While Kumamoto might be known as a car-centric city, we do use the JR train from time to time.

But here’s the kicker: if you’re not a frequent rail rider, you might find yourself scratching your head over which station to disembark for the quickest tram ride to the heart of the city.

Amid the myriad of JR lines crisscrossing the prefecture, we’ve zeroed in on the Hohi Main Line for this investigation.

Here’s How We’re Gonna Crack This

 The Hohi Main Line boasts two stations with tram stops nearby: Shinsuizenji and Kumamoto stations. This raises the question: which station offers the speediest conduit to the machi (the word Kumamoto locals use to refer to the city center)?

We’ll clock the transfer times from these stations to the tram stop, then tally up the tram ride to Torichosuji to figure out the swiftest route to the machi.

The measurement method is: 

1. The time it takes from the station exit to the tram stop
2. The time it takes to ride the streetcar to Torichosuji

Let’s see which one will get us to the machi faster.

From Shinsuizenji Station to Torichosuji

First stop, Shinsuizenji Station.

Let’s measure the time it takes to get to the tram stop.

Ready, set, go!

Go through the turnstiles,

Go straight ahead,

And the tram stop comes right into view.

A quick descent and… you’ve arrived.

Now let’s see how long it took us to get here…

Just over minute. Speedy indeed.

Next, we hop on the tram and measure the time it takes to get to Torichosuji.

And we’re there in…

Just over 9 minutes.

Tack on the time to reach the tram stop, and you’re looking at roughly 10 minutes total from Shinsuizenji Station to Torichosuji.

From Kumamoto Station to Torichosuji

 Let’s replicate the process, this time departing from Kumamoto Station.

And we’re off!

It says not to walk on the escalator, so…

I held back my desire to walk and go fast, and waited patiently…

We’ve reached the exit!

Now let’s head to the tram stop.

 Where is it?

Where was it again?

Found it! Found it!

The time it took to reach the tram stop is…

About four minutes!

Next, we board the tram and head to Torichosuji.

Made it!

How long did it take?

Almost 17 minutes!

Combining the time to get to the tram stop, the total time from to Torichosuji was about 20 minutes.

Considering that staying on the Hohi Main Line to Kumamoto Station adds an additional…

9 minutes, adding everything together, it would take a total of 30 minutes to reach the city.

The Verdict

When using the Hohi Main Line, the fastest station to reach the machi was Shinsuizenji Station.

I knew it would be faster to get off at Shinsuizenji Station before I did it, but I never imagined the difference would be so significant.

If you get off at Kumamoto Station from Kagoshima Main Line and want to get to the city center as soon as possible, it may be faster to transfer to Hohi Main Line and go to Shinsuizenji Station, depending on the timing of the transfer.

This makes me want to try out this experiment on other train lines as well.

That’s all from the field.