In the morning we had breakfast at the Route Inn hotel. The food was good and there was plenty of variety. I especially like being able to get a big salad as part of my breakfast. There were still quite a few bikers there. It turns out it was a three day weekend, and I imagine the Sanriku area would be popular to ride.
The train ride on the JR Hachinone line to Kuji was quite scenic. The train passed the beach we had walked on the day before, and it also passed the natural lawn beach which we’d like to see next time.
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| Surf's up, dudes! |
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| Coastal Scenery |
We dropped our bags off at the Kuji Grand Hotel, and caught a local bus from the station to the Ama Center (female free divers). We were able to use the Suica cards on our phone to pay the bus fare. At first the bus took us through town, stopping at banks and a hospital. At one point we saw what looked like people working on a festival float. That would make more sense later. Eventually the bus started following the coast on a super narrow cliff road. Opposing vehicles had to stop or back up to let us pass. We were the only ones getting off at the Ama center. It was pretty empty, being as it turns out the diving exhibitions are on Sunday and this was a Monday. The center was a three-storey turret-shaped affair with an observatory deck on the top. We looked down at the aqua cove below and just imagined the divers. There was a closed cafe, but at the entrance they did sell uni-rice which we bought for lunch. The memorabilia inside would probably have meant more to us if we had seen the TV series that made this place famous. We ate pier-side and then waited for the bus. Little did we know this was the last one. If we had missed this bus, it would have been very inconvenient. The place was in the middle of nowhere, and GO Taxi does not serve this area. I guess we may have been able to go back to the AMA center and have them call us a taxi if we had missed that bus.
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| Wedded rocks at the Ama Center. |
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| If this had been Sunday, you would have seen divers in the water below! |
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| View from the observation tower. |
But soon the bus did come. While Google maps told us the bus would come, the sign at the bus stop appeared to say that it was weekends only. On the ride back to the station, we were the only passengers. We watched the coastline’s jagged spires of rock with pine trees clinging to the cliffs as we rode back to town. Once in town the bus again followed a circuitous route, but we eventually arrived back at the station.
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| Bus ride back to town. |
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| Our bus, back at Kuji Station. |
Next door to the station, we found a library with a cafe in it. It was a nice quiet place for a fish-burger and vanilla ice cream with yama budou (mountain grape) sauce. There was a tourist information center in the library, too, but they didn’t speak English. I asked about visiting the amber mines for tomorrow morning, but it seemed very difficult to get there. The bus ride was long and you had to request a pickup for the return bus trip. Also, they told me that the taxi was expensive. This all seemed kind of risky, because we had a train to catch later. So I asked them about other attractions in town, and they said there wasn’t much open because it was “Respect for the Aged” day. They did recommend a retro exhibit at the road station for 500 yen. I stupidly asked if it was the Meiji era. That’s not the first time I’ve confused Meiji with Showa. Anyway, it sounded good, but I wasn’t sure we’d have time for it. So back to the hotel to drop off stuff, and then to the drugstore for sunscreen, and to Universe supermarket for dinner.
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| JR Kuji Station |
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| "StAND hibiki" cafe inside the Kuji City Library |
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| N-gauge model layout used in the opening titles of the TV series "Amachan". |
On our way to the drugstore, we heard drumming coming from the direction of the station. We crossed under the tracks. And we saw between the library and the station, kids playing fue and shime, and adult leading them on a large taiko drum. The adult’s bachi looked like a bowling pin! The drumming didn’t sound like performance taiko, but rather festival drumming, and sure enough there was a festival scheduled a few days later. Now the festival float we saw from the bus made more sense. Then I recalled reading about the festival in the course of our planning, but there was really no way to schedule our stay in Kuji so that we could have been able to see it. We watched for a while, but then it was off to the drug store to buy 日焼け止め (sunscreen). We had seen posters selling sunscreen with a Shohei Otani picture but we didn’t see that brand. We satisfied ourselves with ordinary sunscreen. We were able to pay for the sunscreen with our Suica cards.
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| Drums and flutes for the upcoming festival. |
Before we crossed the street to the Universe supermarket, we noticed a DVD rental place. Talk about retro! We thought that maybe they might have a copy of the Ama-chan TV series to buy, but we couldn’t find it. But, we did find a nice bucket hat, of all things. They did have an interesting collection of games, including Azul, and in the back of the store there were people who looked like they were playing the Pokemon card game. On to Universe which was a huge supermaket with lots to choose from in the prepared foods section. They didn’t take Suica, so I paid with cash. You have to click “pay” on the screen, put money in the slot, and you have to click “receipt” to complete the transaction. The screens were not in English. Next you bag your purchases and return the shopping basket. We tried Asahi Dry Zero beer for the first time, and I think it was the best alcohol-free beer I’ve ever tasted.
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| Universe Supermarket |
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| Sushi and (alcohol free) beer for dinner! |
