We left the Chūbu region via rail, after visiting Toyama, Ishikawa and Fukui (if you haven’t done so already you can check out what we did in each prefecture by using the back arrow at teh bottom of this page and viewing my previous 3 blogposts). We first caught an E7 bullet train, like the one we’d caught to Toyama at the start of our trip, before changing in Tsuruga to get the Thunderbird Limited Express. I will now write a bit about the trains in the paragraph below, please skip this paragraph if you don’t care about train details.
The Thunderbird Limited Express train was particularly special because it took the route along the northern coast of Lake Biwa. Sammy and I have seen Lake Biwa before, in the spring of last year. If you care to, you can check out that trip here:
https://ayjaysadventures.fun/2024/11/08/hikone-shiga-prefecture/
We had never seen the northern/western side of the lake though, so to do so from the view of a really nice train was but the cherry on the beautifully iced cake, so to speak. We changed to another bullet train in Kyoto, this time the classic N700 (which, before this trip, was Michael’s favourite Shinkansen. Nowadays, I think the E5 has stolen his heart – anyone who knows their trains can guess why). We rode a N700-5000 for this leg of the trip, then after Okayama— which I will talk about in this blog— we jumped on a N700-7000 (N700S). The N700S is my favourite rendition of the N700 because it really does have that little extra touch of “luxury” in the outer design and the seats inside. There are not many differences, but I do feel the N700-2000 and the N700-5000 are starting to feel a little dated, not that I don’t still find that charming, but nonetheless I’m happy that my sister and brother-in-law got the N700-7000 experience too (not just for comparison, but because it feels like it gives that bit more finesse as it were).
Getting off the train in Okayama, we caught the tram to the castle and Korakuen gardens. We saw the castle first. This was our first time inside a castle together, as we didn’t go all the way up the castle in Toyama due to choosing to go up the 360 observation deck instead. Also, Sammy and I only got to go in the castle in Kanazawa because the staff wouldn’t let Ellen and Michael in due to being “too late” (although they were like 30 seconds behind us). So, Okayama castle, even though it was a reconstruction, will always be special to us because all four of us went inside and to the top together. The fact it looks over Korakuen though, makes it a special castle regardless of course. We also enjoyed the castle because it wasn’t too big that it became overwhelming (like sometimes castles and museums do during a big trip).
Despite the great castle, the real highlight of Okayama, was Korakuen. As the title of this blog shows, this was the second of the great three feudal lord gardens that we got to see on this trip. The first of which was Kenrokuen in Kanazawa, (if you have not done so already, you can read about that in the blog before the last one/by clicking the back arrow at the bottom of the screen twice). Although Kenrokuen was stunning, I really preferred the vibe of Korakuen in Okayama. I honestly felt like, if I were a feudal lord, this garden would be the one I’d pick (if you excuse the crude analogy ha). The openness of the garden, along with the way the water was designed, made me feel at peace. I felt like, if I lived nearby, I would love to go to the garden every day so that I’d be able to learn every corner of it. I feel it would take years and years of daily visits to do so and, even then, with the change in the seasons, I just feel I’d never become bored. Japanese gardens really are a place where I feel my most content with life; they are designed impeccably and I love to appreciate all their beauty. Korakuen in Okayama was no exception.
Before jumping on the final N700 bullet train of the day, we did some souvenir shopping in Okayama. Peach and muscat grape flavoured treats surrounded us up to our ears that it was too hard to choose what would be best (particularly because I couldn’t try most of them because I don’t like grape-flavoured things and most of the peach things contained milk and/or soy). Next time we’re in the area though, I will hunt harder and longer. Maybe if we go in the summer when the peaches are in season, I will have more luck.
