Figuring out train routes in Saga can be tricky, even if you’ve been here for a while. To help, here’s a route map (PDF) for all the JR lines in Saga. If you still need more help, you can go to a handy, English train schedule search page.

During my pre-departure preparation for Saga, I asked my soon-to-be DR if he knew of any ice hockey teams in the vicinity. He said he would check around for me, and a week or so later I got an email from him saying that he didn’t think there was. Since I am a size 12 shoe (size 30 here in Japan), I knew that skates in my size would be hard to come by, so I packed those just in case and left the rest of my gear behind.

It’s a good thing that I did because I was pleasantly mistaken. After about a month of settling into my new surroundings, I got a phone call at my school from someone I had never met before: Jeff Potter, a “lifer” who is married with three cute girls and has been living in Saga for 14 years now. He had heard that there was a new Canadian ALT in the area and was wondering if I could play hockey. Every year he looks for new foreign recruits to join the team. There are only two hockey teams in Saga Prefecture: Saga Club and Saga University. Of course, the Saga University team is restricted to university students and so the only real team to join is Saga Club.

The Saga Club team consists of men of all ages, most of which have known each other for years and as a result are all close friends. They are truly a great bunch of guys and are very welcoming. For me personally, they share some of the best experiences I have had with Japanese people here. I have also been extremely lucky in having Jeff there to be my intermediary should there ever be a communication problem, since his Japanese language ability is fluent. One problem is that some of the guys are aging and might not be playing much longer. Also, as expected, the guys all have jobs and live scattered throughout Saga, so sometimes it is difficult to gather enough guys to play a game. On the plus side, this is probably part of the reason for their very welcoming hospitality!

Apparently there was a hockey rink in Saga about seven or eight years ago, but it went bankrupt. So now the team practices in Kurume City, which is in Fukuoka Prefecture but is next to Saga’s Kitashigeyasu town. There is only one rink in Kurume, and it is the only rink for miles, so there are a few teams that practice there: Saga Club, Saga University, Kurume Club, Kurume University and Wendy’s (the women’s team). Oddly, there isn’t a league schedule of games. All of the games are played in tournaments except for the odd fun/exhibition game. The tournaments are pretty much the same year after year with the same teams participating.

What is ice hockey?

Growing up in Canada, to me there was only one kind of hockey: ice hockey. So only after coming to Japan have I learned to refer to it as ice hockey, since some people are left wondering if I play field/grass hockey or ice hockey. Since most people from outside North America here on the JET program don’t know too much about ice hockey, I recommend going to Wikipedia’s ice hockey page for a quick synopsis.

Team information

Saga Club (men’s)

• Contact: Jeff Potter (090-5296-6719)
• Fees: 6000 yen/month
• Time: Wednesday and Sunday nights from 8:15 to 9:45
• Where: Kurume City’s Sports Garden

Wendy’s (women’s)

• Fees: 5000 yen/month
• Time: Tuesday nights 8:15 to 9:45 and Saturday nights 8:15 to 9:15
• Where: Kurume City’s Sports Garden

Kurume’s Sports Garden

The Sports Garden is located along Route 264, which turns into Route 322. It is near the Sunday Sun and Mr. Donuts restaurants just past the Route 3 intersection and Nishitetsu Kurume train station.

General admission is 1,500 yen, high school students and younger are 1,200 yen. With your admission fee you can come and go as many times as you like and skate for as long as you want. Rental skates are available. Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays. There is also a bowling alley and batting cages.

Teams in Kyushu

Fukuoka Prefecture

• All Blacks (perennially the best team in Kyushu, there are a couple foreigners on the team)
• Bruins (a very close second to the All Blacks)
• Hakata A
• Hakata B
• Iizuka Club (they have their own arena and are home to a tournament in April every year)
• Bombers (a team of very skilled and fast high school kids from all over Kyushu)
• Prince (a team from Kitakyushu)
• Kurume Club
• Kurume University
• Wakato
• Red Wings
• Kyushu Sougyou University

There are some other university teams that I forget or don’t know of probably because their skill level isn’t very high.

Saga Prefecture

• Saga Club
• Saga University

Nagasaki Prefecture

• Nagasaki A (there are some foreigners on this team, which made it into one of the best teams in Kyushu)
• Nagasaki B

Oita Prefecture

• Oita Club

Miyazaki Prefecture

• Miyazaki Club

Kumamoto Prefecture

• Kumamoto Club (Black Crow, a good team that we consistently battle with and have a little rivalry going on)
• Kumamoto University
• Kumamoto Jr. Club
• Score

Rinks that I know of

Fukuoka Prefecture

• Papio Ice Rink. Located in Hakata, is open year-round and has a summer tournament every year.
• Fukuoka Prefeairport Ice Rink. I forget the name of this one, but it is a swimming pool in the summer.
• Iizuka Ice Rink. Located in Iizuka.
• Kurume Sports Garden. Usually only open from September to April, but this year they are open year-round.

Nagasaki Prefecture

• Apparently there is a half-sized rink, but I have never been there.

Kumamoto Prefecture

• ASPA. In Kumamoto City on the second floor on top of a Jusco. It is home to a tournament every year in February.