Introduction To: Matsumoto

Matsumoto (松本) is a city in Nagano Prefecture.  Before the Meiji restoration, it served as the capital city of Shinano Province.  Its chief attraction is the eponymous Matsumoto Castle, one of the twelve original castles to have survived intact since the feudal era.  Situated at the eastern base of the Japan Alps, Matsumoto is also an ideal base for excursions into outdoor treasures like Kamikochi Park and the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route.

Main Attractions

The main keep of Matsumoto Castle, accessible from Matsumoto Station.
Taken on Saturday, 19 May 2018.

1) Matsumoto Castle: A black-walled castle that has survived since the late 16th century.

2) Nakamachi District: A neighbourhood of old white-walled merchant's houses and unique museums.

By 663highland [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY 2.5], from Wikimedia Commons

3) Matsumoto City Museum of Art: A museum of modern art, with a particular focus on local-born artist Yayoi Kusama (草間 彌生, b. 1929).

By Saigen Jiro [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons

4) Koboyama Park: A park on the city's outskirts built on top of a former burial mound, adorned with thousands of cherry trees.

By photo: Qurren (talk)Taken with Canon IXY 10S [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

5) Japan Ukiyo-e Museum: An outlying museum about Japanese woodblock-print art.

By Wiiii [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

6) Kaichi School Museum: One of Japan's first school buildings, preserved from the Meiji Period (late 19th century).

mapplefan8 [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

7) Asama Onsen: A hot-spring town within Matsumoto's city limits.

Orientation

Matsumoto Station stands to the east or southeast of most of the city's attractions.  For avid walkers, many destinations, including Matsumoto Castle, can be reached on foot within 15-20 minutes.  For everyone else, there is a network of tourist-oriented loop buses called the Town Sneaker buses.  There are four Town Sneaker routes: North, East, South, and West.  Of the greatest import to tourists are the north bus, which stops at the castle, and the east bus, which stops at Nakamachi and the Matsumoto City Museum.  They cost ¥200 per ride, or ¥500 for a one-day pass (which includes discounts at various spots), and buses arrive every 20-30 minutes.  More information: (Japanese)

Access

From Tokyo, the most direct way to get to Matsumoto is by the Azusa limited express train, along the Chuo Main Line.  The one-way journey from Shinjuku Station takes 2½ to 3 hours, and costs ¥6,620 for a reserved seat.  From Tokyo Station, it may be faster to take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano (80-100 minutes), then the Wide View Shinano limited express to Matsumoto (50 minutes).  In total, this costs at least ¥10,300 (reserved).  Both options are fully covered by the Japan Rail Pass and the JR East Nagano-Niigata Pass.  From western cities, take the Tokaido Shinkansen to Nagoya, then the Wide View Shinano limited express to Matsumoto (120 minutes, ¥6,410 reserved).

Highway buses, operated by Alpico Kotsu, are available to and from Tokyo's Shinjuku Station (3 hours, ¥3,800), Takayama (2½ hours, ¥3,250 one-way / ¥5,760 round-trip), and more.  If you have a JR East Nagano-Niigata pass, you can buy a round-trip bus ticket from Matsumoto to Takayama for a discounted ¥4,500.  More information: (English) (Japanese)

There is also a small airport, Shinshu-Matsumoto Airport (IATA code: MMJ), 8km (5 mi) south of the city.  It only serves a couple of domestic destinations: Fukuoka, Sapporo, and during the month of August, Osaka-Itami.  A shuttle bus between the airport and bus terminal is timed to meet all flights.  The ride takes 30 minutes and costs ¥600.  More information: (Japanese)

Excursions

1) Daio Wasabi Farm: A wasabi (spicy horseradish) farm open to visitors.
Access: JR Oito line from Matsumoto to Hotaka Station (30 minutes, ¥320, JR Pass OK), followed by a 10-minute taxi (~¥1,300) or shuttle bus ride (¥600 one-way / ¥1,000 round-trip) (Schedule).  Buses are only available on weekends and holidays, from mid-April to October.

2) Omachi: A starting point for crossing the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route.
Access: JR Oito line from Matsumoto to Shinano-Omachi Station (60 minutes, ¥680, JR Pass OK).

