Road Trip On Yuri Kogen Railway (Part 2)
Japan Hour
Sub Navigation
- The Hidden Layer: Healthcare Trailblazers
- Dream Spaces
- Undercover Asia S8
- Manufacturing Ignorance
- Singapore Budget 2021
- In The Age Of AI
- Climate For Change
- Believe
- Remember Our House
- Singapore Green Plan 2030
- There's Something About Orchard
- Singapore Perspectives 2021: Dialogue with Minister of Education Lawrence Wong
- Inside The Probation Service
- Work.Able
- Once Upon A River
- Greening The 'Net
- Remarkable Living 3
- Contact Tracers
- Game Nation
- The Great Escapade
- Ahead Of Their Time
- When Titans Clash
- From Crisis To Catalyst
- Becoming Human Again
- The Pandemic: One Year On
- A Deadly Ascent
- Strangers In My Head
- Into The Vault 2
- Business Unusual
- Beyond the Viral Video
- Wild City: River World
- Disease Hunters
- Wizards Of Tech
- Feeding A City
- Undercover Asia S3
- 23
- Belly Of A Nation 2
- For Food's Sake! 3
- Forgotten Heroes
- Kampong Konkrit
- Rising To The Challenge
- Grounded
- The Longest Day
- Survival: Developing Countries On The Frontline
- Artists Unstaged
- Corridor of Hope
- Deciphering Japan
- The Family Affair S5
- Singapore Votes 2020: The Political Debate
- In Conversation Special
- Coronavirus Pandemic
- GRIT
- National Broadcast
- Why It Matters 4
- Faith Over Fear
- Outbreak Onboard
- Slumfood Millionaire
- #COVID19: The Social Media Pandemic
- CNA Correspondent
- One Of Us
- The Mark Of Empire
- Courage
- Race Against Pandemic
- A Frame In Time
- Carbon Conundrum
- Secret Wars
- Chasing Scarcity
- Undercover Asia S7
- Stronger: The Battle Against COVID-19
- Gadg(AID)
- Food In Our Time
- Tycoons China
- Inside The Child Protective Service
- Politics Of Climate Change
- The Singapore Perspectives Conference
- Borderlands
- In Our Time
- The Next Wave
- One Day That Changed Asia
- The Year Ahead 2020
- Migrants' Diary
- Ships That Shaped Us
- We Are Gen Z
- Crime Science
- Majulah: Symbols For Singapore
- A Billion Chinese Dreams
- CyberPunk'D
- Remarkable Living S2
- 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…
- Why It Matters 3
- 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
- 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
- CNA Leadership Summit: Navigating a Post-Pandemic World
- 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
- Luxe Asia S5: The Ultimate Access
- Made in Singapore
- Market Insights
- Maverick Politicians
- 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
- 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 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 Great Migration
- The Last Rites
- 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 1
- Why It Matters 2
- Work Is A 4-Letter Word
- Don't Call Us Poor
- Don't Call Us Beaten
Bookmark
Japan Hour:
Road Trip On Yuri Kogen Railway (Part 2)
We continue our trip on Yuri Kogen Railway’s Chokai Sanroku Line in Akita Prefecture. On the first day, from Maego Station, we take the 7.25pm train back to where we started our journey from, Ugohonjo. Our accommodation for the night, Hotel Iris, is a 25-minute walk from the station. A well-known hotel in the city, it is also a popular venue for weddings and other celebrations. Our room is spacious with a nice view of the surroundings. Dinner is served at a restaurant on the top floor. Our meal includes Angus beef steak, which uses Yuri beef from Japanese Black Cows raised in the Chokai-Sanroku area.
The next morning, we travel by train from Ugohonjo to Kubota Station. The journey takes about 20 minutes and we reach Kubota at 11.05am. Our next train is at 12.25pm. We do not see any locals near the station so we end up going to a house along the street. The owner tells us about Mizube Plaza, where we can get reasonably priced food.
Mizube Plaza was built 10 years ago on the site of the former Nishitakisawa Primary School. Fresh locally produced vegetables are sold at the facility, but most of the items are sold out by noon. A pack of red rice or fried noodles sell for as cheap as 100 yen each. We go to the canteen at the facility and order beef curry rice, fried sauce noodles and rice balls. For dessert, we have coffee and ice cream float.
We then chat with another resident who recommends we check out the Ruins of the Battle of Yamada. It is located near the next station, Nishitakisawa, but we decide to walk there instead. The Battle of Yamada is associated with the Boshin War, a major civil war. The new armies of the Meiji government fought against the former Tokugawa Shogunate at several places all across the country. The Shonai fief, on the side of the former Shogunate forces, climbed over Mt. Chokaizan to attack the Akita fief. The Akita fief called for nearby reinforcements but was defeated, thus ending the Battle of Yamada.
After seeing the ruins, we walk to Nishitakisawa Station. We take the 1.30pm train to Kawabe Station, which is five minutes away. We plan to catch the 3.20pm train from here later. Once again, we do not see anyone outside the station so we have to resort to going to someone’s home. The resident mentions a mysterious Jizo statue which is nearby. She offers to take us to the place. We meet the lady who is in charge of maintaining the Jizo statue and she tells us more about it.
In the past, water would come out of various parts of the Jizo, giving the impression that it is sweating. For example, when the “mouth” of the Jizo was wet, one was supposed to put brown sugar there for the Jizo to “consume”. This is because people believe that a moist mouth of a Jizo is an omen of bad fortune. However, the Jizo apparently stopped “sweating” after its direction was changed for the expansion of the national highway.
After this, we ask a local about famous spots near our last destination, Yashima Station. One of them mentions Ms Matsuko, who is an icon of the station. We then travel from Kawabe Station to the last stop of the Chokai Sanroku Line, Yashima. We manage to find Ms Matsuko after asking a local resident. The 71 year old is dressed as an Obako, just like the Akita Obakos on board the trains of the Chokai Sanroku Line. We find out that she was the one who came up with the idea of the Obako and she was the first Obako for the railway line. She used to work at a travel agency linked to Yashima Station. When her company withdrew from the market, she set up her own shop at the station. Drawn to her personality, some people travel all the way here just to seek her advice on their problems.
We ask Ms Matsuko to suggest a famous spot and she recommends Ryugenji Temple. This temple with a thatched roof is Lord Ikoma's family temple. On the way to the temple, we make a stopover at the Tenju Sake Brewery, which was established in 1874. The brewery uses water from the source and underground water to grow rice for making the sake. Tenju Sake Brewery was established in 1874. With the help of local farmers, the brewers grow their own rice to use at this facility. We try two types of sake called Tenju and Mt. Chokaizan. The former has a smooth taste, while the latter, which is only sold at this brewery, is a lot milder. We buy some sake as souvenirs.
We finally make our way to Ryugenji Temple. Hachimori Castle Ruins comes on the way. Hachimori Castle is another name for Yashima Castle. It was the encampment from where Lord Ikoma ruled the area. Yashima Primary School now occupies the site of the moat and ruins. As for Ryugenji Temple, it was first built during the early Edo period. It was badly damaged during the Boshin War. The current hall was rebuilt in 1883 and has been named a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property. We go to the back of the main hall, where generations of fief lords before and after Lord Ikoma are enshrined.
Tips:
1) For cheap and delicious homecooked dishes, visit the canteen at Mizube Plaza near Kubota Station
2) History buffs should check out the Ruins of the Battle of Yamada, associated with the famous Boshin War