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    • TravelerJapan
      Day 4

      Unterwegs mit dem Japan Rail Pass (JRP)

      October 7, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Okay, fangen wir mal an mit dem Thema "Reisen in Japan mit dem JRP (Japan Rail Pass)". Hierzu muss man wissen das es in Japan drei verschiedene voneinander unabhängige Bahnlinien gibt. Zuerst einmal die privaten - hier gilt der JRP nicht. Für die Fahrt auf der "Meitetsu Line" vom Flughafen Nagoya in die Innenstadt mussten wir am Automaten Tickets für jeweils 8€ kaufen. Dann gibt es die normalen Linien der Japan Rail, die den größten Teil der Schienenstrecke ausmachen und am Bahnhof immer mit JR gekennzeichnet sind. Diese Linien - wie die Sanyo Line mit der wir gestern unseren Ausflug von Okoyama nach Kurashiki unternommen haben - sind im JRP enthalten. Wir brauchen weder Tickets noch Reservierungen und können einfach in den Zug einsteigen, sehr bequem. Und dann gibt's noch das Streckennetz der Shinkansen, der japanischen ICE's. Diese sind für Fernreisen eine prima Alternative zum Flugzeug, gestern sind wir mit dem Shinkansen von Nagoya nach Okoyama gefahren. Hier kann man als Besitzer eines JRP zwar auch einfach so einsteigen, es empfiehlt sich aber manchmal vorher zu reservieren - vor allem wenn man nicht allein unterwegs ist.
      Das interessante für uns ist das diese drei Linien voneinander unabhängig sind und oft sogar eigene Bahnhöfe haben, die teilweise weit voneinander entfernt sind (Beispiel Kurashiki - hier gibt es auch einen Shinkansen Bahnhof von dem man dann mit dem ÖPNV zum "normalen" Bahnhof fahren kann) und manchmal direkt nebeneinander liegen (in Nagoya der Meitetsu Bahnhof und der JR Bahnhof). Wenn es einen gemeinsamen Bahnhof von JR und Shinkansen gibt, dann gibt's dort aber strikt getrennte Schalter, Fahrkartenautomaten, Infos und Gleise. Durch diese Unabhängigkeit auf der Strecke gibt's natürlich auch viel weniger als Folgeverspätungen als bei uns, sehr angenehm.
      Was mich jedoch - abgesehen von den Erlebnissen im Zug selbst - am meisten fasziniert ist die Taktung und die Geschwindigkeit. Für jemanden, der die DB gewohnt ist, ist es schier unglaublich dass zwischen 20:13 Uhr und 21:13 Uhr allein 14 Shinkansen auf der Strecke zwischen Nagoya und Osaka unterwegs sind - entspricht in etwa der ICE Strecke Hamburg Hannover😭😭. Der Zug hält keine fünf Minuten an irgendeinem Bahnhof und hat spätestens drei Minuten nach Verlassen des Bahnhofes eine Geschwindigkeit von über 280!      Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerA Journey East
      Day 75

      Okayama: Castle & Kōraku-en Garden

      November 30, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      On this last day of November, I left the Hotel in Shin-Osaka that had been my hub for a week and journeyed southwards to Okayama. The day started with beautiful sunshine, and my mood was just as radiant, since the ordeal with my package resolved in the best way possible. All my little trinkets and treasures are now safely stored back at home and waiting for my return. My resolve freshly strengthened and re-energized I was ready to enjoy the day to the fullest. After just an hour of Shinkansen, I arrived in Okayama and made my way to my APA Hotel in order to drop off my luggage. Then I left, to visit Okayama castle and the nearby garden Kōraku-en. The castle is also known as the black or Crow's Castle. After Himeji, the White Heron Castle, now a Crow Castle (I like Crows and I liked the castle) it had a cool exhibition, interactive spaces, cosplay foto corners, a cool cafe
      Where I ate delicious peach 🍑 ice, and a collection of beautiful nihonto blades among other treasures. By the way, Okayama Prefecture is known for delicious fruit, and especially delicious peaches, so the legendary Momotaro is the town's hero and featured on many manhole covers. After the castle I visited Kōraku-en, another of the famous triplet of beautiful japanese landscape gardens. With this I now saw 2/3, but I missed the third which I will most likely save for my next journey to Japan. The garden had a completely different aesthetic than those I visited before, it was almost like if the ground tried to mimic the sky. I enjoyed it quite a lot, even though most of its beauty will come to life when the Cherry and Plum trees are in bloom. But see for yourself and decide if you can appreciate the aesthetic. My final visit of the day was to a small art gallery with attached Michelin star ⭐ Cafe, dedicated to Takehisa Yumeji, a well beloved and great japanese Romanticist, artist and poet. The Museum had a black guardian cat named Kuronosuke, which was really cute, they even sold his merchandise :-) truly a local celebrity.

