An International Perspective
Trip Start
Dec 16, 2007
1
39
42
Trip End
Feb 24, 2008
Fujiyoshida,
Japan
Friday, February 15, 2008
At Kyoto's impressive modern station lockers for our cases were easy to find - at the back of the platform we arrived into. From here we ventured into the station and to the local tourism office to obtain some maps to assist with sightseeing in the area. Because I'd already visited Kyoto with Charles the planning for this day was up to Steve; I was happy to go to any of the city's renowned temples and shrines.
The first place on the list was the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, to the south of Kyoto, just 2 stops from the main station on the JR Nara line. This shrine is nestled at the foot of Mount Inari, with orange gates of varying sizes built by worshipers forming paths up, down and around the mountain. The deity of the shrine is famous as the god of prosperity in business and is also the god of the grain harvest so we did see a few agricultural themes as well as some grain arranged in a manner that appeared to be a request for a good harvest. I really enjoyed the random walk we ended up making up and along the mountainside, through the never-ending line of gates and the lush vegetation.
Inari Shrine
Kyoto's surrounding mountains provide a great setting for many shrines although this is the best use of that setting that I've come across at the few shrines and temples I've visited.I was not expecting us to spend 2 hours at Inari as we did but this was not an issue; we had ample time to explore the few places Steve wanted to visit. The Nara line returned us to Kyoto station promptly, where we changed to the stock-standard subway up to the Imperial Palace complex. The plan was to walk from the northern side down through the gardens to the south, where another subway station is located. We achieved this however the Palace itself was closed so we could only admire the gates to the inner sanctum as we walked past on the well kept gravel roads.
Lunch was just a subway trip away at Kyoto Station and it was while we were eating that we would decide the future of our day. Steve's priority destinations had been visited so the question was do we do some more stuff in Kyoto or do we take advantage of the full flexibility our railpasses offer and travel onward to Fujikyu earlier than the trains for which we had [free] reservations?
The initial decision was to linger in Kyoto so we began by exploring the full extend of the station building. Naturally this meant a trip to the top (13th or 14th storey), where there is a free open air viewing deck. The upper garden and deck offers good views of the city, the station building and (more importantly) the train lines emanating from the station and thus we spent a notable amount of time up there.
Mini Shrine
It was here that I picked up a Shinkansen timetable and, through a process of deduction, figured out that the service to Shin-Yokohama for which we had a reservation at 4pm had a corresponding service running in about 25 minutes at 2pm. A quick change of plans was made, our planned late arrival in Fujikyu encouraging us to make an early departure despite the inconvenience caused to other travellers by us not honouring our seat reservations.The earlier Shinkansen trip was smooth as always and increased Steve's Shinkansen repetoire because it was operated by a 700 series set, which he finds significantly more aesthetically pleasing than the older 300 series that we had taken to Osaka. There is a Shin-Fuji stop on the Tokaido Shinkansen line but unfortunately our destination was on the opposite side of the famous mountain, meaning we travelled past Mt Fuji and disembarked at Shin-Yokohama station. From here we took the next available local train on the regular JR Yokohama line to Hachioji. Arrival here was earlier than anticipated, so we had a 45 minute wait for the corresponding earlier Limited Express train to our next station, Otuski. With time up our sleaves we were feeling impatient and experimental so we hopped on the first limited express train heading in the correct direction saying "the worst thing that can happen is we just get off at the next station and come back."
Unfortunately for us we discovered as the train travelled that it would not be stopping at Otsuki, instead the next station was Kofu.
The Gates
We were unaware how far away Kofu was but travelling in the darkness made it seem like a long journey. Fortunately I spied some Otsuki signs out of the train window so I knew we had passed it and as such wouldn't need to journey all the way back to Hachioji to get there. When we finally got to Kofu it was only a matter of minutes till a limited express of the same name as the one on which we had reserved arrived, heading in the direction of Tokyo. Thankfully this train was stopping at Otsuki so we made it, just 1 hour ahead of our travel plans instead of the 2 hour advantage we had left Kyoto with.Much to Steve's disappointment we had 1 more train leg to go so we changed to the Fujikyu private line at Otsuki. This train was an interesting experience; most of the track was not continuously welded (constant "clickety clack" noises) and the old, shortened ex JR EMU by the look, train moseyed on down the line in no particular hurry. Because the line is just a single track we crossed a few other services at larger stations on the line during our roughly 40 minute trip to "Fujikyu Hairando" (Fuji-Q Highland) Station.
I had always assumed that our Hotel Highland Resort would be easy to access from the station; it is joined to the Fuji-Q amusement park which was right on the train station. At the very least I was expecting signs from the station to the hotel and, being a relatively tall structure I imagined it would have been visible. Oh dear, how wrong that assumption was! Not only was there no signage but we couldn't see it, the station and park, and their offices, were closed and it was cold.
Good Harvest
We wandered in the vicinity of the station for a while before deciding to ask at a nearby Lawson convenience store. The staff member half laughed at us and said it was a 30 minute walk away, describing with actions the walk under the adjacent highway, along its side, then back under and around.With little choice we set out to follow our instructions, dragging our cases over the ice and through the snow along the side of some roads in the middle of nowhere in Japan. The thought crossed my mind that if we get lost and stranded there were lights on in some nearby houses and hopefully the residents would be hospitable... It was worrying that during our walk we could not see the hotel so we deviated toward the side of the park, walking through the carparks in the hope that we could get around that way. Unfortunately this offered little success so we kept following the general route we were given and after about 20 minutes we passed a Police car who had pulled someone over (another emergency fall-back!), rounded the corner and saw the hotel a bit further down the highway we had arrived at.
