Road Trip on Daisan Isasiri Railroad in Hokkaido (Part 1)
Japan Hour
Sub Navigation
- A Billion Chinese Dreams
- The Entrepreneur 2019
- Creating the Bicentennial Experience
- Ladies, Fall In!
- Cyber Punk'd
- Remarkable Living
- China's Growing Appetite
- In Search Of The Frog Boys
- Venturepreneurs
- The Skin We Wear
- The Millennial Investor
- Show Me The City
- Jewel: After Hours
- The Islands That Made Us
- Rishi & Sharul Try…
- Not Business As Usual
- Regardless Of Generation
- The Singapore Bicentennial Conference
- The Negotiators
- Secret Delicious
- Fighting Foreign Interference
- Hawkers In Our Centre
- HT MintAsia Leadership Summit 2019
- Coded World
- For Food's Sake! 2
- The Big Boss: A 21st Century Criminal
- 50 Years of ASEAN
- Belly Of A Nation
- #DontForgetMe
- #HuntingHistory
- #Wanderlust
- Aarushi – Beyond Reasonable Doubt
- Across ASEAN
- Aerial Asia
- A Big Little Murder
- Against The Elements
- Age Of Innovation
- Algorithms
- An Astronomical Journey
- Astropreneurs: To The Stars & Beyond
- ASEAN’s Next Generation Leaders (ANGeLs)
- ASEAN Spotlight
- Asia First
- Asia First Encore
- Asian Century
- Asia in the Great War
- Back to School
- Becoming Human
- Becoming Singapore
- Bridging Giants
- Blueprint For Survival
- Bronze: A Forgotten Treasure
- Butterfly Children
- Challenge Tomorrow
- Champions For Change
- Check In
- City DNA
- City of Opportunities
- China on Film
- Coming Clean About Green
- Conversation With S14
- Cool Living in an Eco-city
- Correspondents' Diary
- Cram Course Asia
- Days in Pyongyang
- Days Of Rage
- Days Of Disaster
- Deciphering Indonesia
- Deciphering The Philippines
- Destiny of a Maritime Nation
- Don't Make Us Invisible
- Electric Dream
- Edible Wild 2
- Edge of Space
- Enemy Within
- Every Woman
- Facing Dementia
- Facing Depression
- Fake News
- Finding Singapore
- Fighting Fake News
- Fighting Falsehoods
- Facing Terror
- Food Heroes
- For The King
- Forums
- Futuropolis
- Gangnam Insider's Picks!
- Get Real S17
- Going Places
- Going Underground
- How To Raise A Super Baby
- In Conversation
- Into The Vault
- India on Film
- Inside the Storm 4
- Indonesia’s Game Changers
- Inside The Children's ICU
- Inside Our Factories
- Insight
- Inside The Cryptokingdom
- In Search of Umami
- In Pursuit of Magic
- I Remember The Fall Of Singapore
- Johor: A New State of Affairs
- Japan Hour
- Just Like You
- Kashmir: A War of Stones
- Land Unlimited
- Law of the Land
- Love in A Time of Change
- Life Lines
- Looking Ahead
- Luxe Asia S5: The Ultimate Access
- Made in Singapore
- Maverick Politicians
- Millionaire Minds
- Money Mind
- National Service - The Beginning
- National Service - The Transformation
- Neighbours: Singapore-Malaysia Relations
- Nepal's Child Brides
- The New Silk Road
- Once a Refugee
- On The Red Dot
- Our Tiny Superheroes
- Palu: A Month After
- Perspectives
- Parliament Specials
- Asia Tonight
- Power And Piety
- Powering the Future
- Power List Asia
- Raffles Revealed
- Raffles: An Icon Reborn
- Real Deal
- Rebellion In Marawi
- Refugee Chef
- Regardless of Class
- Regardless of Race
- Regardless of Religion
- Remarkable Living 1
- Roar!
