San’in Maigo 山陰迷子

San’in Maigo – Afterword

Assessing the trip…

 

 Transport

JR Trains:

関西空港 -> 新大阪 -> 岡山 -> 松江 (11650Y, 421.2K)

松江 -> 安来 (400Y, 20.1K)

安来-> 米子 -> 境港 (480Y, 26.7K)

境港 -> 米子 -> 松江 (1550Y, 46.8K)

出雲市 -> 玉造温泉 -> 松江 (1300Y, 32.7K)

松江 -> 米子 -> 由良 (2010Y, 71.8K)

由良 -> 倉吉 -> 松江 (2790Y, 81.8K)

松江 -> 倉敷 (5040Y, 172.1K)

倉敷 -> 岡山 (320Y, 15.9K)

岡山 -> 名古屋 (10070Y, 366.9K)

名古屋 -> 高山 (5360Y, 166.7K)

高山 -> 名古屋 (5360Y, 166.7K)

名古屋 -> 米原 (2960Y, 79.9K)

彦根 -> 京都(1110Y, 61.7K)

京都 -> 関西空港 (2980Y, 99.5K)

Same trip using unreserved seats: 53380Y

JR 7Day Pass: 28300Y

Saving: 25080Y, ~47% off (or, would have paid ~89% more than price of JR Pass)

Conclusion: Less saving than I thought, was aiming for 100%! Not enough Shinkansen?

 

Other

一畑電車: (1日フリー乗車券 is 1500Y, didn’t use it as it’s cheaper to pay individually for me)

松江しんじ湖温泉 -> 出雲大社前 (790Y, 37.3K)

出雲大社前 -> 電鉄出雲市 (480Y, 13.2K)

近江鉄道: (S・Sフリーきっぷ)

米原 -> 豊郷 -> 彦根 (550Y, 24.2K)

Total on private train: 1820Y

 

Total on transports: ~30120Y

Total distance traveled: 1905.2KM

Conclusion: ~270K traveled per day, that’s kind of crazy. The total distance is enough to go from Taiwan to Kansai with some left over!

 

Itinerary Planning

If I could, I’d drop Okayama/Kurashiki and the Conan Musuem in a heartbeat and spend the extra days in Matsue/Izumo. There’s quite a few places, museum, shrines I left out because of time constraints and timetable conflicts.

In fact, I think San’in is worth 7 days all to itself, and I’d definitely go back there for an even more relax paced, in depth trip.

The detour to Takayama was well spent though and it was definitely the best decision I made for the whole trip. It streamlined the journey to the K-ON school and presented a very different climate and feel from the San’in area.

 

San’in Maigo – Day 7

Nagoya Station

 

The morning sky was glum, as though feeling the same sadness as I do. The journey is almost over.

I catches a fairly early Shinkansen Kodama. One of the reason I stayed in Nagoya instead of rushing back to Kyoto the night before is the trains times are better from the Nagoya side, most trains do not stop at Maibara and the one from Kyoto doesn’t connect well with the local train.

The rail from Maibara to Toyosato is operated by the private operator Ohmitetudo. “One ticket to Toyosato” I say to the attendant. He replied with a question which I could not understand, it was something about the ticket. Realizing I was not Japanese, the man quickly asked instead if I intended to return, a phrase much easier to understand.

He handed me a ticket after I replied yes, the face of the ticket said SSフリーきっぷ. The SS was a peculiarity, but the フリーきっぷ means unlimited ticket. Assuming SS is Saturday/Sunday this had to be a weekend pass, costing around only 100Y more than the normal fare. Touched by the man’s foresight, I bowed in gratitude.

Toyosato welcomes you!

The trip to Toyosato dictated everything about how I packed for this trip. Using a shoulder bag instead of the sensonite case, refraining from buying the cinnamoroll plush I saw at Matsue’s Ichibata department store… all because I now have to carry everything and walk from Toyosato station to the K-ON school.

There are lockers back in Maibara station, but I could not leave my luggage there. Unfortunately once again, the train back to Maibara does not always connect well with the Shinkansen, depending when I leave it can be faster to connect to the local JR train and head down to Kyoto.

It’s a long quite walk through semi-rural field with scattered houses. Spirit is high, the road is lined with cutouts of the K-ON crew who beacons for me to march on.

