Hello Yamagata. Another train day -2

 

Our trip to Yamagata required two train rides. The first was from Kyoto to Tokyo. At Tokyo, we took another train north to our final destination. We arrived in Tokyo at 11 am, hungry.

Japan’s train stations are good places to eat. They often have food courts as well as stores selling ekiben — the bento boxes for consuming on the train. We found an organic food shop in Tokyo and bought some sandwiches, drinks and fruit. 

Having fed ourselves, we passed through the next set of fare gates and headed up the escalator to the platform for the train to take us to Yamagata. It was 10 minutes before the 12 noon scheduled departure. 

Our train was at the platform, also being cleaned. Yellow caution tape prevented us from boarding. The cleaning crew worked in a frenzy. They polished the windows, vacuumed the floors and wiped down the seats and arms. Then, they took down the yellow tape. To give you an idea of what a precision operation they have in Japan, the crew wrapped up their work with five minutes before departure. That was enough time to board the train and find our seats. Again, we bought green car seats. When you're on a trip of a lifetime, you splurge. 

On the platform heading north from Tokyo to Yamagata.

The green car section of Tsubasa 137.

Tsubasa 137 is a two-section train that splits at Fukushima. Our half (the Tsubasa) went from Fukushima to Yamagata and terminates in Shinzo. The other half  (the Yamabiko) went to Morioka. 

Tsubasa 137. Our section is the purple, orange and white train. The second section is in the background.

The ride from Tokyo to Fukushima is a high-speed run. I thought it would be interesting to see the separation at Fukushima. It would be pretty easy to observe because our car was coupled to the head end of the Yamabiko. 

I was not the only one wanting to see the split. Rail fans (my people) clustered around the JR East crew. The process took a few minutes. Gawking at the unfolding process, I realized that maybe it would be safer to not watch this split all the way to the end. As previously mentioned, Japan’s trains are the definition of  punctuality. Should I get too wrapped up, the possibility was quite real that I could miss the call for my train and watch it disappear down the tracks without me. 

Even though there was another train in an hour, we had to connect to a bus in Yamagata. The bus was paid for and would take us to the ryokan. Messing this up for a few photos would be hard to explain to Jenny. 

Rail fans big and small watch the separation of the Tsubasa and Yamabiko trains in Fukushima.

Leaving Fukushima our train speed dropped from a 170 mph to 80 mph. We were no longer on high-speed tracks. 80 mph is still clicking along. 

Our line took a winding route through the mountains. The scenery was spectacular - lush and green. It looked cooler outside the window. I had not expected to encounter this. 

North Honshu on the way to Yamagata. A side of Japan I had not expected to see. 

Yamagata was the end of our ride. It’s a city of about 250,000. 

The interesting part about being a stranger in a strange land is relying on the instructions you’re given and the kindness of others. I had instructions from a travel guide as to where to meet the bus. It was in a driveway near the base of an escalator descending from the Yamagata station concourse. The problem — there were several bus stop kiosks and they were some distance apart. Would we find the right bus? Fortunately, the guide was available by text. 

From this point on, however, we were at the mercy of Google Translate. English was not widely spoken. 

When a bus pulled up, we figured out that this was our ride. The bus took us up to the ryokan (Oomiya Ryokan (おおみや旅館) on Mt. Zao. This mountain is a ski destination, as well as a home for many hot springs. I figured a couple of nights here would be a nice break between bustle of Kyoto and Tokyo.

A map of the Mt. Zao area.

A typical alpine view. Note the Rossignol sign. Where are we?

The view down the street leading to our ryokan. A typical alpine view anywhere in the world? 

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. You leave your shoes at the door. Don’t worry about them being stolen, this is Japan. I think if I dropped a $100 bill on the street, someone would pick it up and run after me to return it. Otherwise if they couldn’t catch me, they’d likely take it to the police station.

The inn’s floors are tatami mats (see photo below). Sleeping accommodations are futons on the floor. The inn provides two meals, breakfast and dinner. 

First night's dinner. Every meal was huge!

You can even wear the clothes that are provided for you. 

Ryokan wear. I like the sash. 

Shoji design pervades the interior. Shoji are a sliding screen with a lattice design and they are covered with washi paper. The shoji screens can serve as entry and exit doors, as room partitions or even window coverings. I plan to build my own Shoji screens that will slide open to expose the viewing section of the Japanese layout. 

The Shoji window screen in our room. The washi paper is alternately applied to both sides of the screen. The Shoji screens are hand-carved and are fabricated using traditional joinery techniques (no glue or other fasteners). 

Here's a shot of our room showing shoji-style lamps.  

Our room. The ceiling light is of a Shoji design. The main window is on my right. The flooring is tatami mats. On the left are closets where the futons are stored. 

Ryokans often have onsens. These are communal baths fed by hot springs. In Japan, they are segregated by sex. You go into a locker room, disrobe, take a shower bath and then go to soak in the bath. The communal bath water temperature runs around 41 degrees C (106 degrees F). Cameras were not allowed in the baths so, no photos.

Next blog post -- up to the top of Mt. Zao.

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