Cycled the Shimanami Kaido, and Yamaguchi, Saga, Nagasaki etc.

rbjhan · Thursday at 7:49 PM

Taxi driver arrived on time, there were two people for the 14.20 share taxi.
The other guy actually booked it on the spot, so it's possible (but risky) not to prebook.
What he didn't realise was that he needed to pay the taxi driver in cash...there were quite some confusions (since I've paid online already) and they quickly found out I was not Japanese

Ha this was when I brought out the メルボルンを知っていますか？do you know Melbourne?
And what is it with Japanese people and their fascination with the Olympics??
Almost every time I asked someone if they know Melb (or Australia in general) they will say the Olympics! Damn it was before my time

Anyways we reached the Fuigo Pass car park fairly quick. Time to start hiking....

Half way there! Keep going!
No actually it says to rest a bit

This was a decent hike. Not recommended if you have mobility issues.

There were multiple circles of defense you need to go through to reach the main keep.
Who wants to be a feudal time warrior?!

rbjhan · Thursday at 7:59 PM

Finally reached the Ni no Maru.

Typically montaintop castles are not very big.

Inside there were 2 stories.
You know what that means? Only one flight of stairs to climb!! Damn I still have PTSD from the stairs in Himeji...

Honmaru is also very modest.

This part was not opened to the public.

rbjhan · 2026-05-01T19:20:25+1000

Back to Kurashiki and made it to TSL before their closing time

Picked up my new TN cover!

Inside left is a pocket

Inside right is a wallet

Back

Oh I'm so happy

rbjhan · 2026-05-01T19:25:26+1000

Time to finally head to my hotel for the night.

Royal Park Kurashiki
About 5 mins walk from JR Kurashiki Station.

Many business hotels have introduced self storage room for your luggage now.

Booked a single room for 9600 Yen. For a Saturday night this was unbelievably cheap.

Bathroom

Lounge

Business hotel lounges are not like the fancy hotels, generally there are only some non alcoholic drinks.

rbjhan · 2026-05-01T19:29:23+1000

I was so tired, decided to have a soak before dinner.

During check in they gave me both English and Japanese leaflets.
On the front they were exactly the same.

The back though...

Make of it what you will I guess....

This was dinner time, so I had the bath all to myself.

Not bad for a business hotel!

rbjhan · 2026-05-01T19:47:12+1000

Most visitors to Kurashiki are day trippers. So the shops in Bikan area generally close by 6, 7pm.
Near the station there were some Izakayas but I didn't feel like it that day...
Now where to have dinner, that was a problem

Luckily I remembered there's a shopping mall to the opposite side of Kurashiki station, with a food court!
So I had a bibimbap

Evening stroll in Kurashiki

There were very few people around....it had a very different feel.

Then something happened, I've never seen in Japan before!

So a man (probably in his 60s) was sitting by this bridge.
As I was walking past I heard him saying こんばんわ、お世話になります
It was dark and I was busy taking pictures, thought he was on the phone, didn't think too much of it.

Then I heard him saying the same thing to other people, several times.
Finally it clicked: he was asking for money!

To my defence, first of all he didn't look homeless.
Secondly I just do not associate begging with Japan.

I was not sure how to react to it honestly, best to pretend to be a clueless foreigner and didn't understand Japanese....

What a strange experience!

rbjhan · 2026-05-02T17:32:04+1000

Sunday

Going to Yamaguchi for the very first time, how exciting!

I booked the Hello Kitty Shinkansen

There's no mistaken the train!

Car 1 was the shop and some public space.

Re Hello Kitty Shinkansen
This is in fact just a normal service Kodama Shinkansen runs between Hakata and Shin Osaka one round trip per day. So as long as your timing works, you can book it like any other Shinkansen.
Kodama service on the Sanyo Shinkansen line has 8 cars, compared to Nozomi's 16. As it stops at every station it's not in high demand.
The Hello Kitty one uses a Series 500 train which is pretty old by Shinkansen standards.

This train will stop service 17 May! So glad I managed to catch it just in time.

https://www.jr-hellokittyshinkansen.jp/en/

rbjhan · 2026-05-02T17:43:13+1000

Car 2 is the Hello Kitty! special non reserved seating car.

Luggage rack

TBH all the pink was a bit sensory overload

So I went back to my normal seats after 30 mins

Oh yes, there's no green car on the Kodama service now. So the old green car is being used as reserved seats, highly recommend!

I bought a crab ekiben.

Souvenirs

rbjhan · 2026-05-02T20:17:40+1000

The reason I chose the Hello Kitty Shinkansen, well mainly because of the Kitty

, but also I was going to Shin Iwakuni. This is a very small station and only Kodama stops here once per hour.

Generally local buses time their schedule to work with Shinkansen arrival/departures, not so in Shin Iwakuni!

Well, technically it still works but how? Let me tell you.
For Kodama 949, there's a 4 min gap between Shinkansen arrival and bus departure (this being Japan they will depart on time!) So if you REALLY hurry, like grab the luggage and run, and of course don't make any wrong turns...then you might catch the bus. Otherwise next one is in 30 mins time. Taxi? I saw some people queueing but no taxi....

Me being only one person and with a duffle bag, and more importantly knew beforehand about the 4 mins thingy, I made it. But as the bus was pulling away I saw people coming out of the station with their suitcases...

rbjhan · 2026-05-02T20:35:31+1000

So why did I come to Shin Iwakuni?
To see Kintaikyo!
**Kyo is already bridge in Japanese, so don't say Kintaikyo Bridge...

Or if you must, Kintai Bridge.

錦帯橋 Kintaikyo is a local landmark, commissioned by the Daimyo of Iwakuni in the 1600s. It stood till 1950 when a violent typhoon hit, as the bridge had not been maintained during the war. A precise reconstruction was completed in 1953.

The bridge is composed of five wooden arches on four stone piers, giving a rather unique look.