Generally I do pretty well navigating the trains in Japan, but today, well, was not a banner day.
According to google directions, to get to Ogaki from Nagoya you take the Tokaido line. It’s a major line, and Ogaki isn’t far, so I nonchalantly figured I’d just jump on a local on that line, no problem.
Checking the signboard, a Tokaido local train was on track 2, so that’s where I went. But as I was listening to the announcements, it said the incoming train was bound for “Toyohashi and Gamagori.” Gamagori? I know where that is only because I have a copy of a travel order to Hotel Gamagori from back when my dad was stationed here in the army, and it’s in exactly the opposite direction from where I want to go. Oops.
Usually, the same train in the opposite direction is just one platform over. But the next platform was also headed to Toyohashi and Gamagori. What??
Well, there are lots of platforms here, so I just kept walking and eventually found a platform for Tokaido line to Gifu and Ogaki, and got on a local train. Done.
That went well enough, except when I got to Gifu, a lot of people got on and started flipping the seat backs to face the other direction. What’s going on? Then an announcement came on that the train was bound for Toyohashi (again??) and I noticed that the departing train on the other side of the platform said “Ogaki”. Sigh.
Fortunately I had time to get off of that train, and it was a short wait for the local to Ogaki, where I arrived without further incident.
In hindsight, I should have paid more attention to *which* train went from Nagoya to Ogaki, local or express. If I’d noted the deprture time goigle provided that would have solved that.
But on the other hand, it all worked out in the end. I was on the right line, and with a JR pass, I could take as many trains as I needed and I’d get there eventually.
Out and About 