Trains to Terrains

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Gunma to Kyoto: 11 hours on the train.

Enid and I took the slow train because we are, let's face it, cheap. We each got five 1-day JR train passes for 8000 yen (about $70) and decided to head down south like many the spring breakers before us. Our three days in Kyoto were filled with visits to mind-numbing zen temples, over-the-top ascetical shrines, and bike rides through quaint bamboo-lined streets and, later, through the rush hour mass exodus of salary men, high-heeled women, and taxis acting like Shriners.

Japanese moment: learning that, in Kyoto, there is a job for those who like to remove moss from trees.

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Kyoto to Shikoku: 8.5 hours via the Moonlight Rapid Service (night) train. Plus many more side trips.

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. We spent three days here, too. Here the cherry blossoms were in full bloom amongst the many castles, seafood shops, fertility shrines and sex museums. Yep, the most famous fertility shrine in all of Japan lies in the coastal town of Uwajima, and in the 1960s the sex museum was erected alongside it. Women from all over Japan come to the fertility shrine to pray for easy childbirth and healthy babies, among other things. We came to learn something about the culture, and, much like 95% of the others, to gawk at the strange collection of sexual images, "toys", cartoons, sculptures, and world sexual artifacts (India, Nepal, and sadists were all strong contributors).

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Shikoku to Osaka: 7.5 hours via the Moonlight Rapid Service (night) train.

Osaka is Tokyo on amphetamines with a cement chaser. Everything is sped up and industrialized. We only spent two days here, visiting the famed Osaka Castle, America Village (equivalent to a chinatown), and a Salvador Dalí exhibit. It was utterly fantastical and just what we needed before the 12-hour train ride home.