- Savouring The Future
- Slackers, Shockers, Suits and Superheroes
- Singapore Food Stories
- Singapore Reimagined
- Singapore Mosaic
- Game Changers Singapore
- Singapore Tonight
- Singapore on Film
- Singapore Budget 2019
- Singapore After Dark
- Smart Cities 2.0
- Specials
- Super Octogenarians
- Start-UP S6
- Talking Point
- Taking Singapore Forward
- Tapestry: The Heart of ASEAN
- The ASEAN I Know
- The Big Questions
- The Dark Web
- The Family Affair S4
- The Last Rites
- The New Paya Lebar
- The Past Beneath Us
- The Successors
- The Terror Trail
- The Truth About Fake News
- This is What I Hear
- The Traitor Within
- This Weekend
- This Side of The Border
- Tipping Point
- To Live
- Trash Trail
- Undercover Asia S6
- Unusual Suspects
- Vanishing Foods
- Vice & Virtue: 1800s Singapore
- Walk This Way
- When We Play
- Wild City: Forest Life
- Wild City: Secret World
- Whiter Shade of Terror
- Why It Matters 2
- Work Is A 4-Letter Word
- Don't Call Us Poor
- Don't Call Us Beaten
Share this content
Bookmark
Japan Hour:
Road Trip on Daisan Isasiri Railroad in Hokkaido (Part 1)
(Updated: )More train trips await us and this week, we will embark on a two-day trip to find tourist spots along the South Hokkaido Railway line. We will ask the locals to recommend places worth visiting, where we can also savour delicious food and enjoy magnificent views of Hokkaido.
We begin our adventure from Goryokaku, one of the famous tourist sites in Hakodate city, Hokkaido. Goryokaku Station is the starting point of the South Hokkaido Railway line, which runs along the Gulf of Hakodate. This local line, which is also known as Isaribi Railway, has 12 stations, covering a total distance of 37.8km from Goryokaku to Kikonai. On the first day, we plan to alight at every station up to Kamiiso.
We first take a one-car train to Nanaehama (Seven Beaches) Station, which comes after Goryokaku Station. The ride lasts five minutes and we have an hour till the next train leaves at 12.10pm from Nanaehama. A resident tells us to check out the scenic “Nanaehama Park Sea Bathing Beach”, which faces the Gulf of Hakodate. Many people flock to this beach in summer and it is a popular tourist spot. After enjoying the sea view, we head by train to our next destination, Higashi Kunebetsu Station. This time, we travel on a train called Hokuto Shichisei. A passenger on the train recommends that we go to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant called Sushimaru - a chain restaurant in Hokkaido - where each sushi costs just 100 yen.
The train arrives at Higashi Kunebetsu Station in less than five minutes. We check the train schedule and we have two hours till our next train at 2.15pm. From the station, we walk for about 15 minutes to Sushimaru. It serves more than 140 kinds of sushi such as squid, tuna, seared salmon belly, giant fat salmon and seafood Gunkan-maki which has ark shell, squid and kelp root inside. We next head to the seaside, from where we can see Mt. Hakodate.
After this, we go to Kunebetsu Station and our next train departs about an hour later at 3.30pm. So we drop by a beauty salon near the station to enquire about recommended tourist sites. We are advised to visit a cement factory and also try a variety of big oysters called Garougaki. However, we find out the factory is quite far away and so is the place selling the oysters. We ask a resident who tells us that the nearest station to the cement factory and the oyster restaurant is Kamiiso Station, two stations away.
But first, from Kunebetsu Station, we go to the very next station, Kiyokawaguchi. This time, the passengers on the train tell us about three temples located along a street in front of the station. Each temple belongs to a different religious sect. We arrive at Kiyokawaguchi Station in less than five minutes. The three temples are situated within the same block in Hokuto. Koutokuji, Soutou School of Buddhism, has a history of 280 years; Zenrinji, Jodo School of Buddhism, has a 300-year history; and Tokoji, Jodo-Shin School of Buddhism, has 160 years of history. We visit the main hall of Koutokuji where we are taught Zen meditation.
We then take the 4.45pm train to Kamiiso Station. Our aim here is to try Garougaki oysters, visit a cement factory and look for a place to spend the night. We ask a taxi driver who gives us some information about the cement factory. We walk for five minutes to the Taiheiyo Cement pier, which is 2km long. The cement from the factory is loaded directly onto 60,000-tonne tanker ships via a long “conveyor belt” as the beach is rather shallow. We want to eat the grilled Garougaki oysters after this. However, the locals tell us the restaurant is located near the sea, at the other end of the street, and that it may be closed by now. So we abandon our plan to try the oysters and start looking for a lodging facility.
Tips:
1) Check the train schedule first before going sightseeing so you can plan your time accordingly
2) The beach at Nanaehama is a popular tourist spot in summer