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Discover Japan by rail on your next spring-time holiday and discover inexpensive break.
If you'd like to visit Hakone, the Weekday Pass is convenient. You're free to take any train in the week as many times as you want for two days. Not to add, it also comes with discount entry fees to some facilities. The cost, just 4,100 yen (S$ 55.10) for two days if you take the regular train instead of the express which carries extra charges but with only a time difference of an extra 30 minutes of travelling. Start the trip from Shinjuku Station on the Odakyu Line and being a weekday, the train to Hakone is not too crowded. It takes an hour and 50 minutes to get to Hakone on the regular train, and time will pass nicely with lovely views from the windows. Arrive at Hakone Yumoto Station where the adventure begins.
Hakone is busy all year long, being famous for hot springs and lots of things to see. So start from the station and catch a free shuttle bus which runs every 10 minutes for a 3-minute ride to Hakone Begonia Gardens. You can see begonias there all year long and discover around 10,000 begonias of about 600 varieties on display in the greenhouse.
With the weekday pass which comes with discount coupons the 800 yen entrance fee is discounted to 650 yen.You will also receive flower seeds as a gift. Leaving the garden, head to Tonosawa Station to catch the Hakone Mountain Railway which you can ride with the pass free for two days. Take the train to Gora from Tonosawa Station on the mountain railway. It's a half an hour ride to Gora as the train climbs Mt. Hakone's steep slope. Plan it right and you'll be arriving at Gora, in time for lunch. A 10 minute walk from the station is a cafeteria called "Crust of the Bread" that is not famous but has a good reputation for "cream anmitsu",seafood gratin and Bread Gratin. It is a popular dish in the cafeteria and is made out of a hollowed-out loaf of bread, with homemade bechamel sauce poured in before it's topped with plenty of cheese and popped into the oven. This unique dish costing 950 yen (S$ 12.7) including salad,is especially popular with female customers despite its huge serving.
After lunch, return to Gora Station for a visit to Mt. Sounzan which is accessed via the Hakone tram, a 2-car tram made in Switzerland. It takes 10 minutes to ascend 214 metres on the tram which is, of course,available with the weekday pass,which is convenient since you don't have to buy yet another ticket.
Change at Sounzan Station to a cable car which offers a thrilling 7 minute ride and great views inlcuding a stunning one of Mt. Fuji. The cable car stops at the famous Owakudani, the valley made by a volcano that erupted. The "black egg" which are boiled in hot spring water is popular with tourists to the area. It's said that eating one of these salty eggs,extends your life by 7 years.Next, head to Togendai, either by cable car or bus, travelling all the way to Lake Ashi which again, with the weekday pass, comes at no extra cost. Stop off at a pirate's ship which takes you around Lake Ashi for 970 yen (S$ 12.70),if you don't have the pass.the half hour cruise starts from the wharf at Togendai heading to Hakonemachi port. Continue the trip by busto Ashi hot springs and stay at the Kinokuniya inn for the night. The inn was founded 300 years ago in the Edo Era and it's where Rentaro Taki composed the famous "Hakone Hachiri".
The fairly large inn has 30 guest rooms and outdoor hot spring bath. Dinner is Kaiseki dishes full of local produce. The weekday pass can still be used the next day so use it to head to Sengokuhara by bus to visit the Lalique Museum. The French glass artist, Lalique has his work on display and admission is discounted upon showing the weekday pass. Lalique was apprenticed to a jewellery maker at 16 began his career making jewellery.Later, he made perfume bottles and turned glass makinginto an art form. The museum display includes part of an original Orient Express train-car which features Lalique's glass panels inside the train.
Leaving Hakone in Kanagawa, head with the weekday pass to Gotenba by bus which travels towards Shizuoka. Get off at Otometoge to appreciate Mt. Fuji from up-close and have a meal at "Fuji-mi jaya" or restaurant with a Fuji view. Popular here is the soba noodle meal which pass holders can enjoy at a discount. The noodle is served as the image of the view of Mt. Fuji, with grated turnip on top to represent the snow on top of Mt. Fuji,the chopped spring onions - Gotenba town and the tempura is the cloud that encircles Mt. Fuji's summit.
After lunch, continue by bus to Gotenba which is about 20 minutes to Gotenba from Otometoge. Gotenba Station is the furthest point you can get to with the pass and you can take a shuttle bus to a shopping centre some 15 minutes away.The Gotenba Premium Outlet offers souvenirs and much more,including 170 worldwide brand name shops offering items at discount prices. Return to Hakone Yumoto by bus and count the savings - up to 4,610 yen (S$ 62) - enough for another Hakone weekday pass trip !
