super green

super green

One of the great things about trains in Japan is that you can be confident that they'll be on time, usually down to the margin of a few seconds, which allows you to book an onward train that leaves only minutes after your train is due to arrive. This is the kind of connection timing that you could never attempt with air travel.

At Nagoya Station 名古屋駅 I left the mountain train and found the Shinkansen 新幹線 gates, grabbed another snack and within ten minutes was boarding the Green Car of another N700 Hikari ひかり bound for Kyoto 京都.

On the non-stop Nozomi のぞみ (Wish) super express service the trip takes just half an hour, while the Hikari ひかり makes a few stops and thus takes a little longer, but is included in the Japan Rail Pass.

flatlands

flatlands

Down from the mountains and moving faster across the sprawl, stopping for just a minute at Gifu Station 岐阜駅 to reverse and go south. A few minutes later after crossing Kiso River 木曽川, the 138 metre tall twin arch tower in Kiso Sansen Park 国営木曽三川公園 (the largest urban park in Japan) stands out above the rooftops.

In Japan they can't resist a good play on words, so the 138 metre height was chosen because it sounds like the name of Ichinomiya city 一宮市, where part of the park is located.

fleeting

fleeting

Approaching the town of Sakahogi 坂祝町, the rain was just a drizzle, and not yet interrupting baseball practice for school students that were dotting a field in white uniforms.

Pausing briefly at Sakahogi Station 坂祝駅 where sakura 桜 bobbed in the breeze beyond storage silos, then on again.