3) Hakuba: A ski resort used during the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Access: JR Oito line from Matsumoto to Hakuba Station (105 minutes with 1 transfer, ¥1,170, JR Pass OK).

4) Nagano: The prefecture's capital city, and the host of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Access: JR Shinano limited express from Matsumoto to Nagano Station (50 minutes, ¥2,900 reserved, JR Pass OK).

5) Kamikochi: A national park in the northern Japan Alps, centred around a river nestled between mountains.  Open only from April through November.
Access: Alpico line from Matsumoto to Shin-Shimashima Station (30 minutes), followed by a bus to Kamikochi (65 minutes, total ¥2,500 one-way / ¥4,650 round-trip) (Schedule).

6) Kiso Valley: A collection of preserved post towns along the old Nakasendo highway, which one may hike across.
Access: JR Shinano limited express from Nagoya to Nakatsugawa Station (75 minutes, ¥4,370 reserved, JR Pass OK), followed by a bus to Magome (25 minutes, ¥570) (Schedule).

Know Your Trains: Resort View Furusato

This article is based on a visit made on Saturday, 19 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I wrapped up a day trip to Takayama which, I would say, was one of the highlights of this trip.  After returning for our final night in Toyama, we were about to return to Tokyo.  But even though the Hokuriku Shinkansen provides a fast and direct link between the two cities, I felt like making a diversion along the way.  Our interim destination was the castle town of Matsumoto, and to get there, our route included a special train called the Resort View Furusato.

The Resort View Furusato (リゾートビューふるさと, Rizōto Byū Furusato) is one of JR East's lineup of "Joyful Trains".  These are specialised excursion trains which generally run on weekends and holiday periods, and have unique exterior and interior themes, often tying in with aspects of their particular regions.

The Resort View Furusato uses a 2-car HB-E300-series train, powered by a hybrid electric/diesel engine.  Inside, the Furusato may not appear as flashy as other Joyful Trains, but its essentials go above and beyond the call.  All seats have a generous pitch of 120 cm (47 inches), the most spacious regular seating in JR's entire fleet, and the windows are plenty wide, too.  At both ends of the train, there are small open areas where you can enjoy an even better view.  Traditional music performances are also held here, primarily on the western portion of the route which we skipped over.

Mid-way between Nagano and Matsumoto, the train makes an extended stop at Obasute Station.  Two things stand out about this station: first, there is a switchback here, where the train must change directions to climb up or down, not unlike certain points of the Hakone Tozan Railway.  And second, the platform has a commanding view of the Zenkoji Plain below, towards Nagano.

Attendants are also on hand throughout the whole journey.  You can buy certain snacks and gifts from them -- such as products made with apples, an agricultural specialty of Nagano Prefecture -- and they are happy to assist with taking your picture, such as I did at the above-mentioned stop.

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We disembarked at Matsumoto, but the Resort View Furusato continues up the Oito line, which skirts up the eastern edge of the Japan Alps.  If you want to go to the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route, you can take this train to Shinano-Omachi station, and transfer to a bus from there.  Kurobe Dam (pictured), one of the route's highlights, can be reached in only an hour from Shinano-Omachi.  Beware that if you do so, make sure you have enough time to catch the last connection at each stop, since crowds are liable to build up by the time you get there.  For more information, please read my introduction article on the Alpine Route here.

663highland [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

On its outbound journey, the train also makes an extended half-hour stop at Hotaka.  This gives you enough time to visit Hotaka Shrine which, despite being situated right next to the station, is nestled within a pleasant wooded grove.  In that regard, it reminds me of Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.  Even Hotaka Station is modelled after the shrine's bare-wooden architecture!

Ski Mania [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The far end of the line, from Hakuba to Minami-Otari, is home to a dense cluster of ski resorts, accessible by buses from either of the two stations as well as from Nagano.  The largest ski zone is Happo'one (pictured), which hosted Downhill and Super G skiing events during the 1998 Winter Olympics.

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The Resort View Furusato runs on most Saturdays and Sundays, and some additional periods, including almost the entire month of August.  For up-to-date operating schedules, please visit the links at the bottom of this article.

