Closer to the festival

As we got closer, we could see people standing along the railing of the second floor open area. We could also see that there were more than a single ten. From where we were we could here pop music coming from a PA system and a lot of noise in general.

I particularly like the shape of the top of the station building. It contrasts nicely with all the straight lines in the area. I you look closely you can see what appears to be a tree growing out of the roof. Actually is a tree growing on the roof. The fourth floor of the building has an outdoor garden. The two structures above the roof on the right are sunshades that shelter benches. The junior and senior high school students use the area a lot because they can sit and talk with direct observation by adults. Nothing outrageous or dangerous happens up there, just the chance to sit together in private.

The building is contains the train station but it is also a bus terminal. We have two bus lines that pass through here. The town run buses that go around the town on three different courses, passing through all the populated areas and only costing 150 yen (100 yen for seniors) no matter how far you go. When my wife and I first moved here, we took this buses and just rode until they returned to the station. We got to see the whole town that way. The other bus company, the bus in the picture belongs to them, is the Nishitetsu line. They are a large scale transportation company running buses and trains throughout northern Kyushu. From the station you get get to a number of destination is Fukuoka city, so depending on where we are going we take the train, the Shinkansen, not the Nishitetsu which does not have a train to our town or we take a bus. There is about one train an hour but usually about three buses. The train is at least three times faster than the bus.