      Google Translate:
      An diesem letzten Novembertag verließ ich das Hotel in Shin-Osaka, das eine Woche lang mein Dreh- und Angelpunkt gewesen war, und reiste südwärts nach Okayama. Der Tag begann mit herrlichem Sonnenschein und meine Stimmung war ebenso strahlend, da die Tortur mit meinem Paket bestens gelöst wurde. Alle meine kleinen Schmuckstücke und Schätze sind jetzt sicher zu Hause aufbewahrt und warten auf meine Rückkehr. Frisch gestärkt und mit neuer Energie war ich bereit, den Tag in vollen Zügen zu genießen. Nach nur einer Stunde Shinkansen kam ich in Okayama an und machte mich auf den Weg zu meinem APA-Hotel, um mein Gepäck abzugeben. Dann machte ich mich auf den Weg, um die Burg Okayama und den nahegelegenen Garten Kōraku-en zu besichtigen. Die Burg ist auch als „Schwarze Burg“ oder „Krähenburg“ bekannt. Nach Himeji, dem White Heron Castle, jetzt eine Krähen Burg (ich mag Krähen und ich mochte die Burg), Drinnen gab es eine coole Ausstellung, interaktive Räume, Cosplay-Fotoecken und ein cooles Café, wo ich köstliches Pfirsich-🍑-Eis aß, sowie eine Sammlung wunderschöner Nihonto-Klingen und anderer Schätze. Übrigens ist die Präfektur Okayama für ihre köstlichen Früchte und insbesondere ihre köstlichen Pfirsiche bekannt, daher ist der legendäre Momotaro der Held der Stadt und auf vielen Kanaldeckeln abgebildet. Nach dem Schloss besuchte ich Kōraku-en, einen weiteren des berühmten Tripletts wunderschöner japanischer Landschaftsgärten. Damit habe ich jetzt 2/3 gesehen, aber den dritten habe ich verpasst. Diesen werde ich mir höchstwahrscheinlich für meine nächste Reise nach Japan aufheben. Der Garten hatte eine völlig andere Ästhetik als die, die ich zuvor besucht hatte, es war fast so, als würde der Boden versuchen, den Himmel nachzuahmen. Ich habe es sehr genossen, auch wenn der größte Teil seiner Schönheit zum Leben erwacht, wenn die Kirsch- und Pflaumenbäume blühen. Aber überzeugt euch selbst und entscheidet, ob ihr die Ästhetik mögt. Mein letzter Besuch an diesem Tag galt einer kleinen Kunstgalerie mit angeschlossenem Michelin-Stern-Café, die Takehisa Yumeji gewidmet ist, einem beliebten und großen japanischen Romantiker, Künstler und Dichter. Das Museum hatte eine schwarze Schutzkatze namens Kuronosuke, die wirklich süß war, sie verkauften sogar seine Waren :-) wirklich eine lokale Berühmtheit.      Read more

    • TravelerOff-season Japan
      Day 9

      The oppurtunist in me is sad

      December 18, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      The gardens were originally part of my plan until I realized grass is not green this time of year

      I was in the area for the castle and it was still like 4-ish, so I had a good hour before the gardens closed and thought: maybe it's not that bad and I'll go anyway

