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Prefecture #41 - Shimane (a trip to Matsue Castle, among other things)
So, woke up this morning in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture... and got out of there as soon as possible ;) Though, we had about 30 minutes to wander around before hopping on a train, so took a few pictures. A random passerby took this one of me and Benoit in front of a light-up duck...er... swan... by the culture center and convention center:
Goodbye, Tottori.
Yonago 936 -> 1008 Matsue
The northern coast of Japan failed its reflex saving throw and was hit straight on by a cone of cold yesterday for about 2d6 inches of snow, so Matsue was still shaking off the effects of it as we arrived. Some people were out shoveling their sidewalks, but largely it was slow and slippery to walk anywhere. Waiting for a bus seemed silly, so we set out to walk to the castle, about 2km from the station. First, we went to the waterfront:
And after taking a few photos there, walked to Matsue Castle, further up the road. Not really knowing what to expect, it turned out that the only thing to go through, really, was the main tower of the original castle, so we did that. We didn't wear slippers because they suck to climb stairs in... but that meant instead, our feet got REALLY cold on the wooden floors. Shrug.
They make a big deal about how Matsue Castle looks like a 5-story castle but is really 6 stories, except the 6th story is like, just a landing before you get to the top floor observatory room. Kind of silly. Still, I think it was good that Benoit got to experience climbing up an original wooden castle, after we got gypped out of the Himeji experience.
Matsue Castle from outside.
Matsue City as seen from the top of the castle.
The lack of tons of castle to explore was actually a good thing as we were under some time pressure in this city, with a 13:22 CAN NOT MISS train to catch. So we walked back to the station, stopping to admire a few things on the way, and got there at 12:35, and went into a cafe and had omurice for lunch since it was something I figured was quick, hot, filling, and vegetarian. Then we got on a train and were on our merry way!
Matsue 1322 -> 1621 Masuda
Masuda 1641 -> 1952 Kogushi
Kogushi 1959 -> 2041 Shimonoseki
(Technically there's also a stop at Nagatoshi in there where the train stopped for 6 minutes and I exited the station for 30 seconds to get the station stamp, but I don't think it counts for transfer purposes, at least.)
The first leg of the trip was along the coastline, so sometimes Benoit napped, sometimes I napped, and largely he spent a lot of time taking pictures of the water when it was there, and I sometimes did too. In other words, this was my view for 3 hours:
Sunset was again around 5pm, so it got dark and boring along the coast for the second part. Other than the station stamp at Nagatoshi, it was just a long long ride. I bought some bread at Masuda, in lieu of a real dinner then, and we ate some kakipea that I had with me too, and that was it until Shimonoseki.
Shimonoseki at 9pm looks cool but is infact not all that active. There's a huge mall by the station but a lot of it was closing down, so we ended up at a Watamin-chi izakaya, where we ordered a few random small dishes (ie, Benoit had some veggies and I had some meat) and got stuck at a side table in what seemed to actually be a private party room for a whole bunch of very loud very drunk college boys. Weird.
At least now I have photographic proof that I went to Yamaguchi prefecture (I didn't get a shot of myself in Iwakuni last year, I don't think). This is by the parking lot near the station:
Hmmm.
After dinner we came to Kokura, since I'd made the hotel reservation at the Toyoko here.
Shimonoseki 2201 -> 2216 Kokura
What happened at Kokura station is so unspeakably awesome that I'm not sure I can convey it right.
Remember a few days ago I screwed up on the Seishun 18 thing by failing to buy one before it stopped? Today, Benoit and I both rode on my 18 pass, so now I only have 2 days left. We were going to have him buy a Kyushu pass for the 3 days around, and kinda trim my Saga stop on the 3rd day so it'd be cheaper to buy tickets by hand, and then I'd swallow the shinkansen cost to get back to Tokyo. So we asked in the station and yeah, he could buy one there, no problem.
Thing is, I told the clerk what my plan was -- 3 days going around the island on local trains.
And he's like "Wait, do you know about the Kyushu Mankitsu Ticket?"
Well, no, I didn't. Tell me more.
Turns out this thing is a Seishun-18-like ticket -- 3 days any time, unlimited local trains on any line in Kyushu (not just JR), for 10,500 yen, so 3500 yen per day. It is not quite as good a deal as the Seishun 18 which is 5 days for 11,500 yen, or 2300 per day, but it is cheaper than that Kyushu Rail Pass (13,000) if you are not planning to use expresses, which we weren't because I can't take them. And even better, ANYONE can buy a Mankitsu, not just foreigners on tourist visas.
SO.
Benoit and I both bought a Mankitsu pass, so we now both have 3 days of unlimited train travel in Kyushu! No headaches to worry about with running out of trains a day early or late! Hooray!
Also, this means that I'll be returning to Tokyo via Seishun 18 as well, essentially for free, with my remaining 2 days, so now I have to figure out which places I want to stop along the way (like Osaka, Gifu, Nagoya, wherever). Maybe I can go to that station in Wakayama that has a cat as the stationmaster.
The really cool thing is that I negotiated the entire thing in Japanese -- just got to chatting with the station sales clerk about what we did, what we were going to do, what our ticket situation was, etc, and he told me about the other pass, and so on. Things like that make me happy.
