#129 Hamamatsu, Japan

Hamamatsu is a city on the Shinkansen line about halfway between Tokyo and Osaka.

Ieyasu Kun at Hamamatsu Castle

It has a population of about 800,000 people. It is home to Japan's cutest mascot Ieyasu-Kun, and is famous for it's japanese eel unagi.

There are a number of attractions in Hamamatsu, the most apparent being the only skyscraper in Shizuoka Prefecture, Act Tower. For a small fee of around 500yen you can get a great view of all of Hamamatsu from the top.

Hamamatsu has a small castle, which was built by the famous shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa (who also inspired Ieyasu-kun!).

Hamamatsu is also sometimes known as the City of Music, and is home to the Yamaha world headquarters as well as a music museum.

However, most of the attractions are near a big lake called Hamana-ko.

About a one hour bus ride from the city, you can find many attractions such as Hamamatsu City Zoo, Flower Park, Kanzanji Onsen (hot spring), an amusement park, cablecar and boat rides.

One of the best times to visit would be during the Hamamatsu Festivall, which is held during Golden Week every year. There, at Nakatajima sand dunes, you can find different neighbourhoods take part in kite battles in the sky!

Hamamatsu has many hotels, so it is convenient as a hub for visiting other places in Western Shizuoka such as Kakegawa which has a castle and bird park, Kikugawa which is famous for it's green tea fields and Iwata which is home to the EcoPa stadium which hosts music concerts and sporting events.

Access

The Shinkansen from Tokyo takes either 1.5/2 hours and costs 7,700 for an unreserved seat. There is also a 4 hour highway bus from Shibuya/Shinjuku for 3,800 one way or 6,700 return.
From Nagoya Chubu Centrair Airport it's about a 2 hour direct bus for 3,200.
From Osaka it's either 1.5/2 hours and 8,400 for an unreserved seat.

View of Hamamatsu city from Act Tower

#117 Kakegawa Bird and Flower Park

This is a popular attraction in Kakegawa, a stop on the Shinkansen in Shizuoka Prefecture, about an hour and a half south of Tokyo. There is also a small castle here, but overall, if you're not already in the area, don't bother stopping especially for this.



The entrance fee for the park for adults is 1,080 yen. It is then 100yen per food serving to feed the birds, so that’s probably another 500 yen. It’s then 500yen to get a photo with a penguin, or 300yen for a small owl. There is a footbath with fish which costs 300yen, and also a one hour buffet lunch for 1000yen. They do have free bird shows about twice daily.

Overall, the park is quite small. You see pictures and assume it’s much larger, but in reality there are only about 5 bird enclosures. For the price, which probably ends up around 2,000 yen for most people, I think it’s too much.

There is not so much information in English, apart from the bird names. They have notices that you must pay 100yen for bird food, but they don’t bother to translate safety notices like ‘These birds like to bite’ which I find typical of Japanese thinking of “Make sure the foreigners pay and don’t break the rules, but if they want helpful information they should learn Japanese or get out of the country.” (Maybe it’s a little unfair, but I have seen enough notices, or lack-of notices, that this mentality just can’t be ignored.)

For the flower aspect, there’s not really that much going on. There’s an indoor greenhouse where the buffet is served and there are many flowers hanging from the ceiling, and a large lilly pond, but that’s basically it. Comparing with something like the Garden Park or Flower Park in nearby Hamamatsu it doesn’t level up at all.

Yes it’s fun to get a photo with a penguin, have a toucan sit on your shoulder and an emu chase you around a field, but that’s all the highlights. You could be in and out in an hour if you wanted. While I enjoyed myself, I couldn’t help but think the price was too high and the park too small. This is in comparison with a zoo, the average price of a zoo in Japan is probably about 500yen and it would be much bigger with a larger variety of animals, although admittedly you’re not likely to get a photo with a lion.

Overall I would give it 3 out of 5. It’s fun and interesting, but you would get better value visiting Hamamatsu Zoo and adjacent Flower Park. The zoo is 400yen, and the flower park varies by season but can be free, 500yen with a 500yen shopping voucher, or up to about 1,000 yen．

If you’re only in Japan a short time I would skip it entirely, there are far better animal focused places to visit like Ueno Zoo in Tokyo and see Giant Panda’s for only 600yen, or take a trip to Nagano and see the famous snow monkeys relaxing in the hot springs.

