Well, it was raining when I got up. I was hoping that I could order a cab at the last minute but that didn’t happen. The hotel called several companies and no dice. I pulled out my apps to see if they could help and Uber even charged me a couple of times. The first time I had to cancel because it mistakenly wanted to take me to the station garage. The second time it timed out after five minutes.

Fortunately, it was only a little windy and it was only a hard sprinkle. I took a different way back to the station so I stopped and asked a very scary looking guy for directions. He was incredibly nice. Anyway, I made it to the station without getting completely soaked.

I saw a Doutor and went for a morning set. Smoked salmon toast! It was quite good.

Then I got on a longer-than-expected train. I think Yumi said this one was rickety and would sway from side-to-side quite a bit but it was fine. The other one I took two days ago on the Sanin coast wasn’t a smooth ride at all.

I got to Okayama before noon and it was pouring. It was also freezing, probably 10°F lower than the previous day. I kept looking for the new hotel my sister recommended and I passed it twice before just getting a map from the Tourist Info desk. I left my bags and went looking for lunch.

The station restaurants were a zoo. Lots of people traveling today. I kept going to the underground shopping area and some of it is closed for construction and with my great timing the construction was completing in another month. I kept walking in the underground to the mall and it was much more relaxed. It’s Thursday after all. I went to a chain omurice restaurant and got one of the lunch specials hoping the mushrooms would be good for me. Paid extra for even more salmon in my salad.

Soon after I felt absolutely wrecked. I think it was the sudden change in temperature. Fortunately I”m very familiar with Okayama Station and I could just relax. Unfortunately my friend Yumi had to work late and I won’t see her on this trip. In any case I dragged myself around a bit and decided to have some coffee. I walked into a Starbucks but walked back out. Hoshino Coffee was crowded but it’s one of my favorites. They were surprised when I only ordered a coffee.

I went to buy train tickets for the next few legs of my trip and the ticket office was quite crowded. I had to take a number and there were about 40 people ahead of me in line. It didn’t actually take that long since no one showed up for a lot of the numbers.

After that I checked into the hotel and sat around for a bit. The hotel is pretty much inside the station which means it sounds like I’m in the station. I can hear all the trains, the whistles, and the platform announcements. Good thing I have the SleepBuds.

Oh, when I checked in I told them I had the app and they said I could either have late check out or a vitamin drink. I took the drink.

Later I got very lost in the underground and found places I hadn’t been before. I went to the electonics area to pick up a charger because dumbass left his charger in the last hotel. I called the hotel and they’re sending it to another hotel where I’m staying five days from now. Since it’s in the same chain, I didn’t have to tell them the address. I bought a cheap Elecom replacement charger. I thought about buying a better one but this one was only ¥2000-ish instead of almost ¥8000 for the official Apple one. It’s getting very hot but it is GaN and other GaN chargers I have also get hot. I had a long discussion with the young woman at the Apple counter before cheaping out, btw.

Then I went to look for a new gel pen and the guy was very chatty. He told me about the new hot models and how they’re only popular because they’re hard to get. And the people buying them up are middle school kids who saw them on YouTube. He said they’re not all that special and pretty much talked me out of buying the pens.

Then it was dinnertime. I went to the tonkatsu store in the mall rather than the one in the station. I’m not sure which one is better. It wasn’t the best but It was good.

I got the filet, regular order, plus the half-size potato salad. I love Japanese potato salad. I used to get the large order but I can’t eat as much as I used to. Lots of Chinese people, probably from Taiwan (I know because they were all speaking Chinese.)

I went to the “drug store” and just like before it was mostly Chinese people buying OTC drugs since they don’t trust the OTC drugs in their own country. Actually, I’m not sure where they were from since I don’t think China Chinese people are allowed to travel to Japan yet. I also went to the Lawson to get some Wilkinson, Pocari Sweat, and some dessert.

The dessert tasted fine but the texture was weird. It’s a custard tart and the bottom was a hard cookie. I couldn’t cut it with the plastic spoon they gave me so I had to pick it up and bite it. In any case it tasted good.

And that’s it for today. Tomorrow I make another attempt to cross the Seto Ohashi. Last time I tried to cross it going from Tokushima to Okayama but the train was canceled due to high winds. i had to take a bus across Awaji Island to Kobe and take the Shinkansen back to Okayama. Oh well, I like the adventure.

Well duh, I figured out why those guys were sleeping in the bath area. There’s a sauna and instead of doing the cold plunge they just return to human temperature by sitting in the chairs. I just went to the bath early and it’s so much nicer when there’s only three people in there.

I got up this morning happy that the only ambulance that went by was after 5am. There’s a hospital across the way (actually across a canal and a road) but it’s the view outside of my hotel room. I got up way fewer times last night. I figure I might finally be getting over my jet lag and also not overeating at a ryokan also helps me sleep.

I didn’t want to deal with a crowd at the big bath so I used the shower in my room. There’s a Seinfeld episode where Kramer replaces his showerhead with an elephant-washing nozzle. That’s kind of what it felt like. It was kind of shocking and also kind of nice.

I didn’t sign up for the breakfast plan so it was off to find a “morning set.” My sister found a couple of places online but they all opened at 9am, so I took it easy in my room for a while. The place she told me to try was good and looked like a nice date spot. I saw a kid and his grandma (I think) reading a review in a book of coffee shops. There’s a very nice view of the canal.

They could possibly roast their own beans as well.

I did the thing I’m always told not to do, which is ask for advice. They told me if I was hungry to get the gratin set. It’s hard to see from the photo but it was pretty big. The salad had an odd curry dressing (it seems like they really like their curry in Matsue) but the gratin was great. I figured I might not be walking around instead of looking for lunch so it was a good choice.

Then it was off to visit Izumo and the Izumo Grand Shrine. I timed things so well that I had to wait 45 minutes for the next train. That’s OK, I’m on vacation. I found two onsen foot baths that I didn’t want to take pictures of because both were in use! I didn’ t have a towel with me so I didn’t participate. It really is nice soaking your feet in the warm water but hard to use without something to dry your feet with.

