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Trip reports / A week in Japan
« on: April 01, 2024, 05:57:32 AM »
Hello everybody,
This is the report of my latest ship spotting trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, that took me to locations from Nagasaki and Sasebo in Western Kyushu to Kobe and many places in between. As always, the main means of travel was train, with some buses, taxicabs and ferries included in the mix.
This was the first time that I have fully used the 7-days Sanyo-Sanin-Northern Kyushu rail pass (other times I would have days remaining), and I have exploited it mercilessly, getting good value for my coin. It was useful that this pass allowed for an unrestricted travel on the fastest Shinkansen trains, giving me more options in case of sudden changes of plans, and there were some.
The first day saw me arriving at Fukuoka and traveling to Nagasaki, ready to hit the port first thing in the morning, only to learn that the local weather forecast for tomorrow was raining cats and dogs.
So, I quickly decided to move to the first place where the forecast was less severe, and it was Aioi in Hyogo Prefecture, more than 600 km away, but still within the reach thanks to the rail pass ticket.
Aioi has a picturesque bay that has JMU yard in it, plus it’s sometimes used for long-term storage of large ferries, like this one:
https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/2714963
Or these:
https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/2492719
This time, however, it was devoid of any activity, so I moved on to my alternative target of Mizushima, with its Sanoyas shipyard. This was my first time visiting the location, and I only knew that there was a park overlooking the entrance to the bay that offered a decent view. Taxi driver spent a lot of time trying to figure out my intentions, but eventually delivered me close enough to my desired spot. Not knowing the amount of time I would spend there, I was un-smart enough to let him go, resulting in me walking back to the train station for 1 hour in driving rain.
Anyway, the only result was this Japan Coast Guard vessel:
https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3694585
The results for the second day were decidedly minimal, but I had better hopes for the next day, as the forecast for Nagasaki and Sasebo was excellent.
To be continued…
This is the report of my latest ship spotting trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, that took me to locations from Nagasaki and Sasebo in Western Kyushu to Kobe and many places in between. As always, the main means of travel was train, with some buses, taxicabs and ferries included in the mix.
This was the first time that I have fully used the 7-days Sanyo-Sanin-Northern Kyushu rail pass (other times I would have days remaining), and I have exploited it mercilessly, getting good value for my coin. It was useful that this pass allowed for an unrestricted travel on the fastest Shinkansen trains, giving me more options in case of sudden changes of plans, and there were some.
The first day saw me arriving at Fukuoka and traveling to Nagasaki, ready to hit the port first thing in the morning, only to learn that the local weather forecast for tomorrow was raining cats and dogs.
So, I quickly decided to move to the first place where the forecast was less severe, and it was Aioi in Hyogo Prefecture, more than 600 km away, but still within the reach thanks to the rail pass ticket.
Aioi has a picturesque bay that has JMU yard in it, plus it’s sometimes used for long-term storage of large ferries, like this one:
https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/2714963
Or these:
https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/2492719
This time, however, it was devoid of any activity, so I moved on to my alternative target of Mizushima, with its Sanoyas shipyard. This was my first time visiting the location, and I only knew that there was a park overlooking the entrance to the bay that offered a decent view. Taxi driver spent a lot of time trying to figure out my intentions, but eventually delivered me close enough to my desired spot. Not knowing the amount of time I would spend there, I was un-smart enough to let him go, resulting in me walking back to the train station for 1 hour in driving rain.
Anyway, the only result was this Japan Coast Guard vessel:
https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3694585
The results for the second day were decidedly minimal, but I had better hopes for the next day, as the forecast for Nagasaki and Sasebo was excellent.
To be continued…
