A Story of Traveling Long Distance Solo with Kids

I'm going to ride the Tsurugi and the Thunderbird from Toyama Station!!!

It was Sunday.
I was at Toyama Station, holding the hand of my three-year-old son and carrying my infant daughter in a baby carrier.
We had been staying at my husband's parents' house in Toyama Prefecture since the day before, and today we were heading to my hometown, Osaka.
I said goodbye at the station to my husband, who had to work the next day.
It was a journey for the three of us.

My son, who loves trains more than anything, had been looking forward to this day since the beginning of December when we decided on our travel dates.
It was his first time riding the Hokuriku Shinkansen and the Thunderbird.
And this time, he had his very own ticket.

Usually, we use the unreserved seats on the Tokaido Shinkansen (we always ride the Hikari or Kodama, so we never have trouble finding seats), so I am grateful that I don't have to buy a ticket for my preschooler son.
However, this time, we were traveling at the end of the year when the trains are crowded.
Since it would be too difficult if we couldn't sit, I had reserved seats for both my son and me in advance.

A few days after purchasing them, I handed him the real ticket with "Child" printed in the top right corner, saying, "This is your ticket, Son."

This!! My ticket!!

My son was overjoyed.
After letting him look at it for a while, I said, "It would be a disaster if you lost it, so Mommy will hold onto it," and he handed it to me.
My son had a serious look on his face, as if to say, "Oh, it's the real thing."
It seems to have really appealed to my son, who is at the age where he wants to stretch himself and imitate adults.

And so, the day finally arrived for this ticket to fulfill its purpose.

My son was already grinning after receiving a Hokuriku Shinkansen sticker from a station attendant at Toyama Station.
"Since it's your ticket, Son, put it into the ticket gate yourself. It's okay, it will come out properly."
I called out to him and watched over my son as he headed toward the gate.

A small figure standing just over 90 centimeters tall.
My son stretched his arm out to insert the ticket into the automatic ticket gate, which was taller than he was.

Beep-beep!

The chirping sound of a child's ticket passing through the automatic gate rang out, and the gate opened.

"That's your ticket, Son, so make sure to take it."

When I said that, my son took the ticket that had come out as if relieved and looked back at me.

I did it!!!!

He had a beaming smile and a look of triumph that was the very picture of success.
Although my son always has me put our tickets into the gate, having his own ticket and passing through the gate by himself felt different from before.

A ticket and a gate that bring him one step closer to being an adult.

Watching my son take steps on his own, I felt glad that I had planned this itinerary. (*We had only just passed through the gate, though.)

The Hokuriku Shinkansen "Tsurugi" we were scheduled to ride was already waiting on the platform.

"Which car are we riding in?"
I decided to ask Captain Son, who was walking proudly along the platform, to lead the way to our seats.
My son, who has recently made a hobby of reading numbers, seemed to enjoy looking for our car and seat numbers.

I'm counting on you.

When he receives a message like that from me, he gets all fired up.
If he were in his usual spoiled mode, he would probably be giving me a hard time by saying, 'I want to be with Daddy,' but there was no sign of that.

We boarded safely.
My husband, who was seeing us off, was playing peek-a-boo through the train window.
Laughing, I waved at my husband, and we departed.

The color of the train seats.
The scenery outside.
The names of the stations we stopped at.
Everything seemed fresh to my son.

'I can see snow!'
'What's the next station called?'
'What prefecture is this?'

My son's questions never stopped.
Every time we arrived at a station, he would pretend to be the conductor and mimic opening and closing the doors.
'Hey, are we going to eat the cake?'
He didn't forget to eat the Baumkuchen we had cut up and received at my in-laws' house.
It was a very busy time on the Shinkansen.

While we were doing all that, we arrived at the final stop, Tsuruga Station, and transferred to the Thunderbird limited express train bound for Osaka.

Actually, I was more worried about this part of the trip.
It was around 4:00 PM.
At this time of year when the sun sets early, it was starting to get dark outside, which halves the appeal of the scenery.
It was also around the time he would start getting bored after the long travel from the Hokuriku Shinkansen.
Since there were few stops, I was worried that the time on the train would feel very tedious.