Here’s the first train. This train should go all the way past the west end of Izumo to the sea. I had to transfer to get to Izumo Grand Shrine.

The transfer train didn’t look as nice.

I’ve been to Izumo Taisha before and it was much less crowded this time.

Being a Grand Shrine, there’s a lot of walking through the grounds.

This is the closest thing I have to a religion so I paid my respects. I’ve been here before, and Izumo Grand shrine is supposed to ensure marriage or relationships or something so it appears to work as well as any other religion for me.

There are many enshrined dieties here and the side shrines are bigger than most. This is one to the side. There was a wedding taking place and I know it’s rude to take pictures of them but they were just in my picture of the shrine.

 

I was told that I should see the seaside as well so I walked there. It’s a bit of a hike. Wouldn’t you know it, there’s a shrine there as well.

Not framed well but a huge tour group was arriving and I took a quick pic and got out of there. This particular picture spot is very popular so I was lucky to fit in a shot between other people.

There’s a bunch of toursity stores on the street from the train to the shrine and usually that means a lot of street food! I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t mobbed by schoolkids so I just got some warabi mochi. It was a little too sweet for me and I ate several before I remembered to take a picture.

I made it back to the train and thought I’d just missed the nonstop back to Matsue by ten minutes. I should learn how to tell time because I was actually 50 minutes early. I decided to head back out to the street to find something a little more savory to eat. I had to wait with a bunch of schoolgirls but I got a wagyu rice burger that was pretty good. The burger wasn’t very hot, but somehow the outside of it was so hot that it was hard to hold.

The train finally came and I was asleep for most of the ride.

It was later in the afternoon but I wanted to sit down and have a snack. I ended up back at my hotel before heading to the train station to buy the next day’s ticket. It was close to 4pm before I got some tea and a snack. I kept it light because I knew I was going to have an early dinner.

The problem with Matsue is that everything I found was an izakaya. I feel bad about going to a drinking place and only eating. I sorta feel bad about going to brewpubs back home just to eat too, but I’m sure I’m not the only one doing that. In any case, I found a soba restaurant next to the station and got the “Izumo” set.

Under the middle plate was the soba.

They eat soba in a different way here. You pour the tsuyu onto the soba and then pour the leftover tsuyu onto the second plate of soba. It made for a lighter taste. It was fine but nothing beats the soba Yumi took me to in the middle of nowhere in Okayama.

On the way back to the hotel I saw something else interesting happening in the canal. Crew shells! It’s really hard to ask about the crew shells because I don’t know any of the Japanese words relating to crew. I found out Shimane University isn’t too far away so I figure they have a boathouse nearby. It was like pulling teeth findiing out that little bit of info.

I got back early and got in the bath by 6:30pm-ish. It’s so much nicer when it’s not crowded. Plus I’m a boring old man and I’m not out late any more. I used to stay out late looking for local craft beers. In fact, I found a taproom in my wanderings today. Oh well. Time to relax. My legs are tired from all the walking and I’m only a week in!

Well, that was a day. I’m now in Matsue, which is quite a way from Hagi. Took me almost five hours to get here.

Got up, took another bath by myself in the smaller bath that could easily hold a dozen people or more at once. Got in a taxi at 8am and made it to the station at least 40 minutes early even with a stop at Family Mart (where I poured boiling hot coffee all over myself) it took less than 10 minutes to get here. The lids here are a little flimsier than I’m used to and instead of seating properly, it crushed and spilled all over my hand and the counter. The lady at the combini couldn’t’ve been nicer about it. Luckily, no burns.

East Hagi station was bigger and nicer but there still wasn’t much there. I couldn’t find an attendant and they didn’t have a video phone that connects to the JR call center. I asked a guy if I had to buy a ticket or use my Suica and he said he’d never taken the train from there. He was taking the bus. In fact, most people (and there were only like five) were taking the bus. He looked it up on his phone and read the instructions to me. Thank goodness because it was in harder Japanese than I’m used to reading.

I got on another rickety train but it wasn’t as loud as some of the others I’d been on lately. A pretty peaceful ride through the countryside. A bunch of people snuck on at the countryside stops. I never saw them get on but I’d see them get off and it kept surprising me. I really only noticed one European couple who had their suitcases blocking the aisle. (I think they’re at the hotel across the street from me right now.)

Oh, the stop at the combini was for my breakfast. I kept it light today.

I’m such a professional food blogger. This is not the only time today that I remembered to take a picture after I ate a bunch of my food.

The seas were pretty rough? Wavy? Man, I am not a sailor and can’t think of the proper term. Lots of waves. Even saw some surfers right after I changed trains in Masuda.

I’ve heard of Masuda because my drunk cousin’s kid’s husband is from Masuda and he wanted to move back. It’s not a small city, but I don’t think there’s a whole lot going on. There were several hotels by the train station. I had enough time between trains to go to the tourist information office to ask about local attractions. It seems like it’s all about one ancient poet and where he’d been. They said if I liked history I should come back.

I did see a real working phone booth!

And a sign for my sister that I’ll share with everyone. (Our favorite is always, “No smorking.”)

Eventually it was time to get on the “Express Train” for what seemed like three hours. My friend Yumi said it’s very rickety and rocks back and forth. She’s right! It hauled ass but we had a lot of ground to cover.

I got to Matsue, one of my favorite places, and I’m not liking the hotel or the hotel’s neighborhood but I was mostly just hangry. I tried to be fancy and picked a place that’s I thought was in a chain with the fancy spot we went to in Yamaguchi City two years ago. I came to find out Onyado Nono is just part of the Dormy Inn chain. The rooms are the same (nice, that’s not the problem) but the place is HUGE and chock full of foreigners. It takes forever to check in and out. Plus it has fake tatami mat flooring so you have to check your shoes at the door and walk around in your socks. Haven’t they heard of inside shoes or slippers? It’s just weird.

