Part 2: Journey on a 7-day JR West Train Pass (1-7 April)
April 1. I began my solo travel by taking a taxi to the Hakata Station (1,800 yen) to board Shinkanshen at 4:45 pm for Okayama. The journey took about an hour and forty-five minutes. I had enough time for a nice bowl of soba before boarding Yakumo, a limited express train to Yonago. (I chose Yonago as I could stay in Toyoku Inn opposite the station). It was cold and wet when I got off the train after 9:35 pm. It was a mistake not to check the train time table for Yasugi before leaving the station. I managed to reach my hotel before 10pm. mistake!
April 2 Yasugi – Osaka
I planned to visit Adachi Museum of Art today. I had to take a 7/8-minute train ride to Yasugi before taking a free shuttle to the museum. I arrived at the station about 8:25 am only to find the train had just gone and the next one would be an hour later! There was nothing to do. As I spotted a small bus with a circular route (150 yen) outside the station, I jumped on it so that I could take a look at this key hub in Western Tottori. My plan went perfectly well: I was back at the station in good time to catch my train to Yasugi.
The Yasugi train station is small without escalator or lift to the bridge linking platform 2 to the exit. I struggled when trying to carry my suitcase up the bridge. An elderly man came to my rescue and we carried my 15-kg suitcase together. The kind gentleman is from Hokkaido.He even told the shuttle bus driver to wait for me while I booked my ticket to Osaka and locked my suitcase. He is indeed my guiding angel.
The Adachi Musuem of Art (1970) was founded by Adachi Zenko, a locally born businessman. Combining his passion for Japanese art and garden design, the founder hoped that viewing the garden and artwork together would expand people’s appreciation and interest in Japanese art. The museum is best known for its award winning garden which has been named the best garden in Japan annually since 2003 by the “Journal of Japanese Gardening”. The main gardens include the Dry Landscape Garden, the Moss Garden, the Pond Garden, and the White Gravel and Pine Garden which show a different character depending on the season.
The museum houses a collection of around 2,000 works of Japanese paintings, pottery, and wood carvings. The modern Japanese paintings is especially expansive with numerous masterpieces by Yokogama Taikan (1868-1958), Takeuchi Seiho, Kawai Gyokudo,Uemura Shoen, Hashimoto Kansetsu, and Sakakibara Shiho. There is a permanent exhibition of paintings by Yokogama Taikan. The Rosanjin Hall opened in 2020 houses about 120 works of Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883-1959), a well-known chef and ceramist. His works include calligraphy, engraved calligraphy, ceramics, lacquer-ware and paintings.
I spent some four hours in the museum including an hour in Cafe Midori watching falling rain on old black and red pine trees and the Dry Landscape Garden. It was the first time I truly appreciate the harmonious beauty, elegance, and tranquility of Japanese gardening. The seamless integration of the gardens of the museum with the surrounding mountains is amazing. If I had more time, I would love to patronize Teahouse Juraku-an and Cafe Taikan in order to enjoy the White Gravel and Pine Garden and the Pond Garden respectively. I also began to appreciate the paintings of the Japanese masters with their own aestheticism, culture and techniques, and Rosanjin’s artworks. I was intrigued by the painting of Wang Zhaojun (1947) by Yasuda Yukihiko and Yang Guifei (1951) by Kobayashi: these two Beauties of Ancient China have an authentic Japanese appearance!
I returned to the station and managed to take a train after 3 pm to return to Okayama. The journey seemed shorter: time passed by more quickly because the weather was nice, and I enjoyed the view of Mount Daisen and countryside from the train. I had another ride on Shinkansen from Okayama to Shin Osaka. I spent the next four night at the Osaka Garden Palace which has a free shuttle bus service to the station. Excellent!
April 3 -5 Osaka
April 3 Life is precarious and impermanent. A girlfriend Prudence had hemorrhage while on a cruise in Japan two days ago: she was ashore in Kobe having dinner with a relative when this happened. She was taken to the Red Cross Hospital in Kobe. Luckily her condition was not too serious and was bought under control. As I was in Osaka which is not far from Kobe, I went to visit her. Her husband Jurgen was there too. While Prudence was relaxed, her husband was worried. I left at 4 pm as I had a dinner appointment at Jiang Nan Chun, Four Season Hotel at 5:30pm. Later, I learned that Jurgen discontinued the cruise and flew back to Zurich on 5 March.
A friend from Hong Kong has highly recommended the stuffed crab shell of Jiang Nan Chun, Four Season Hotel. As Siu Mui and Cynthia would be arriving in Osaka after a tour in Kyushu and Miranda would be spending a few days in Osaka, four of us decided to take a 16,800 yen menu. We also ordered two crab shells to share. Miranda and I took wine to pair with the dinner. We had a wonderful dining experience with excellent service, food quality and presentation and wonderful night view of Osaka (though the wine was so-so). What a wonderful way to spend an evening with friends!
