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Along here, you may see some outdoor panel displays.46 views
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Where you wash/purify yourself. Temizuya46 views
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Wasabi plants46 views
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Daio Wasabi Farm's founding pioneers. The founder was Fukazawa Yuichi (1886-1941).46 views
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Processing wasabi plants, cutting off the leaves, etc.46 views
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Wasabi Mascot46 views
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Main gate of Ueda Castle and North Turret.46 views
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Sanada Shrine worship hall.46 views
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Sanada Clan crest on prayer tablets for sale.46 views
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Nagano Dentetsu train stops.46 views
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Water is pretty hot.46 views
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Koishiya entrance. 46 views
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My room at Koishiya in Shibu Onsen.46 views
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My room at Koishiya. Tokonoma alcove46 views
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Adjacent to Shibu Onsen is Yudanaka Onsen, another hot spring town that is seamless with Shibu Onsen.46 views
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The Koishiya staff drove me to a hot spring bath at a large inn called Yorozuya (officially spelled Yoroduya) in neighboring Yudanaka Onsen.46 viewsWebsite: http://yudanaka-yoroduya.com/
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Goodbye Yudanaka!46 views
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Welcome to Dotonbori!46 views
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Restaurant row is fun too. Crab restaurant Kani Dōraku's crab sign has been here since 1960.46 views
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Kasuga Taisha Shrine is next to Nara Deer Park not far from Todaiji temple. Major attraction in Nara and one Japan's most famous Shinto shrines.46 views
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Signboard for Kashiwabara-juku's Honjin. Says that Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi once stayed here.46 views
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Nabe Matsuri46 views
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Mt. Ibuki46 views
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Wore hard hats and toured JAL's maintenance hangar for about 40 min. JAL's airplane maintenance hangar at Haneda Airport. Huge facility.46 views
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Togetsukyo Bridge 渡月橋 46 views
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Togetsukyo Bridge 渡月橋 46 views
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Gifu is not the only place where you can see ukai cormorant fishing.46 views
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JR Okayama Station is also a shinkansen station.46 views
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Inside Konan Marché (now closed). Products made of yahei-togarashi hot chili peppers grown in Konan.46 views
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Yahei-togarashi hot chili peppers grown in Konan.46 views
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Junibo Onsen Yurara hot spring facility46 views
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Junibo Onsen Yurara's mascot.46 views
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Inside Konan Marché (now closed). A variety of local produce and gifts.46 views
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My video introducing Konan also shows yahei-togarashi hot chili peppers.46 views
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Koban police box near the entrance of the shrine.46 views
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Turnstile area is nice and new.46 views
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At Imazu Port, the boat named "megumi" goes to Kaizu-Osaki.46 views
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All the cars were numbered and they passed out brochures listing the cars by number so we could identify them including their owners. 1964 Honda S60046 views
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1972 Nissan (Datsun) Fairlady 240ZG46 views
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Very early classic car collection.46 views
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Oldsmobile, 1902.46 views
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Cadillac Model Thirty, 1912. No hand crank to start the car was a revolutionary feature.46 views
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Mercedes-Benz 500K from 1935.46 views
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Thunderbird46 views
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Fins on Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, 1959.46 views
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1970 Toyota Celica46 views
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1979 Ferrari BB512 Berlinetta Boxer46 views
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1975 Honda Civic46 views
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Toyota i-REAL, Wheelchair46 views
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Inside Annex building46 views
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DeLorean, 1982.46 views
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Old fire truck46 views
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Japanese household appliances from the 1950s-1960s.46 views
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Lee Rider blue jeans46 views
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Classic tin toys46 views
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Museum gift shop46 views
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License plates around the world.46 views
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Outside the museum, you can walk around the park-like grounds.46 views
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Mikimoto Pearl Crown46 views
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Mikimoto's Five-Storied Pagoda (御木本五重塔). Exhibited at Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1926. It has 12,760 pearls.46 views
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Biwako Bunka Park or Bunka Zone, featuring a Japanese garden, the Museum of Modern Art, and Shiga Prefectural Library.46 views
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Reeds46 views
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Reeds46 views
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Some of the finest Uji matcha powder at Horii Shichimeien.46 views
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It was a room full of stone grinders grinding matcha tea leaves into fine matcha power.46 views
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Stone grinders grinding matcha (tencha) tea leaves into fine matcha power at Horii Shichimeien's tea factory.46 views
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You can see this stone wall topped by three turrets.46 views
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Matsue Castle's South Turret.46 views
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South Turret 46 views
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Matsue Castle's South Turret 46 views
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Mao of Matsue Castle.46 views
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Statue of Lord Horio Yoshiharu who first built Matsue Castle in 1611.46 views
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About the lower area of Ninomaru.46 views
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Stone steps to Matsue Castle.46 views
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Matsue Castle's Tenshu main tower, a national Treasure since July 2015. 天守46 views
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Side view of the entrance hall.46 views
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Side view of Matsue Castle toward the rear.46 views
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Back of Matsue Castle.46 views
