You know its getting close to the trip when the kids start watching YouTube "Only in Japan" : Chadbag July 2019

[chadbag]

The kids are officially in "excited" mode for our July-Aug trip to Japan.  They've (we all have) started watching "Only in Japan" episodes on YouTube.    

 

It has gotten them motivated to want to ride the "Sunrize Express" all the way from Tokyo to Izumo.  While I dread sleeping in those "free to reserve" cubbies, I will endure it for the experience.  I need to do some planning research to see if we can arrange a time slot.  We will be away for 21 days worth of JR travel (plus an extra travel day to get there) and will be going to Hokkaido for a few days.   The

"Only in Japan" has also gotten us excited to try the Eizan line / Kurama line in Kyoto as well.  Probably stay the night and spend one day riding that and stopping at various places along the way and one day in Kyoto itself.  We'll see.

 

I'm trying to see what else we can fit into our schedule -- either day trips from Amagasaki or Kobe (not sure where we are staying with my MILs illness) or longer overnight trips.   I'd like to arrange a Steam Train ride but not sure that will fit as those seem to be Saturday only excursions.

 

What are nice scenic day-trip from the Osaka/Kobe area for rail riding or otherwise?

[cteno4]

Awesome sauce, what ever gets them excited about the adventure!

 

jeff

[Das Steinkopf]

You could catch the Eiden to Yase-Hieizan-guchi and from there catch the Keifuku Cable Line and then the Eizan Ropeway up to Hiei-zan, you can visit the Garden Museum Hiei, after that you can take a short walk to To-do Enryakuji, once you have done that walk back halfway down the road and catch the Hieizan Sakamoto Cable Car, from the Sakamoto terminus you then take about a five minute walk to Keihan Sakamoto. Once you are there you could take a ride to Ishiyama Dera which is at the other end of the Ishiyama Sakamoto line, you could either take a walk to Ishiyama Dera temple or just take a break and enjoy the scenery of the Seta Gawa at the park nearby, from there you  board the train again and travel to Hamaotsu where you change trains and take a Keihan Keishin train into Kyoto. You could take the train to Sanjo Keihan or continue along the Tozai Line, alternatively you could get off at Yamashina and walk over to the JR station and catch the train to Kyoto station.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Das Steinkopf

[katoftw]

Kurama line reopened yet?

[serotta1972]

Go to Onomichi, nice little seaside town. And you get to ride a renewed 115 from Fukuyama to Onomichi. You can rent bikes and ride over to the other islands and take the bus back. 

[chadbag]

14 hours ago, katoftw said:

Kurama line reopened yet?

 

You mean from al the typhoon damage?  Yes.  The Only in Japan guy just uploaded his video about the line on March 29th and in it he talks about that and interviews a railway official who talked about the cleanup and rebuild 

Edited April 2, 2019 by chadbag

[katoftw]

Thanks for the info. I hadn't seen any news on it. And they didn't announce it on facebook. Surprizing.

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Yes, the round trip to and from Mt. Hei is really worthwhile, especially if the weather is good.

The walk from the bus stop through the forest to the top terminus of the cable railway  is peaceful. only the sound of the occasional temple bell along the way.

If one can get to Toyama, the adjacent Kurobe Gorge narrow gauge, 2'-6", line is a goodie, curving and climbing along a picturesque river gorge.

Or, again from Toyama, the Alpine Route is also great. 

Up through the mountains, buses,  some railways, a funicular in a tunnel, Japan's last trolley bus operation, in a tunnel, and also a battery powered bus in tunnel.

This would require a full day to do the round trip.

Out from Tokyo, the Enoshima (Enoden) is an interesting elec. line, runs along the shore of Tokyo Bay, a section of street running with the big Enoden trains arguing with cars, access from Tokyo stn. by the Blue stripe Keihen EMUs to Ofuna, then the Shonan suspended monorail to Enoshima station on the Enoden, which is approximately in the centre of the Enoden system.

Each terminal of the Enoden connects with JR elec. lines, so there is also a possibility of a round trip there.

If you're in Kyushu, a trip from Nagasaki to 'Huis Ten Bosch', also called 'Dutch Village' is  a pleasant outing.

This place is a large representation of a nineteenth century Dutch town, beautifully done.

No rail stuff there, but as it on the sea, there is a working replica of an early Japanese side wheeler warship.

