By Roger on Japan tagged , with 1 Comment

Shinjuku Niagara Falls

Just west of Shinjuku station were 2 goals I did not accomplish last time.

One being Shinjuku Niagara Falls and the other Tokyo Metro building observatory.

I work up early as today was gonna be busy (Shinjuku, Meiji shrine, Odaiba, then Kawagoe).

My first goal was to walk to Shinjuku Niagara Falls. Had I went to Minoo Waterfalls in Osaka, I would have made this trip waterfall themed lol.

Shinjuku station at 8am was NO JOKE!!!

As I was walking toward Shinjuku Chuo Park, it was kinda nice to see the buildings and people heading into work.

After passing the Tokyo Metro gov building, the waterfalls weren’t far.

While not as majestic as a natural waterfall, having a spot to go and relax while on break is pretty nice.

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The Little Prince Museum

I am a fan of the Le Petit Prince and was fortunate to see cool stuff in Paris relating to him.

When I was planning for Hakone, I wanted to see what was around where we were staying and I couldn’t believe a 10 minute walk would be at the Petit Prince Museum in Hakone!!!

When I arrived to our hotel, I decided to go check it out quick… unfortunately, it was closed. I had arrived at that time where maybe they closed up early?

Nonetheless, I still took a couple pictures of the outside.

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Sunday – Shizuoka hotel and F31 meeting > Yokohama

Sunday morning, I woke up early to get breakfast with everyone. Last night I took a good long shower and I was so tired, I turned off the lights by taking out the key card for room out of the slot.

I didn’t realize this, but that pretty much cut ALL electricity to the room… So my cellphone and power banks did not charge.

During breakfast, Uchida-san and Ito-san let me borrow a cable and power bank. Pretty much saved me and did the job for the day. My LG had horrible charging and the battery life sucked.

The day was focused on the Leopard Meeting.  Pictures here : https://www.f31club.com/2017/10/06/31st-all-japan-leopard-festival-october-2017/

After the meeting, Okuni-san took me to the nearby station where I would get on and transfer to the Shinkansen. I would stop by Mishima station where I would meet my aunt again. I had stuff that have been left at her place and I wanted to get it all.

It was definitely a pain to carry back to Yokohama (flying out of Haneda).

What was worse is that the capsule hotel, I was looking forward to enjoying, turned me down due to my tattoo (barely showing).

So I had to stay at another hotel for the night, which was better anyway. I had to repack stuff.

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Hakone by train

I was going to Hakone, but a different route as Mt Hakone erupted, there was closure of some of the roads.

Kuze-san said he would pick me up at Gora station.

I took the Shinkansen from Nagoya station to Odawara station
At Odawara station, I had get on Odakyu’s Hakone Tozan line.
Hakone Tozan line

Once on, it was about a 20 minute ride to Hakone-Yumoto station, in which we get on another train for Gora station.

If you see the sign, it says that we mus transfer at Hakone-Yumoto station to get to Gora Station


Hakone Freepass… hmm.. Next time!
At Hakone-Yumoto station, there was a welcome sign.

Since everyone was transferring, there was a small line, but nothing too bad.

Sorry for the fingers.
I had to stand as I was one of the last people to get on. But at least my luggage was stored in this small spot.

As we were going up, I didn’t realize that Gora Station was on the mountain side, so there were a lot of switchbacks, meaning, changing direction as we were getting higher.

After going up hill and switching directions, I finally get to Gora station.

I didn’t get on the cable car, but as you an see, it goes straight up hill.

Kuze-san picked me up and we headed to Forest Hakone hotel, where we were 2 years ago.

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Yodobashi-Umeda

After getting back from Nunobiki Falls in Kobe,

I had to start getting my shopping list done. I went to Osaka station and walked out side and saw Yodobashi-Umeda.

Went inside and bought what my wife and kids were looking for (Bento box and Harry Potter pen/wands).

Always see cool stuff, but I had to note, I spotted a couple Leopards here! Obligatory pictures.

Pretty cool toys, but they had a rotating Tomica Premium display.

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Limited Express Rapi:t

If you land in Narita, you have 2 trains that could bring you to Tokyo. JR N’EX and Keisei Skyliner.

This time, I was landing in Kansai International (KIX) and I wanted to ride the Rapi:t express.

credit: https://www.howto-osaka.com/en/rapit/aboutrapit/

It is about 38 min ride from the airport to Namba station. The price is about $11 one way and I prepaid online.

Upon arrival to KIX, I went to the Nankai office to change my voucher to a ticket.

rapi:t ticket

I then waited for the arrival, which wasn’t too long.

Seat set up wasn’t bad. I opted for Super single seat. It’s kinda nice as it is leopard print!

After arrival to Namba station and exiting the platform, you can always find rapi:t items such as socks, key chains and bandaids.

sorry for the blurry picture. It was busy and I had my luggage.

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Hep 5 Ferris Wheel

Probably one of the most visible structures seen in downtown Osaka is a Red Ferris Wheel on top of a building. This is the Hep 5 wheel.

HEP stands for “Hankyu Entertainment Park” (credit to Osaka station website).

This was one of those things I would typically excuse, but this is also a huge wheel on top of a building, so I wanted to try it.

