4.9.2018 - Day 20

 

Since two days back I was aware that there was a typhoon approaching. Third one during my time being here so far. Since yesterday I knew that this one would be stronger then the two previous. Like the previous ones, Jebi (as it is named), would make landfall today around Shikoku before moving north to sea of Japan and by tomorrow suppose to be somewhere around Hokkaido. Yesterday I escaped from south, now I had to continue my escape while trying to reach my goals. In the morning I got e-mail from Norika (from my trip to Shirakawa-go) to warn me about it as she was stuck 6 hours in Kyoto due to the heavy rain.

In the morning I went one last station to Niigata. For my next train I had under one hour to do stuff, so after advise from the tourist information center I walked about 10 minutes to Niigata Nippo Media Ship, which is the third tallest building in the city and its top floor is available for free with full view of the surroundings.

The elevator is glassed so as you climb you get to see south back towards the JR station and the mountains. To the north you can see Bandai bridge which is an important cultural property and beyond the sea and on the horizon Sado island. It was a great view, sadly a bit obstructed by the clouds from the coming Typhoon.

There are many other options of what can be done in Niigata. Sadly sites like japan-guide.com and others don’t offer any info which made it hard to plan so I only planned to turn around here. That said Niigata looks more like workcation destination and one can enjoy museums and other sights around the Niigata city loop bus, which also offers discount if you purchase the one day pass. Here are some of the highlights on the bus route (beside my favorite shrines): Northern Culture Museum, Niigata city aquarium, Hakusan park, Niitsu house, Niigata Bandajima Art museum and Niigata City Manga & Anime museum to name just a few. Further from the city I was intrigued by Shirone Giant Kite history museum, Northern Culture Museum, Ikupia Food & Flower Complex and Sasagawa Historical Residence in addition to the onsens.

As time was getting short (lost time on getting my tickets for the rest of the day and lockers earlier), I hastened my return to the station and to catch my train. The station is currently undergoing some major works (though the major part seems to be over) in moving all the local trains on the same floor as Shinkansens in order to make space on the ground floor for buses and other traffic. The new areas look nice, but the rest is in a bit of a provisional state.

This was to be my first ride in the Green Class. Sadly it wasn’t in the Max train, but in a regular train. Although nice, after Kyushu Shinkansen I wasn’t that impressed by the Green Class as it was an older train and like in Max trains it was missing Wi-Fi and electrical plugs.

The great benefit though was that now I was going during day so I could see the mountains which are magnificent. Would be great to come back in winter for some skiing and onsen. Also I wish that I could just ride the trains forever. Sadly there won’t be any pictures from this as taking them through the windows doesn’t is problematic at best and it would annoy other passengers.

In early afternoon I made my way to Omiya where I switched to Hayabusa train to Hokkaido. I bought my late lunch and some snack to try out for the long way. The Green Class on H5 class Shinkansen was more stylish. It also had plugs and Wi-fi (yay!). The most noticeable thing is that the lighting is lower than usual which, together with the wood looking overhead luggage holders, it creates a calming atmosphere. Finally the seats were big and had a leg rester which was nice. Using the opportunity I went ahead and did some work like writing this journal and coding. Sadly the more north we went the more the Wi-Fi deteriorated. The Internet became inaccessible after Aomori.

It was strange coming back to Hakodate, but this gave me opportunity to explore stuff that I haven’t before, beside escaping the Typhoon. Sadly the Typhoon winds had caught up to me and a persistent drizzle dashed my hopes for going to Mount Hakodate and pretty much anything else.

Still after check-in into my hostel I went searching for food in the surroundings. I came upon the Hakodate brick storehouses which had a selection of restaurants. These storehouses were build by a wealthy businessman which was one of the four people that guaranteed a golden age to Hakodate through their success and investments into the city’s infrastructure and social life.

In the end I ate at a running sushi restaurant. The only thing I can say is that they had the best salmon I ever ate.

As I came back I learned that Jebi is the strongest Typhoon in 25 years to hit Japan and what devastation it was causing around Japan. I can only hope that tomorrow I will be able to make it to Akita and see more of Hakodate.