Anyway, I dropped off my bags and headed to the history museum. It wasn’t as impressive as the museums in Hagi, but whatever. Just one room of displays and it was mostly of the history of the castle. They have an impressive castle, one of the five “original” castles in Japan, and tons more tourists so I guess they’re winning?

I tried to find a late lunch but the combini was picked over and the first place I found was so close to the castle that it was overrun. The history museum I just complained about had a cafe, but they only served sweets. I ordered what I could get which was actually quite good.

Then I got nickeled and dimed by the Lafcadio Hearn house and the Lafcadio Hearn museum. (I did not pay for the samurai house.) His Japanese name is Koizumi Yakumo so I couldn’t ask anyone about him until I remembered the Japanese name. For some reason I kept forgetting the surname Koizumi. Anyway, there’s a separate fee for his house and for the museum. The house was a small Japanese house with a beautiful garden and made me wonder why I was getting fleeced. The museum told much more about the life of Lafcadio Hearn and was much more interesting to me. I kind of got emotional after seeing it all. He had a pretty impressive life and this was much more interesting than his houses in Kumamoto and Tokyo where I’ve been to in the past.

Anyway, back past the castle. Here’s an obligatory picture.

On the way back to the hotel I got a cold microwaved korokke (croquette) because I as still hungry. The flavor was great. The texture, well, it was a microwaved fried croquette after all.

In my room I found a bribe.

I sat in my room for a bit and headed out looking for dinner. This whole area is drinking establishments and I’ve quit drinking. Last time I had a beer it messed up my digestion for a week. I discussed this with my doctor a while ago and he said most of my meds have the side effect of stomach problems. Drinking doesn’t help so I’m not pushing it.

On my way out I saw a sign saying how nice it was today and the time of sunset. Then I remembered the sunset over Lake Shinji is supposed to be one of the top five sunsets in Japan. I asked at the desk if I could just go tomorrow but tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy. I had about 30 minutes to make it the the “ideal” spot which was supposed to be more than 30 minutes away on foot. I kept going, though, and I made it. I don’t walk as fast as I used to but I guess it’s faster than the hotel’s estimates. On the way I talked to a guy who seemed like a local and he was super nice. I remember people here being pretty friendly and that’s one of the reasons it’s one of my favorites.

It was worth seeing. Then it was another 25 minutes (by Google standards) back to the train station to look for food. Right before the station I saw a curry shop that was rated pretty highly so I stopped in. It was soupy and not that flavorful. Soup curry is not my favorite, but it was good.

Earlier I said I took another picture after I ate half of something and here it is. The salad was great. There’s also a bite out of the weirdly flavored karaage, maybe sansho pepper? It’s slightly bitter. Not my favorite but it was good.

Would I go again? Probably if someone else wanted to go.

On the way back I saw a guy night fishing and a couple of guys talking to him. One of the guys started back in the direction I was going so I asked him about night fishing and he said I should come back and try it myself. Another super-nice local. They were fishing for suzuki, Japanese sea bass.

I hit the combini on the way home. Not sure when I’ll drink the Wilkinson but buying it is a tradition.

Oh, and the bath area was the mess I expected. I walked in and a bald naked guy was pacing around, hitting himself with a towel. Several others napping, in the changing area and in the bath area. Another guy doing weird exercises in the water. I’ve never seen that anywhere else. Well I suppose there was that time that a group of loud old Korean dudes all got into a tiny jacuzzi with me. It was all weird but harmless. At least Japan and China are still beefing and it wasn’t like the time I went to Fukuoka and the bath was like riding in a Japanese subway with naked Chinese dudes.

When I got out of the bath the bald dude was outside housing a bunch of free popsicles. Remember how I said you were supposed to walk around in your socks? He was wearing the slippers out of his bathroom. Eww.

I didn’t sleep for crap and even had a couple of nightmares until I finally took some stomach medicine. The medicine is called Stomaze and is for overeating. At least that’s what they told me at the drug store near Granny Harajuku in Tokyo. It worked just fine.

I was thinking the last time I came it was about 47 years ago and my dad was about the age I am now. We also had crummy sleep and all he could do is complain. I had a great time and will likely come again but I did make some mistakes. I just noticed another one: I’m kind of sunburned. Oh well.

I had breakfast and I think my thinking was correct to only get two of the four meals offered. The breakfast was pretty big. This picture is before they brought out the miso soup and the rice.

Hagi itself seemed a little spread out so I started looking for rental bikes online. I only saw something called “Tricycle” on Google Maps so I ended up renting an old mama-chari from the hotel (the standard town bicycle). It was, like the hotel, a little old.

When I fnally saw a “Tricycle” late in the day I knew I’d made a mistake. The bike on the left is the hotel bicycle. The two on the right are “Tricycles”. Notice what they don’t have? A THIRD WHEEL. Notice what they do have? A BATTERY AND AN ELECTRIC MOTOR. I could’ve used that today. My legs are shot. I’m not used to pedaling, and I’m certainly not used to pedaling a bike made for munchkins. Oh, and I think the Tricycle rates are cheaper than what the hotel charges. But I am fat and needed the exercise.

The first thing I did was ride south across town to Hagi station to see about tickets for tomorrow. Turns out the Hagi station is unmanned and is mostly a railway museum. I found out when I got back to the hotel that the East Hagi train station is the main train station. I was right by East Hagi station when I visited Shoin Jinja but didn’t go.

OK, next ride is back to the middle of town to the Meirin Center, where they moved the tourist information from Hagi station. Meirin is an old school building where the children of the lord’s retainers (i.e. the kids of the rich and powerful) were educated. Eventually it was converted to an elementary school and now it’s a museum. It’s a nice museum with history of the school as well as a display of the local geopark.