Toyosato old elementary school

The Toyosato old elementary building was at risk of being torn down, but thankfully efforts were made and turned it into the local community service and tourism centre. Which now fully capitalizes on the K-ON craze.

I reaches the school gate.

It’s not open for another 30min -.- I could swear I checked the opening times online… at least it’s won’t be too long.

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Library turned tourism centre

The tourism centre sells a wide variety of cookies, bread, trinkets that ties to K-ON and the local rabbit and turtle celebrity. The turtle bread looked so cute and so very appetizing… alas, I have few money to spare at this point.

Originally I had questioned whether the store could support itself, even if the staff may be volunteers. There’s also even a bento stall in the other wing of the school hall. For a town of less than 10000, a bento stall?

Omiyage

 

K-ON related goods

The fear proved unfounded. As the day grew long more and more otakus crowded into the school and by the time I leave there were already a group of people waiting to buy bentos.

The school has become a meeting ground for otakus more than just a pilgrim site which translates to a sustained visitor count. I suppose for a town of this size, it also means there’s no place else for the otakus to go for lunch. The K-ON school was no doubt pouring a decent amount of cashflow into the small town economy.

 

K-ON shrine corner!

 

All present and accounted for

The guitars used to be in the music club room, but apparently a few were stolen so they’ve been moved down here where staff tending the tourism centre and shop can keep an eye out on them.

Post-it wall

The wall is an impressive collection of well-wishes, from cute to borderline creepy devotias for the K-ON stars.

Library/Tourism centre

 

K-ON cookies!

The school is not particularly large. Consisting of a main building of three levels and two wings, a library and an assembly hall, on each side. The first level has been mostly transformed into community service and library (actual library) while the second level lies vacant, like a forgotten corner of history. Through the classroom windows, you see the bright white painted walls of the new school across the yards.

Tranquil, desolated hallways

 

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Quiet!

 

Club/Tea room

 

With tea sets

The dedication shown is truly humbling. All the items, decors. A table set with modeled cakes and desserts, cupboards full of tea sets. Though their taste not withstanding…

Small stage

 

Assembly Hall

 

Back to Toyosato station

Back at Toyosato station, I look at my huge list of plans A-Z that denoted every possible train connection from Toyosato to Kyoto for the day. In this case I went back north slightly to Hikone and transferred to the local JR and headed down south to Kyouto.

Kyoto station

Kyoto station is a super modern that sits jarringly against the city’s supposed cultural history. Impressive nonetheless, the huge complex of glass and steel is an amazing sight to behold from every angle within and out.

Isetan

Like many stations in Japan, Kyoto station is also partnered with a department store, the high-class Isetan dominates the station west side behind a flight of a thousand steps. The east end hosts the Kyoto theater with its fancy drapes and wine carpets.

Kyoto station front

After doing a final, final check of my remaining yen, I deduce there’s enough for souvenirs. I won’t be doing any more walking from here on out, baggage is no longer a concern. Kyoto, being the ancient capital of Japan where the upper class celebrates tea ceremonies, the city is most famous for its sweets. Ranging from traditional to delicate sculpture like modern creations, the amount of choice is overwhelming.

So many different Kyou kashi

Kyoto station has 2 main okashi market, one in the Cube on the station main level and another in B1.

The Cube on ground is more of traditional store, with each okashi brand having its own stall each vying for travelers’ wallet, neatly packaged for those rushing for the train with few time to deliberate.

The ones downstairs are larger, more for people with time to spend. There’s one store in the corner that allows mix-match buying from a variety of okashi brands.

I settled on a red bean matcha roll after weighing carefully between being daring and playing things safe.

Haruka train

 

Kansai Airport

 

JAL bento

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San’in Maigo – Day 6

Morning in Nagoya.

For some reason, perhaps age, there simply wasn’t a hotel near Nagoya station that has free wifi. I was left a little uneasy without email and the chance to recheck things should the need arise.

I start by looking for a place to have breakfast. First choice would be… Doutor! Trusted and reliable coffee place in my previous trip in Tokyo, it will be a real treat if I can find one. There’s also a Mac in the station but I would rather not line up in the scary queue.

 

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Luck was with me, I picked the right direction to explore and spotted the familiar yellow and coffee sign a block from the station.

