Day 6 started with another early wakeup call - around 5:15AM. Since the hotel was unable to arrange a taxi for us, we would have to make the ~20 minute walk to Eniwa train station. I also wanted to give us a little bit of extra time in case there was an issue with using our JR pass, as this morning was the first day it was active. Our first train was scheduled to leave at 6:15AM, a local regional train (the airport #50 from Eniwa to Minami-Chitose), where we would transfer to the Limited express Hokuto train to Shin-Hakodate station, which at the time of writing is the Northern most terminus for shinkansen trains. We'd then connect to the Hayabusa shinkansen train down to Sendai, grab a rental car, and be on our way.
The first portion of our journey would look like:
As I mentioned a couple posts ago, despite getting up and out of the hotel by 5:30am, it was completely bright out. This picture below, of the hotel, was taken at 5:25AM according to my timestamp.
Fairfield Inn at Eniwa. This was taken before 5:30am!
The walk to Eniwa station wasn't too bad - a benefit of doing the walk this early was that it wasn't too hot or humid, yet.
Eniwa Station
While the megumondo station was a little bit closer walk, it did not have an early morning train running like Eniwa did. Our 6:15 am train had 2 stops to Minami-Chitose, where we would only have 4 minutes to connect to the Hokuto 2 Train. I was a little worried about only having 4 minutes to connect, primarily because I wasn't able to confirm in advance what platform we would have to move to. Minami-Chitose has 4 lines so it's not a large station by any means, but 4 minutes isn't very much time.
Inside Eniwa station - we'd be on the Rapid Airport 50
Our first train was on time and was one of only 2 or 3 that we took that did not offer green class, however it was less than a 10 minute ride. Thankfully when we got off the train, Emily saw the display for our train over on the other platform, which I confirmed as we crossed the pedestrian bridge/station. This was probably the most anxious I got transferring trains this whole trip, as everything else I could more or less plan out connections in advance.
Hokuto 2 Green Class Seating
The views along the ride were very nice:
View along the water
And the nice country view!
From Minami-Chitose to Shin-Hakodate it was just under 3 hours, snaking along the southern coast until we pulled into the station. We had just under 20 minutes to connect, so were able to get stamps of the station, and a couple pics of our Hayabusa train before settling in on board.
Hayabusa 18!
This was my first time on a shinkansen train, and what's not to like about being on a high-speed train? Our seats were comfy, although there was no food/drinks offered for green class customers (which we knew). Wi-Fi was a bit spotty, both on our hotspot and the train wi-fi, in part because of the large amount of tunnels the train passes through. That would actually be a pattern for the rest of the shinkansen trains and something I never really considered (all the tunnels), but it makes sense.
Green class seating on the Hayabusa train
This portion of our journey was also just under 3 hours, despite covering more than twice the distance of our previous leg. There is a stop at Shin-Aomori station where (depending on which way you're traveling), two shinkansen trains are joined or split apart. It's a bit of a tourist attraction in that sense, but something I definitely had to get out and see. In this case, the trains were being joined since we were heading south.
Watching the shinkansen trains join!
The rest of the train ride was uneventful, and we soon arrived at Sendai Station around 12:30pm.
The plan from here was to get a rental car so that we could drive around a bit and not rely on the trains. I ultimately ended up with a one-way rental from Toyota from Sendai station to Sendai airport, as there was no difference in price, the sendai station was open a bit later, and we would be ending our day in the southern portion of Sendai (and just take a train back downtown).
The process was just as easy here, however traffics was a completely different situation. I was given a very tiny car this time with no features whatsoever, which made driving much less enjoyable. Not having carplay was a major bummer but the built-in GPS did okay.
Anyways the reason for grabbing a rental car was mainly to be able to head out to the Great Akiu Falls, and then head back to then outer reaches of the region that just wouldn't be doable in a realistic fashion relying on trains. At a high level, the day would look something like this outline:
We would have about 8 hours total to do this all, as the limiting factor was returning the car tonight. Once again, we couldn't return it first thing in the morning as we would need to be on the first morning train out. Nothing on here was "have to see though" which gave us a little bit more flexibility.