The next stop was Shoin Jinja. My das was kind of obsessed with Yoshida Shoin. He is known as the start of a small group of influential young people who were important in the Meiji Restoration. When Commodore Perry arrived to force open the Japanese borders, Yoshida Shoin tried to sneak onto the ship. He was rebuffed and then imprisoned by the shogunate but studied and taught while in prison. He was placed under house arrest where he continued to teach. Evenutally he was executed at the young age of 30. His students went on to become the first Prime Minister and start what became the University of Tokyo’s engineering school and start the Japan Mint, AMONGST OTHER THINGS. Kind of a badass who inspired more badasses. And he’s from Hagi.

Anyway, I went across town to the east to go to Shoin Jinja. They also have his house where he was under house arrest and the school that he moved from his uncle’s house. There’s also a museum that has his writings including those while he was in prison and before he was executed. He was a very eloquent man.

I remembered it was a slog to get to his gravesite and the site of the house where he was born but obviously I’ve got nothing better to do and what else was there to do?

Part of the reason it’s a slog is because it’s uphill. And it gets steep. I think we argued with my dad about this last time we were here. Well, I went up. Rode part of the way to his uncle’s house where the schoolhouse was originally located. The schoolhouse is the size of a large garden shed.

From there it got so steep that I had to push the bike up the hill. On the way there’s a “golf” area where old people play golf with giant balls and what look to be croquet mallets. I stopped and asked where the grave was and the guy pointed to the area next to the recreation field.

Here’s the view from the grave area.

I was quite a way up. No wonder I feel like it was leg day at the gym. Here’s his grave as well as the graves of some of his followers.

There’s also a monument next to it that I think I remember so I bet we did slog up this damn hill with my dad.

It was way worse last time because we were here in the summer.

TIme to go west across town to the history museum. When I got close I passed a coffee roaster but the aroma hit when I got a half-block away so I had to go back. I had a a very good cup of coffee and a tasty Hagi orange pastry. I forgot to take a picture of those but here’s one of the store.

And of the roaster.

And of the pastries. I was told people come and buy several and they told me which ones to eat right away and which ones you could freeze for later.

Also, this is kind of my sister’s thing, finding interesting cafes and such, and since I’m not taking any Wilkinson pictures today this’ll have to do.

The history museum was cool too. I’m learning Japanese history by seeing all the museums from the various prefectures and cities and Hagi and Yamaguchi Prefecture love being the heart of modern Japanese politics. They even had the “only display” of two oarfish, both in formalin and shown vertically. I’ve heard of oarfish and how rare they are so I was excited to actually see them.

One of the things I learned about is the castle town area right by the hotel. Although the Meiji government tore down most of the castles (maybe all of them?) the museum said there were some walls left. As I was taking the narrow neighborhood streets back to the hotel, I actually found some of them.

Parts of the castle are just parts of people’s houses now, and only a block from my hotel.

Anyway, I got back to the hotel about the time it started sprinkling. I’m not sure if it’s raining now or not since it’s dark out. Google says it’s raining but it’s been saying that all day. And most of the day it was beautiful out.

I had dinner at the hotel and I expected it to be a lot of food. It was. Fortunately, it wasn’t as much as the ryokan. Here it comes:

There were only two beef bites in this dish but it was so good. And it was so rich that you wouldn’t want much more.

Did you see the fugu? Pork, beef, and fish. So good. 

Tomorrow I have a five hour train ride to the next stop. At least I hope it’s only five hours. I take a local train for a ways and get on a Super Express. But there’s a notice online that says that due to “issues” “some” of the Super Express trains are canceled. It’s a big warning that’s very vague. I’ll let you know when I find out.

I ate too much last night. I am eating less in general and I figure it’s partly because I’m getting old, and partly because I don’t need to stress-eat any more. One of the “old guys” I have coffee with said something like every week at work is another year off your life. I haven’t seen any scientific basis for that but it sounds good.

Anyway, back to my overeating, I generally have been making bad life choices and now that I’m taking my meds with dinner with a lot of water, I have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It doesn’t help that my blood pressure meds contain a diuretic. Last night when I got up my stomach felt kind of funny and I was pretty sure it was because I ate too much. I was hoping against hope that the breakfast wouldn’t be that large. I knew that it would likely be pretty large.

I knew I could probably force myself to finish that but then the kept bringing out more plates. Rice gruel and the miso soup I was expecting.

But then fish and eggs.

I finished most of it and declined any additional rice. Fortunately the Pepto Bismol I brought helped.

The lady who drove me to the train station told me she moved to Karatsu from Nagoya because she loves fishing. And Karatsu has everything she needs (supermarkets, doctors, etc) and if she needs to go to a big town then Fukuoka is only an hour away by train or car. Now Karatsu is on the (fantasy) list of places I could move to.

I left a little early and took two different trains to Hakata station. It was kind of an adventure, taking one rickety old train local train and then transferring to another when I got closer to Fukuoka. The second train was one of those weird train lines that converted into a subway. It confused me enough that I asked the station attendant if I needed to pay extra (I didn’t).

I forgot how crowded Fukuoka is and that’s with no Chinese tourists. It didn’t help that it’s Sunday. The train platform itself wasn’t that bad. I took a shinkansen to Tokuyama station where I had lunch with my cousin and her husband. Tokuyama is really a smaller town and even with a shinkansen station there’s not much to do. The first restaurant we tried to go to was missing (probably closed during the pandemic) but they had a backup restaurant we went to. I got the lightest meal on the menu.

My cousin got chirashizushi.

My cousin’s husband got a slightly fancier sushi plate than I did but he ate a bunch of it before I could take a picture.

Then I got on a local train back to Shin-Yamaguchi station, backtracking a bit. From there I got on a bus to Hagi.

I’m not too sure about Hagi. I’m here for two nights and I’m at a “resort hotel”. I guess Hagi’s dropped in popularity and the taxi driver pointed out a big hotel that they converted into an assisted living facilty for the elderly. There aren’t as many hotels here.

I picked the resort hotel because the last time I was here (when I was a teenager) most of the hotels were huge halls set up for large groups to have raucous parties and we didn’t sleep very well. I’m guessing that it’s not like that any more. The hotel web page said there was a Joyfull family restaurant near the hotel but it’s at least a 20 minute walk. On the way I saw a local Italian restaurant so I went there instead.

