Same old railway station

Friday 16th April



This morning we experienced Tokyo Railway Station during peak hour. Not for the timid! Getting across the flow of people is like driving down a city street. You have to merge into the 'traffic' just like changing lanes. We were quite intrigued by the smoking room which was full of people on show.







We booked seats on all the trains for our trip to Hokkaido and back, then caught the shinkansen for the first leg of the journey. We passed through the cherry blossom front which still has some way to travel north through Japan, and then started to notice snow-covered mountains on our left. It seems that skiing in these mountains continues into May. We arrived in Hachinohe (sounds a bit like 'Hatchy No Hey') around lunch time. We left our bags at the hotel so we could go exploring unencumbered. The lovely staff at the Tourist Information Office suggested we visit Kabushima, which is an island a few stops away on the local train. The name of the railway station is Same (pronounced like 'Sarm-e' with a short e like egg). The island is a breeding place for Black-Tailed Gulls and now is their time to visit, so we were treated to the sight of thousands of gulls doing what gulls do (mostly making a lot of noise). We went for an interesting stroll around the fishing port, took some 'jigsaw puzzle' pictures and saw the preparations for a festival which is being held tomorrow. Just our luck, we'll be miles away by then! We also visited the shrine which is on top of a hill by the sea. The flags were flapping wildly and we were grateful for our new scarves and gloves. While we were there, we noticed a young woman clopping past us in high heeled shoes a number of times. It seems that circling the shrine three times is the thing to do, but I don't think that doing it in high heeled shoes is part of the deal. Not only were we two circuits short, we did it in the wrong direction!


On the way back we passed a couple of old guys having a chat out the front of a shop. It seems that one of them was a bamboo cutter, and as we don't come across them every day, we took a photo of him to add to the collection.
We shared the train back to Hachinohe Station with a gaggle of teenagers on their way home from school which made for a lively journey.
Before returning to the hotel we went for a browse around the souvenir shop. Rather than the usual plastic trinkets, this shop showcased local products and crafts. There were beautiful wooden bowls and carvings, woven and embroidered items and gorgeously presented sweets. We were quite taken with the vacuum-packed squid and other wriggly sea creatures, but decided not to buy any on this occasion.
Back at the hotel, we took a much-needed nap then went down to the dining area for the free curry which was on offer tonight! A quick stroll to the nearby convenience store for an ice cream completed the meal nicely and then it was an easy evening of TV, phone calls and generally taking it easy.