Station	Resort View Furusato for Minami-Otari	Station	Resort View Furusato for Nagano
Nagano	9:04 AM	Minami-Otari	3:18 PM
Shinonoi	9:13 AM	Hakuba	3:33 PM (Arr.) 3:39 PM (Dep.)
Obasute	9:28 AM (Arr.) 9:45 AM (Dep.)	Shinano-Omachi	4:20 PM (Arr.) 4:21 PM (Dep.)
Akashina	10:11 AM (Arr.) 10:12 AM (Dep.)	Shinano-Matsukawa	4:30 PM (Arr.) 4:31 PM (Dep.)
Matsumoto	10:27 AM (Arr.) 10:41 AM (Dep.)	Hotaka	4:42 PM (Arr.) 4:45 PM (Dep.)
Hotaka	10:59 AM (Arr.) 11:31 AM (Dep.)	Matsumoto	5:14 PM (Arr.) 5:23 PM (Dep.)
Shinano-Matsukawa	11:41 AM (Arr.) 11:42 AM (Dep.)	Akashina	5:40 PM
Shinano-Omachi	11:52 AM (Arr.) 12:02 PM (Dep.)	Obasute	6:06 PM (Arr.) 6:07 PM (Dep.)
Hakuba	12:34 PM (Arr.) 12:42 PM (Dep.)	Shinonoi	6:19 PM
Minami-Otari	1:00 PM	Nagano	6:29 PM

Tips

• All seats on the Resort View Furusato are reserved.  The supplement fee is a flat ¥530 on top of regular fare.
• The Resort View Furusato is classified as a rapid train, so you can ride it for free with the Japan Rail Pass, JR East Nagano-Niigata Pass, and even the Seishun 18 Ticket.
• For the best views during the Nagano-Matsumoto section, including the Obasute overlook, sit on the right side of the train (for outbound services).  For the best views of the Japan alps beyond Matsumoto, sit on the left side (outbound).

More information: (English) (Japanese)

Takayama Old Town

This article is based on a visit made on Friday, 18 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited the Showa-kan museum in Takayama.  The museum stands on the edge of one of Takayama's main draws, its old town.  Formally known as the Sanmachi Historical Houses Preservation District (三町伝統的建造物群保存地区, Sanmachi Dentouteki Kinzoubutsugun Hozon Chigu), the old town is a neighbourhood of homes and shops, some of which have been standing since the Edo period (1601-1868).

The old town is located on the east side of the Miya River (宮川, Miya-gawa).  One of Takayama's two popular morning markets, the Miyagawa Morning Market, is set up every morning along the riverside, just north of the old town area.  But since it's the afternoon, let's move on to where the real action is.

The action in the old town is centred around three parallel streets.  Some of the buildings are private homes, but many others are shops which specialise in all manner of foods, crafts, and sake, a.k.a. nihonshu (日本酒, lit. 'Japanese liquor').  Like the Higashi Chaya district in Kanazawa, I found that the similar building styles and Japanese signage tends to make each business blend into the next, but the wider variety of businesses does help each to stand out a bit.

One object you'll see lots of in Takayama is the sugidama (杉玉, lit. 'cedar ball'), a common decoration found in front of sake-related businesses.  They are made of cedar branches and leaves, the same tree whose wood was traditionally used to make casks for fermenting liquor.  They are coloured green when made in the winter, and turn brown later on in the year, when the sake has aged enough and is ready to drink.

Numerous sake shops in Takayama offer samples for a low cost.  The sample shown above is umeshu (lit. 'plum liquor').  For obvious reasons, only those who are of drinking age in Japan (20 years old) and who are not planning to drive anytime soon need apply.

One of the other sake breweries in the area even sells sake-flavoured ice cream!  If the alcoholic bite of the real thing is too much for you to handle, this is a good way to experience it with a more mellow sweetness.  The same age restrictions apply for the ice cream, just to be on the safe side.

Looking for something more substantial?  Hida beef, along with the more famous Kobe beef, is one of the most prestigious varieties of wagyu (和牛, lit. 'Japanese cattle'), and Takayama is the best place to try it out.  One of the most accessible places to try out Hida beef is a nikuman, or steamed beef bun, from Kihachiro Beef Bun, whose signboard is shown above.  Kihachiro also has additional stores as far away as Kyoto and Kamakura.

