Monday, 18 March 2024

Hakodate Ramen

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Hakodate Ramen

nekojita_big.gifThe “Japan Rail Pass” is a discount ticket that only foreign tourists and Japanese living overseas are eligible to buy. A travel agent said, “It’s very useful in Japan where railroad transportation is available throughout the country. You can choose from a pass for Green cars (superior class) or one for Ordinary cars (coach class). You can also select the period of validity of the pass from seven, fourteen, or twenty-one days. In Japan, fares are too expensive to ignore. A 10,000-yen bill will be gone in the blink of an eye.”

Would the “JR Pass” really allow us to enjoy our trip like a lord at a lower price? Although our stay in Japan would be only for five days, we ended up buying 7-day passes for “unlimited Green-car ride.” While waiting in a line in front of a window at Narita Airport to exchange our vouchers for the passes, we realized that people around us were all foreigners. There also was an “Urashima Taro” who said excitedly that he was visiting Japan for the first time in the past forty-five years.

Receiving our “JR Passes,” we realized that we could not get what we had paid for unless we would travel as far as possible. So, we planed an almost impossible day trip from Tokyo to Hakodate in Hokkaido, in which we could stay there only for forty-five minutes! Upon our arrival, we ate Hakodate ramen in a hurry near Hakodate Railroad Station and quickly went back to Tokyo. We believed that we had saved money, but as I look back, I’m not sure about that.

A green car with wet towels and drinks