October 24 - Matsuyama

Today, I took a day trip to Matsuyama which is located in the island of Shikoku (1 of the 4 main islands of Japan).
I had to take 2 trains.
From Himeji (where I'm staying now) to Okayama, I boarded a Shinkansen (20min ride).
From Okayama to Matsuyama, I boarded a rapid train (2.75hr ride).


Here's the route I took.


This is the first generation of Shinkansen and they're to be decommissioned next month.
Glad to see it one last time.


This is the rapid train from Okayama to Matsuyama and it's called Shiokaze 26.
Shiokaze in Japanese means sea breeze.


The interior of Shiokaze.
Quite comfortable and roomy for a long ride.


The island of Honshu and Shikoku are now connected by 3 bridges located at 3 locations: East, Central and West.
The Shiokaze crosses the central one which is called Seto-Chuo bridges.
It actually is made up of 6 bridges and 5 viaducts.


That is a huge LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) container ship.
Doesn't it look like it's carrying 4 large eggs.
The Japanese engineering always impresses me with their unusual designs.


Those're huge cranes.
What're they up to now?
Making more bridges?


After crossing the bridges, the countryside scenes are so wonderful to watch.
There're so many rice fields of different shapes and sizes.


Finally arrived in Matsuyama at 11:15AM.
My next trip home was at 4:27PM.


The city trams.


Cute train.


Office girl on a scooter.
It seems riding scooters are quite common in Japan.


And she's ahead of them all.


That's what I'd call a rockfish!


Camellia is the official flower of the city of Matsuyama.


That's what I wanted to see: Matsuyama Castle.
It's perched on the hill.











Real Samurai armour.







Spear tips.


Katana or Samurai sword.








Invaders!
Or just visitors.




The castle was constructed of timbers and it caught on fire a few times.
No wonder they've the red fire extinguihers everywhere.






All the stairs going from one level to another are very steep.












This old pine tree needs crutches to support its fragile branches.


It's so old that it's covered with lichens.












This is my lunch at 3pm which is a type of ramen with meat slices, wood ear fungus slices, an egg, scallions and ramen noodles.
The broth was good but too flavorful and strong to drink at the end.


Either models or actor and actresses dressed up in traditional costumes.


Time really flies and it's time to go back to Himeji.