No seat reservation.

Just the words a traveler wants to hear. Never. Gerald had arranged a stay in a beautiful Onsen Resort described in the Lonely Planet as “a romantic ryokan with private attached onsen whose exquisite attention to detail makes this a place to experience Japanese hospitality”. We knew it was in a remote location and would be a full days journey with many changes of train and bus, but it was a special treat for my birthday, and we were prepared for the long haul. Or so we thought.

The ryokan manager recommended we spend the two hour wait time at the Hita train station, sightseeing and having lunch before catching the bus for the final leg of the journey.

First up, store the luggage in a locker either at the train station or the adjacent bus station so we would be unencumbered by shlepping our bags around. No Go. All lockers full except for some tiny ones which would accommodate only a backpack. OK, Plan B, go to the Bus Station to get tickets for the ride to Kurakawa Onsen town and just hang out until the bus arrives. Here’s where we really hit a snag. You would think buying a bus ticket would be a simple affair. Nope. What the ryokan manager neglected to say was that no one spoke or understood English. “Two bus tickets to Kurakawa Onsen”- enunciates Gerald,who has learned a fair amount of Japanese.

No seat reservation.

Panic sets in. The ticket agent shakes her head and indicates through gestures we can not buy a ticket. After pleading and insisting on getting on the bus, the best we can manage is the promise that if there is a seat available when the bus arrives we can get on. We try to buy a ticket for the next bus, same response.

No seat reservation.

It seems strange that all the busses are already full. We remain dumbfounded.The ticket agent can feel our pain and quickly retrieves a “communication device” which translates her Japanese into somewhat recognizable English. We ask her to call the Ryokan for us in the hope they can help us. Back and forth. “Wait bus”. “I don’t understand you, will someone come and get us?'” “Seat on bus”. “What?”

Somewhat exasperated and exhausted at this point, we decide to just wait until the bus arrives and see what happens. A small restaurant at the station is filled with older Japanese women chattering and eating udon. This seems like a good way to destress. All eyes are on us as we enter. Other than saying “Udon” we don’t know what to order. No pictures for a menu. A brainstorm- “Tempura?” A knowing smile. Jackpot.

The bus arrives and there are plenty of empty seats. What was the problem? You cannot make a seat reservation less than 24 hours in advance. Only standby!

We bought a ticket for our return trip, and paid more for it than the ride without a ticket. Go figure.

Right then I decided to look for a Japanese translation app for my phone, et voila! Now I can ask whatever I want and people are taken by surprise when a voice comes out of my phone in Japanese.