Sugidama aren't the only creative signage to be found here.  This soba restaurant incorporates some noodles draped over a pair of chopsticks.

And in front of another place, I came across this animatronic puppet.  Simply put, you never know what you'll find out here!

Case in point, I found a chopsticks shop where I was able to get my name printed on a pair of my own.

Making this moment even more special, I also got a ¥2,000 note back with my change.  This denomination was first printed, appropriately enough, in the year 2000, but is rarer to come across than the other bills (¥1,000, ¥5,000, and ¥10,000).  In that sense, it's a lot like the US $2 bill, although closer in value to $20.

Not every business in the old town is steeped in tradition.  My grandmother was drawn into a shop that specialised in tomato juice and similar products.  The store itself gave off a hipsterish schoolhouse vibe.

We came across that place while we were searching for some place where we could get a rickshaw ride.  It took some searching, but we found one.  Our guide for the ride spoke enough English -- not that much according to her, but suitable enough for me -- to give us insights that helped us enjoy the neighbourhood even more.  She was even willing and able to take a couple of pictures of us, one of which I've used for my sign-off above.  If you'd like a rickshaw ride for yourself, expect to pay ¥5,000 for 30 minutes, but if you can get a shorter and cheaper course like we did, you'll still get your money's worth.  As for us, there was one more city we made a stop at on our way back to Tokyo.  Find out where, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Access: From the Takayama Bus Centre, take the Machinami loop bus to Sanmachi-dori (さんまち通り, ¥100), in the middle of the old town.  The Counterclockwise route takes 9 minutes to get to this stop, while the Clockwise route takes 24 minutes.

You can also reach the area in about 10 minutes on foot from Takayama Station.  Turn right out of the station's East Exit, then take the next left at the traffic light.  Continue on up the main road for about 850m (½ mile).  After crossing the river, you will have arrived in the old town.

Kihachiro

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  Closed on Wednesdays.

Address: 35 Kamisannomachi, Takayama-shi, Gifu-ken 〒506-0845

Website: (Japanese)

Takayama Showa-kan

This article is based on a visit made on Friday, 18 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited the Sakurayama Hachiman shrine, home to a museum about the city's semi-annual festivals.  Its location proved to be a fine starting point for walking into another of Takayama's most famous attractions, the old town.  However, on the way there, we stopped at a museum offering a more recent slice of history: the Takayama Showa-kan (高山昭和館) museum.

What is Showa?  In Japan, the reign of each Emperor is given a unique title, which is also bestowed upon that Emperor himself after his death.  For example, the reign that started this year (2019) is called the Reiwa era (令和, lit. 'fair peace').  The Showa era (昭和, lit. 'enlightened peace'), then, was the period ruled over by Emperor Hirohito, lasting from 1926 to 1989.  This holds the record for the longest reign of a Japanese Emperor, and indeed, much happened to Japan during these 64 years, some of it infamously unfortunate.  But most Japanese who were alive back then associate Showa more strongly with its post-war half, from the mid-1950s on, when the country embraced democracy and capitalism, and its economy grew at a meteoric rate.

The halls of this museum are done up to resemble a cityscape that may have been seen in 1955 or so, and are lined with rooms which re-create different kinds of homes or businesses.  The car seen above is a Daihatsu Midget, a three-wheeled mini-truck first manufactured in 1957.  They came in one-seater and two-seater varieties; the model in this museum is the latter, and you can even sit inside it.

This room is the living quarters behind a general store; the store's counters are out of frame.  It would be interesting to compare these to the model homes in, say, the Fukugawa Edo Museum.  Maybe this is just one room out of many in the house, maybe it isn't.  Living standards had certainly improved since the Edo period, but space has always been precious in urban Japan.  One thing's for sure: there was a wider variety of stuff available in the Showa period.  The TV in back plays a loop of vintage shows, and there is a shogi (a Japanese strategy game which evolved from chess) board which these two 21st-century ladies are happily chatting over.