It was fine. It was boiling hot inside, they played loud Beatles music (I’m not a fan), and the food was OK. At least it was interesting. I got a tandoori chicken salad. The greens were still a little wet and the chicken was chilled.

I got a spaghetti doria. I think doria are a Japanese thing. They’re usually rice on the bottom with cheesy cream sauce on top and then baked in the oven. This one had meat sauce mixed in wit the cheese and spaghetti instead of rice. I guess the only minus is that it could’ve used a little more salt.

They were nice and I shouldn’t really complain. It was fine. I’ve just been getting great food so far.

Anyway, the resort hotel is one of those giant onsen hotels. Somehow I selected a Japanese room which I suppose is good since I sleep quite well with a futon on a tatami floor. The room also has a very nice bathroom area and a separate toilet and there are two big baths, one that’s outside. The inside bath area was huge and I was the only one there. They also had the option for dinner and breakfast and I only got one breakfast and one dinner so I don’t know what the food is like yet. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

I only got the two meals because I knew the ryokan would have too much food and I was afraid this place might be the same. I do need to fit into a plane seat in a couple of weeks.

The first thing I have to say is I can no longer trust Google Maps for transit info. Especially not in the Japanese countryside. I already had it make me walk further than I needed to because it’s bad at backtracking even when it’s quicker (i.e. getting off at a later station and walking back.) This morning I was planning on getting on a bus and then switching to a train because it was supposed to be the fastest way from Imari to Karatsu. Unfortunately Google Maps doesn’t know that the weekend bus schedules are different here.

I got to breakfast at the hotel and the whole cafeteria was full of high school girls. Or maybe college. I’m old and kids look like kids. The buffet was picked over but fortunately most of them were finishing up and the staff started refilling things as I was making my choices. There were a LOT of choices.

I didn’t fill up all of the spaces on the plate but I double-stacked two of the spaces. And while it looks like I didn’t get a lot of food, I was completely stuffed.

I made it to the station for the nonexistent 9:43am bus. The schedules told me the quickest way to Karatsu was to wait for the 11:03am train. That meant I had plenty of time to kill. Fortunately there was a free work space at the station with free power and WiFi. I should’ve used that time to plan tomorrow’s travels but I just watched some YouTube videos.

The train was even smaller than the one yesterday. Ran like a bus (again) and was diesel as well. It wound through the countryside and and made many stops but hardly anyone got on or off.

I made it to Karatsu around noon and had them clear my Suica card. At Arita I scanned the wrong IC card reader and I was warned that I would have to clear it when I got to the next JR station with a card reader which turned out to be Karatsu station a day later. i also got some suggestions from the tourist information desk. Then I took a cab to the ryokan I’m staying at. Couldn’t check in so early but they did let me stash my luggage. The ryokan wasn’t close to the station but it was very close to the castle.

Here’s a view from the top of the castle of the peninsula where the ryokan is located.

 

And a view of the castle from the bridge leading from the peninsula.

Does it look like there are a lot of stairs to the castle? There were a lot of stairs to the castle.

There was a ¥100 elevator that I was planning to take on the way down, but I accidentally walked right by it and walked all the way down. Fortunately I didn’t trip on the uneven stairs.

The wisteria were starting to bloom and attracted a lot of bees.

The castle is a reproduction built during the Showa era which usually means it’s all museum inside. At least it wasn’t just concrete walls.

There were more stairs to climb but being so high up the view was pretty nice.

I walked to the former residence of Taketori, a local coal magnate. It was huge. The entry room was 4m tall and he even had his own noh stage in one of the wings. I didn’t take any pictures of it but it was a mansion and a half.

From there I went to Karatsu jinja (another shrine) where I again took no pictures. I do have one of the former Karatsu Bank that they proudly say looks like Tokyo station. The guy who designed Tokyo station was from Karatsu and designed both buildings.

Then I went to the Hikiyama Float exhibition hall where they house all of the portable shrines used during their big November festival. With that I had completed the recommended tourist route through town and thought I’d better figure out where I’m going tomorrow. I know I need to end up in Hagi, but I told my cousin I’d swing by and have lunch with her in Tokuyama, which is kind of out of the way. I was recommended a small coffee shop near the station where I could sit down and stare at my phone and google maps.

The food on the menu looked delicious but I knew I’d have plenty to eat back at the ryokan so I didn’t get anything besides the cake and a cup of tea. I did sneak a picture of the inside.

I also didn’t think I’d need my usual Wilkinson but I took a picture of the selection in the station FamilyMart.

Then back to the ryokan. I haven’t posted any pictures from my hotel windows because who needs pictures of parking lots? This is much better.

The owner’s house is towards back of the garden and I could see him talking to some foreign guests.

And then dinner in the room. I’m not going to describe things unless someone really needs to know. It was delicious.

My overeating continues.

Today I traveled to Imari. It’s a very small town. I didn’t really have lunch, but I’ve been eating a lot lately so it’s not like I’m going to waste away.

I think I’ve seen most of the things in Nagasaki that I want to see but I like the place and I’ll definitely go again.

I decided to try the western breakfast at the same restaurant because I’ve had the Japanese breakfast at the restaurant at least three times already. As you can see, it’s still kind of Japanese. How often do you see picked vegetables and stewed tomato something-or-another in a western breakfast? Maybe it’s more European than American. The rest is my own fault: the salad, croissant, and coffee are from the buffet. I’m used to doughy flat croissants but this one was crisp and flaky.

Then I checked the train schedule and saw if I just left a little earlier I’d make it to Imari before lunch instead of after. I had a non-reserved seat ticket which meant I could leave whenever I wanted. Even after buying a coffee at Mickey D’s, I made it to the train platform a half hour early and was first in line. It wasn’t crowded so there was no problem.

I make fun of the Kyushu shinkansen all the time because it is a little weird and doesn’t go that far. It was supposed to connect Fukuoka and Nagasaki but Saga Prefecture in between thinks no one will stop there and won’t allow them to connect the two ends.

