Hotel inside Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki

At the end of last year I went on a trip to Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki. It is a theme park built towards the end of the economic bubble years in Japan, and struggled for a long time to attract enough visitors to make a profit. Recently, it was bought out by HIS and has begun to show a profit for the first time.

Economics aside, it is in a beautiful setting and the buildings inside the theme park are all built with character. They are not just wooden facades, but actually real buildings that you can shop, eat and stay in.

This picture above shows the scenic canals and one of the hotels.

During the winter season the park is not full, but during the warmer months you can expect to see many people. I have more photos from Huis Ten Bosch and will add them to a longer post shortly.

I made a book with some of the photos from my first visit to Huis Ten Bosch, which you can view here,

Streets of Huis Ten Bosch

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The views are wonderful in Arashiyama, from the mountains to the clear waterways

A beautiful sunny day in Arashiyama by the water. Arashiyama is a great place to take a day trip from central Kyoto and enjoy the mountains and Temples in the area. On the weekend many families are out walking along the river.

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Aerial view

A friend introduced me to Canon’s book printing service, PhotoPresso. I have tried a few photo book services before, but was quite surprised how easy the PhotoPresso service was to use and how quick and efficient their printing service was.

It took me about 2 hours to put this book together and I had printed copies in my hands delivered in less than 48 hours after.

To view in full screen mode, you can hover your mouse over the book cover below then click on the “blue button”.

To help shibuya246 in the Canon popularity contest you can also follow the links “Huis Ten Bosch” at the bottom left of the book and then vote the individual photos up on the PhotoPresso site.

I took this set of photos at Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Japan at the end of last year.

Windmills

Hotel

Sunset

I am just finishing a print book on Hiroshima also which I will put up later.

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Mystery beckons

A lot of times, pictures of Japan show Tokyo and Kyoto with familiar images. Sometimes, it is nice to go to new places and see a different view. Here is a view of the bay in Kyushu.

What great views of Japan do you know that are a bit unusual?

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Bamboo Walk in Arashiyama

This is the bamboo walk in Arashiyama, from a photo earlier in the year.

It is getting close to the end of the year and the weather is getting a little bit colder. It is always good to see the reports on the news of first snow falls in Hokkaido. Even though Tokyo only rarely gets snow, and normally not in December, it feels more like Christmas when you hear of snow.

Tokyo weather is normally mild at the end of December, with blue skies. In the sun it can be very relaxing, but the shaded areas can feel a bit cold. The lack of a driving cold wind makes winter one of the enjoyable seasons for Japan.

Maybe, if I take a trip up to Hokkaido the story would be a bit different.

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Kyoto City

It is always nice to climb the many towers that Japan has in each city and check out the view. I had some spare time when visiting Kyoto before catching the Shinkansen home and decided to take some photos of the sunset from Kyoto Tower.

Shinkansen arrives into Kyoto at dusk

No matter where I travel in Japan, Kyoto is always calling me to come back. What is your favorite memory of Kyoto?

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Togetsukyo Bridge, Arashiyama

Although the Autumn colors had almost fallen away from the trees, I took a short trip to Arashiyama, Kyoto. Arashiyama is a great place to visit to see some of Japan’s old style temples and beautiful country scenery.

On the list to visit in Arashiyama is Tenryuji, the bamboo walkway and Togetsukyo Bridge. You can also catch an open car (Torokko) train from Arashiyama into the mountains and then ride a boat back down the river. Very peaceful.

I will have more photos of this area shortly.

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Shirakawago

I am in Hokuriku for 4 days and will be back in Tokyo by the weekend. In Hokuriku I am visiting Shirakawago and Gokayama, Toyama-Ken. In Kanazawa, Ishikawa-Ken I visited Kenrokuen and tonight I am at Kagawa Onsen. Tomorrow I will visit Fukui-Ken before returning to Tokyo.

I should have lots of photos by the time I get back home.

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Sudachi is one of the local fruits. Mixed with Sake or served with food it can be a nice freshner

Whilst in Shikoku I saw lots of gifts for bringing back. The most popular items seemed to be Udon (Sanuki Udon in particular) and anything with Sudachi in it.

Sudachi pie. looks great. Would you prefer to try unagi pie or sudachi pie?

Plenty of udon you can try here

Local wakame from the Seto Naikai

If you purchase more than 3,000 of goods you can talk as many of these as you can carry for free

Lots of choice out front

By the boxload

Toilet paper with a twist of Sakamoto Ryoma

What would you like as a gift from Shikoku ?