      Looked up most recent photos of the gardens and ran away LOL      Read more

    • TravelerSüdostasien
      2
      Day 137

      Okayama und die Krähenburg

      August 15, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      Nach sechs Nächten in Kyoto geht‘s für uns weiter nach Okayama. Eigentliches Ziel war die Insel Naoshima im Süden, übernachten ist aber unfassbar teuer. Uno, der nächstgelegene Ort auf der Hauptinsel ist scheinbar total ausgebucht. Zugtickets haben wir ja schon, also fiel der Finger auf Okayama. Das scheint auch von sich aus einiges zu bieten. ☺
      Stadtmaskottchen ist ein Pfirsichjunge. 🍑🙇 Der Legende nach hat 'Momotarõ' (aus der Steinfrucht entstanden), mit der Hilfe eines Affen, Fasans und Hundes, einen menschenfressenden Dämon bezwungen. Soso.. Die Geschichte ist selbst auf den Gullideckeln bebildert: süß. 😊
      Wir durchzotteln also die schachbrettartigen Straßenzüge der unbekannten Stadt und fanden letztendlich unser Hotel 'Maira' am hübschen Kanal.
      In Japan mussten wir unsere Ein-Tag-im-voraus-buchen-Taktik über den Haufen schmeißen. Das ging in Südostasien spitze, aber in Japan ist halt alles ausverkauft, oder unbezahlbar. Dabei ist nicht einmal Kirschblütensaison. 💸💹
      Somit fanden wir in Okayama nur noch ein Hotelzimmer, aber wir sind dennoch dankbar. So können wir für zwei Nächte den Schlafsälen entfliehen. Privatsphäre, hurra!! 😁
      Dank des ausgesprochen guten Service, der mit kostenlosem Kaffee, Kakao und Soft-Drinks sowie frei verfügbarem Eis und Milchbrötchen-Spezialitäten aufwartete, haben wir die Mehrkosten bald wieder drin. 😉
      In der Nähe steht zudem, ganz in Schwarz, eine kleine, aber prächtige Burg. 🏯
      Die "Krähenburg" wurde 1966, nach ihrer Zerstörung im 2. Weltkrieg, wiedererrichtet und ist nun beispielsweise mit einem Fahrstuhl ausgestattet. Ein historisch inkorrekter Komfort-Bonus. Von ganz oben haben wir einen schönen Rundumblick und sehen bereits unser nächstes Ziel: den Wandelgarten Kōraku-en. Er gehört zu den drei berühmtesten Gärten Japans. Wirklich wunderschön, nur spielte das Wetter nicht ganz mit. ☔ Besonders unerwartet finden wir die kleine Teeplantage und das Reisfeld. 🌱🌿

      Abends aßen wir bei einem Peruaner, der vor 17 Jahren nach Japan kam und seit zwei Jahren dieses leckere Restaurant betreibt. Auf dem Heimweg steckten wir unsere Nasen noch in ein paar Geschäfte, ehe wir einschlummern. Morgen brauchen wir wieder viel Energie. ⚡😴      Read more

      See translation
    • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
      Day 33