The train departed on time.
And, a while after departure, the door to the car in front of us suddenly opened, and the conductor came in.
He approached us, as we were sitting relatively near the front.

'Here, if you'd like, please take this for your child.'

The young conductor, who still had a somewhat innocent look about him, handed us stickers printed with the Hokuriku Shinkansen (W7 series) and JR West sightseeing trains.

Then, noticing my daughter lying on my lap, he continued.

'Oh, there are two of you...! Then here is another one for this child.'

My son, who unexpectedly got two stickers at once, grinned again.
It was a moment where I strongly felt that stickers are an item that brings peace to all children.

My son was already in a good mood just from the stickers, but I suddenly had an idea.

'Would you like the conductor to check your ticket, son?'

Perhaps due to labor cost reductions, there are no ticket inspections on the Hokuriku Shinkansen 'Tsurugi' or the Thunderbird these days (or maybe they only come for non-reserved seats?).
My son's ticket, which he had been looking forward to, wouldn't get a conductor's stamp.
My son loves stamps.
To me, that felt like a bit of a shame.

My son nodded vigorously at my suggestion and immediately held out his precious ticket.

'Oh, is this your ticket? That's super cool! Should I stamp it for you?'

The young conductor firmly stamped my son's ticket.

My son received the ticket, his eyes shining.
He stared at the stamped ticket lovingly.

Oh, thank you, young conductor.
For understanding what my son and I were hoping for.

The conductor's stamp also included the date.
Learning the date every day is one of my son's current obsessions.
'It's December 28th!!'
It felt like the memorable day he held his own ticket to go back to his hometown had been etched into his memory.

As we approached Shin-Osaka Station, my son got bored of sitting and started walking around the train car, but somehow, I managed to make it to Shin-Osaka Station on my own.
I managed to reach Shin-Osaka Station while handling everything by myself.

On the platform at Shin-Osaka Station, in front of the last car, my son waved at the conductor as he watched the train depart.
The conductor from earlier waved back at him.
Usually, my son would just say, 'He waved bye-bye to me!'
But that day was different.

'Mr. Conductor, thank you for giving me the sticker.'

I hadn't prompted him to say anything, but my son said it on his own.
The conductor smiled, looking a bit shy.
We watched the Thunderbird depart while continuing to wave.

At the manned ticket gate at Shin-Osaka Station, my son had the station staff stamp his ticket as invalid so he could keep it.
Finally, he received a sticker of the 'Panda Kuroshio' limited express train from the station staff, which made him beam with joy for the third time that day.

It was a solo trip where I was helped by many different people, including station staff and conductors.
There was even a foreign tourist who helped me support my suitcase and put it on the overhead rack on the Thunderbird when I was trying to lift it up.
It might have been reckless to head home alone with a three-year-old and a newborn, but once I tried it, I realized it works out somehow.
I was reminded once again of the simple truth that I am not alone.

Someone will support you and speak to you.
My son is also becoming a big brother I can rely on.

Perhaps I was the one who felt the warmth of people the most and felt relieved during this trip home.
There is no need to think you have to handle everything by yourself.
The world is probably kinder than you think.

Thinking about such things as the year comes to an end.
I think I will be supported by the people around me next year as well.
Not just by others, but also by my son, whose sudden growth I have felt recently.
But maybe that's okay.

Everyone, please continue to look after me.
I wish you a happy new year.

Update on Jan 4th

I was featured for the first time in the note editorial department's Today's Featured Articles...!!!

(I noticed it when I opened my smartphone at 1:00 AM while breastfeeding my daughter at night. My sleepiness vanished instantly. Haha)
I'm so happy...!! This year is going to be a good one too!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by!!!

I write various parenting essays.

In September, I sold an anthology ZINE called 'Happiness Found Through Writing' at the Literature Flea Market in Osaka.
You can purchase it from my online shop!

Click here for the ZINE production process

I also like to hear about people's dreams and who they want to become.
It's a project that has just begun.
I am doing it very quietly and very irregularly.

Thank you for reading!