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The view of Seto Naikai and the island of Shikoku beyond

I have detailed photos of all the places I visited, but to give a sense of the travel route and a quick overview of where I went in Shikoku, here is a summary post of the trip.

The Google Map below shows the route I took with some of the locations along the way. I started at Tokyo Station taking the Shinkansen to Okyama and then caught a train across the Seto Ohashi Bridge to Takamatsu. Later I rented a car and ended up driving it all the way to Kobe where I returned it before boarding the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. The trip started on a Tuesday morning and I came back on Sunday night.

View Shikoku Trip in a larger map

Shinkansen leaving Tokyo Station

Taking the train from Tokyo Station I arrived at Okayama Station, where I changed to the Marine Liner train to head for Takamatsu in Shikoku on the other side of the Seto Naikai.

The Shinkansen tracks at Okayama Station

Marine Liner (Okayama - Takamatsu)

Before crossing the bridge to Shikoku, I stopped of at Kojima for some lunch and also to visit the lookout at Washuzan for a view of the Seto Ohashi Bridge.

Lunch at a local Japanese restaurant in Kojima

The restaraunt owner was very proud of his first series Honda bike

Kojima is a well known town in Japan. They regularly hold speed boat racing here and so when an event is shown on TV they get good publicity.

Washuzan is about a 5-10 minute taxi or bus ride from Kojima Station. The view from the lookout at Washuzan was fantastic. You can see more of these photos here.

A very peaceful view from on top of the mountain looking down over the Seto Naikai

Going back to Kojima Station, I caught the Marine Liner again to cross the bridge and travel to Takamatsu.

Crossing the Seto Ohashi Bridge by train

View from the train window

Takamatsu, Shikoku

After getting a bit of a rest, I ventured out for a meal in Takamatsu. The town looked really easy to find your way around and the arcades were lively with lots of people around and plenty of restaurants to choose from.

Takamatsu Arcade

Dinner was a treat with plenty of choice. Here are a few places I saw in the arcade.

Restaurants in the Takamatsu Arcade

Day2
The weather was good and I decided to visit Ritsurin Park in Takamatsu before catching the train that runs along the coast to Matsuyama.

Ritsurin Park, Takamatsu

The train to Matsuyama

The JR train arrives at Matsuyama Station where you change to a tram for Dogo Onsen.

The Dogo Onsen was featured by Natsume Soseki in his book “Botchan” and the Dogo Onsen is known by many as Botchan Onsen. It has a great atmosphere to it and is definitely worth a visit. You can get a tour of the Onsen with its separate resting rooms and The Emperors Onsen Bath. More photos of this coming up in a later post.

Dogo Onsen Honkan

Day 3
It rained during the evening of Day 2 and I was glad to retire to the hotel nearby. It was raining when I woke up in the morning so I decided to rent a car and drive to Kochi to see the birthplace of Sakamoto Ryoma at Katsurahama.

I passed through the town of Tobe on the way, which is famous for its pottery.

Tobe Pottery

After leaving Tobe I took the Route 33 going past the Niyodogawa River heading towards Katsurahama in Kochi. It was raining fairly heavy during the drive so I didn’t get to see the best of the Niyodogawa area. It looked quite interesting (mainly viewed from the car traveling at 50kmh) and had a dam in the town which seemed to be the main work focus for people.

The dam at Niyodogawa

Route 33

Along the way I stopped for some lunch, although it was now about 4pm.

Steak Lunch

Driving down Route 33 took quite a while in the rain. By the time I got to Katsurahama it was getting dark. I wanted to go and see the statue of Sakamoto Ryoma on the beachead, so I grabbed my umbrella and took a walk in the rain.

Katsurahama, Kochi (Sakamoto Ryoma)

Since it was still raining, I decided to make the drive to Tokushima in the evening. The road was a highway and mainly through tunnels, so for 2 hours although it was raining outside I only saw rain for half that time. The rest was in a nice dry tunnel.

On arriving in Tokushima, I put the car away for the night and went to get some Yakitori.

Raining in front of Tokushima Station

Yakitori at Tori Tori, Tokushima

Day 4
The weather suddenly turned beautiful. After the rain from yesterday it was hard to believe how blue the sky was today. I drove to Naruto and walked under the Naruto Bridge to see the famous whirlpools that form at low and high tide.

Naruto Bridge

The explanation of the whirpools at Naruto Bridge

My bridge walk at Naruto

This was a pretty scary long ride down from the lookout popint

Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Otsuka Seiyaku) have an art museum in Naruto which is well worth a visit. The building is literally built into the mountain side (both sides) and contains over 1,000 pieces of art that have been reproduced on ceramic tile board.