Moving on to the restaurant, and -- hel-lo, whom do we have up there...?

I'll try to ignore that temptation, and instead take a closer look at the food models adorning the restaurant's shopfront, which is common in Japan even today.  The advent of plastic manufacturing gave restaurateurs the ability share their menus beyond the barriers of language.  I, and many others, I'm sure, are thankful for that.

One of the rooms you can enter from the main hall is an appliance store.  Electric appliances like these became status symbols of the post-war Japanese.  Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister from 2001-2006, compared the most sought-after home goods of a given time to the three treasures that make up the Imperial Regalia of Japan; for example, the washing machine, refrigerator, and black-and-white TV.  I mentioned this comparison in detail before, on my article on the Edo Tokyo Museum.

Next door is a toy store.  I described the evolution of Japanese toy trends in another article, on the Arima Toys and Automata Museum.  The collection on display here encapsulates the transition period I described then.

The second floor offers more to explore, such as rooms from a private home and a school.  I honestly doubt that every student in a given class would use their own typewriter, but having them here does help to show the evolution of technology that took place during this time.

Speaking of technology, video games also helped define the late Showa period.  Japanese arcade games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man became worldwide phenomena in the late '70s and early '80s, and Nintendo and Sega both launched their first home consoles in 1983.  Here, on the second floor of the Showa-kan, you can play on a couple of Nintendo's Famicom and Super Famicom systems.  (The latter was actually launched in 1990, after the Showa period ended, but... eh, close enough.)

However, an even more widespread pasttime in Japan, both then and now, is pachinko (パチンコ).  To play, you shoot little metal marbles into a vertical board lined with pegs.  The balls bounce around these pegs on their way down, and if they fall into the right holes, you'll get additional balls to keep playing with.  It bears resemblance to pinball, but the player's only control is how rapidly the balls are shot into play.  The balls you earn can be exchanged for prizes, and even though most gambling is illegal in Japan, there is a booming grey market of exchanging those prizes back for cash.  At the Showa-kan, you can try out some old-style pachinko machines for free.  No prizes, though.  As for the real thing, pachinko parlours are very widespread across Japan, but the experience of being in one is extremely loud, like a casino on steroids.  I think I'll stick to video game centres if that's all the same to you.

Or, I could just go out and visit Takayama's old town.  Join me there, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  No regular closing days.

Cost: ¥800.

Address: 6 Shimo-Ichinomachi, Takayama-shi, Gifu-ken 〒506-0858

Access: From the Takayama Bus Centre, take the Machinami loop bus to Betsu-in Temple (別院前) (¥100).  The Counterclockwise route takes 11 minutes to get to this stop, while the Clockwise route takes 21 minutes.  From the bus stop, head west, downhill along the main road, and take the third right, at the traffic light.  The museum will soon be on your left.

You can also reach the museum in about 15 minutes on foot from Takayama Station.  Turn left out of the station's East Exit, then take the second right at the traffic light.  Continue on up the main road for about 850m (½ mile).  After crossing the river, turn left at the next traffic light.  The museum will soon be on your left.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Takayama Festival Museum

This article is based on a visit made on Friday, 18 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I embarked on a day-trip to Takayama, starting with the Hida Folk Village just outside of town.  Now, the city of Takayama is especially famous for its festivals, held twice-yearly: the Sannō Matsuri (山王祭り) in spring (14-15 April), and the Hachiman Matsuri (八幡祭り) in autumn (9-10 October).  From what I have gathered, it is supposed to be a stunning experience, especially in the presence of the massive shrine-floats, or yatai (屋台), that are carried about the old town.  But, as you can tell from the dateline at the top of this article, I obviously missed out on either of the festivals.  Fortunately, there are places where one can witness glimpses of the festival experience year-round, and one such place is the Takayama Festival Hall (高山祭屋台会館, Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan), where some of the actual yatai used in the processions are stored when not in use.

This museum is located in the grounds of Sakurayama Hachiman-gu (櫻山八幡宮), the Shinto shrine which serves as the base of the autumn festival.  The spring festival is based at Hie Shrine in the south side of town.  The bus from Takayama Station drops you off near this wooden torii gate.  It's one of the larger toriis I've yet seen in person, and it would have to be in order for the festival floats to fit underneath (which I'm not sure if they do).

