"Bus Stop Blown Away," "Stuck Off-Road": The Lighthearted Social Media and Harsh Reality of Engan Bus, Supporting Northern Hokkaido's Transport｜Domingo

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"Bus Stop Blown Away," "Stuck Off-Road": The Lighthearted Social Media and Harsh Reality of Engan Bus, Supporting Northern Hokkaido's Transport

2023.12.26

Lifestyle

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Enbetsu Town Toyotomi Town Haboro Town

Engan Bus, based in Haboro, Hokkaido, operates routes like the "Limited Express Haboro" connecting Sapporo with Rumoi, Haboro, and Toyotomi. Their posts on X are famously lighthearted and fun, earning them a large following. Recently, a unique post about their winter operations has been gaining attention.

【Notice】
Regarding winter transport disruptions. On this account, we may use local terms (dialect) and vivid language that reflect the actual situation to describe events.

Engan Bus

Source: Post by @enganbus

The expressions they introduced range from the somewhat imaginable, like "stuck off-road" or "fallen off-road," to those that might leave non-locals scratching their heads, such as "the road is festering." Then there are phrases like "the bus stop gets blown away," which you might think is a metaphor, but is actually meant literally. All these expressions powerfully convey the harsh conditions under which Engan Bus strives to operate.

"Blown Away," "Stuck": The Real Meaning Behind the Posts

Domingo spoke with Engan Bus about how they manage their social media posts.

While we usually try to use standard Japanese in our communications, in urgent situations like disasters, we may use dialect or words that are common locally. On X, we sometimes use internet slang as well.

While they use such rough and casual expressions on X, there are also phrases they intentionally avoid.

We try to avoid expressions often used by the media, such as "landlocked island" or "a once-in-X-years event."

They explained that "landlocked island" can be misleading, making people think that lifelines like electricity, water, and gas have been cut off. As for "a once-in-X-years event," they once used this term for a blizzard, only to have another one of the same magnitude occur a few days later.

Operating a Bus Route in Winter Hokkaido is Incredibly Tough

The main service area of Engan Bus, the Rumoi subprefecture, has no railways, making local buses a vital means of transportation for residents. Therefore, when services are suspended due to heavy snow or blizzards, they notify each municipality, school, board of education, and major tourist association. Local schools may even dismiss students early to catch an earlier bus home.

Our biggest fear during winter operations is getting stranded on the route. Most recently, in February 2018, a driver had to abandon the attempt to drive through a ground blizzard on National Route 232. They had to spend the night on the road until rescue arrived the next morning.

The reason Engan Bus is so dedicated to posting on X dates back to the Great East Japan Earthquake. They were deeply impressed by how victims used what was then Twitter to share information about their situation when infrastructure like electricity was down. This inspired them to start using the platform in earnest. They post daily service updates that support the community, and during the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake, they provided information on power outages and prospects for service resumption.


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