Back to Japan - Beppu and Nagoya

It is now 84 days to go till it is time to fly to Japan, so here is the second part of my Back to Japan blog.

So after spending some time in Kagoshima, the plan was to go to some islands nearby called Kamikoshiki-jime and Shimokoshiki-jima, but that plan got shot after the hotel I was going to stay at got fully booked out on one of the days, but oh well, instead I will be making my way to Beppu.

Beppu is a hard city to get to from the bullet train lines as it is on the opposite side of Kyushu from them, so the plan is to take the bullet train about 45 mins up to Kumamoto (about 98 miles) and then go across to Beppu, which will takes a staggering 4 hours (about 150 miles) via a limited express train with a 3 stage switchback to climb the mountain, which will be fun to see. It also skirts round the Aso-kuju national park, which I am told is stunning to go past. After finally making it to Beppu, it will be time to pick up a rental Kei car, which the engine in it (0.66 litre), is less than the size of the first bike (0.7 litre) I am looking at getting later in the year and less than half the size of my Toyota Corollas engine (2.0 litre).

Why Beppu you might ask, well Beppu is quite a unique town that has 7 hells and is somewhere that has been on my radar for a while to go to. While there I will be doing up a nearby mountain via a ropeway, where you can get stunning views of Beppu and of the bay. There is also an African safari, which looks good, a theme park, which is a must for an adrenaline junkie like me, a castle, thrift stores for souvenirs, and some hells.

What are the 7 hells of Beppu you might be wondering, well they are a set of 7 hot springs, that people do not bathe in due to the heat as they can reach temperatures of up to 99 degrees Celsius. There is also one called the "alligator hell", due to well, there being about 80 alligators in it. Since the Edo period (1603-1867) people have used the steam coming off the natural hot springs to cook things, like eggs.

Now as it is a bit awkward to get there, you can imagine that it is also a bit awkward to get back from there, so instead of spending another night, there is an overnight ferry that leaves there about 6:30pm and gets to Osaka about 6:30am the next day. This is not only a cheaper alternative but is also another fun way to travel. From Osaka, there is a lovely limited express train that will take me all the way to Nagoya, which is my destination for a while.

Nagoya is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and used to be the capital of the Owari Province and under the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is a major industrial hub, with Toyota having its based there and while there I will be going to the Toyota Commemorative Museum. There is also the SCMaglev and Railway park, which has a bit of different steam locomotives and railways cars, plus some of the maglev prototypes too. Hopefully there will also be chance to get tickets for Ghibli Park, which is a park dedicated to all things Ghibli. There is also Inuyama castle town, which is an old-style castle town a little north of central Nagoya, the Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagashima Spa Land, which is another theme park and Suzuka Circuit park, which is a theme park right next to Suzuka Circuit, which is where the F1 is held each year in Japan.

Please join me next time, when it is time to get some wheels and go up into the Japanese Alps!