There are Ltd Exp services to Huis ten Bosch from Hakata, and semi-expresses from Nagasaki.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

 

[chadbag]

Just a plug for the "Only in Japan" channel on YouTube.  The guy who runs it has been living and working in Japan since the late 90s (and is now married to a Japanese as of quite recently) and he goes and does all sorts of things all over Japan and reports on them.  Our whole family likes to watch it (though we tend to do more watching of it as we get closer to a trip to Japan) and even my wife learns things about areas outside of where she group on that she did not know (and some things about Kansai, where she grew up).

 

[Grant_T]

On 4/3/2019 at 1:53 AM, chadbag said:

 

You mean from al the typhoon damage?  Yes.  The Only in Japan guy just uploaded his video about the line on March 29th and in it he talks about that and interviews a railway official who talked about the cleanup and rebuild 

 

We rode it in December (in the snow). It was excellent. The Only in Japan video (and channel) is excellent. I have it in the back of my mind to build the Kurama line as my next layout. 

[ben_issacs]

Chadbag.

Something to do in the Kyoto area is the Sagano Kanko (Scenic) railway.

A short, 7.3 km. tourist line which uses part of the old JR Sanin Main Line along a river gorge.

Diesel loco, half a dozen short carriages, some open.

Runs from Torokko Saga, to Torokko Kameoka.

T. Saga is close to the JRW  Sanin M.L. station of Saga Arashiyama, T. Kameoka is a short walk from JRW Sanin Umahori stn.

A very scenic run

.Generally pretty busy, can't remember if a JR Rail Pass is current on this, but a local Kansai area pass could be.

Adjacent to T. Saga is a 'Piano and SL Museum'.

Yes, you read correctly.!

A large collection of pianos, and an interesting steam loco collection also, worth a look at whilst awaiting the Sagano train.

And if one is game, one can take a boat ride through the river rapids back along the adjacent river from the Kameoka end of the line .

But, can't work out where this river trip ends up in Kyoto!

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Interestingly, I've been looking at the Sagano scenic railway as inspiration for part of my layout. It definitely looks very interesting (not just for the train in my case, but the whole scenery with the mountains and forests and everything)

 

[sandiway]

16 hours ago, ben_issacs said:

Something to do in the Kyoto area is the Sagano Kanko (Scenic) railway.

That's something I didn't do during my sabbatical year at Kyoto University. It seemed overly touristy to me at the time, but now I regret not having taken it anyway for completeness.

 

Mt Hiei is a nice hike up from the Kyoto side (by the Shugakuin Imperial Villa). It's part of the Kyoto Trail (which nearly circumnavigates Kyoto in the hills) and is nicely signposted. From the top in some locations one can see both Lake Biwa (on the Shiga side) and Kyoto. And looking south, on a clear day, one can see Osaka also.

[chadbag]

Our JR Passes arrived a week ago or so.  Got lucky and hit a a small one day rise in the USD/JPY rate and so saved $20-$23 compared to the price quote of the day before.

 

21 Day GREEN.   These will be our first GREEN passes.  We bought GREEN passes due to being there during a high season time in August.  Hopefully it will make it easier to get seats on busy days.

 

While the purpose of this trip is not trains, we will be doing some train stuff.  Eizan railway in Kyoto, some other day trips to hit trains  in the greater Kansai area, etc.  And also taking a Shinkansen through the Seikan tunnel for a few days in Hokkaido. 

 

Hope to also hit the museum in Kyoto.  Wanted to take the Sunrise Express back from Tokyo on the way back from Hokkaido but we don't have enough time in our schedule to accommodate that this time without spending even less time with my wife's mother and sisters (and her mom has cancer so we don't know how long she will be with us, though she is doing fine just now).   The kids were excited about the Sunrise Express after watching an "Only in Japan" episode on it.   Maybe next trip (hopefully over Christmas and NY in 2020/20201).

 

We are starting to re-watch "Only in Japan" in earnest to take notes on the things we've seen that we'd like to explore more (places to eat, places to go, etc).  The excitement level is going up!

 

My wife is worried about being there end of July and first half of August due to the heat.  She keeps telling me about the people already dying of heatstroke.  It is not ideal, of course, but I nod and say we will be careful.   (She is a worrier of sorts).  She grew up in Kansai and knows how hot it will be.  I grew up in New England, where summers can be hot and humid, but not quite as hot as that area of Japan in the summer.  But I've been to Florida in July and Virginia in mid-summer when it was 95 deg plus and 95%.   Plus we've been to Japan once beofre mid August (through early Sept) as well as many times in early September, which is probably not quite as hot, but close, and we did not die...  Hopefully Hokkaido is a bit cooler.