I should sleep, anyway. Tomorrow we're going to Oita (#42) and Miyazaki (#43)!
Goodbye, Tottori.
Yonago 936 -> 1008 Matsue
The northern coast of Japan failed its reflex saving throw and was hit straight on by a cone of cold yesterday for about 2d6 inches of snow, so Matsue was still shaking off the effects of it as we arrived. Some people were out shoveling their sidewalks, but largely it was slow and slippery to walk anywhere. Waiting for a bus seemed silly, so we set out to walk to the castle, about 2km from the station. First, we went to the waterfront:
And after taking a few photos there, walked to Matsue Castle, further up the road. Not really knowing what to expect, it turned out that the only thing to go through, really, was the main tower of the original castle, so we did that. We didn't wear slippers because they suck to climb stairs in... but that meant instead, our feet got REALLY cold on the wooden floors. Shrug.
They make a big deal about how Matsue Castle looks like a 5-story castle but is really 6 stories, except the 6th story is like, just a landing before you get to the top floor observatory room. Kind of silly. Still, I think it was good that Benoit got to experience climbing up an original wooden castle, after we got gypped out of the Himeji experience.
Matsue Castle from outside.
Matsue City as seen from the top of the castle.
The lack of tons of castle to explore was actually a good thing as we were under some time pressure in this city, with a 13:22 CAN NOT MISS train to catch. So we walked back to the station, stopping to admire a few things on the way, and got there at 12:35, and went into a cafe and had omurice for lunch since it was something I figured was quick, hot, filling, and vegetarian. Then we got on a train and were on our merry way!
Matsue 1322 -> 1621 Masuda
Masuda 1641 -> 1952 Kogushi
Kogushi 1959 -> 2041 Shimonoseki
(Technically there's also a stop at Nagatoshi in there where the train stopped for 6 minutes and I exited the station for 30 seconds to get the station stamp, but I don't think it counts for transfer purposes, at least.)
The first leg of the trip was along the coastline, so sometimes Benoit napped, sometimes I napped, and largely he spent a lot of time taking pictures of the water when it was there, and I sometimes did too. In other words, this was my view for 3 hours:
Sunset was again around 5pm, so it got dark and boring along the coast for the second part. Other than the station stamp at Nagatoshi, it was just a long long ride. I bought some bread at Masuda, in lieu of a real dinner then, and we ate some kakipea that I had with me too, and that was it until Shimonoseki.
Shimonoseki at 9pm looks cool but is infact not all that active. There's a huge mall by the station but a lot of it was closing down, so we ended up at a Watamin-chi izakaya, where we ordered a few random small dishes (ie, Benoit had some veggies and I had some meat) and got stuck at a side table in what seemed to actually be a private party room for a whole bunch of very loud very drunk college boys. Weird.
At least now I have photographic proof that I went to Yamaguchi prefecture (I didn't get a shot of myself in Iwakuni last year, I don't think). This is by the parking lot near the station:
Hmmm.
After dinner we came to Kokura, since I'd made the hotel reservation at the Toyoko here.
Shimonoseki 2201 -> 2216 Kokura
What happened at Kokura station is so unspeakably awesome that I'm not sure I can convey it right.
Remember a few days ago I screwed up on the Seishun 18 thing by failing to buy one before it stopped? Today, Benoit and I both rode on my 18 pass, so now I only have 2 days left. We were going to have him buy a Kyushu pass for the 3 days around, and kinda trim my Saga stop on the 3rd day so it'd be cheaper to buy tickets by hand, and then I'd swallow the shinkansen cost to get back to Tokyo. So we asked in the station and yeah, he could buy one there, no problem.
Thing is, I told the clerk what my plan was -- 3 days going around the island on local trains.
And he's like "Wait, do you know about the Kyushu Mankitsu Ticket?"
Well, no, I didn't. Tell me more.
Turns out this thing is a Seishun-18-like ticket -- 3 days any time, unlimited local trains on any line in Kyushu (not just JR), for 10,500 yen, so 3500 yen per day. It is not quite as good a deal as the Seishun 18 which is 5 days for 11,500 yen, or 2300 per day, but it is cheaper than that Kyushu Rail Pass (13,000) if you are not planning to use expresses, which we weren't because I can't take them. And even better, ANYONE can buy a Mankitsu, not just foreigners on tourist visas.
SO.
Benoit and I both bought a Mankitsu pass, so we now both have 3 days of unlimited train travel in Kyushu! No headaches to worry about with running out of trains a day early or late! Hooray!
Also, this means that I'll be returning to Tokyo via Seishun 18 as well, essentially for free, with my remaining 2 days, so now I have to figure out which places I want to stop along the way (like Osaka, Gifu, Nagoya, wherever). Maybe I can go to that station in Wakayama that has a cat as the stationmaster.
The really cool thing is that I negotiated the entire thing in Japanese -- just got to chatting with the station sales clerk about what we did, what we were going to do, what our ticket situation was, etc, and he told me about the other pass, and so on. Things like that make me happy.
I should sleep, anyway. Tomorrow we're going to Oita (#42) and Miyazaki (#43)!