When you take a sightseeing train of Yufuin no Mori, why don’t you order a Bento Box while you can enjoy eating bento inside of the train?
Here are the listing of Bento Box.
What I have tried is “Orizuru” above, and it was very delicous.
The package itself was also interesting, so it was a two-story bento box.
At first floor, you can enjoy 4 rice balls with different taste, and the second floor has a variety of local tasty food like soft octopus, cooked clam with Japanese seasonings.
You need to make a reservation to get these bento box.
The only way you can order is via phone in Japanese.
It sounds difficult, but you can give yourself a try.
Or you can make use of our era’s technology; Google Translate.
Call the reservation desk
When you make up your mind, you can call the reservation desk.
It is 092-474-2179.
You will hear an automatic voice guidance, so press 2.
You need to order bento box 2 business day before your departure.
Cancellation should also be made 2 business day before your departure, so please be careful.
Tell them that You would like to reserve a bento box
Then it will be connected to the reservation desk, so you can tell them you want to order bento box like below.
“Yufuin no Mori no (a small pause) Bento wo (a small pause) tanomitai desu.”
(I would like to order a bento box (when I ride on) Yufuin no Mori.)
Or you can type below English into google translate, and let her listen Japanese translation. It sounds a bit weird, but I made it simple to get a correct Japanese translation.
Google Translate:”I would like to order a lunch box from Yufuin Forest”
Tell them which date you will take Yufuin no Mori
Then she will probably ask which date and which Yufuin no Mori you will be taking, so you say,
“XX gatu YY nichi ni (a small pause) Yufuin no Mori ZZ gou ni (a small pause) norimasu.”
XX is month.
YY is date.
You can search google what to be filled in Japanese.
ZZ is the number of Yufuin no Mori.
You can refer to Let’s take JR Special Train “Yufuin-no-mori” operated by JR Kyushu.
Yufuin no Mori has a number from 1 to 6, so you can check with Yufuin no Mori you will be taking.
You can use google translate to check how to pronounce 1 to 6 in Japanese.
If you want to use google translate, here is the sample sentence.
You can change the date and the number of Yufuin no Mori, and let her listen Japanese translation.
Google Translate: “Will take Yufuin no Mori No. 2 on July 10th.”
She may ask you the departing station and the arriving station, so you may want to say,
“Yufuin (the name of departing station) kara Hakata (arriving station) ni (a small pause) ikimasu.”
If you are not confident, you can copy and paste below sentence into Google translate.
Google Translate: “Will Go to Hakata from Yufuin.”
“I” is omitted before “Will”, but Japanese translation will sound natural if you omit “I” in this sentence.
Tell the reservation desk which bento box you want and how many
Then you will tell her which bento box you want and how many.
You might want to tell her that you will tell her bento box you want to order.
“Tanomitai Bento wo (a small pause) iimasu.”
(I will let you know Bento Box I want to order.)
Google Translate: “I’ll tell you the bento you want to order.”
Don’t worry about the subject. It brings a correct Japanese.
If you want to order Bento Box “Yufuin Wappa” for 2 people, you can say,
“Yufuin Wappa (Bento name) wo futatsu (the number of pieces) onegai shimasu.”
The way to count the number of pieces in Japanese is below:
1 piece: Hitotsu
2 pieces: Futatsu
3 pieces: Mittsu
4 pieces: Yottsu
If it is too complicated, you say the number in Japanese and add “ko” at the end, like “2 (ni) ko”.
Google Translate: “I would like two Yufuin Wappa.”
They may ask you for your contact number
They may ask you for your telephone number in case they need to contact you.
If you hear “Denwa bangou”, they are probably asking you for the phone number.
You can tell them “Watashi no denwa bangou wa 080 no 3333 no 1111 desu.”
Google Translate: “My phone number is 080-3333-1111.”
Confirming your order and instruction of payment
If you have told her the date you are taking Yufuin no Mori and Bento box you want for how many etc, your task is almost over.
She will confirm your order and let you know how you need to pay and pick up your bento box.
Picking up Bento box
Basically, you can pick up your bento box at cafeteria inside of Yufuin no Mori.
Cafeteria is located at Car 3.
Plastic bag will cost you some money, so if you think you may buy something other than bento box, it’s better you bring your own bag to save some money.
I believe that you can only pay by cash or paypay (one of the digital cash in Japan), so bring extra cash with you.
You can pick up your bento box soon after you ride on the train.
I suggest you pick up once you have checked your seat.
Also, be careful that they sell limited drink, so if you need some drinks, I recommend you buy it in advance.
At the end, you can end the call by telling them thank you.
“Arigatou gozaimasu. Yoroshiku onegaisimasu.”
Google Tranaslate:”I thank you very much. Thanking you in advance.”
If you are interested, I wrote an article about my experience of taking Yufuin no Mori.
You can see the inside of the train and the scenery.
Related Article: My trip to take sightseeing train “Yufuin no Mori” No.2 from Yufuin to Hakata