I walked from Osaka station to the Hep 5 building. It was a few minutes walk.

In all honesty, the Wheel is impressive.

Once I got into the Lobby of HEP 5, I followed the escalators up to the 7th floor.

1st Floor has Sperm whales

I had the Osaka Amazing pass and the HEP 5 wheel was covered. But the cost of the ticket isn’t much, I believe 600 Yen (about $6).

This was on Saturday and there wasn’t a line.

The wheel moves slowly and takes about 15 minutes to make a full revolution.

On the capsule’s glass, facing each direction, are red outline guides to what buildings are in view. That’s pretty cool.

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Namba Parks

When I was looking for things to do around Namba station (the station I would arrive at) I saw something of Google Maps that caught my eye.

We went up and around Namba Parks. It is hard to capture it as it is huge, but also staggered. We had fun exploring it and enjoying how calm it was.

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Nunobiki Falls

I read about the Nunobiki Falls and I was surprised it was behind the Shin-Kobe station. So I decided to make a trip to see it on one of the mornings before I left Osaka.

By Shinkansen, Shin-Kobe station is about 15-20 minutes from Shin-Osaka.

I read that after you get out, of Shin Kobe station, it can be confusing.. which is what happened to me. I got out and went to the right side of the station (leading to the Ropeway).

I eventually went back to the station and found the right way.

Easiest way to find the path to Nunobiki Falls

Go to the MIDDLE AND LOWEST part of the station (rental cars).

The road you see goes through the station and behind. That is where the journey starts.

Conclusion – This was a very good hike, definitely not too long. I went straight for the Ontaki Falls and then looked at the other smaller ones on the way back.

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Wandering Leopard 2019 Train experience

It wasn’t as busy as 2018’s train experience, but I still experienced a lot!

Day 1 :

  1. Kansai International airport to Namba station (Limited express Nankai line Rapi:t train)

Day 2:

  1. Namba station to Shin Osaka (Midsuji subway line)
  1. Shin Osaka to Shin Kobe station(and back) (Tokaido Shinkansen)
  1. Shin Osaka to Osaka station (Tokaido Sanyo line)
  1. Osaka station to Tsuruhashi station (Osaka Loop line)
  1. Tsuruhashi station to Namba station (Kintetsu Nara line)

Day 3:

  1. Namba station to Shin Osaka station (Midosuji subway line)
  1. Shin Osaka to Nagoya station (Shinkansen)
  1. Nagoya station to Kozoji station (and back) (Chuo line)
  1. Nagoya station to Odawara station (Shinkansen)
  1. Odawara station to Hakone Yumoto station (Hakonetozen line)
  2. Hakone Yumoto station to Gora station (Hakonetozen line)

Day 4:

  1. Atami station to Tokyo station (Shinkansen)
  1. Tokyo station to Shinjuku station (Chuo line – rapid express)
  1. Shinjuku station to Nakano station (and back) (Chuo line – rapid express)

Day 5:

  1. Tochomae station to Higashi Shinjuku station (Oedo line subway line)
  2. Higashi station to Meiji-jingumae Station (Fukutoshin subway line)

  1. Harajuku station to Osaki station (Yamanote line)
  2. Osaki station to Tokyo Teleport station (Rinkai line)
  1. Tokyo Teleport station to Kawagoe station (Rinkai line)
  1. Kawagoe station to Musashi Takahagi station (and back) (Kawagoe line)
  1. Kawagoe station to Ikebukuro station (Tobu Tojo line)
  1. Ikebukuro station to Shinjuku station (Saikyo line)

Day 6:

  1. Shinjuku station to Tokyo station (Marunouchi line)

  1. Tokyo station to Omiya station (Shinkansen) error
  2. Omiya station to Oyama station (Shinkansen)
  1. Oyama station to Tomita station (Ryomo line)

Day 7:

  1. Reverse from yesterday (Tomita station to Shinjuku station)
  2. Shinjuku station to Tokyo station (Yamanote line)
  1. Tokyo station to Okayama station (Shinkansen)
  1. Okayama to Takamatsu station (Marine liner)

Day 8:

  1. Takamatsu station to Okayama station (Marine liner)
  1. Okayama to Hakata station (Shinkansen)
  1. Hakata station to Nakasukawabata station (Kuko subway line)

Day 9:

  1. Nakasukawabata station to Hakata station (Kuko subway line)
  1. Hakata station to Nagasaki station (JR Kamome express line)
  1. Nagasaki station to Ohato station (Nagasaki Denki tramway line 1)

Day 10:

  1. Nagasaki station to Hakata station (JR Kamome express line)
  2. Hakata station to Usa station (JR Sonic Nichirin express line)
  1. Beppu station to Kokura station (JR Sonic Nichirin express line)
  1. Kokura to Hakata station (Shinkansen)
  1. Hakata station to Tokuyama station (Shinkansen)
  1. Tokuyama station to Shin-Osaka station (Last Shinkansen 8:57pm)
I almost missed the last train at 8:57pm!!!
  1. Shin-Osaka station to Namba station (Midosuji subway line)

Day 11:

  1. Namba station to Kansai International airport (Nankai line Limited express Rapi:t)