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As the orange and red train cars trundle into the station, a nostalgia-inducing tune tinkles from the loudspeakers. Something from the Showa Era (1926-1989)? But no, the white-hatted attendant informs me that the melody was originally composed for the Iyonada Monogatari Train, which only began running along the Seto Inland Sea from Matsuyama to Yawatahama in August, 2014. On that note (pun intended), we step aboard, and seemingly back in time. As the train pulls slowly out of the station, railway staff members line up and send us off. Our storybook journey begins.
Although we have already ordered the “morning plate” in advance, I glance at the cloth-covered menu which offers organic coffee, ornate bento (boxed lunches), Viennese pastries, deep fried fish sausage, and original cocktails created just for the train. The “kogane,” for example, is made from locally grown iyokan citrus vinegar.
Our breakfast is tossed salad, toast, potage topped with a spoonful of locally produced olive oil, and seasonal vegetables with hijiki seaweed and an egg. I take a sip of freshly brewed coffee as we pass through a bamboo forest, the trees nearly hugging the train. The attendant announces that the sea will be coming into view soon. Passengers ready their cameras. The water just beyond the blue and red-tiled rooftops is clear, but the sky is a bit hazy. “Every day, its expression changes,” the attendant says, reminding us that haze is just one variation. We make a brief whistle stop in Shimonada, where local children have planted flowers and where a movie was once filmed. As we alight, we are greeted by locals who share their knowledge of the area. A man indicates an island offshore which is inhabited by 120 cats and 12 people. “There are no grocery stores there,” he tells me. Another island within sight is famous because a well-known actor constructed a vacation villa there. We pose for photos together, then get back on the train. We pass through another village where a pair pause in their game of lawn tennis to wave at us. The train slows so that we can snap photos of the Nagahama Bridge, an iconic red drawbridge dating back to 1935, and still in operation. In the village of Hataki, enthusiastic volunteers in homemade tanuki (raccoon dog) masks salute us with fans decorated with tinsel and ruffles. A farmer in his field waves his straw hat in great arcs. Another town along the route is known for cormorant fishing. Finally, the dishes are cleared away, the passengers are gifted with souvenirs, and the train slows to its terminal stop. We step off the train, onto the platform, back into the present. We re-enter real life, but the charm of our storybook journey lingers. 
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American Suzanne Kamata is the author or editor of fifteen published books including, most recently the travel memoir Squeaky Wheels: Travels with my Daughter by Train, Plane, Metro, Tuk-tuk and Wheelchair (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2019); a novel, The Baseball Widow (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2021) and Waiting(Kelsay Books, 2022), a novella-in-verse. She has lived on the island of Shikoku for over half of her life, and enjoys exploring its nooks and crannies. Twitter: @shikokusue and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzanne_kamata/
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