Day 15: Trip to Japan (18 April 2010)

The weather on this day was better. It wasn't cold as it was cool. It made for a refreshing change, and suited well for our trip to Nagaoka. Nagaoka is about 270 km to the north-west of Tokyo, and is located in the Niigata Prefecture. This is the furthest north that I would be in this trip to Japan.

Before leaving for Nagaoka, we checked out of the Shinjuku Washington Hotel and checked in at the Imperial Hotel located at Chiyoda-ku. This was because we will be joined by another five from Yayasan Ilmuwan. They would be arriving from Hiroshima later that evening.

After checking in, we took a train from Yurakucho eki to Tokyo eki. There, we boarded the 09:28 MAX (Multi Amenity Express) Toki Express shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagaoka. What is unique about the MAX Toki Express shinkansen is that it is a double-decker shinkansen. The shinkansen journey takes about 1 hour 38 minutes, with brief stops at Ueno, Omiya, Echigo-Yuzawa and Urasa stations.

The view on the way to Nagaoka is picturesque. The mountains are still covered in snow. There are paddy fields along the shinkansen tracks. Perhaps there is something special about the rural life in Japan. It gives a certain degree of calmness as compared to the hectic life of Tokyo or other big cities.

Upon arrival at Nagaoka, we headed by taxi to Yukyuzan Park (picture above) where the Malaysian community there was having their hanami. There was nearly 70 Malaysians who were there. After meeting up with the students, we took the 15:24 Max Toki Express shinkansen back to Tokyo, with brief stops at Echigo-Yuzawa, Takasaki, Omiya and Ueno before arriving at our destination at four past five.

We then took the train to Yurakucho which is the nearest to the hotel. The rest of Yayasan Ilmuwan's delegation arrived at the hotel a couple of hours later. Later, we had dinner at the Aladdin restaurant located at Roppongi at Minato-ku.