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Matsue Castle's heavy metal door.46 views
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Matsue Castle's heavy metal door.46 views
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Matsue Castle's entrance hall. You must take off your shoes. Admission charged. Foreigners may get a discount.46 views
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Water well in Matsue Castle's basement.46 views
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Water well in Matsue Castle's basement. It's 24 meters deep.46 views
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Matsue Castle's basement.46 views
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1st floor.46 views
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Samurai armor inside Matsue Castle.46 views
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Lacquerware46 views
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Samurai armor46 views
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Matchlock guns46 views
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Up to the next floor.46 views
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Opening to drop stones.46 views
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Top floor of Matsue Castle.46 views
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Certificate indicating that Matsue Castle is a National Treasure.46 views
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Ceiling.46 views
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Matsue Castle roof tiles.46 views
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About the Ninomaru.46 views
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Inside Taiko Drum Turret.46 views
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About the Taiko Drum Turret.46 views
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Castle wall along the stone wall.46 views
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About the Central Turret.46 views
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Kounkaku's upper floor.46 views
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Bedroom for the Crown Prince Yoshihito.46 views
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View of the Central Turret from the Kounkaku balcony.46 views
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Kounkaku balcony.46 views
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Kounkaku balcony.46 views
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Shisei Kuwabara (b. 1936) is still alive and is originally from Tsuwano. He's a documentary photographer most famous for his Minamata disease photos (like W. Eugene Smith).46 views
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Tsuwano's Japan Heritage Center is a small local museum.46 views
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Mori Ogai Memorial Museum 森鴎外記念館46 views
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JR Nara Station46 views
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Tokyo Tower and Somon Gate, the front gate of the Taitoku-in mausoleum (lost in World War II air raids) for Tokugawa Hidetada. 台徳院霊廟惣門46 views
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This is the boathouse of Mr. and Mrs. Toshikazu Yamada (山田 敏和), a very friendly fishermen couple who runs Ine boat cruises and work as fishermen.46 viewsThis is what a funaya boat house looks like from the road. First there is a normal car garage. The boat house is not that big.
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The boat was also hoisted to dry in the garage. Since seawater tended to rot wood, drying the boat when not in use would make the boat last longer.46 views
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These photos were taken while cycling along the Tango Peninsula.46 views
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The completed design on washi paper is then sliced into "threads" that will be woven into the fabric.46 views
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Near the entrance to Amanohashidate, this welcome sign with "One of the three famous beauty spots of Japan" has been here for decades.46 viewsAccording to Japanese Wikipedia, the "Nihon Sankei" (Japan's Scenic Trio) label originated in 1643 by Hayashi Gaho (aka Hayashi Shunsai), a Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar who wrote a book mentioning these three sights. The expression "Nihon Sankei" was later coined in 1689 by another Japanese Neo-Confucianist scholar, Kaibara Ekken in his travel diary. So "Nihon Sankei" goes way back to the 17th century.
It's really amazing that it has stuck throughout these centuries even with Mt. Fuji not included. With Japan having so many places of beauty, it would be nearly impossible today for anyone to unilaterally declare any three sights as the "Best Three."
To the question of why it's always the best "three," the answer seems to be more complicated. It seems the Japanese have had numerical favorites for many centuries. Many odd numbers are favorites including one, three, five, and seven. This might sound familiar when you think about haiku and tanka poetry syllables, and the 7-5-3 coming of age celebration for kids. But the number "three" for "Best Three" has also stuck for centuries and still today.
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On the southern end, this bridge to Amanohashidate rotates quite often to allow boats to pass. 46 views
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Most of the boats carry freight.46 views
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Sightseeing map of Amanohashidate.46 views
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Emperor Showa's Amanohashidate poem.46 views
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The sand spit gets shorter each hour.46 views
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Wild birds found at Amanohashidate. They only wrote the scientific names of the birds. Looks like they include the seagull, egret, heron, sparrow, and cormorant.46 views
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About "Iso-shimizu" (磯清水).46 views
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About "Iso-shimizu" (磯清水) well.46 views
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Poetry monument for Buson, a famous poet.46 views
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About Buson, a famous poet.46 views
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West side of Amanohashidate.46 views
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Marker for Emperor Taisho's visit. Anybody who is a somebody has visited Amanohashidate.46 views
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The ocean and beach.46 views
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Wedded pine trees on Amanohashidate. (夫婦松) 46 views
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Cable car to Kasamatsu Park.46 views
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Upside down, it supposed to look like a bridge to heaven.46 views
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Closeup of Amanohashidate.46 views
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And so Amanohashidate symbolizes a link between Heaven and Earth and between two lovers. That's why you may also see heart or love symbols at Amanohashidate.46 views
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Old postbox and a message.46 views
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Puffer fish.46 views
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Lucky to see a shrine priest bless a vehicle for traffic safety.46 views
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Chair lift and cable car station for Amanohashidate Viewland. Short walk from Amanohashidate Station.46 views
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Chair lift and monorail car for Amanohashidate Viewland. Taking the chair lift is faster than the monorail car.46 views
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On the lower right of the sandbar, notice the finger of sand extending into the ocean. 46 viewsThis finger keeps growing as the northern sand erodes and drifts over to it. So every few years, they have to remove the excess sand. (Notice the power shovel and dump truck working on it.) Otherwise, this little sand spit will become another sandbar across the ocean, impeding local shipping.
