F#$Kintetsu Line
May 24th, 2005 by quaisiIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
There is an interesting train line in Osaka I have to use once everywhile on my new job to get to some of the schools I go to which I believe does not want any foreign people using it. It is called the Kintetsu line. There is a big map of all the train stations by the ticket machines on this line which are always written down only in kanji. If you do not know how the station name is written in kanji you are quite frankly buggered.
This is a train line a mere 5 kilometres from the city centre so at one time or another people who aren`t Japanese will use this line. My train line which is around a 45 minute journey away has the station names in English as well so why can`t this one.
I am not being an ethnocentristic gaijin in that I expect everybody to speak my language and bend to my will. I am being unusually aggressive to this train line because in English there is a small sign by the machines which says:
If you do not know how to buy tickets, go to the window.
I cunningly enough know how to buy tickets. What I lack is sufficient proficency in Japanese to decipher where I`m going. The surprisingly curt reproach for daring not to be able to speak Japanese was a surprise.
Posted in Misc |
May 25th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
I wasn’t aware there were no English station names on the Kintestu line guide maps. I’ll have to check this out next time I’m there. In the meantime, here’s a couple of possible solutions to your problem:
1) Ask a Japanese person buying a ticket at the same time to help you.
OR
2) Buy the cheapest ticket and use the fare adjustment machine at the station where you get off to pay the difference that is displayed.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
you are right on with the kintetsu line. they hate us. People always wonder why i’m such a big fan of the Keihan line. Its easy to understand, reasonable ticket prices, NO hidden fees, and the stops and times are clearly available when you are buying your ticket and when you are waiting for the train.
The kintetsu line however, fails to mention the extra fees on the rapid services until you are on it….which means even if you make a mistake…you’re still paying the extra fees. i can even talk and read a little japanese, but the train guy was simply not having it. This also happened to me once on jr, but that’s cause i was stupid enough to ride the green section(first class)… i ended up paying about 2400yen for an 800yen ride….that sucked. But kintetsu sucks so bad. i have recently been thinking about writing a letter to the company and telling them to lick my balls but i’m too lazy playing diablo II to even deal with it. fuck, i have to ride kintetsu again today but its too meet a girl so i guess its worth it.
I realize this post is over a year old, but no time can heal the stink of a dirty shit.
April 21st, 2006 at 4:26 am
Au contraire, I have found Kintetsu Line to be quite a comfortable and scenic train, in spite of the lack of English-friendly signage. Maybe I’m biased — as I always enjoy a trip to Tennoji Station/Kintetsu Department Store and environs, and I even attended a Kintetsu Buffaloes ballgame or two back in the glory days.