You Can (Not) Unread Spoilers!

This is another ‘fun’ post for those that can’t get to Japan at the moment due to this and that going on in the world. I’m vaccinated and desperately needed to get off Okinawa for a few days to decompress and after all the state of emergency declarations that popped up post-Olympics I opted to see the relatively (for the time) COVID safe prefecture of Yamaguchi on southern Honshu.

So logically I had to take some of my limited freedom time to visit a far-afield train station because it was featured in the closing minutes of an animated movie that (for now) closes out a long-running franchise. Seen at the end of  Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time, Ube-Shinkawa Station is a regular train station in Evangelion creator Anno Hideaki’s hometown, the industrial city of Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Only accessible by local trains it’s not on any direct routes to places most tourists want to go. (Unless they’re anime otaku pilgrims)

(I swear I’m not going to do more of these for awhile, but with Evangelion 3.0+1.0 finally coming out after nine years and hitting Amazon Prime just last month lining up with my temporary escape from Okinawa, I couldn’t pass up this chance)

Like the opening of the film itself, let’s just jump right into the action with this article then slow it way down much later before devolving into a shiny spectacle of whatever the hell happened. I shot with a Canon 6D using a 28-135mm lens, but I’ve cropped my images to match the 2.35:1 aspect ratio used in the movie screen caps. It was something that was hard to eyeball and line up everything just right, so sorry that all the shots are slightly off.

(Also, if you’re wondering about whether or not it’s okay to take pictures at train stations- its Japan. It’s actually weirder if there isn’t some random guy taking pictures at the train station)

This was taken near the end of platform three but NOT beyond the clear boundary at the little building. The station is very cool with Eva fans showing up to take pictures. Please don’t be the guy who messes it up for everybody.

I’m taller than the photographer that took the original reference photos from the movie production, which I tried to take into consideration but I was usually a little off the mark height-wise.

You’ll notice all the other shots have a train in them. That’s because these trains just park and chill for hours at stations. (More on that later) When I returned to the station to depart the rails had cleared up, but now the platform had people on it and I could (NOT) redo the other shots.

I should have also walked further down from the station, but again, another train was on the tracks and throwing off my frame of reference as it would have covered up more of the station had I gone far enough back.

Who is it?

I was worried the platform would be full of people, which would make shooting hard but thankfully it was empty except for another camera-wielding Eva fan and his little girl.

Shinji’s seat is the last one on the bench furthest down on the platform.

This was taken from platform three and zoomed across the way to get the angle right; it was the only other reshoot I could take later once the train had left. If I had stood on platform one it would have been too close.

It’s worth noting the train that picks up the Eva crew sans Shinji and Mari is an older model not in service and different than the train seen in the first shot. I’m sure it has some deeper meaning or something as it’s the same kind Gendo and Shinji rode the anti…whatever they were in. Like its taking them to heaven/hell/purgatory/mind screw land just like Gegege no Kitaro or Kamakura Monogatari. Or maybe Anno just really wanted another old train shot.

Of course the other guy and his kid ran up the stairs like Shinji and Mari when departing, unwittingly I did as well. Not saying I blasted One Last Kiss as I ran out of the station… but not saying I didn’t either.

The one thing that I didn’t expect was that for as normal as this station is, and as it’s depicted, it does have some personality. There’s an empty fountain with a plaster swan in it to the left of the shot with Kaoru and Rei. The plaster swans also show up in other places around town, I saw them again at Tokiwa Park.

There’s some generic Eva merchandise and even some Eva Shinkansen merch on sale at the station 7-11 but nothing movie-related.

Those barriers make a carefree run from the station entrance difficult. Or atleast they would if you did that while blasting One Last Kiss on your headphones. I already denied doing that right? Moving on.

The station staff pointed out the intersection where the movie poster reference image was shot. Exit the station and immediately turn left down the street with the old fashion arcade signage. Turn left at the first intersection. Take the photo on the road from the crossing. I should have stood a step to the left and crouched slightly lower to get the shot just right. You’ll notice the nearest set of tracks are now gone but everything else is where it should be.

Matsushima-cho arcade sign. I’m actually kind of proud I can read the kanji for Matsushima-cho. Yay me!

This train crossing. Right here. Shoot here. But be warned- a train crossing these tracks once an hour. EVERY hour.

Bonus Feature (Train Classic!)

The old brown train at the station appears to be a Kumoha 12, Japan’s first steel railcar. These came into service in 1927. This example is on display at the Nagoya MAGLEV Park and Train Museum. According to its placard it had many rebuilds before being converted into a shunting car then rebuilt again for its current passenger configuration until finally retiring in 2002. I may be wrong on this one, though it’s hard to say with the variations they had over such long careers.

Getting There: You Can (NOT) Be Serious!

Or

Flying Me to the Moon Would Have Been Quicker

Now let me regale you with the epic tale of how to get to Ube-Shinkawa Station from that bastion of civilization, Shimonoseki. Shimonoseki is the city on Honshu’s s southern tip, a place where puffer fish is their most prized delicacy and the local shrine, Akama Jingu, was immortalized in the chilling legend of Hoichi the Earless.