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Amanohashidate Viewland has this elevated walkway to view Amanohashidate. Not good if you're afraid of heights.46 views
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Amanohashidate Viewland's amusement park for kids.46 views
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Amanohashidate Station as seen from Amanohashidate Viewland.46 views
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Kyoto Tango Railway (abbreviated as "Tantetsu") is the dominant train network in this area.46 views
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Enter the Aomatsu train and see this rack of tourist pamphlets.46 views
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Toward the front of the train are regular seats.46 views
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View from the Aomatsu train.46 viewsKyoto Tango Railway has another cafe train named "Akamatsu" that runs twice a day (except on Tue. and Wed.) between Nishi-Maizuru and Amanohashidate. But this train requires reservations.
https://trains.willer.co.jp/matsu/akamatsu.html
There's also the "Kuromatsu" restaurant train that runs on Fri., Sat., Sun., and national holidays. You can order a full dinner or confections or sake. The train fare includes the meal or drinks and obviously will be much more expensive than regular train fare.
https://trains.willer.co.jp/matsu/
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Amanohashidate Station46 views
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From JR Toyooka Station, there are buses that go to Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork Park. However, they run only once or twice an hour. Bus schedule under the purple column.46 views
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Kounotori can also mean "bird bringing happiness." Sculpture related to the bird of happiness. Makes people happy especially when the stork delivers your baby.46 views
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Gate to Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork. Open: 9:00 am–5:00 pm, closed Mondays (open if a national holiday and closed the next day instead), December 28th–January 4th.46 views
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Basic map of Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork. Only one building on the left is open to the public.46 views
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Around 9:30 am to 10 am, they feed the storks. This is the best time to visit the park. And the best chances of seeing storks flying around.46 views
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Back inside the Oriental White Stork Culture Center. On the left is the European white stork with a red bill, on the right is the Oriental white stork with a black bill. Very similar.46 views
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Otori Taisha shrine suffered major damage from Typhoon No. 21 in Sept.2018. Part of the roof on the main shrine was damaged.46 views
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Corridor with pebbled floor leading to the outdoor bath.46 views
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Prop for the movie "Tenshin."46 views
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Manhole card for Toyosato's manhole.46 views
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Red hibiscus46 views
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Red hibiscus46 views
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Ryukyu matsu pine tree is endemic to Okinawa. It stands straight up and takes an umbrella shape like this. Okinawa's official tree. リュウキュウマツ (琉球松)46 viewsWe don't really see pine trees like this on mainland Japan.
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Bats on Iriomote.46 views
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An exotic plant on Iriomote called "looking-glass mangrove" (Sakishima suounoki) with huge roots that look like a byobu folding screen. (サキシマスオウノキ 先島蘇芳木 Heritiera littoralis)46 views
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At Pallet Kumoji mall, there was this Shuri Castle illumination monument complemented by paper lanterns. (首里城うむいの燈(あかり)モニュメント)46 views
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Setsubun at Kawasaki Daishi Temple. They threw small plastic bags of beans, so they were easy to catch.46 views
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A few of the stones in the wall are black. Some say those stones might have come from Azuchi Castle after it was burned to the ground.45 views
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Ohmi Railways Taga Taisha-mae Station. The shrine is a 10-min. walk from this station. 近江鉄道 多賀大社前駅45 views
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Off Maui coast on the way to Molokini.45 views
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Keawe Kapu beach near Wailea45 views
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Golden Throne45 views
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Medicines45 views
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Komae used to have about a hundred tumuli, but most have been destroyed. Only 13 are left. Only two are open to the public, while the others are on private property.45 views
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Komae Station, south exit. The north and south exits look almost exactly the same, which is unusual for a train station.45 views
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View from Hondo hall45 views
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Entrance to the Benzaiten Pond Greenery Preservation Area. Adjacent to Senryuji Temple, it used to be part of the temple grounds. The small loghouse is an activity space. 狛江弁財天池緑地保全地区45 views
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