The Railway Children - Steam trains in Japan

My mother's hometown is in Akashina, Azumino city. There're lots of things about a steam train. Then I always went Akashina, I would get on a train with my mother and sister. The steam train had run through the Shinonoi line from Shiojiri to Nagano until I was about ten years old.

It takes 20 minutes to get Akashina station from Matsumoto. My mother told me not to open a window widely. Suddenly the smoke entered in the train depend on the wind direction. The seats were made of wood, so it was not comfortable to sit. But it was a cozy space with my family.

My grandparents house and rice fields were by the train line.  The house was on the higher place than the Shinonoi line. So I could see the magnificent figure of the steam train, when I went out of the gate. In front of the rice fields, there was a small crossing, then the train whistle blew. I liked to watch the steam train at that time.

In early summer, I played with my younger aunts while grandparents planted rice. In fall, the season of rice harvest, I always waved the passengers in the train from the rice fields. They waved back from the windows. I wondered where people were going? At that time, the train was not so fast, I could see the features of people. It was really interesting.

Posted for Hiroko

The Railway Children - Living near a railway line

If I live near a railway line, I would think about going on a trip often. When I see people on a train, I wonder where they will go and who they are. It is a kind of magic of train that people forget about their real life and dream to go to a new world, just for a while.

When I lived in California, there was a canyon near my house. And under the canyon there was a railway line. Sometimes I saw the trains running and my children were excited to see them. It was nice to see trains running through the canyon.

For people who live in a country, trains associate journey and admiration for the city. But, for the people who live in a city, trains are daily transportation. In the big city like Tokyo, train comes every 5 minutes. It must be very noisy to live near the railway line in a city. When I go to Tokyo by train, I can see many houses very near the railway line. I always think it will be very difficult for me to live near the railway line. Because of noise and light I feel restless and can't sleep well at night.

Posted for Yasumi

The Railway Children - Moving House

I don’t have any experiences about moving house in my childhood. When we moved to Yokohama, I was only four, so I don’t remember it. Next we moved when I was eighteen. But a lot of my friends left our town. Sometimes I envied them. Because they would have the new life, new house, new friends, and new experiences.

One day,a new student came to our class in my elementary school. Maybe I was nine or ten years old. She is elegant. We were surprised because she moved from London. Her Japanese was a little bit strange, but her manners were very beautiful. We were so surprised when she ate a piece of apple at the school lunch. We have never seen a person who ate the apple hiding around her mouth by her hand , especially did by a child . Of course some boys teased her. Because nobody ever imagined someone eats a piece of apple carefully with a beautiful manner. Actually I think she was surprised more than us.

After a while, she became my best friend. When we went to her house, her mother welcomed me and our friends. She and her mother sometimes spoke in English. We gradually got a hard friendship. It is the good old days.

After several years, she had moved to Singapore. We missed each other, so wrote many letters until she came back to Tokyo. Of course she is still one of my best friend.

Posted for Naoko