Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Another travel day but this time it not only involves trains but I manage to throw in some ferries. Still mostly heading west but making a little detour. I had tried to include a day or more on Naoshima Island but the museums are closed on Mondays and that provided a challenge with the Yodoko Guest House constraints. I had also hoped to visit Shikoku and see Ritsurin Garden and the Iya Valley but the best I could finally come up with was an afternoon on Naoshima to see the outdoor art works (photography is not allowed inside the museums anyway) and then two nights in Takamatsu so I can visit Ritsurin.

So first order of the day is to get to Naoshima as fast as possible so that meant another Nozomi. I was standing on the platform at Himeji when a Nozomi that doesn’t stop passed through. Wow. There are no announcements for trains using the middle tracks (so not next to a platform) so it just appeared and whoosh it was gone again. A pretty neat trick given now long a 16 car Nozomi train set is. I also saw a couple of Kyushu Shinkansen stop before my Nozomi arrived. I had picked a seat in car 16 so I got to see most of it pass me by before it stopped. Again I only needed to travel one stop, 20 minute blast to Okayama and then it was slow local trains to take me to Uno for the ferry to Naoshima. Finally got to Naoshima about 12:30 pm and my ferry onto Takamatsu was due to leave at 5pm so I figured I could afford to walk to the Yellow Pumpkin and then get a town bus back. The queue for the town bus at the ferry terminal suggested not cutting it fine on the way back in case I couldn’t get onto the bus I wanted and needed to wait until the next one.

So onto the journey …

I’m standing at where car 16 will be when it arrives and car 1 will be way, way, away up the other end of the platform. I took some videos of the previous Nozomi arriving so maybe I’ll include it in another message if I can make it small enough.

Only a N700A, the previous one was the newer N700S.

There are tunnels and sound barriers but sometimes you can see the scenery flash past.

I arrive at Okayama and successfully transfer from the Shinkansen station to the regular JR one and like the driver I wait for my next train to turn up. He did little blow to acknowledge the other driver as our train approached. Okayama is the terminus and so it will be going back the way it came.

The seats are reversible, just grab the handle and pull it over but there was no one to do it for you so I didn’t, I just sat in one pointing in the correct direction 🙂 Nice view of the driver and the track ahead. Watching the driver do his checks, with confirmation pointing is quite fascinating. This is a conductorless train but the driver doesn’t check tickets, you are trusted to do the right thing at stations without a ticket office. I also noticed that those stations had two IC card readers, one for entry and another for exit. In Matsumoto they only had one that could do each function.

This image is just for Bob, who was commenting about the lack of rice fields. I assume this is one.

At Uno there was a walk from the station to the port and the ticket office, well it turned out to be a ticket machine. 300 Yen (cash only) for a ticket that is printed and then pretty much thrown away when you board the ferry.

About 15 minutes before departure they started boarding the walking passengers on both sides of the vehicle deck and the cars, trucks and coaches waiting.

Next to the ferry terminal is this pumpkin, Yayoi Kusama’s Red Pumpkin.

Lots of groups taking advantage of the photo opportunities presented by the holes. Directly up the road towards the museums were two more art works.

One of the advantages of walking is that if you see something unexpected you can just stop, which is what I did when I saw this water pump.

And along the road there were a number of small shrines

and some nice coastline

I finally got to the “North Gate” and passed into the Art Museum Area. I didn’t have a ticket and I had no idea if I needed one but I figured I’d solve that problem when it arrived and it did arrive when I got to Valley Gallery, where Tsuyoshi Ozawa’s Slag Buddha 88, and Yayoi Kusama’s Narcissus Garden are located. Turns out, after a number of questions, that I did need a ticket. I could either order one online or just buy one. Online was 200 Yen cheaper but I just wanted to get on with it do took the easier, more expensive option, and got my ticket and pamphlet. It would also provide access to the Benesse House Museum but I doubted I would have time for that.

Narcissus Garden was created for the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966 and now exists here, in a pond, between some trees and inside a building and is composed of an enormous number of mirror balls.

Walking into the building I wasn’t sure what to expect given my experience in Matsumoto.

The steps are at least partially open to the outside and that’s when I discovered it had started raining quite hard outside. Still behind me was another area with more balls so I played with a low angle.

Walking down the corridor to get out and there was a “roadblock”. It seems that the rain was a problem and no one wanted to venture out. I waited awhile but I wasn’t going to just hang around hoping it would stop so I indicated that I wanted out and I was allowed to depart. I got to a fairly dry place under a tree and put the Z8 away and took out my umbrella so I could continue.

Not only had it started raining but the wind had picked up and all the balls in the pond had been blown to one side and were sulking there.

As I was taking pictures I was passed by one of the attendants running past with some umbrellas 🙂

The rain didn’t last long

I got to the turn off for the Benesse House Museum but didn’t take it, instead I visited the Seaside Gallery.

Leaving these (and a couple of others) behind I could see my ultimate target in the distance.

But first there were a few pieces

And finally I was at Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin. There were a lot of people attracted to this work, taking selfies, taking pictures of the people they were with, etc., but it had a vertical queuing system and if you waited in line you got your shot. I spent some time looking at the scene, and then looking at the pumpkin, and then the puddle of water in front of it and the reflection in it. I took photos for other people, because if you are carrying a professional camera you will be asked to drive some random phone and try to make it do what seems sensible when the sun is in the wrong part of the sky. Direct people next to the pumpkin while not falling off the pier into the surf 🙂 Anyway here’s a couple of “interesting” shots.

Mission accomplished it was to the town bus queue. A larger bus arrived earlier than scheduled which claimed it was only going to stop at the port, and a lot of people got on (I sat at the very back) and then it proceeded to stop along the way to let people on/off? It was hard to tell from the very back with people standing. Anyway we got to the port, I bought my ticket and looked at the chaos in the cafe and thought there has got to be something better so wandered off into the back streets. I saw one cafe with tourists out front so discounted that one and then found a small cafe, which I thought was a stand up/take away place until the barista directed me to the door to get in.

Back to the port to see the sunset, I’m still struggling with how early it sets.

Still time to visit the red pumpkin again so

Then it was time to queue to board. They were showing the sumo on the big screen. I took this picture after a lot of people had left the lounge to go back to their cars, coaches, etc. as it was packed. It was the last regular ferry heading to Takamatsu.

When we landed the wind had really picked up, Putin must have found me and redirected his arctic blast but my hotel is close to both the port and the railway station. Quite a nice room even if the bathroom is tiny.

Time for dinner. I had hoped to find a Udon restaurant but it seems they only do lunch and not dinner, and the one I found that does dinner isn’t open on a Tuesday so I found a hole in the wall Ramen place instead.

Opened the door and walked in and everyone stared at the Gaijin. OK probably the right place. Signal place for one. Yes we’ll clean up a place on the counter for you. Meanwhile a French couple who were outside also come in. I think they were waiting for two places and when I didn’t come back out they investigated. The locals that I was sitting next to left and their places got taken over by the French couple. We all attacked the menus with Google translate, or similar.

Firstly the drink was a grapefruit sour. I assume it was made with shochu.

and then the ramen was a seasonal thing that they might run out of, but didn’t.

If I find an open Udon place then they are going to have to work very hard to beat this. It was crazy good. What is it, you work it out.

On the way back to my hotel I think I have unlocked a new skill. Rather than just buy stuff at a kombini I found a supermarket and while previous ones had checkout people to process your groceries this one only had self check out. Fortunately they also had a guy helping people with the self check out so I wasn’t left trying to Google translate the screens 🙂