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Orange Railway and Kagoshima 2026: All Posts
#0 Index
Eight days in Kagoshima Prefecture along the Hisatsu Orange Railway: samurai streets in Izumi, the sea at Akune, quiet Satsumasendai, and Tenmonkan nights.
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A Tucked-Away Sake Spot with Sought-After Bottles
#19 Nomidokoro Fujiya
This is the third evening of the 4 nights, 5 days trip. Today, I wanted to have dinner at a place like an izakaya.It would be even better if I could enjoy some good Japanese sake from Saga. With that in mind, I was looking through Google Maps, and a place called Fujiya (ふじや) caught my eye.It didn’t look like a popular restaurant, but rather like a hidden spot for locals. In fact, there were very few reviews, so there was almost no information available.It wasn’t even listed on Tabelog. I had a feeling.I wanted to take a chance. Quite…
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Scenes from the Street: Part 2
#18 Karatsu Station and City Hall
In a small city, the most important buildings are always the train station, the bus terminal, and public buildings like city hall. Karatsu, a small city with a population of around 110,000, is no different. The downtown area of Karatsu that I showed last time was a large block located between the train station and the city hall. This time, I will show Karatsu Station, the city hall, and the streets around them. After all, the streets in places like this often shape the impression of a city. When you go in front of Karatsu Station, the first thing that…
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Through the Rainbow Forest
#17 Nijinomatsubara
Nijinomatsubara (虹ノ松原) is a pine forest that embraces Karatsu Bay (唐津灣) in a curved shape like a rainbow. It is said to be about 5 km long, so it would probably take about an hour if you walk slowly. It is said to be an artificial forest created in the 17th centuryto block wind and drifting sand, and its scale is astonishing. Since you cannot really see the forest while you are inside it,I recommend first going up to Kagamiyama Observation Deck (鏡山展望台) and looking at the whole forest from above. I took a taxi from Higashi-Karatsu (東唐津) Station up…
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A Pine Forest Holding Karatsu Like a Rainbow
#16 Kagamiyama Observation Deck
If you are asked to name the representative sightseeing spots of Karatsu, they would probably be Karatsu Castle (唐津城) and Nijinomatsubara (虹ノ松原).So both places were included in my itinerary as well. Originally, today was supposed to be Karatsu Castle, and Nijinomatsubara tomorrow. But when I woke up in the morning,the weather was simply too good. On a day like this,it felt like the view of Nijinomatsubara togetherwith the sea from an observation deck would be amazing,so I changed my plan. Today, I am going to see Nijinomatsubara. Among the observation points overlooking Nijinomatsubara,the Kagamiyama (鏡山) observation deck is well known.…
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Nothing Special, Just Good Food
#15 Arigataya
It was the morning of the third day of a five-day trip. As always, I did not rush. I woke up slowly and went to the public bath to wash. I put the used towel in my bag and hung it outside the room door. I also left the trash can in front of the door. I cannot fully agree with hotel policies that shift inconvenience to guests under the excuse of being eco-friendly, but when I think of it as a way to keep accommodation prices lower, it is a level of inconvenience I can accept. Since I woke…
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Scenes from the Street: Part 1
#14 Downtown Karatsu
For me, travel is about eating delicious food, tasting new drinks, meeting local people, and experiencing scenery I have never seen before. And while moving from one place to the next — from food to drinks, from people to scenery — I naturally end up walking through the streets. So for me, travel is also about capturing the scenes I encounter along the street. Karatsu is a small city with a population of about 110,000. In Korea, it would be roughly the size of cities like Nonsan or Miryang. Places commonly seen when traveling in Japan — such as Don…
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Mazesoba at Night’s End
#13 Menya Nara
It is the second day of the trip,and the first night in Karatsu. I had Saga beef for dinner,then drinks at a gyoza bar for the second round,and drinks again at a stand bar for the third. Now it is time to slowly wrap up the night.It is not even midnight yet,but my stamina is already giving up. As I get older,my travel style is slowly changing. The last stop after drinking is always ramen. I like to fill my stomach with noodleswhile soothing my body with a thick tonkotsu broth. I was about to open Google Mapsand search for…
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