At the end of the line (in the middle of nowhere) I transferred to the Huis Ten Bosch line which I think also goes to Sasebo, but I only rode it one stop to Arita.

Then I got on the Matsuura Railway which was two cars with a diesel engine and ran like a bus. That is, you get in towards the rear, take a ticket (or scan your IC card) on the way in, and then pay according to the distance you traveled when you get off. Being the sticks, the train only comes once an hour. I guess Google Maps doesn’t like lettting you backtrack, so it told me to get off in the middle of EBFE and wondered if I was just going to a farmer’s house.

I think it was closer to go to the station and backtrack.

I left my bags at the hotel and headed off to see Imari. The front desk told me I should go to Okawachiyama, where the potters historically had their kilns. I only had 15 minutes to make it to the bus, which runs once every two hours. Okawachiyama was a nice little town in the hills, only a 15 minute bus ride away, so I bet a taxi would’ve been affordable (if there are any taxis here).

Did I mention the hills? It’s pretty steep. Lots of pottery stores and my sister suggested I buy a mug. The cheapest mug I liked was about $60US so I punted. (The cheapest one I saw was probably $40.) So much beautiful porcelain wasted on me there. Anyone have a million yen for a vase?

I guess this is a waterway and not a stream. 

And a spillway or a water diverter?

I didn’t take any pictures of the pottery because most of the displays were in stores and not galleries. I’m filling in by showing pictures of the creek.

I tried looking for the shrine built in a cave but I went the wrong way (as usual) and ended up at the cemetery. It’s not in the guide book but there was a sign that said there were many Korean potters who were brought to Japan and never got to go home. There’s a monument to them made up of their gravestones in a mound. I didn’t think it would be respectful to take a picture. Sorry. I found a picture online so there are pictures of it.

I had a few minutes to kill before the next bus so I got a my usual sightseeing lunch: soft ice cream. It was out of one of those machines that uses a pod and you make your own cone. I should not be trusted with a soft ice cream machine.

Oh, I got some tea as well.

I caught the bus back and did the tour of the town. There’s a very small pottery gallery at the station with several pieces of Edo era pottery. The information bureau also suggested the Silk Road exhibit and the merchant house next door to it.

The Silk Road exhibit is in an old house. The first floor is a pottery store (of course) and the second floor had a few displays. There was also a larger area next to the displays where you could paint your own porcelainware.

The merchant house was more fun. If you follow Japanese history you know how the rulers liked controlling things. People weren’t allowed to just go to the pottery studios in Okawachiyama but were made to buy things from the merchant in town. The lady there was super nice and explained the whole thing to me, showing me all the rooms.

I took a picture of both buildings and they’re the smaller ones in the middle.

My last stop was Imari shrine and on the way there were ceramic tiles on the walls. As you’d expect, there’s ceramics everywhere. The most interesting ceramics were at the ends of the bridges.

There were way more porcelain figures at the ends of the bridges but I’m not really a pottery guy so I only took a couple of pictures. Plus one of these roosters.

What I thought was the shrine was just the bottom of the steps to the shrine.

The shrine itself was quite peaceful and no one was there! Usually there’s people selling fortunes and amulets.

I walked back to the hotel and they recommended two places for Imari beef but one no longer serves dinner. The only choice was a cafe that serves Imari beef hamburger steak. I know it’s kind of a waste to grind up good beef but it was very tasty. But I started off with a lemon squash, which I hadn’t had in years.

I’m just building up the suspense.

Sometimes you get some odd flavors with hamburgers but this one was just perfect.

I had what I hope is my last disaster of the day — when I tried to pay for dinner I couldn’t find my wallet! I’ve pulled this stunt before. Since I pay for most things with the Suica app on my phone (a substitute for the IC transit card) I didn’t realize my wallet was in one of my bags back at the hotel. I rushed back to get the wallet and came back and paid. Phew. They were super nice about it.

The convenience store wasn’t on the route back to the hotel so I looked for some more Wilkinson fizzy water at a Daiso. No dice, but there was a MaxValu supermarket next door. And they had another flavor I hadn’t seen before! Checking out was kind of a nightmare. Self-checkout with lots of Japanese to read on the screens.

There’s a big bath on the third floor of the hotel so I’m going to head up in a bit. I hope I’m done with all my mistakes for the day.

This post will be edited after I go out for dinner, but right now it’s about 3:30pm and I’m back in the hotel relaxing for a bit. Hey, it’s my vacation, I can do what I want.

Nagasaki is much better without sciatica. I’ve been here twice before, once with my mom and sister about 20 years ago (man I’m old) and once three-ish years ago, right before the new section of the station shopping mall opened up. In fact, I left on opening day. It was also the year the Japanese COVID travel restrictions lifted and was my first time in Japan since 2019. In any case, I got sciatica on the trip and going up slopes and climbing stairs was particularly painful. Nagasaki has a lot of small steep hills and pedestrian overpasses with stairs and that wasn’t great.

Breakfast was in the hotels’s restaurant, next door in the new mall, and I remember it being better. Then again, it was right after the COVID shutdown and I think there wasn’t a buffet. I also remember it being way more crowded since there weren’t that many breakfast options then. Even with my complaints, breakfast today was really good and honestly I wasn’t hungry at lunchtime.

They had a couple of desserts but I just took a picture because I was full.

I put in my contacts and then I couldn’t find my reading glasses. Off I went to a 100 yen shop where the ladies laughed because they wore reading glasses too and probably have done the exact same thing.

After that I went to the tourist information counter at the station. As usual, they were surprised that I wanted to walk around instead of taking mass transit. The first thing I did, of course, was get lost. I did find this great view of the harbor.

It was actually not far from the back of the train station.

After that I wanted to find the mall we ate at during my first trip to Nagasaki. It was a long time ago and the train station was much smaller back then. Now there’s a giant complex of stores at the station.

