There are some who have called me an alarmist or sensationalist when it comes to writing about all that’s happened since the March 11th earthquake/tsunami though I believe my writings to be mild compared to what’s really happening in the “truly affected” area. This post is only to highlight one of many new challenges that has turned adventure from 3/11.

It’s finally spring break in Japan. The week running up to it has been rough… Schools have had to balance the final weeks activities (graduation, grades, etc.) with fuel shortages, (threatened) power outages, and a concerned body of youth who never have experienced hardships on a scale like this. With spring break’s arrival however, it’s allowed me to travel with my neighbor Alex to Tokyo and beyond.

In a typical setting we would get on the Shinkansen (Bullet train) from Aomori or Hachinohe and take it down through Sendai to Tokyo then (for me) Hiroshima (to meet my GF in Shimane Pref.) all in an one day 8 hour train ride.

Except Sendai is broken.

So when recalculating our plans initially we thought it just wouldn’t happen, however cabin fever coupled with spotty services in our town (as a result of the challenges South in Touhoku) we decided to figure an alternative route. This is what JR East came up with for us:

So to explain the map: (if the kanji (漢字) show up as boxes go to View > Character Encoding > “Unicode – UTF-8” or “Japanese”)

Key: 青森- Aomori　秋田 – Akita　新潟 – Niigata　盛岡 – Morioka　東京 – Tokyo　仙台 – Sendai

Green lines are “doable” train routes

So if you see the map what Alex and I did was drive to a town and take a local train to Aomori. Then from Aomori (~10AM) we took the Tsugaru express train (A fast train that runs on local train tracks) to Akita (~12ish PM) then we transferred to A train from Akita to Niigata (4:30ish) where we spent the night. Then the next day took a MAX Double decker Bullet train from Niigata to Tokyo where I Alex got off, but I transferred to a Nozomi bullet train to Hiroshima (~4 hours) where service was running normal.

The trip went smoothly and both of us was surprised by the beautiful scenery of the Japanese Sea side (West side) of Japan all the way down. Add to that the nice town of Niigata where we met some locals, ate some good food, and enjoyed a night at a great hotel that had an onsen.

We’re still not done, just spending some much needed time with our loved ones. We’re hoping things get more back to normal before we have to go back. Mainly we’re hoping for the shinkansens to come back online. Also it’s important to note we’re on break till April 10th.

More to come…

~J out

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