April 4 I had a nice day which began with a brunch at 11:30 am in Hanagatami, Ritz-Calton. We picked a 13,800 yen kaiseki-ryori lunch course which emphases were on seasonality, local fresh ingredients and atmosphere. We thoroughly enjoyed the light lunch with most aesthetic Japanese presentations.
Bing was in Osaka after a trip to Kyushu with Siu Mui, Cynthia and her four old friends from the US. She had a spare ticket to watch a performance at the famous Shochikuza Theatre in Namba and asked me to join her. I don’t know Japanese but have watched kabuki in Kyoto once. I thoroughly enjoyed the singing, dancing. music and stage effects. I expected it might be something similar. Alas, it turned out to be totally different!
The performance lasted for four hours. The first play was Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami (Sugawara’s Secrets of Caligraphy) by Terakoya, one of the three great classics of Kabuki repertoire which was first performed in 1746 in a puppet theatre and soon adapted as Kabuki. The second was “Gojo Bashi”, a pleasant and short lyrical ensemble accompanied by flute and percussion ensemble. The last play first performed in 1720 was Shinju Ten no Amijima (The Love Suicides at Amijima) by Kawasho. There was no English subtitles: I barely followed the story even when I found a leaflet with an outline of the story and highlights. The ticket cost more than 14,000 yen. I would not have gone as I could not appreciate the acting nor conversations. Anyway, it was still an experience as I could see a farewell performance at Osaka Shochikuza before its closure in May 2026.
April 5 Today’s highlight was the Miho Museum. I revisited it because I wanted to see the museum with cherry blossoms in spring. Miranda and I joined a bus tour from Osaka. We set off at 8:45 am from Nipponbashi Station and stopped at Kyoto to pick up a few guests. We finally arrived at the museum car park after 11 am. We had over two hours’ free time. As my primary interest was to enjoy the cherry blossom, I did not even bother to visit the museum. After a light enjoyable light at the cafe with Miranda and Bing, I strolled on my own along the cherry blossom path in front of the tunnel. I did walk through the tunnel to reach the museum, and sat down to enjoy the landscape for a while before treading the same path back to the car park. I had not done much but I enjoyed the blossoms and every step I had mindfully taken.
Our next stop was the Former Chikurin-In, one of the satobo (retirement residence for monks of Enryaku-ji Temple). The beautiful garden of approximately 3,300 sq metres contains two tea rooms and a gazebo. The garden, which uses Mount Hachioji as a borrowed landscape, skillfully utilizes the topography, incorporating waterfalls and artificial hills to create different atmosphere in each season.
The last stop was the Shirahige Shrine Torii, Lake Biwa. This shrine has a history of over 2000 years and is known for its god who is the god of longevity and long life, and the god of guidance for all human activities and pursuits. We began our return journey after 5 pm and were off the bus after 7:30pm. Miranda and I originally planned to have omasake. But all the highly rated restaurants were fully booked. We ended up having sukiyaki in a local restaurant within walking distance of Nipponbashi station. We had a nice dinner which was value-for-money.
April 6 Osaka – Kobe – Himeji
It was my last free day and I decided to visit Prudence before leaving for Shikoku. I first took shinkansen to Himeji to leave my luggage at Toyoku Inn close to the train station. Then I took an ordinary train back to Kobe. Prudence suggested me visit Kobe Kitano ljinkan-Gai with many well-preserved western-style houses. As I can no longer walk fast, I am happy to do just whatever my feet can carry me with ease. I therefore only stayed in the Former Kobe Foreign Settlement area and ended up having a nice lunch in the Old Kobe residency 15th Hall which is now a cafe-restaurant. The western-style architecture is well-preserved with a charming atmosphere. I spent the next two hours at the hospital with Prudence who was recovering well. We enjoyed chatting and she would be returning to Zurich in early May.
I was back in Himeji before 7pm. The weather was good and the Tourist Office suggested me walk to the Himeji Castle (over 1 km) to enjoy the night cherry blossom. I somehow did not feel like walking: my body needed rest. I spent a quiet night in my hotel room.
April 7 I got up very early as I would like to visit the Himeji Castle, a World Heritage Site. Dating back to 1333, it is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical castle architecture comprising a network of 83 structures with advanced defensive system from feudal period. After having a simple breakfast and checked out, I began a leisure stroll towards the castle. It was drizzling and I was stupid to put on a windbreaker instead of a down jacket. I reached the gate shortly after 7am and enjoyed the expansive garden with cherry blossom in full bloom with only a handful tourists around. It started to rain more heavily and I was cold and wet (though I had an umbrella). It was too far to walk to the castle and I had to catch a train before 10am. I headed back to the hotel before 9am to pick up my luggage.
I had to reach JR Clement Hotel in Tokushima, Shikoku before 3 pm. I travelled all the way to Takamatsu Shikoku on my JR pass. I only had to buy a ticket (3,370 yen) from Takamatsu to Tokushima. This journey took another hour. I have been to Tokushima twice and know the place. I reached my destination before 2 pm.