Our discovery lifted our spirits but the highway on/off ramp in our way was yet another hurdle to jump. We discovered an underpass which must be the dingiest place in this otherwise very clean and safe-looking country! Icicles were hanging from the roof where water had obviously been dripping through, there was rubbish and a general accumulation of waste all along the ground and the lighting was less than adequate.
Kyoto Palace Gate
Nevertheless we made it to the other side and up the steep steps, hurrying along the last icy stretch to the hotel carpark and eventually the reception itself.Hotel Highland Resort came across as dated, still stuck in the late 80's, very hot inside and the guy at check in was not too friendly. We didn't really care that much at the time though, we just wanted a room, a shower, a bed and maybe something to eat. The hotel's extortionate prices prevented us from eating anything so we rested ready for the next day.
The view over the Fuji-Q park from our 7th floor room was fantastic, allowing us to assess the area and mark out the locations of the biggest and best rides. We headed out into the park straight away, gaining free admission because we were staying at the hotel. Unfortunately we still needed to buy ride tickets so we just bought all day passes for around $35 each. These were funny because the ticket seller did not take credit card and then gave us barcode cards which we had to put into photo booth machines which took our photos and printed special, date specific ride passes (like ski passes) with our photos on them.
I guess it was the excitement of the rides in the park but at the 9am openning of the park and its rides we were not really hungry (remember, we declined any food at the pricey hotel). Despite Steve's extremely limited roller coaster or thrill ride experience I made a beeline for the park's newest and most intense coaster, Eejanaika, pronounced "ay-jan-eye-ka".
Kyoto Station Roof
The name supposedly roughly translates to "ain't it great!" and is chanted pretty regularly through the queue line. Steve didn't know what he was up for so I had to explain and hope he didn't pike out while we were waiting: riders are in pods of 2 on either side of the train, which fully occupies the space above the tracks. As such riders have their feet dangling over nothing because they aren't above the tracks. Add to this that the pods on the train are rotated by the onboard computer relative to where they are on the track, resulting in a record-holding 14 inversions experienced by riders each time they ride. The coaster is also 9th tallest in the world (76m) and one of only 2 4th dimension coasters in the world with the computer-controlled seat rotation. Needless to say this was an intense, but extremely fun, ride, especially if you sit on the outside and get flung around a lot on the corners because you're so much further from the centre point than on a normal coaster. Steve came off loving it so I guess I'm to blame for him becoming a thrill junkie.Eventually we did get hungry so we tried some Pizza-La pizza in the park which was tasty and a bit Japanese. There were more cool attractions yet to be experienced so we didn't dawdle, my favourite being the coaster Dodonpa. The name is meant to be spoken in a percussive way, like the sound of an air compressor charging then releasing. This, I guess, is because the coaster is an air launch and makes these noises all day long.
Platypus Train
Again, this ride is another record holder, launching from 0 to 172km/h in just 1.8 seconds! This is the fastest acceleration of any coaster in the world and is also the 3rd highest top speed. It is an amazing experience when the train takes off at the start, you come out of the launch tunnel in shock so it takes a while before people start to scream. After the launch, which is the main draw of the ride, you experience speeding through the landscape in the open at fantastic speeds and vertically climb a tower with a very sharp 180 degree turn back to the ground before returning to the station with a close view of Mt Fuji.There exists a third record-breaking roller coaster at Fuji-Q, Fujiama. At the time of its openning it was the tallest in the world, but now it ranks 8th with 79m at the top of the long, long lift hill. As such it has the 7th longest continuous drop (70m), is the 5th longest overall (2.05km) and the 10th fastest (130km/h) coaster in the world. This was the ride with the best uninterrupted view of Mt Fuji, which was kind of a surreal experience - strapped into a record-breaking coaster in Japan in the shadow of one of the most famous mountains in the world, all on a sunny, clear day! The ride itself was bizarre; a few long drops and ascents followed by odd over-banked turns, wavy track and many head-chopping moments. A lot of fun in an unconventional way, especially if you shout the whole way through and get the Japanese girls worked up!
There are plenty of other rides at Fuji-Q but these were our "big 3", with Eejanaika being the most frequented.
700 Series
I'll just put it out there that the park enforces at 54 year age limit on these rides, if your 55 or above you simply aren't allowed on the "big 3". Early dinner was had at the park's somehow western-themed MOS Burger, where we both indulged on exclusive "Fujiama" burgers - yum. That was after we'd ridden the ferris wheel again to get photos and videos of our "big 3" and we had visited the park's exclusive "Thomas Land". Yes, that Thomas, the Tank Engine. Who can blame the Japanese for being a little train crazy anyway? It was a cool little place filled with kiddie rides but they had managed to recreate the Island of Sodor as if you were actually visiting and the Japanese haven't changed the theme song so it was English just as I'm used to.During the day Steve and I couldn't resist purchasing onride photos from Eejanaika but the drawback was that everything inside the park only accepts cash. To ensure that we had enough money to purchase our tickets for the private train back to the JR line the next day we had to watch our spending, preventing us from buying attraction merchandise. A run up to the hotel's ATM at the end of the day proved fruitless - Japanese cards accepted only. We then tried the little activity node near the station at the opposite end of the park and the few ATM's we found whilst wondering were all the same. It's a shame but I guess I'll just have to return soon to get myself a funky Dodonpa "Love Speed!" shirt...
The final night in the hotel was uneventful; we used the internet and lamented the fact that we would be leaving our "big 3" the next morning.