 

 

[cteno4]

Sounds like fun chad! Everyone getting excited is good. 

 

Get those microfiber cooling towels. They are pretty compact and easy to just douse with a bottle of water and put around your neck if you are out and  about and things get bad to help cool quickly. While they don’t work as well in the high humidity, it does do some in a pinch. Our summers have a lot of 95/95 days and it can be a bit like swimming in air. Take it slow and it will be fine.

 

enjoy!

 

jeff

[chadbag]

We leave on Thursday the 25th.  Plane (Alaska air) leaves SLC around 10:30am to LAX.  Sit there for a few hours.  Singapore flight leaves for Narita Thursday afternoon, and through the magic of flying west over the Pacific, we get there on Friday the 26th at 7pm.  Hopefully get off the plane, through immigration and customs quickly, so we can get our JR passes and book all the seat reservations on JR Central/West that we have planned, and pick up the JR East/Hokkaido ones I have already booked online.  Since it is so late that we get there, we have a hotel in Tokyo, not far from Tokyo station.

 

Our next door neighbor works for Rakuten here in the US, and will be in Japan for 2 weeks on business, and his wife and her sister will be going over his last week, and we will hang out with them on Saturday the 27th (they depart the 28th for home).  This will be her first time (and his second) in Japan so we hope to see a few things we have not seen and which they would be interested in.  Unfortunately they are not fish eaters.  We head to Kobe on the 4pm Hikari that Saturday.  This will be our first trip to Japan that we are not based at my MIL's apartment in Amagasaki (Osaka area).  Just a little further down the line.  My MIL, since her cancer diagnosis, has been living with my wife's sister in Kobe and we will be based at their house.

 

I'll be posting 1:1 and modeling pics on my Instagram, and Twitter, and some live video on the DenshaBahn FB account.

 

Now to just get caught up with the day job, get the house work done, and everything settled so we can leave without loose ends.

[ben_issacs]

Chadbag, 

Just to wish you and your family safe flights to and from Japan and safe travel in that country.

You've gotta keep us up-to-date with your travels there!

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[poloking]

Keep us up to date. 

 

A few years ago we took a trip from southern Japan all the way up to Niseko on Hokkaido. We took a sequence of different trains including the a few varieties of shinkansen and a very slow trolley for the last 5 hours. There was snow for half of the journey and blaring sun for the other half. It was such a brilliant journey for the full 20 hours. 

[chadbag]

We're off.  Sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to LAX.   About 4 hours there then on to Narita on Singapore Airlines and the to Kobe the next day via Hikari 

[cteno4]

Bon Voyage!

 

jeff

[chadbag]

We arrived safely at Narita on Friday evening (Japan time).  Got our JR Passes and all the JR East reservations I had made online and took the NEX to Tokyo station, and then the Keiyo Line to Hatchobori, which is where we wer staying the night.   

 

My next door neighbor works for Rakuten in the US and had been in Tokyo almost two weeks, and his wife and her sister had joined him several days prior to our arrival.  So we joined them Saturday morning at the Tsukiji outer market for some sushi and other seafood brunch and then we had to get our bags from the hotel and get to the station for the Shinkansen ride to Kobe.  Wd had planned to go a bit later in the afternoon but a typhoon was supposed to hit land around Nagoya at 6pm and my wife wanted us to go earlier in case this caused weather issues.  N700 to Shin Kobe.  

 

Today we went to church in Amagasaki (where my wife knows everyone) so we rode the Kobe Subway 10 stops and then Hankyu limited express and locals to Tsukaguchi.  And back.  

 

I'll add some photos when I am on the computer and can easily compress them down. 

[Kiha66]

Very nice, sounds like a lot of train time!  Hope you guys have a great trip!

[chadbag]

The semi are strong 

[JR 500系]

Have fun! and have a safe trip! Cant wait to see some nice train photos!  🙂

[chadbag]

A Tobu and Tokyo Metro train running on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya line.

 

An N700A that took us to Shin Kobe.

 

Some Kobe Subway and Hankyu trains we took from the outskirts of Kobe where we are staying to Amagasaki for a church service and back.

 

 

And some Whale Tataki