      NHK

      June 10, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Being on TV in Japan. Who could have dreamed that? Luckily i didn't lose any sleep over it but as soon as i woke up i got a little bit restless. I mean i am used to being looked at here, especially in the smaller towns. But this is a whole different level of attention. This is a cameraman following your every move and getting aired on (albeit local) TV. I planned to do some local sightseeing anyway today and just try to treat it that way. I got up a litlle earlier than usual since i am not a morning person and need some time to really wake up. I took a nice long shower and double checked if i had al my stuff with me in the backpack. As i came down Mayu and Genki were already at the hostel getting some shots of the building. Mayu was the director/interviewer and Genki the cameraman. We shook hands and said goodmorning and after a short talk we set off into Okayama. I felt myself getting really nervous especially when Genki was pointing the camera straight at me. But i was confident that it would be just a matter of time before this would subside and it more or less did after a while. Basically i tried not to think to much about it and just did my own thing. Meanwhile Mayu asked me things about myself like age, family etc. I think partly to get some information for the article but also make me feel a little bit more comfortable. It helped. :-)
      We got to the station and i got a little bit lost searching for the tram which was a bit hidden from sight. I thought i was smart and asked Mayu but she told me that i had to figure it out myself. She was obviously right. Even things like finding your way in Okayama can be interesting for the article. (maybe even more so when it's me with my legendary navigational skills ;-))
      Eventually i found my way to the tram and Mayu and Genki followed me inside. First stop was Okayama park, a beautiful landscaped park. Genki filmed me having breakfast and i was still nervous enough to make a mess of my riceball, which can be difficult enough to eat anyway. We walked through the park and headed for the castle where i mistakenly took the lady from the ticket booth for a monk who could draw a sealn in my goshuin. :-D You can see it back in the article when i say "doko?" meaning "where?". :-D Remember i didn't get help from Mayu or Genki so i had to find out for myself. Luckily the lady had an English map of Okayama and she pointed out the Okayama shrine to me which was only a 10 minute walk away from the castle. We got to the shrine and Mayu managed to get Genki inside the building so he could film the monk drawing the seal in my book. It was slowly getting time for lunch and I went through a small shopping arcade to find a nice restaurant. But not without going through some shops first. Everytime i entered a shop Mayu would come in right after me, showing her NHK badge and asking for permission to film in the shop. Meanwhile Genki kept filming and pushing memory card after memory card in the camera. One card could hold about 40 minutes of raw material and i saw him change cards at least three times. Eventually we stumbled upon a restaurant with the entire menu and no pictures (which is pretty uncommon). We got inside and after asking for permission to film i tried to ask the shop owner what the specialty of this restaurant was. With some verbal and a lot of non-verbal communication (aka pointing) he managed to explain to me that this was a yakiniku restaurant, which literally means grill meat. It was a BBQ restaurant which basically means meat! I found this a good choice for lunch and with a little help from the owner we ordered spare ribs, beef tongue and some vegetables. Now the idea of yakiniku is that you get the meat raw on the table and you cook it yourself on a miniature BBQ that is integrated in the table. Seriously folks, where can i do this in my home country?! There's not much to it in terms of complexity but the end result is so tasty! I wanted to pay for the lunch but Mayu and Genki insisted on paying since they could join me on this day. For which i thank them a lot!
      We had about an hour left of filming time since the raw footage had to be edited for the evening news and so after a short stroll throught downtown Okayama we went back to the hostel where i treated them to stroopwafels with tea. They did the final interview there before they set of to the NHK studio for editing. I thanked them again for this awesome day and after waving goodbye i treated myself to a shower and a cold beer to cool down a bit. Mayu had said that the item would air somewhere between 6 and 7pm and since the hostel didn't have television i went to the local Okonomiyaki place for some nice hearty food and my TV debut. Marisan from the hostel was so nice to explain the people the situation and if i could see the show, which wasn't a problem. It took about half an hour and and a lot of nervous moments but finally my item was on! It was so awesome! They took the best parts of the day and made a really nice article from it. I recorded the whole item which lasted about 5 minutes so you can see for yourself on Facebook. :-) Back to the hostel i celebrated with a couple of beers with Yiyan from Korea before heading off to bed. I was knackered from all the excitement so i fell asleep right away. Truly a day to remember! Thank you Mayusan and Genkisan!      Read more

    • Barrable TravelsGlobal Wanderings 2017
      Day 12

      Okayama Korakuen & U-jo Castle

      May 8, 2017 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Today was mainly a travel day. Met up with a friend at the station and went for lunch and then a coffee in a traditional coffee shop. It was great and I really enjoyed both the food and the company. All too soon though it was time to get back on the road.

      I intended to go back east to Hamamatsu and catch an overnight train to Matsue but I changed my plans at the last minute when I could not get a private berth on the sleeper. Instead I caught the Shinkansen to Okayama.

