Although the journey was not to bad for the Shinkansen is very fast and comfortable. Though we noticed there is less room on the Shinkansens leaving Tokyo, compared to for example the Shinkansens in Kyushu.
To get from Kanazawa to Aomori involved two Shinkansens, then a transfer at the end to a local train.
The first Shinkansen was the Kanazawa Shinkansen & the second was the Tohoku Shinkansen.

Catching the Kanazawa Shinkansen to get from Kanazawa to Aomori

Transferring to the second Shinkansen to get to Aomori in Japan.

Once we got to the Aomori train station June realised that she was not sure if she had booked the hotel accommodation, for the website she had used had crashed during the booking. She checked online and yes the booking had not gone through. Not a problem through Aormori was not busy and the Onsen Hotel we wanted had plenty of availability.

Arriving at Aomori station in Japan

Finding out that we had no hotel reservation in Aomori, Japan.

As mentioned we were staying in an Onsen hotel, interestingly enough the Onsen is actually open to the public at a reasonable price. So it was quite busy. Nige also noted that Aomori people seem to like their TV for there was one in the Onsen sauna.

Next we tried to find a local restaurant preferably iszakaya (pub food). Unfortunately the area we were looking at was full of Japanese chain izakaya’s and we ended up going to a Kagoshima chain izakaya, which was a little overpriced and not so tasty.
Again they had TV’s in the restaurant booths.

Having Kagoshima izakaya chain restaurant food in Aomori, Japan.

Walking around Aomori town centre at night time.

Everyone in Aomori used different accent of Japanese, called ‘Tsugaru-ben’. Aomori dialect.

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We woke up in Kumamoto in surprisingly good condition after the nomihoudai. It looked like the udon had worked again

We paid the price of rushing to catch the tram, and jumped on the wrong one which took us to a different location, not the train station.
This lost us about 45 mins, precious time which would cut into our day in Kagoshima.
Fortunately which managed to make it up and lose only a few minutes by catching the next Shinkansen from Kumamoto to Kagoshima.

We must have still been 1/2 asleep because we forgot to put our suitcases in the train station luggage, after back tracking to the station and putting our 100 Yen coins in the locker the machine got jammed and would not accept any more coins. June went to the station office and waited in line in a huge queue. Luckily enough one of the station guards spotted Nige looking suspicious and fixed the locker.

Outside Kagoshima train station.

We caught the tram to make our way to Sakura-jima volcano island. There’s a great view when you watch it from the ferry.

View of Sakurajima from the ferry.

Luckily it was very nice weather. It is only a short journey to Sakura-jima and the boats run 24hrs.

Information boards directly outside of Sakurajima port.

Unfortunately there was not enough time so we could not go around the volcano which would require a full day, but we walked around the port. We pencilled in to return so we would be able to give the island the time it deserved. Volcanic ashes were found on the footpath in the city to demonstrate how active the volcano is.

Kagoshima is famous for its black pork so we looked for a restaurant in an area famous for black pork (kurobuto). Unfortunately this area had been relocated due to the construction of the Shinkansen train line. Since Nige & June were running out of time they decided to eat at the train station.
Once at the train station the popular black pork restaurants were full with long queues, so Nige & June went on the search for one nearby.
They managed to find a black pork restaurant down one of the side streets.

Time was starting to run out before their Shinkansen left for Kumamoto and unfortunately the staff were taking an age to prepare the meal. The lunch was finally delivered 20 mins before the train departed, so the meal was devoured at a great rush.

Kurobuto (black pork) is one of the local food that Kagoshima is famous for.

Nige & June then started running in an attempt to catch their train. Subscribe to see if they made it in time.

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Bus from Iwakuni station to Kintai bridge.

The eighth time Kintai bridge has been rebuilt

After Kintai-kyo, we took Shinkansen to Hakata, Fukuoka prefecture. By now we were starting to realise the benefits of travelling via Shinkansen. Not just the speed and time saved but things like the extra room and comfort and also the smoothness and quietness of the ride.

Nice reflections by the river at Hakata

Hakata is known for it’s night food stalls. We explored a couple of them. The food was really yummy! Hakata Ramen (Tonkotsu flavor, also called Nagahama Ramen) was so delicious. Also had Yakitori, Oden, Gyoza, Japanese style of spicy vegetable (Takana) fried rice etc. The price was reasonable too.

A typical night food stall in Hakata.

We really enjoyed the Hakata food market night.

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