I was expecting a run-down department store like I’ve been to in a lot of smaller Japanese towns, but this mall was renewed quite recently. Very clean and nice and much further from the station than I remember. The first time I went with my mom and my sister it was pouring down and I think we took a taxi.

Then it was off to walk to Chinatown (or more literally translated, China Street). On the way I was going to a shopping arcade to check out a chawanmushi shop where I think they invented the dish. In any case my sister wouldn’t stop telling me to go there and so I did. Turns out I went there on my first trip to Nagasaki and I remember the loud entryway where they clack wooden blocks to get the attention of the attendants upstairs. This time I sat at the counter downstairs.

I was still full from breakfast so I got the basic set.

Ha. Here it is with the lids off. It was very tasty and I’m saying that as someone who wasn’t even hungry at the time.

Then it was off to Chinatown. I gave the literal translation earlier because Chinatown is two blocks long, in an ell. It’s tiny. I was hoping to try some street food but it was mosly pork buns and Nagasaki pork buns and you can get those at the station. Plus I was stuffed from the chawanmushi.

By that time it was only about 12:30pm and I had run out of things on my short to-see list. I decided to visit the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture which is also quite new. On the way I saw this restaurant that was full of businessmen and took a picture of the plastic food display mainly for my sister who hates onions. Every dish seemed to have a ton of spring onions in it. (The joke probably isn’t worth it, but you’re not paying to view these pictures so whatever.)

Near the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture was the Santo Domingo Church Museum which was free but I really couldn’t be bothered to go. The NMHC (I’m not typing it all out again) was interesting, half being history and the other half being a reproduction of historic government offices.

The reproduction area required you to remove your shoes because there were tatami rooms you could enter to see what the government offices looked like.

That’s it for except for dinner. I’ll add that later (the half-dozen people who read this probably won’t notice because you’re in Portland and it’s after midnight and you should all all be asleep.)

—–

I was paying my bills on my computer, one reason I bring my computer, and I had to scribble some notes using the hotel room pen. It had a surprisingly nice feel to it but it had some interesting writing rather than a logo:

I tried booking my “Shinkansen” ticket online (the mini Shinkansen that goes from Nagasaki to Takeo Onsen) but the payment page said I had to go pick up the ticket in person so I just went down to the station to make the reservations in person. That’s one of the benefits of staying at the station. The ticket office was surprisingly empty and they told me I just hit it at the right time. They’re usually quite packed. I remember having to take a number the last time I was there.

It was dinnertime but I wasn’t hungry yet so I went shopping. I’m not a great shopper unless there’s something I’m looking for. I went to the nearest “Loft” and checked out the new water-based gel ink pens since I saw several ads on Instagram but couldn’t decide on anything. I also looked for some better reading glasses but they were ¥4000! I’ll stick with the cheapies. Then I looked around the restaurant floor of the new mall building thinking it was very familiar just to realize it’s the same one where I had breakfast. It’s weird approaching it from a different direction. I also realized I’d been there before when all the restaurants were open. It’s kind of confusing because there is only one open restaurant at breakfast time and the whole place has a different feel to it.

I usually ask the front desk of the hotel what the area food specialty is and they suggested toruko rice, Turkish rice which has nothing to do with the country of Turkey. They also suggested I get it at “Nicky Austin” in the train station restaurant area. I ordered the one that was marked “ichiban ninki” (most popular) because they have over a hundred different combos. I also realized I’d been there before during my sciatica visit and probably ordered the same thing.

Needed a touch more salt but it was good.

Here’s another picture that’s mainly for my sister.

She said she couldn’t find flavored WIlkinson during her last trip to Japan in the fall and so far I’ve had good luck. Usually it’s just plain or lemon but in Nagasaki I’ve been finding all sorts of flavors. Wiikinson is like LaCroix but better. Just like LaCroix, the tiny bit of flavor does make a difference.

Anyway, that’s it for Day 1. It’s only 7pm but I’m no longer a drinker (also I’m old) so I’m just going to hole up in my room and hope my jet lag doesn’t get to me tonight.

I didn’t make it to Japan in fall of 2025 because I was feeling poor. Being retired and having no job means my income is less. That’s usually fine, but covering all my medical bills was making me nuts. I didn’t spend any more on medical bills than a usual year but my financial advisor wasn’t trickling out enough money to cover it all. Plus, one of my doors was rotting and I had to pay for that (which was months later but that’s another story). Anyway, I figured out I was OK. And now it’s spring of 2026 and I’m back in Japan!

First day was kind of a doozy: 26 ½ hours from when I got up to now. Got up at 4 AM to catch a 7am flight from PDX to SEA, and then the long flight from SEA to HND. I got my flights on Expedia and my sister wondered why it was so expensive. Turns out I got the Comfort++ seats (or whatever they call the class between comfort plus and business) where the food was served with tablecloths and was better than what I usually get on an airplane. They provided headphones, not just wired earbuds, but I like to use my noise cancelling headphones. Unfortuately the plugs were all moved making things inconvenient for my usual setup so I ended up using the provided headsets. That means I carried my bulky headphones to Japan for nothing.

Watched a few movies, like I usually do. First Anaconda with Jack Black and Paul Rudd. Plenty of dumb fun. After that I watched Zootopia 2. Then I tried watching No Other Choice which is supposed to be a black comedy but I found no humor in it. Maybe I’m not cut out for Korean movies. It was also hideously long and I could only stomach about half of it. I switched to watching Shrek which I’ve never actually seen, and after being scarred (ha) by the Korean movie I stuck to watching episodes of High Potential since I’m not caught up on the current season.

The long slog from the plane to immigration started out the same as usual.

But then there was a choke point. I didn’t see any Chinese tourists but holy crap there were still a lot of tourists coming into the country.

It took a while but like the friendly guys from the plane seats next to me said, “It’s way faster than Disneyland.”

