Kamogawa to Tateyama

It’s Spring!

The sun is out, it’s warm. These days are good days to go visit Kamogawa Seaworld.

I visited last month with my girlfriend and we had a blast!

A Kamogawa Moment

Grinny Seal 🙂

There are many shows to see:

• Beluga Whales
• Dolphins
• Orcas
• Walruses

There are many different themes and interesting animals.

The Tropical Exhibit

The Exhibits:

• Polar Exhibit
• Tropical Exhibit
• Marine Mammal Exhibit
• ‘Wave’ Exhibit

During feeding hours you get a small show too.

The view of the actual sea is gorgeous and the atmosphere is one of a pleasant day out.

I highly recommend going to Kamogawa Seaworld for a fun day.

You don’t need great Japanese ability to spend a day down here. There is enough English around to get by. The show times and feeding times are all clearly indicated; very easy to plan the day out. The day just flew by for us as we breezed through our schedule.

A decent view into the orca show tank.

We had lunch in the Ocean Restaurant. There you can catch a glimpse of the Orcas from underwater during their show. Neither of us could recommend the food though.

However, there are a bunch of different food options, and a lot different flavoured ice cream as well! We had cherry blossom ice cream and seawater ice cream. I love how in Japan they are so inventive with ice cream.

Sea Salt Ice Cream! A Kamogawa Seaworld Speciality. Tasty!

The Free Seaworld Shuttle Bus

The park  is open from 9 and closes at 16:30. It has a free shuttle bus that goes back and forth between Awa-Kamogawa station and Kamogawa Seaworld. So you’d first take a train to Awa-Kamogawa and then you’ll see a Seaworld sign designating the shuttle bus stop.

There is also a large shopping center next to the station. We checked it out and it has a variety of shops including a nice incense/ odds and ends shop with a very friendly owner.

For more information on Kamogawa Seaworld, here is their site in English.

After the shuttle bus back we head for the train but have some time left. Around 17:00-18:00 we can already notice that Awa-Kamogawa is shutting down. Almost everything is closed, and even the coffee café we get to is closing.

As we are about to leave the café another lady there warns us it would be best to eat before heading to Futomi, where we would stay the night.

The funny thing is that there isn’t much in Awa-Kamogawa either. So we buy something to eat at the station convenience store before getting there.

Only two stops further down the uchibou line we get out at Futomi, and the place is empty. We are laughing about how at the time there is literally just us, two cars, and a guy standing on the pavement further down.

The B&B うみの星

We get to our bed and breakfast; Umi no Hoshi AKA Star of the Ocean. The place is great! Right ON the beach. The people are friendly and make a good breakfast. There is also a Kamogawa Seaworld Ticket-Pack they sell. (We didn’t get that.)

The view with the beach and the sea right there is great, with a cheap price. An ideal place to stay the night and,  Futomi being so quiet, a good getaway if you needed one.

Futomi Beach: Peaceful, Beautiful.

The next day we go to Tateyama Bay looking for a Sushi Restaurant. It’s the bay, so there has to be one right?! Well!! We didn’t find one… besides the sushi restaurant at the station there are none within reasonable walking distance at the bay area. So if you think you can find some fresh fish right next to the ocean, learn from our mistake and think again! The place next to station looked quite good.

If you are at the bay I recommend walking (or rather rock-jumping) down the rocky pier. It feels adventurous and gives you a nice view of the bay close to the waves. 🙂

Going down the Tateyama Bay Pier 😉

Tateyama Castle

We then walk to Tateyama Castle. You can also take the bus. Tateyama Castle is behind a park filled with young children eager to use their English on you! It’s very entertaining as they shout various set phrases at us.

We walk up a hill to get to the castle. There is a beautiful view of the bay and the surroundings from the castle.

Tateyama Bay from the Tateyama Castle Tower

Inside the castle there is a historical museum and you can look from the tower at the top.

Behind the castle there is a lovely garden, already blossoming in February.

Strolling through the Castle Garden

The whole castle area is very nice for a stroll. There is also an art museum close by.

The way back to Chiba is very easy by train, and by the end we made a big circle into Boso-Country. 😉

The train brings us full-circle.

There are video snippets of the shows on my Youtube here. (Coming Soon)

There are more pictures in my Facebook Album here.

Please leave any questions or comments in the responses below.

Cheers,
Kyle

Onjuku Fireworks Festival

Summer has been busy and fun, now it’s pretty much over. However, let me share some of my summer with you.

In Japan, you can’t have Summer without fireworks. I was invited to watch the Onjuku Fireworks Festival with some friends.

Onjuku Festival Stalls

So I hop on the train and grab a book to read heading all the way to Onjuku.

