running along the airport road late at night! Sometimes it was too dark and I couldn’t even see my feet so I was afraid of falling down, but I didn’t care. I wanted to pick up my car as soon as possible and I ran without stopping.

This story may sound unbelievable, but this story is indeed true and it does have a happy ending! I finally got my car at the airport, and then I went to retrieve my bag that was still in the bushes, and I somehow made it to Tokushima Station at 1:00 a.m., and I checked into the hotel that had been waiting for my arrival. It was a momentous occasion for me to realize once again that master travelers should never ever give up, no matter how difficult the situation is, and they just continue to do their best until they are able to break through to the other side.

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge at Night