Driving in downtown Sendai was a bit stressful getting used to such a smaller call, with a ton more traffic than Hokkaido, however after adjusting to everything, it wasn't that much worse. Certainly the type of vehicle you are driving in goes a long way towards the experience.
I think this was a Vitz? Not much fun to drive.
Once we got out of the main area, it wasn't too bad, although still far from quiet. We stopped at a lawson for some more snacks, and proceeded on our way towards the falls.
Our first stop was actually a visitor area halfway to the falls to see the
Rairaikyo Gorge. This is a little gorge that runs along the road in the area that had some nice views. It's also known for this heart shaped hole that's known as Lover's Sanctuary.
Rairaikyo Gorge
Lover's Sanctuary - so romantic....
Despite being in the shade, it didn't take long for us to start sweating. It was a nice little stop and the welcome center was indeed welcoming, but we didn't spend a ton of time here before heading up to the falls.
It was a 30 minute drive or so up to the entrance of the falls, where we walked by a couple people who had setup some shops, on our way up to the falls.
Great Akiu Falls
The falls were pretty spectacular - they definitely lived up to their names. From where we were, we had an overlook of the falls, but there was an alternate entrance where you could walk along the base of the falls. We debated whether or not to do that small hike, but decided we were satisfied with the view as is and to continue on our way.
It was about an hour drive to get to the general vicinity of the Fuluurabashi Bridge. It was mostly toll roads until we got off and drove into the Coastal Town of Matsushima. It was a very lively downtown, and reminded me of a Northeastern coastal town like Portland, Maine.
Overlooking the bridge
We grabbed a parking spot nearby and headed over to the bridge, where we had to pay a small toll (something like 200 yen? Not much) to cross.
Crossing the bridge
Fukuurajima isn't particularly big, and is mostly shaded, so it made for a very pleasant walk around the island. I was also a bit surprised to see public toilets on the island.
If only pokemon were real...
We walked back right as the bridge was closing down for the day (the last admission is at 5pm), and had one more stop to make - another lid.
Look, it's the bridge!
After grabbing a picture of the lid, we stopped at starbucks, and that's something I haven't mentioned yet - I was a bit surprised by the amount of starbucks I had encountered on my visit. It wouldn't have been too surprising to see the stores in the busier metropolitan towns but it just seemed a bit out-of-place up here, not that I'm complaining.
Next up was more driving - first a short drive to a nearby train station - Nobiru - and then another to the train station in Ishinomaki. Nobiru was a very quiet area, but Ishinomaki was much larger and busier than I had expected. Traffic was also the worst in here in terms of it was almost like rush-hour traffic.
We arrived at the train station at dusk to get a JR stamp, and to visit another lid at the nearby city hall building.
Outside the train station in Ishinomaki
It was starting to get later but we were still right on schedule, so we made a bit of a detour from the path back to drive to Tasedadaifureai Park , located farther out in the northwest to grab our second to last lid for the night - one I wanted to visit:
This is what an hour detour looks like. Still, a really cool lid!
This is really the benefit of the pokemon lids - I would have never found myself in this area under normal circumstances - and it's not necessarily the easiest to reach anyways - but there definitely was a sense of adventuring coming out here, even if it was dark and getting late after another day of nonstop travel.
From the park we drove down to Sendai airport, stopping at one final location just north of the Airport to visit one final lid in the region, before returning the vehicle at the airport. I filled up right at an airport gas station and had my receipt in hand ready to show, however I was not asked for it.
The rental process was fine with Toyota as well - I'd give a slight edge to Nippon Rental based on the car I received, but that also may be due to renting at an airport location vs a local one.
We had to take a short shuttle to the airport, where we took a train (not covered in the JR pass) back to sendai station, and then had a 10 minute walk to the Westin. Check seemed to take longer than it should have, but eventually I was given a room - I think it may have even been an upgrade - high up overlooking the station.
Westin Room
It was another fun day filled with exploring, and from here on out all travel would be on trains. Tomorrow was going to start with an early morning train ride down to Tokyo and then Kyoto.
Beautiful! Sendai train station is directly ahead.