When I arrive there are many young people dressed in yukata heading down to the beach.

On the way there you can see a long line of festival stalls selling all sorts of food and drink. A good way to enjoy the summer. 🙂

Onjuku Beach

Once I get to the beach it’s beautiful. The waves lapping against the shore; the clear evening sky; festival lights; the full moon reflecting off the water, and shining over the crowds sitting on grassy dunes.

For more pictures of this day you can look at the facebook album.

I meet up with my friends and get ready for the fireworks display.

Do you want to see it? I filmed it.

Onjuku Fireworks

Onjuku is good for surfing. A friend of mine who is a frequent surfer recommended it to me. I’m not into surfing, but whoever is should check this place out.

I had a great time chillin’ on the beach, and I feel it won’t be the last time either.

Have any comments/ questions?
Feel free to post in the responses below. 😉

Chōshi: The Tip of the Ear

Sunday we, the Chiba+Kun Ambassadors, went on our first Chiba tour to Chōshi.

Wait! Where are we going? Where is this Chōshi?!
Relax, it’s a city on the tip of our dog Chiba-kun’s ear.
If this sounds fishy to you, you’d be right.
Chōshi’s Fishing Port has the largest catch of sardines, bonito and tuna fish throughout Chiba prefecture. 😛 Chōshi’s main catch is the sardine いわし.
Okay, I’ll stop fishing for jokes and show you with this picture I snagged from wikipedia.

That highlighted tip of Chiba-kun’s ear is Chōshi.

Chōshi giving us a warm welcome!

We leave in the travel bus bright and early in the morning and arrive two hours later to the beating of drums!

The performance has several different songs, each with their own story. There is also a special dance in which the Taiko drummers hold the taiko supported by a beam of wood and dance around in circles. (video coming soon)

Food Adventure

Where’s the food?!
Next we head off to eat one of Chōshi’s specialties: Fish! Chōshi’s sashimi (raw cuts of fish) is probably the best I’ve ever tasted. Very fresh. Raw fish should be fresh yes, but it could have come straight from the docks judging the taste. I also had some light-battered tempura shrimp. Delicious!

I could eat that meal again and again.

So what’s for desert?
How about some soy sauce ice cream? If it doesn’t sound good, just trust me, it really is a treat. The first impression is that it tastes of caramel and coffee, licking on it also has an essence of cheese. So it has quite a bit of a cheesecake flavour. However, it is definitely a unique type of ice cream not to be confused with these tamer variants. 😛 We even see the shopkeepers pour in the soy sauce that mixes with the ice cream!

Soy sauce ice cream: A must try!

I have to confess there is more. The next one on the menu is just as strange, perhaps even more so in taste. Soggy rice cracker ice cream is the extremely unappealing name I shall give this one. Not because it’s bad, but just to scare those of you with less adventurous taste buds off. 😉 You see, this ice cream is sweet yet it has salty chunks of cracker in it. The result: An exotic mixture of all sorts of flavours, usually enjoyed separately, popping up in the mouth. It makes me think of Willy Wonka’s factory by how unique it is.

Onward!

Next we take a train past two soy sauce factories; Higeta and Yamasa, both are based in Chōshi. Soy sauce is a thing here. 😉 Then we stop by Inubōsaki Lighthouse, created in 1874 by a Scot called Richard Brunton. It has survived many earthquakes, and still stands fully capable. There is also a museum section concerning the lighthouse. We climb to the top for a good view of the area, and the lighthouse delivers.

There is something romantic about lighthouses I like a lot. Their beacons guiding ships through fearsome storms and treacherous fog, always standing tall and firm. Maybe you’ve seen the kid’s show ‘Around the Twist’, I guess that contributed to the cool and mysterious image of lighthouses I have.

A view from the lighthouse.

Great views and a bit of international history.

I have more pictures uploaded for the public on my FaceBook account.

The Entrance to the Observation Plateau

Another point of interest we stop by before heading home is an observation plateau called 地球の丸く見える丘展望館. Here we have a great panoramic view of all of Chōshi, and more. On a good day you can see Mt Fuji. There are many things to see. The pictures are on my FaceBook. (A video in which I attempt to capture this 360 degree view is on its way to my Youtube channel.)

The tour guides tell us they have the Eastern variety of the white cliffs of Dover here. (It does look quite similar.)

The trip to Chōshi has been swell. Great views, great food, and a unique history as a great fishing port. There is a tour booklet being produced in English which will make exploring Chōshi easier for non-Japanese speakers. It’s a nice day out if you are in Chiba, unless you have other fish to fry. 😉

I hope you enjoyed my account of this tour of Chōshi.
Please leave any questions/ requests/ remarks in the responses below.

Cheers,
Kyle