For a shrine in a city of this size, Sakurayama Hachiman-gu has a nice bit of woods surrounding it to the back.  I think the unpainted wooden tones of its main hall fit in nicely.

As a Hachiman shrine, also related to the one in Kamakura, it is dedicated to the Shinto war god of the same name.  Hachiman is the second-most prevalent deity out of all the Shinto shrines in Japan, second only to Inari-Okami (as in Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Shrine) [1].  As such, the bronze horse statue near the entrance does fit the theme of cavalry soldiers or archers.

Paying your way into the museum, you will enter a giant hall, and follow the path around the windowed-off centre of the room where the floats are parked.  The floats on display in this museum are the same ones that are used in the festivals every year.  The selection is rotated three times a year, in March, July, and November; the rest are privately stored elsewhere around the city.  When it's time for them to be moved out, one of the room's walls has a massive sliding door big enough to move the floats out through.

The shorter golden float shown above is the mikoshi (神輿), which temporarily houses the patron deity of the shrine.  In essence, a mikoshi is a portable shrine.  The one here weighs in at a massive 2 and a half tons (2,267 kg), and takes 80 people to move it!

The other yatai are much taller than the mikoshi --  the "Jinma-tai" (神馬台), shown above, is the tallest at 8 metres (26 feet and 3 inches) -- but come equipped with wheels and require fewer people to pull them about, about 20 to 30.  A hidden fifth wheel is used to turn the yatai in place.

Another testament to the intricate adornments of these yatai are the moving puppets that occupy the upper tiers.  For example, on the "Hotei-tai" (布袋台), a larger figure stands out and waves, while a smaller figure swings itself across the bars hanging out to the side, one at a time, before ending up on the bigger guy's shoulder!  The whole thing is operated by eight puppeteers, and even if I can't say whether or not they were working the thing in person while the float was at rest in the museum, it was impressive to watch!

Another fun thing to watch would be the video that plays on loop in a back room.  It shows footage and explanations about both festivals, with Japanese narration and English subtitles.  Visitors may check it out on their way up and around the museum, culminating with close-ups with a few more artifacts from the festivals such as yatai wheels or happi coats (shown), before reaching the exit.

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Also located in the shrine complex, and included with admission to the Yatai-kan, is the Nikko-kan (桜山日光館, Sakurayama Nikkō-kan).  This large hall contains scale models of Tosho-gu Shrine (東照宮, Tōshō-gū).  The real Tosho-gu is located in Nikko, all the way back in the Kanto region.

Tosho-gu (the real one, that is) serves as the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康, 1543-1616), a successful warlord who kicked off the Tokugawa Shogunate, the shogun dynasty which effectively ruled Japan from Edo (modern-day Tokyo), for over 250 years.  In respect to his grand status, his initially-simple mausoleum was expanded upon by his grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, 1604-1651).  Pictured above is the Yomei-mon (陽明門), the giant gate which stands in front of the shrine's main hall.

To end this article, let's appreciate the detail of the miniature Tosho-gu with a close-up shot.  The full-sized counterpart is no less ornate.  After all, it is the origin of the famous "three wise monkeys" woodcarving.  I hope to see it myself in person some day, along with the rest of Nikko.  But for now, I have another one of Japan's must-see places to cross off my bucket list.  Next time on Sekai Ichi, I shall venture into Takayama's old town!

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Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM; closes at 4:30 PM from December through February.  No regular closing days.

Cost: ¥900; includes entry to both the Yatai Kaikan and Nikko-kan.

Address: 178 Sakura-machi, Takayama-shi, Gifu-ken 〒506-0858

Access: From the Takayama Bus Centre, take the Machinami loop bus to Sakurayama Hachiman-gu (¥100).  The Counterclockwise route takes 12 minutes to get to this stop, while the Clockwise route takes 17 minutes.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

[1] Motegi, Sadazumi. "Shamei Bunpu (Shrine Names and Distributions)" (in Japanese). Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 17 October 2019.  http://k-amc.kokugakuin.ac.jp/DM/detail.do?class_name=col_eos&data_id=22988