Trains, onsen....more trains, more onsen! Might have taken some flights too...

[rbjhan]

BYO towel and soap?
Etiquette. - put head underwater in bath?

Towel only. Shampoo etc are provided.
Head underwater - big no no. Hair must not touch water - this is not a pool.

 

[trendwhore]

Another Ueno stayer, love it!

 

[rbjhan]

And here it came!


This train actually went to Kotohira.
Well I was getting off at Takamatsu anyways.


My single:


As I suspected the shower tickets sold out! Lucky I went to the sento eh?


Nobi nobi seats were not full.
These used to be very popular, but from what I heard since covid people are reluctant to use them...


Last year I took the Sunrise Izumo from Izumo to Tokyo, it was a wonderful experience!
This one however, there was a problem...
Basically, the loud speaker started broadcasting train stop info just after 5am in Himeji!!
I looked around but couldn't figure out if the speaker can be turned off...


So for every stop they would be like "We are approaching xx_, please get off here to transfer to Shinkansen YYY or ZZZ, please make sure you take all your belongings blah blah blah". I was not happy.

Just checked the schedule when going to Tokyo there are also very early morning stops at Shizuoka, Atami etc. Not sure why I didn't remember hearing anything...

Rant over.
There were some very nice views when we crossed the Seto Bridge.


Arrival Takamatsu!

 

[rbjhan]

Takamatsu in the morning!
The triangle building on the right, that's my hotel JR Clement Inn - as the name suggests, it's owned by JR Shikoku, hence right outside JR Takamatsu Station.

This being Japan, no such thing as early check in. So I drop off the luggage at front desk, went out to have breakfast.


Takamatsu is most famous for udon. More specifically, Sanuki Udon 讃岐うどん.

Sanuki udon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Unfortunately this being a Sunday, most of the famous restaurants were closed! I did find one that's opened all year round though...
But before going there, need to first buy a ticket...

Kotoden, the local private rail company, has a special ticket for tourists ことでんおんせん乗車入浴券, roughly translated to be "Train and Onsen ticket", exactly what I was here for!!
For 1300Yen, you get an entry to a local onsen + a towel, also unlimited rides on Kotoden within a certain area.
And the ticket looks like this! So cute... Downside is ofc you would not be able to use the auto- gates at all...

 

[rbjhan]

First thing first, brekkie!
The restaurant I found, name is 手打十段 うどんバカ一代, about 10 mins walk from the most central Kotoden Kawaramachi station.
When I got there it was maybe 8.30am?
The queue was loooooooong


Oh well, normally I'd walk away but there really was no other choice if I want to have udon...

ONE HOUR LATER

Finally getting close!


Well as you can imagine inside was full of people so no pictures!
This is what I ordered, their famous butter udon with a raw egg.
TBH, it was indeed the best udon I've ever had. But worth one hour wait?? Maybe not...

 

[rbjhan]

Next stop onsen!
Bussozan onsen to be exact.

仏生山温泉　天平湯　香川県高松市仏生山町乙114-5

香川県高松市仏生山温泉のウェブサイト

busshozan.com

I was not expecting much this being a local onsen and all...but pleasantly surprised.
About 10 mins walk from Kotoden Bussozan stastion. The building was quite modern.


Put your shoes in a shoe locker at the entrance.


Then buy a ticket - clearly they also get some foreigners.
In my case I already had a ticket so skipping this.


No onsen pictures. I really liked this one though, onsen water felt so great on skin...

The lounge area was very nice!


Oh look, that's where the fans are from


Spend some quality time here...
On my way back saw this Kotoden pamphlet

 

[drron]

Loved Takamatsu. Once in Cherry blossom time for Ritsurin Koen gardens which is recommended for those who like their Japanese Gardens. We bought our own hotel room with us that time. Called a cruise ship. We are doing it again next year but on a different ship.
Another occasion we were there for the Setouchi Trienniale an art festival spread over the islands in the Inland sea. It is on again in 2025. great to combine art, scenery and ferry rides.

Setouchi Triennale 2025

The Setouchi Triennale is a contemporary art festival held every three years on the islands of the Seto Inland Sea.

setouchi-artfest.jp

The Takamatsu Art Gallery worth a visit as well.

 

[rbjhan]

Loved Takamatsu. Once in Cherry blossom time for Ritsurin Koen gardens which is recommended for those who like their Japanese Gardens. We bought our own hotel room with us that time. Called a cruise ship. We are doing it again next year but on a different ship.
Another occasion we were there for the Setouchi Trienniale an art festival spread over the islands in the Inland sea. It is on again in 2025. great to combine art, scenery and ferry rides.

Setouchi Triennale 2025

The Setouchi Triennale is a contemporary art festival held every three years on the islands of the Seto Inland Sea.

setouchi-artfest.jp

The Takamatsu Art Gallery worth a visit as well.

Yeah I went to Ritsuin the next day, we'll get there!
It was very beautiful even though I didn't see any momiji...

Contemporary art is kinda not my thing though...Plus during the Trienniale it gets VERY BUSY, nowadays I'm trying to avoid that as much as I can.

Edit, next trip would be May 2024 and I'm thinking about going to Chubu...Nagano, Matsumoto, Kamikochi Kusatsu onsen etc...we'll see....

