Asking to “Repid Kirakira Uetsu”
Hi, this is Fe@NJ, who has passed Second Grade of Timetable Test in Japan.
How time flies and it is the final stop of “More Abundant Life by Railway Trip” Series, of six accounts.
- Let me introduce a train, “Rapid Kirakira Uetsu“, serviced between Niigata, Niigata Prefecture and Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, (approximately 2 1/2 hours, 170 km / 105 miles) along Sea of Japan, is scheduled to be operated on weekends, as a general rule. Moreover, it seems that it is also occasionally run to the longest, Akita of Akita prefecture.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/joyful/uetsu.html
- Features of this train
(1) All seats are reserved. It is necessary to purchase not only the applicable basic fare ticket and also the reservation seat ticket in the amount of 520 Yen with exceptional days.
(2) A four-car train has observation rooms at both ends.
The Car Layout is as follows:
Car no. 1: Ordinary Seats and Observation Room（For Sakata, on this side）
Car no. 2: Lounge Car
Car no. 3: Ordinary Seats
Car no. 4: Ordinary Seats and Observation Room
(3) You can experience the wonderful view of Sea of Japan, the rural landscape and Mt. Chokai. The seats just behind the observation room are highly recommended!
- We boarded it on the day of August between Niigata and Kisakata, Akita Prefecture, to be extended. Although it is tight to take a day and round trip in all sections, and the staying time in Kisakata is less than two hours, we could take a taxi and went sightseeing quickly.
The area around Kisakata Station is part of Chokai Quasi-National Park and we were impressed by the wonderful scenery.
① ”Kirakira Uetsu”
At Niigata Station
Departed after 10 o’clock: Matching the color of shirt and shoes with train!
② The front car
Enjoying the prospects.
③ A fishing port in the rain (outbound)
④ Cya-ya (Kiosk) (car #2)
⑤ Lounge (ditto)
⑥Kisakata Station, the final stop
⑦ Mototaki Freshwater in a splash of water, selected as one of the 100 Exquisite and Well-Conserved Waters of the Heisei period
⑧ Scenic spot; Kisakata
It looked like Matsushima, one of the Three Most Scenic Spots of Japan, Miyagi Prefecture, as a kind of archipelago, a lagoon with many small islands. Notwithstanding, the lagoon was landed by uplift due to Kisakata Earthquake in 1804, of which the estimated maximum seismic intensity was 6 or 7 on the Japanese scale. Then, it has become rice fields, while the former islands have left that shadow with pine trees.
⑨ The temple gate of Kanmanji Temple (the city’s designated tangible cultural heritage
There is the phrase monument of Basho Matsuo, a famous haiku poet, who is said to have visited herein, in the precinct
⑩ Sea of Japan at sunset (inbound)
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Thank you again and have a nice trip in Japan!
Fe@NJ