Mark Does Japan: Day 30

16 November 2025 Filed in: Photography | Travel

Saturday, 15 November 2025

So today was supposed to be an easy transfer day between Kanazawa and Himeji, via Hokuriku Shinkansen, Limited Express Thunder-bird, and then San-yo Shinkansen. Was it an easy transfer day, no it was not.

I had the three “tickets”, the first two physically because Hokuriku Shinkansen is kinda backward, and the San-yo Shinkansen associated with an IC card.

I checked out and decided to walk to the station. About half way my right knee decided that now would be a good time to start complaining. “Not happy Jan” but I got to the station OK and collected another eki stamp and went through the Shinkansen gates and to the platform to wait for my train. I take a picture of one sitting in the platform since I know my car is near the end so the front of the train will still be moving quite fast as it passes me and randomly moving about on the platform is no longer on today’s agenda.

My train arrives, I pick the wrong end of the car to get on and my seat is at the other end but it’s just a car length. Train announcement says there is information, via a QR code, on how to transfer from the Shinkansen to the Thunder-bird at Tsuruga so I watch the Youtube video. Seems simple enough. Arrive get off train, follow the signs and get to the transfer gate and insert both of my tickets in the transfer gate, one comes out, cool and normal. What’s not cool is that it’s the wrong one. I look at the gate but nothing, next person comes through gate tickets up her tickets, I go to the window and explain the situation. Inspector comes out and opens the place where damaged tickets would end up and no tickets there, checks next gate in case I mixed up the gates so tickets there. She says I’ll need to buy a new ticket and directs me to the ticket office, inside the limited express part of the station. I go there and explain situation again with copy of email showing the ticket purchase in question. Fixing it will take too long so told to just go get on the train. OK that will work for me until the next stop. Since the Thunder-bird starts at this station it is already sitting at the platform so in fear of missing it I just get on and work out where my car is once on the train. Yes you guessed it 8 cars away. Inspection on trains seemed to be based on counting the number of people in a car are correct according to the manifest then no need to worry passengers so there is an incentive to go claim my seat. Some people have luggage in the aisle rather than the rack, inspectors are probably going to have words with them about that but I get around them and finally collapse in my seat for the hour journey to Kyoto.

At Kyoto there appears to be no exit gates from Thunder-bird just Shinkansen entry gates. OK that solves the Thunder-bird ticket issue and I’m not in IC card territory so this should be simple. No it is not, Suica is rejected. Right find a person to find out what is going on. Explain situation put the phone on the Suica reader and there is no ticket for today. What? No ticket for today between Kyoto and Himeji would you like to buy one? Well not really but I want to get to Himeji so I guess I’ll have to do that if the original ticket has vapourised in the system. Shinkansen running from Kyoto to at least Himeji seem to run every 5 minutes so I watch three others come and go and then mine arrives and I get on. App says it’s a N700, train says it is a N700A. A bit curious but I wasn’t expecting a mere N700 running as a Nozomi service anyway. As a side not most of the trains were Nozomi and these are the ones you can’t use with a Japan Rail Pass without buying a supplement, further eroding any valid that the pass has.

I’m sitting on the train in my new seat wondering why my day has been so annoying and I decide to look at the smartEx app which I used to buy the ticket to see if there is any hint on what the hell went wrong and I see the unused ticket for today Kyoto to Himeji. OK so what’s wrong with it so tap on it. Looks fine. I click on the IC card section and it’s showing my Pasmo card number! The app doesn’t report knowing my Pasmo card number and I stopped using it when JR East complained about it and this ticket was bought after that so why did it decide to use that? If I had changed to the Pasmo after the gate rejected the Suica I would have been fine but I didn’t think the Pasmo was in the system any more as the app doesn’t show it. Too late for a refund and clearly the app is not going to be helpful so I’ll need to go back to the web site and try to zap that Pasmo info, and ensure the Suica is the default before I buy my next ticket.

Expensive lesson learned but I can cope. Arrived at Himeji to be confront with two exit choices, neither are North. Interesting, so I walk towards Central which then offers North as an option. I escape and straight up the road is Himeji Castle gleaming in the sunshine. Well there’s a plus, can I find my hotel? I walk a couple of blocks towards the castle and turn left, wrong I needed the other left. Backtrack and get to the hotel around 2pm. Normally check in time is 3pm and hotels will check you in but won’t give you a room until 3pm but not today, check in time is 2pm and so I can have my room now. Excellent news that my knee welcomes, even if the room is at the far end of the corridor. I take some ibuprofen and have a nap for a couple of hours.

Dinner time, not interested in walking far so what’s close? Lots of things are close. Notice that one is a Turkish restaurant! Kabab would go down well so off to find it. Only one person in there so no problem with getting a table and a delicious beef & chicken with salad meal, washed down with Efes beer, followed by baklava and Turkish tea.

I had spotted a Family Mart and a 7-Eleven on my way to the Turkish place so time for some breakfast supplies. That’s when I notice the castle is lit up. Way too tempting so after dropping supplies in the room’s fridge it is back out with the camera. Seems that they are setting up for some sort of display but the grounds are open there is a photo/video opportunity with only a few people taking it in.

Back to the hotel for a nice bath in the somewhat unusual bathroom where there is a room within the bathroom that contains a shower and behind it a bath.

OK some photos, starting with Kanazawa station.

kanazawa station

Not my ride but it’s sitting still in the station and mine will be like this,

not it’s normal state

And it was a beautiful sunny day and the temperature is warning up. It was 17C in Himeji today (it was 7C today in Asahikawa where I started a month ago).