It was, in Madam's words, a big train day, though starting from the very end of the Shinkansen network you might question how that was possible. The answer, of course, involved local lines, and once we'd alighted at Shin-Yatsushiro, even Madam, who only had us doing this bit because it would deliver us to Hitoyoshi was gobsmacked by what came next.
The Trans-Kyushu Express looped back under the Shinkansen line and headed up into the hills passing forest-covered ranges with almost vertical slopes that towered above the train as it wound its way along a river valley.
It wasn't quite as spectacular as the ride from Toyama through Takayama anddown to Nagoya or from Nagano to Nagoya, but those are well known scenic routes. This one, a mere transitory stage before what was to come was, however, bloody magnificent.
And if the prelude was bloody magnificent, these next two stages were absolutely stunning.
Eventually we found ourselves approaching Kagoshima, and the interest shifted over the water to Sakurajima, the volcano that is to Kagoshima what Vesuvius is to Naples. Conditions throughout the day had been hazy, and the view across the water wasn't the greatest, but the sight had the camera enthusiasts snapping away with Hughesy happy to leave the snapping to those who had a fair idea of what they were doing.
Back at Kagoshima-chuo I was satisfied with the day's activities, and would have been quite happy to have headed back to the hotel, but Madam was determined to get a couple of scenic shots across the bay to Sakurajima.