The lines in the north of Okayama and Hiroshima Prefectures are very local, but wonderful for precisely this reason. I take trips on the Geibi Line, which links Hiroshima and Niimi, in the north of Okayama Prefecture, often, but I don’t get the chance to travel along the Kishin Line, the line east from Niimi to Himeji, so often.
So, today I decided to take a trip along that line, albeit from Tsuyama (not Himeji) to Niimi.
(more…)Did you know that in Japan, cameras on phones have to have an audible shutter? In other words, when you take a photo in Japan with a smartphone, it goes click, and it’s impossible to mute it, at least not without hacking the phone in some way. In fact, the sound plays even if the phone is in silent or vibration mode.
Why such an annoying ‘feature’, you might ask.
(more…)If you take the Nankai Koya Line, on the long climb from Hashimoto toward Mount Koya, most passengers are focused on the destination, or on the wonderful views from the train windows.
Few people notice the small stations that slip quietly past the window. One of these stations is Kii-Kamiya Station, just one stop from the end of the line at Gokurakubashi. To be honest, if you blinked, you’d miss it.
(more…)Trains are a great way to see the scenery of Japan, but they can quite often be busy and crowded, especially in urban areas. Bear in mind these guidelines to make travelling by train as stress-free as possible, both for you and your fellow passengers.
Many of the guidelines for travelling by local train are the same as for travelling by Shinkansen, but there are a few differences. Anyway, here are some rules or guidelines you should be aware of.
(more…)Once or twice a week, I have to walk past quite a large rice field. As the year progresses, it’s always fascinating to see how the seasons change, as reflected in the rice field.
Right now, the field is bare. It’s just brown earth with a few dead stalks, presumably from last year’s rice plants, mixed into the soil. Now we’re in February, though, it won’t be too long before the farmers start to flood their fields and then plant their rice seedlings.
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Koborebanashi 