Doutor breakfast

Even better, the place has wifi. I quickly check my mails while sipping latte.

Hida Express

Once again, gotta love the JR Rail Pass. Without it I would never have been able to make the switch and incorporate this trip to Takayama. Guaranteed seat to and back. The Hida Express is a surprisingly basic diesel train, unlike the Yakumo which was not only electric but also a tilt train. Guess while San’in is a backwater, it’s still more important economically than the tourism heavy Hida-Takayama area.

Scenic route through the mountains

 

It’s a few minutes after 10 in the morning when the express finally rolls into Takayama, just about the right time for a sleepy mountain town to wake up.

Onto the platform, the cold refreshing mountain wind draws out barely containable excitement. And a jacket.

Takayama station

The walk from the station to the town centre was… much further than expected. I can see why the Hida train pass offers a taxi combo option. If you’re not a fast walker and/or are dragging heavy luggage, you need that taxi.

Miya-gawa morning market

 

River level monitoring station... I think

 

Signature bridge

 

Bridge leading to the Sakurayama-Hachimangu Shrine

 

A fish ladder shown in the OP

My original plan is to get to along the river to the north end of the historic area, wind my way back through the main historic street which should take me all morning, then back across the river to the shopping street right in time to find somewhere for lunch.

Well, that was the plan. I totally lost my pacing in the excitement, scared I might not be able to see everything I wanted in time I rushed…

Ended up back in the shopping street far too early.

Tourism and omiyage centre in the middle of the shopping street

 

Hyouka Poster

 

In the anime the statue is a tiger

 

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The iconic naka-bashi (bridge).

 

Bagpipe cafe!

 

Historic area

I ended up not having proper lunch. In retrospect 3000Y probably is fair for a wagyu steak lunch set. In any case, I ended up getting a wagyu steak kebab, a grilled riceball skewer from a street side stand and hot chocolate from Bagpipe.

Inside Bagpipe

After some nourishment it is time for the expedition to the Hie-shrine, almost 2K to the south of the city centre.

Hie Shrine

 

Hie Shrine

I went to the shrine from the east side of the river, and came back on the west.

Hie Shrine branch next to Naka-bashi

 

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The old Government House

I took a long while to decide whether to visit the Government House. It is my second last day and I have already started budgeting, not wanting to have too much left over yens. I had to crunch the numbers again and again to be sure I’ll still have enough left for dinner and tomorrow after paying the entry.

 

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It was well worth it. The Government House is very well kept and maintained, showing large complex that served both official and private functions. Even better were numerous articles giving an overview of the area’s history, the kind that interests me immensely. The signage and guides in both Japanese and English, else I would not have been able to understand much of the very technical and historic era relevant terms.

Torii leading up to the Sakurayama-Hachimangu Shrine

 

Dango (Mitarashi), Soy riceballs. A local food

 

Background scene from Hyouka

I booked the last train back to Nagoya. I got to the station early though to ensure I’ll be able to pick up an eki-ben. One of the best decision I made today, there were only a few left for each kind, and only one left for the wagyu beef I had set my stomach on.

Two Hida Express joining together

Superb Japanese efficiency. Joining the two trains took only a few minutes. The new train had just came up from Nagoya, after all the passengers had disembarked, they slowed backed the train up to the one I’m on which was already waiting. The two trains joined with a bump, the crew popped the metal planks down and secured the walkway, and it was done.

Hida wagyu eki-ben

It’s a bento full of meaty goodness, and more importantly, it’s one of those self-heat ones. Not just heat it so it’s warm, but steaming hot. So steaming hot I almost burned my fingers when I tried moving it.

 

Eki-ben content

Taste is great, can’t say I can tell the difference from normal beef though. I also would have liked more variety in the side dishes. more veges. But hey no complaints, the bento portion is good (most important) and fits my “eat on the go” save time idea.

 

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San’in Maigo – Day 5

 

The Yakumo train to take me back to Okayama

Sadly it is now time to farewell this lovely city.

It’s very early morning and I barely had time to pack before having to head down. The man at the counter is kind enough to offer me a bag so I can carry the breakfast bento with me.

Kurashiki

Kurashiki, a short distance from Okayama, is famed for a well preserved area with 17th centuries buildings. I hop off, cram my extra bags into a locker and heads off for a trip through history, all before the city had even woken up.

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