I had a five hour layover before my flight to Nagasaki and there was a lot to do in the airport (at least for me). First, shipping off all of the gifts for friends and family, checking in my bag for the flight from HND to NGS, and then getting dinner since I wasn’t getting to my hotel near Nagasaki station until 10-ish. I went to my usual casual cafe and got my usual Napolitan spaghetti (ketchup spaghetti). I love the stuff. Probably too sweet for most Americans.

The view from the cafe isn’t bad, either.

Up to that point I was feeling great. I usually start fading after eating dinner, even though it wasn’t very much food. The flight started boarding about 6:30pm and they were really quick about it. The plane was mostly empty and it took a couple of hours to get to Nagasaki airport. It’s a very small airport. I only saw two other planes on the field and one was a small propeller-driven commuter plane. From there the bus takes about 50 minutes to get to Nagasaki station and I checked in to the hotel before 10pm PDT, 26 hours after leaving. I hit a combini before I went to bed (had to make sure to hydrate) and also got a korokke (beef croquette) as my late-night snack. WIlkinson is fizzy water that’s a tradition for me and Pocari Sweat is a sports drink.

That’s it for my first travel day!

My sister planned a trip with the two of us, my brother-in-law, my brother-in-law’s college buddy, and the buddy’s son. We were going to ride the ferry from Osaka to Kagoshima too! But I panicked when I saw all my bills and instead of contacting my financial planner I just canceled everything. This is my first year of having no (paying) job at all and I panicked. Medical bills sure add up once you’re no longer working for a high tech company with good benefits.

For anyone waiting for my fall pictures (both of you) I apologize. I just sent an email to my financial planner and I might try to go twice next year, once in springtime and once in the fall.

But who knows? I was awoken by military helicopters over my house (they rattled my windows) because Portland, so who knows what’s in the future? Closed borders? Well, I’ll worry about that when it happens.

Day 17 isn’t a full day but the day we traveled back from Japan. We did most of our last-minute shopping yesterday so we could just relax before getting on the plane. Surprisingly I didn’t have the pre-flight sleeplessness though I did have something like it last night. And I stayed up until 10pm which meant I had a 30 hour day without feeling woozy towards the end. Strange.

I also slept OK last night. Wanted to sleep in but I had to get up for the housecleaners (who didn’t come) and to let the HVAC guy get into my neighbor’s garage. He’s quite friendly and told me why the furnace was broken, why it needs replacing, and how much a new one costs. I was surprised he could do it all in one day!

Back to Japan. We got a lazy start and went out to my favorite Hoshino coffee which has pancakes! Very few locations seem to have them. Mariko isn’t a huge pancake fan but the ones are Hoshino are more cake-y. We discussed our shared childhood trauma of box pancakes and Aunt Jemima syrup. These are much better.

I have a second pancake is under the egg.

Mariko had a giant salad and one pancake.

Then it was time to pack and then wait for the ride to the airport. At the airport we wandered around for a while and got soft ice cream (matcha and hojicha swirl, which was the best).

Mariko got a fancier one. But the same ice cream flavors.

Then it was off to the lounge where we both got the traditional mini-ramen (no pictures this time) and a couple of snacks. Chatted with a couple who sat across from us and they were so nice.

The plane flight was fairly uneventful. There’s only one meal and one “breakfast” served so that usually leaves a lot of time for movies. The entertainment system for my seat was acting up and they had to reset it four times before they just gave me some miles and gave me the option to sit in a bulkhead coach seat just to watch the movies. I took them up on the offer and I watched some winners: Bad Boys (which I had never watched before), Bad Boys II, and Deadpool and Wolverine (again). I went back to my seat and while I couldn’t do much with my screen, it did have a limited selection of movies available so I watched part of The Beekeeper (again). 

And that’s it for this trip. I didn’t feel the dread I usually feel when coming home. I guess that’s probably because I don’t work at Intel any more. Hahaha. Oddly, one of the things I started fantasizing about is doing my laundry. And when I got home I did HOURS of laundry. Hahaha.

Today was mostly a travel day and the last full day in Japan. At least I hope so. A couple of years ago my flight was delayed and I was in Japan an extra full day, mostly in the airport. It turned out OK.

I woke up a lot last night but felt more rested than the day before. Can’t really explain it. I usually sleep pretty well in an APA hotel. I guess Mariko likes the harder beds everywhere else but the slightly softer bed at APA is more to my liking.

We went to Hoshino Coffee for breakfast. Mariko just had toast and a hard-boiled egg with her coffee. I had one of the more elaborate morning sets which really wasn’t that elaborate. One of the Hoshino Coffees in Shinjuku has pancakes and egg and bacon.

After that it was a 3+ hour shinkansen ride from Okayama to Tokyo. I remember it took four hours or so but maybe I’m misremembering. We sat on the side away from Mt Fuji (which looked socked in from where I sat) and a bunch of seats on the other side was a big group from SE Asia all with large suitcases. Fortunately, the green car accommodates those pretty well.

Anyway, we had ekiben from Okayama Station. Mariko had inari sushi.

I had the Okayama Station bento. Shrimp with small clams, potato salad, very stale karaage on the top row. Sukiyaki and rice on the bottom left. Egg and ham, vinegared fish and something, seaweed, and finally kinako mochi. It was pretty good.

We got to Tokyo and did some final shopping. Bought some candy and a new kitchen timer. We had dinner at the same place in Keio Department Store as we did before with our friend Chico but we went fancier this time.

Mariko’s started with the yudofu that I forgot to take a picture of last time we were here.

She had the matsutake dinner. Lots of mushrooms in the tempura. Matsutake in the rice and in the soup in the kettle.

I had the yuba and maguro.

Mine ended up with ochazuke with yuba flakes on the rice but I ate it before I remembered to take a picture.

Mariko wanted to get more strawberry daifuku at a store at NewWoMan (pronounced Newman) but it was actually inside the station! We had to pay ¥150 to go in and go right back out. It was worth it to get the daifuku, but the best we had was in Kamakura.

While we were screwing around we met a woman from Oz who was completely lost. We got her on a train to her station, but I hope she made it to her final destination.