 

[rbjhan]

Onsen etiquette, for anyone who's interested!

Before you strip down, wash up, and dip in, it's important to learn the often unspoken rules of traditional Japanese onsen

Nudity is the last thing you have to worry about in Japan's traditional onsen hot spring baths.

www.themanual.com

 

[Quickstatus]

Onsen etiquette

How small is the "small towel"?. I hope it's bigger than an airline hand towel

 

[rbjhan]

How small is the "small towel"?. I hope it's bigger than an airline hand towel

Face towel.

I actually found that one to not be the case mostly.
Sure you see some people try to cover up with face towel, but majority don't bother. Might be that for women the face towel is kinda...you know, not big enough? Bath towel you can't take into the onsen.

 

[rbjhan]

Another famous local delicacy is 骨付鳥 Honetsukidori, chicken on the bone.
According to my research it was created in the 50s by a restaurant in Marugame, Ikkaku.
Good news is that they have several branches now and I didn't have to go to Marugame

Hinadori (young chicken)
This was very good! Crispy skin, juicy and tender meat...lots of spice which is rare in Japan!



Also ordered the torimeshi, mince chicken & egg on rice.

 

[rbjhan]

Mt Yashima

This is not far from Takamatsu, with some amazing views over the Seto Inland Sea from the summit.
There's a bus travelling between JR and Kotoden Yashima stations and top of the hill.
*My Kotoden onsen/train ticket didn't cover the area of Yashima, had to pay a supplement fee here, took the driver several minutes to work it out: 70 Yen!



Yashima Ji is No.84 of the 88 Temples of Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage.


If you want to know more about the Henro

HENRO

The Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgramage is one of the few circular-shaped pilgrimages in the world. It includes 88 “official” temples and numerous other sacred sites where Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) is believed to have trained or have spent time during the 9th Century. If walked, the entire route is about...

shikoku-tourism.com

It is clearly very popular, I came across many pilgrims here.
See those two wearing white on the right.

 

[rbjhan]

Walked through Yashima-Ji from the back door, there was a path leading to 獅子の霊巌展望台, an observation deck.






Yashima Moutain Top Communal Facility.
Okay the name was not great. But holy moly this place was stunning...

 

[rbjhan]

Well, rest of the day was bit of a blur...
From Yashima I went back to hotel to check in, went to their public bath (not onsen because they didn't charge me 150Yen onsen tax)
After the bath I was tired, thought I was going to lay down for a bit....well that turned into a full blown siesta. Woke up it was 8.30pm already
I'll have you know I blamed the loud speaker on Sunrise Seto for this.

You see, problem with these lesser known places is, everything shuts off very early!
I remember having similar problems last year in Shimane...
All the restaurants were already closed! Unthinkable in cities like Tokyo, Osaka. etc.
TBF there probably were izakayas somewhere in the city centre opening late, but I was tired and didn't want to go and find them. So I ended up having a konbini dinner
Put the microwave to good use!


A few pictures around JR Takamatsu Station.




And the bath!
Ah it was very nice even though not onsen

 

[rbjhan]

The hotel room.
This one was less than 7000 Yen!


On the left you can see Kotoden Takamatsu Chikko station and Tamamo Garden.


Breakfast was in Pronto downstairs.

 

[RooFlyer]

But holy moly this place was stunning...

Looks it! May I make the same request as your last (fantastic) TR - an occasional map or other indication of where the places you visit, are, and maybe the occasional conversion of Y to $ so we know what the value is.

 

[rbjhan]

Looks it! May I make the same request as your last (fantastic) TR - an occasional map or other indication of where the places you visit, are, and maybe the occasional conversion of Y to $ so we know what the value is.

I don't know the Yen to AUD value individually. In my head I see things in Yen and don't convert them to AUD.
But at this moment it's about $1= ￥97， so you can just drop two 0s.

I'll make a map maybe later when it's finished.

Edit, actually, just found this one online, it might help with Shikoku!
Shikoku is the smallest of Japan's 4 main islands. And probably least developed? Certainly I feel it's the least touristy.
I came to Takamatsu via Okayama on the Sunrise Seto sleeper train.
Later I would move to Matsuyama, then take a ferry to Beppu in Kyushu.

 

[rbjhan]

So yes, Ritsuin Garden 栗林公園 is a famous landmark in Takamatsu.
As with many similar gardens in Japan, it was originally built for the local Daimyo, probably because it's in Shikoku, it didn't make the list of Japan's Top 3 Most Beautiful Gardens. But I certainly rank it higher than Korakuken in Okayama! (yeah I'm still salty about that one)

Mostly pine trees I believe, not much of a momiji spot sadly.



Ponds were full of Koi.


Kikugetsu-tei, a teahouse (and the giant pine tree).


You can actually have tea here!
I told them I'm not great with tatami seating, was then led to the back Ah chairs!

Matcha was just okay though ;((


一期一会, yeah that's too hard to explain.
See here

Ichi-go ichi-e - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Many people taking turns sitting there for a selfie or had their pics taken. I'm not sure what's the significance...? Best guess in the old times the purple seat was for VVIP?


Also, they sure do love a boat trip! (If you missed the joke, it was in my last TR)

 

[pagingjoan]

Enjoying your report immensely, rbjhan.
Have you lived in Japan previously?