Partial view of the Otsuka Kokusai Bijitsukan. The building is mainly inside the mountain. It must have been an amazing project to work on.

Otsuka Kokusai Bijitsukan

The Museum shut at 5pm which was a shame because I still hadn’t seen everything inside. When I came out of the Museum the sun was just starting to set behind the mountains, which made for a few wonderful photos. Lucky timing!

Naruto Sunset

Today was my day for scary rides. Walking up this road with a low guard rail and steep drops on both sides was nerve racking

With sunsets like this, though, the walk up a scary road is well worth it.

While I was out at Naruto Bridge, a follower on Twitter had suggested I try the California style restaurant, with good pizzas, nearby which has a good view of the mountains and the sunset. I saw an advert for it in the Otsuka International Art Museum as well, so decided to eat there. Unfortunately when I arrived they had a wedding function on so were closed for the day. Heading back into town I suddenly had an appetite for pizza so found a local Italian restaurant which served some great food.

Ebi Pizza

Day 5

This was my planned day to return to Tokyo, but since the weather was so perfect I decided to drive across Awajishima towards Kobe and then catch the Shinkansen from there, rather than going back to Takamatsu and Okayama.

The drive across Awajishima was easy and relazing. On the way I stopped at Izanagi Jinja, one of the Jinja’s mentioned in Japanese folklore with the story of Izanagi and Izanami and how they created the island of Awajishma through their union and it became the start of Japan.

Izanagi Jinja

As I arrived at Izanagi Jinja, I saw a procession of women in costumes and some priests from the Shrine walking towards a rice field. I parked the car and quickly snapped some photos of them harvesting the rice. What luck to be in exactly the right place at the right time.

Rice Harvest, Izanagi Jinja

After a relaxing visit to the Jinja, where the weather kept getting better and better, I drove on towards Kobe. The road went along the coastline and gave a great view. I stopped to take a picture of this sunset along the way.

Awajishima Sunset

The bridge crossing from Awajishima to Kobe was like passing through a time portal. The contrasting scenes between grazing farm land of Awajishima to the built up port area of Kobe was amazing. I can only guess the land price difference between the 2 sides of the bridge.

Awajishima - Kobe Bridge

Back in Kobe I returned the car, but being tired spent the night at the hotel near Shin Kobe Station. I took a quick walk out to the local Kitano area and had some dinner at the restaurant high above Kobe looking down on all of the neon lights. It reminded me of how nice a built up city can be, but also made me feel like I had come back from a relaxing overseas destination.

Day 6
It was raining again, but exploring a bit of Kobe seemed like a good idea before getting on the Shinkansen. The Shin Kobe station always looks amazing as it is strategically places at the foot of the mountain with tunnels on either side, left and right, and then a small canal/drain flowing from the mountain down under the station and along the middle of the road. The water flows roughly the “Kobe” part of the sign under where the bus is parked at the bottom of the photo and then down the street where the trees are.

Shin Kobe Station

The Kitano-cho area near the station is a place where many Westerners settled after the Port of Kobe was opened to foreign trade, in the second half of the 19th century. The area is hilly and retains lots of Western charm thanks to the old residential houses, many of which are now cafes, shops or tourist attractions.

Kitano-cho, Kobe

Kitano-cho, Kobe

Despite a bit of rain, this was a great trip. I felt like I had been overseas whilst in Shikoku. If you have never been before and enjoy a relaxing peaceful trip, then it is worth a visit. There are many other things to see in Shikoku that I didn’t get a chance to visit. Let me know if one of your favorite places was not covered. Maybe next time I will go and visit there too.

Shin Kobe, Shinkansen

I am planning another trip soon, probably to the 3 Prefectures of Toyama-ken, Ishikawa-ken and Fukui-ken. What other areas of Japan would you like me to explore?

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As the weather cools down a bit it would be nice to go bike riding along the coast

Late afternoon provides a nice backdrop for coastal roads and the expanse of water beyond them. Today would be a good day to head out on a trip.

Maybe catch the sun setting over the water. Reminds me of Hawaii

Here is a sunset from Hawaii I took a while ago

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Nice large poster for the N700 series Shinkansen outside Okayama Station

I took a few snap shots around Okayama Station when I was visiting recently. Looking back on them, I wish I had taken more. The weather was really nice and the atmosphere around the station was good.

Really like this view of the train tracks leading from Okayama Station. Nothing like a railway hotel

Okayama Station

Very well organized roads

One of the trams on the road in Okayama

Night time at Okayama Station

Have you every visited or lived in Okayama?

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