#106 One week to Japan

Well, it's actually five days until I depart Ireland, but my first official day there is next Monday.

Here's where I'm at;

Packing
I just finished packing today, after a few trial runs last week. Basically, I threw in the clothes and stuff I wanted to bring and weighed the cases to see roughly how much space I had. I actually had quite a few kg left in each case which was a great surprise, so I gathered more clothes to put in. Earlier today I packed the cases again and the weight is perfect, happy days! Packing four days in advance basically means I can sleep easily for my last few days in Ireland, and spend it hanging out with family and friends instead of panicking and stressing about it the day before.


Flight details
We're flying Dublin - London, then London - Tokyo with British Airways. They have one free 23kg check in bag, carry on hand luggage and then also a handbag or briefcase. I think 23kg check in is a tiny allowance for moving around the world for a year, but thankfully they only charge €75 for another 23kg bag, so I've got 46kg total, plus a carry on bag and a handbag.

As an interesting side, you can check out what the onboard movies, tv shows etc will be on your flight on your airlines website before you travel (I think most airlines do this). For BA, it's here: http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/entertainment/in-flight-entertainment

Hamamatsu, Shizuoka

Excited to announce this is the exact place I'm going! It's a city of about 800k people, situated on the bullet train line and halfway between Tokyo and Kyoto, about 1hr 30mins from each. The bullet train is expensive, and I can get a bus to Tokyo for much less but it takes like 4-5 hours. Overall, Hamamatsu seems to be a good location for travelling easily around Japan.

Tying up loose ends

There are things to do before leaving your home for any length of time. I decided to get my laptop fixed - it's been overheating and I felt it was easier to get it sorted before I go. I threw out a lot of clothes I hadn't worn in the past year or so (well, gave them to charity shops). I cleaned my room! I'm meeting up with some old friends this week. I guess it just depends on the person what needs to be done.

#105 30 Days to Japan

In case anyone was wondering, I haven't heard any more information regarding Japan and my placement, and therefore there is really nothing to update you with.

I can start the 30 day countdown though, which is exciting!

Obviously it would be more exciting if I knew exactly where I was going in 30 days, but there you go...

In other news, according to the weather it's 7pm in Shizuoka city right now and it is 24 degrees celsius. I now ask you to take a moment and pray that my accommodation has some form of air conditioning. Amen.

#104 Japan on the horizon (again)

Shizuoka City and Mt Fuji

Big news: I'll be moving to Japan in a couple of weeks as part of the JET programme!

JET stands for Japan Exchange and Teaching, and each year brings over thousands of people to live and work in Japan as English teachers.

As you might know I was last in Japan in Autumn 2012 (and have many posts about it on this very blog), so I'm excited to be going back three years later.

When applying with JET you can have three preferences as to where in Japan you want to live, but ultimately you might not end up anywhere near them. In my case I listed a few places on Honshu (the main and biggest island), and while I didn't get any of my top 3, they have placed me in Shizuoka Prefecture (this is in Honshu, about 3 hours drive from Tokyo) so I'm happy.

At the moment I have just been given the prefecture name - so I still have no idea what part I will be in, or whether to expect living in a city or in the middle of nowhere. Most JETs know more details like the name of the city or town they are in, but as a prefectural JET I have to wait an extra few weeks to find out (such is life as a JET - the application process is long and competitive. I applied in Dec 2014!).

Map of Japan

From what I've gathered so far, Shizuoka has a big coastline and quite a lot of nature. To the South the Izu peninsula has amazing islands, beaches and hot springs. Further North and in the centre is Mt Fuji.

Izu Peninsula

There are hundreds of blogs about JET, applying, the process, what to expect when you arrive, etc etc. Many of these people are very capable, so I'm going to leave them to do what they do best. My aim is to use this blog as a vessel to highlight my adventures and some hidden gems in Japan (that aren't Tokyo!). This is a travel blog after all.