Getting to and from Ube-Shinkawa Station was more complicated than it should have been due to unforeseen events. Coming from Shimonoseki I intended to ride the JR Sanyo Line for Iwakuni to Ube Station, then switch to the JR Ube Line for Ube-Shinkawa Station. It would take slightly over an hour including a nearly 20 minute layover. Easy right?

Well, the journey to Ube-Shinkawa thematically parallels that of the Eva movies themselves, which took about 15 years to tell a three part story in four parts. By which I mean it took a lot longer than expected, had some weird detours, a long intermission of time for no good reason and ends at Ube-Shinkawa Station in a tired but happy conclusion.

So I settle in and start to power through the remainder of the Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya but after an awkwardly long stop at Asa Station instead of continuing on the train starts to head backwards. I notice a station we already passed, so get off at Ozuki Station to figure out what’s going on. Turns out four days prior heavy rain damaged the track between Asa and Ube, so I would need to board the next Ube bound train and get off at Asa, then take a JR-provided bus to get to Ube. Being a rural local line trains only stop by once an hour. I suddenly had far more time to find out what intrigues Haruhi had been up to.

Ozuki Station

I followed the station employee’s instructions, took the next train and shuffled from train to bus without stopping to swipe my IC card since the bus was still part of the “train” ride to Ube. Up to this point the travel had been pretty light and breezy; the train ridership was light on every train I’d boarded so there were no COVID concerns from me. Then I got to the bus where they crammed on as many people as they could before the half hour drive to all the stops now out of service due to the rain. Couldn’t stop now as no matter what direction I went, it was going to take a long spell to get to it.

Then I was in for another little surprise at Ube. Turns out that outside of Shimonoseki city-proper, and I mean only the city center, the trains do not take IC cards so I couldn’t swipe out of my last train or onto the next one. I used Google translate to communicate and showed the staff my Passmo IC card, which they looked at and I could hear them saying back and forth something about “Tokyo” and sounding slightly amused or confused as to how I got here on it. (Almost right, the card was issued 11 years ago in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.) I had to pay for my last train in cash, then purchase a ticket to my next stop and be issued a receipt that I could show at the next IC card-receiving station to cancel out the fare still being racked up on the card. I thought this only happened on Kyushu but it turns out I was wrong. Despite this seeming technological backwardness, the kind staff carried around a tablet that did translation so they could communicate with me directly.

Ube Station

Oh, and the train won’t leave again for another hour, but I could go ahead and get on now! The train was at the platform resting its tired metal bones until it made its next run down the track to Shin-Yamaguchi Station, stopping at Ube-Shinkawa along the way.

At this point, Ube-Shinkawa was close enough I could have walked to it and arrived before this train got me there but it was threatening rain and humid enough I may have actually drowned in my own sweat had I attempted to do so that late August day.

By time I stepped off on Ube-Shinkawa’s immortalized on film platform three I’d been travelling for over four hours to take a 71 minute trip. Worth it. Also finished that Haruhi book. Such intrigues!

On the way back to Shimonoseki I avoided the whole debacle by riding out to Shin-Yamaguchi then taking the short Shinkansen hop back to Shin-Shimonoseki and switching for the local line back to Shimonoseki. Financially responsible? No. Got me back after I was just done with this day? Yes.

It would have been dreadful more irresponsible to also only visit this town for the train station, even with my afternoon arrival cutting back on my visit time. Ube was a coal mining town and Tokiwa Park is home to the coal mining museum as well as the avant-garde art I mentioned before. So after doing the Eva sightseeing I used the local buses to get down that way.

Oddly enough, though the local trains are too old fashioned to handle IC cards, the local city buses take them just fine. Japanese city buses are strictly Japanese language only, but knowing the kanji for where you are and where you want to be combined with a little patience makes them pretty easy to get around on. The staff at Ube-Shinkawa’s bus stand was also helpful and pointed out which bus stop I needed to wait at.

I had another stroke of bad luck when I found out the museum closed on Tuesdays. Most museums close Mondays but this was my first Tuesday, so I could only see the outdoor equipment and D51 train displays. I also walked around the park to check out this big red almost humanoid robot looking statue thing. The true Unit 02 prototype? Probably not, but it was still interesting to see a mecha statue thing in the Evangelion creator’s hometown.

ADDRESSES/LOCATIONS

Ube-Shinkawa Station
3 Wakamatsuchō, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-0061

Movie Poster Intersection
X65V+5C Ube, Yamaguchi

Tokiwa Park
3 Chome-4-1 Norisada, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-0003
https://www.tokiwapark.jp/sekitan/

Nagoya SCMAGLEV Park and Train Museum
3 Chome-2-2 Kinjofuto, Minato Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 455-0848
052-389-6100
https://museum.jr-central.co.jp/en/

Evangelion Movie Poster

https://www.evangelion.co.jp/news/shineva_trailer3/