      My luck was in as on arrival I discovered it was the last evening that Okayama Castle and the Korakuen Gardens would be illuminated. There was also a free shuttle from my hotel which was great. Travel here in Japan is just so smooth and efficient; everything on time and working like clockwork and everything super convenient. I love it! :-)

      The illuminations where great but I'm not sure my photos do it justice. I'm still learning how to do good night photography and you really had to be there to appreciate it especially the 'projection mapping' on some of the buildings.

      Got the shuttle back to the hotel at 10pm and had a luxurious soak in the tub before getting a good night's sleep in a proper bed. I can cope with futon on tatami for a couple of nights but nothing beats a raised bed and chairs especially given my size. I often think the Japanese are so fit because they spend thier life getting up and down off the floor all day. :-)      Read more

    • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
      Day 32

      Stroopwafels

      June 9, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      My goal was to take it easy today as all the partying and drinking had physically caught up with me. Luckily the trainride from Osaka to Okayama was a short one and i planned on making two short stops along the way. The first one was in Kobe. At the Oktoberfest on my first Japan trip i learned that there was a Dutch stroopwafelshop (for people who don't know stroopwafels, it's the best cookie in the world, period) and so i was very anxious to see the shop and meet the shopowner, Marco. A Dutch immigrant who started the shop. The shop was not to far from the station and was easily found. When i got in the shopowner was a little bit surprised i knew his name but after telling him my name and explaining we had a mutual acquaintance he quickly got up to offer me a freshly baked stroopwafel, which i happily accepted. It was so weird for me to talk Dutch again after weeks of English, German and very poor Japanese. ;-) We talked a bit about his shop and Yumi, our mutual friend and before i left i bought the biggest pack of stroopwafels he had with all the different flavours he makes. Trust me my fellow countrymen, a chocolate or coconut stroopwafel may sound strange but it's actually pretty darn good. Really! Unfortunately i can't prove it to you as most of the stroopwafels were gone within a matter of hours. In the rush of saying goodbye i forgot to take a picture of us together but that just gives me an excuse to come back to Kobe again. :-)
      Next stop on the way to Okayama was Himeji castle. One of the most famous and beautiful remaining castles of Japan. It has been (partially) closed the last couple of years due to restauration but now you can see over 90 percent of the restored castle again. It was easy to find as the castle is directly visible from the station and a 15 minute walk takes you straight through the entrance of the castle. Now this is obviously a touristy place as well but nevertheless it's a great place to visit. Every effort has been made to keep the castle as authentic as possible. So no elevators or whatsoever and the staircases are narrow and small. This in my mind however adds to the overal atmosphere of the castle. In the beginning i had to find my way across a group of elderly French tourists but some handy moves on my side and i was in the clear. The self guided tour sends you through the castle's main keep and the outer areas with short explanations in English with plenty of opportunity for pictures. The tour leads you to the exit of the castle and back to the station. So glad i could finally see this beatiful place.
      Back on the train for the final and short ride to Okayama. The hostel was easy to find and only a short walk through the downtown area. I checked in and after making my bed i and taking a shower i got back downstairs to the common area and order myself a cold brewski. I was there talking with Emma from the UK and Yiyang from Korea when all of a sudden i turn around only to see a camera pointed straight at me. I was kind of startled at first but soon found out that this was a local TV crew making an article for NHK Okayama on tourist visiting Okayama. NHK is the country's national station but with several smaller stations in major citys nationwide. There is apparantly a rise in tourism to Okayama and they were looking for random tourists to ask for their choice in choosing Okayama as a destination. After talking a bit with them and showing my goshuin they asked me if they could join me in my sightseeing tomorrow and make an article about me! It didn't take much thinking on my part to say yes! I mean how cool is this. Last time i was here i got into a newspaper and now on TV! Are you kidding me? This is just awesome. After some more quistions at the bar this part of the interview was over and we decided to meet up the next day at 9am. I made the wise decision to go to bed early so i would be fresh the next morning. Awesome!!!      Read more

    • TravelerA Journey East
      2
      Day 75

      Okayama: More Impressions #1

      November 30, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      Even More Impressions :-)
      Noch mehr Okayama Eindrücke

      See translation

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Okayama, Okajama, OKJ, おかやま, 오카야마 시, Окаяма

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