Alternatively, use the savings on another train trip that starts from Tokyo Station. The destination - Kyushu. The trip can be inexpensive with the "Seishun 18 Ticket" which although it states Youth (seishun) even those who are 50 years old can use it. JR is selling the "Seishun 18 Ticket" at 8,000 yen which comes with five tickets to ride any JR train. The ticket has to be used on the same day, once it's clipped so try to use it at the start of the day to get the most out of it. To get to Kyushu from Tokyo, make it an overnight trip starting at 11pm with a 450 yen ticket to Yokohama on the "Moonlight Nagara" night-train which goes all the way to Ogaki every day. The train runs on the Tokaido Line from Yokohama to Ogaki and takes about 6 hours and 45 minutes. Catch some sleep and wake to the sun rise at Ogaki in Gifu Prefecture. Change to a local train at Ogaki to head west for the first destination which is Kyoto which is only two hours away.
If you're not prepared though for the commute rush hour, catch some breakfast. Take a bus from the station and head downtown to the Shijokarasumaru arcade. Nearby is an alley that leads to the Nishiki Market with 130 stores crowded with people out for various, tempting Kyoto specialties available in the market. Return to Kyoto Station with a boxed meal to be enjoyed on the train. The view out of the window will soon change as the train approaches Suma beach, some We're about 600 km from Tokyo and the Akashi Strait. Make a stop-over at Kurashiki City in Okayama Prefecture which is 750 km from Tokyo.
Kurashiki is an historic city that thrived in the Edo era and a 10 minute walk from the station will take you to a conserved area of towm where buildings are about 300 years old. The merchant town features white-walled warehouses that stand along the Kurashiki River. The trip back in time continues at the eating houses in the conserved areas such as the restaurant called "Hamayoshi Mamakari-tei". It's a 200 year old warehouse which was turned into a restaurant and serves local country dishes. The name "Mamakari" comes from a famous fish in Okayama which according to local legend was so tasty that people ate too much rice with it and had to borrow rice from their neighbours, hence "Mama" (local slang for rice) and "kari"(borrow). The fish is normally marinated and fried - nanbanzuke mamakari - but it can also be eaten raw as sashimi, if it's fresh or as sushi which is very popular locally. The mamakari set, full of various mamakari dishes is an exclusive dish that you can only get in Okayama.
Say goodbye to Kurashiki and take the Sanyo Line to Miyajimaguchi Station in Hiroshima to spend the night. Catch a ferry boat operated by JR so you can use the ticket pass without paying for the ride. Take the ferry boat to Miyajima island, which boasts of being one of Japan's top three scenic views, such as the World Heritage Site, the gate the famous Itsukushima (Ganjima) Shrine that can be enjoyed from the ferry. Another a symbol of Miyajima - local deer which are considered god's messengers, greet visitors at the pier. Board the shuttle bus as the sun sets and head to Jukeiso Inn which stands on a hillside.
It has 13 rooms in all and a panoramic view of Miyajima from the rooms. Guests also get to relax in the outdoor bath with a view that is also excellent. Dinner is mainly local seafood such as oysters caught in Hiroshima, Yanagawa-nabe with conger eel and eggs. Start the next day with a visit to Itsukushima Shrine which was was erected about 1400 years ago on the seashore as the island was considered sacred. A must-see is the shrine's main building which has been chosen as one of Japan's national treasures and shows the elegant architecture of the Heian period with the roof made of hinoki (cypress) before being tiled over. The most famous sight is the Otorii that stands in the ocean.
Leave Miyajima, still heading west on the local Sanyo Line train for a 15 minute ride to Iwakuni in Yamaguchi, which thrived as a castle town in the old days. Head to Kintai Bridge by bus from the station and stop at a restaurant called Yoshida Honten. It is an old restaurant that serves Iwakuni sushi, once also called Tonosama (Lord) sushi and was originally a preserved food in the Edo Era. Local fish, egg strips and lotus roots are sprinkled on the rice which is piled up in several layers and pressed before being cut into colourful, smaller, individual portions. The restaurant serves a Iwakuni sushi set meal which includes a local boiled vegetable dish and soup. There's also somen noodles with Yamame fish, another restaurant specialty.
After the meal take a walk around and take in sights such as the 200 metre long Kintai bridge that arches over the Nishiki River. It was first built in the early Edo Era and comprises five arches rebuilt 4 times, over the original construction. Cross the bridge and visit Iwakuni Castle that stands on a hilltop for a scenic view of the town. |
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