16 October 2016
I was sad to be leaving the Lake Kawaguchico area, but Nagashima Spa Land was calling! We jumped on the first of many bullet trains, and they were like a fun park ride too! I don’t think you can really understand how fast they go until you are standing on the platform when one flies past.
We had to disembark at Nagoya, and then caught a local train to Kuwana. The onsite resorts at Nagashima were incredibly expensive, so we opted to stay 20 minutes away near the Kuwana station. The Kuwana Green Hotel was probably the least favourite of all our accommodation, and it was stuck in the middle of an industrial area which was a bit of a downer. With not much around to look at, my sister and I jumped straight on a bus to the Mitsui outlet park. This massive shopping district was right next door to the park, and it took a lot of self-control not to buy entry tickets right then and there, even though it was close to closing time. The coasters were talking to me….”come ride meeeeeeeeeee. Feel the forceeeeeeee.”
I was also pretty hungry at that point, so the food won out and Justine and I enjoyed an evening of shopping and eating instead. I wish we had time to see the flower and light displays, and the famous onsen hot spring, but we had only allowed one full day for Nagashima. We had a relatively restful night enjoying terrible but hilarious Japanese game shows on TV.
Justine was starting to show signs of fun park fatigue, and she just couldn’t do it anymore. No hard feelings, because she had experienced 3 parks which was a decent first attempt! It was Justine’s holiday too, so I was happy to see her doing stuff that she actually wanted to do, as opposed to stuff that I had bullied her into doing. So the next day, she went off to Osaka and I got back on the bus for a day of adrenaline!
How would I describe the theming of Nagashima? Peter Rabbit? Pokemon? Random characters I had never seen before? Who cares?! It was like the owners had said “stuff the theming, let’s just pack the place with rides.” What a marvellous decision! The pricing was a bit weird, because you could pay per ride. As there were around 40 attractions, it would cost a fortune if you went down that path. I ended up buying an unlimited rides ‘passport’ which was well worth it. I guess if you were a non-rider just paying to be a bag holder, it was probably a good deal!
I got to experience a couple of types of coasters I had never seen before, like a seriously old school free fall coaster called, ah, free fall. It was a clunky hot mess of metal, but the rush was far greater than what you would expect. Why invest in multimillion dollar coasters when you can put up something so simple and effective? Another novelty coaster I hadn’t seen before was the Ultra Twister. This was another compact coaster that fit in a nice little drop and a long barrel roll section, from the safety of an enclosed little capsule. It was bumpy as hell, but a definite step up from the boring old D. Wild Mouse around the corner.
I passed a construction site where I could see the foundations being laid for yet another coaster. I have since seen it on YouTube, and it is called Arashi. It looks like a 4D wing coaster, with seats that spin manically.
I had an uneventful turn on the Corkscrew which took me back to the 1980s. One of the coasters called the Shuttle Loop was closed, which was a shame because it looked like half a boomerang with a fast launch. As it wasn’t one of the major attractions I got over it pretty quickly. Two other coasters that don’t deserve much of a mention are the Looping Star and the Shuttle Coaster. Looping Star was a traditional enclosed train on a pretty ordinary track, and the Shuttle Coaster was similar to the mine rides. Right, now it was time to get down to business and get to the three main reasons I was there!
The longest steel roller coaster in the world was everything I had dreamed it would be! Steel Dragon 2000 packed a mighty punch, with one of the best drops I have been on, some great airtime hills, and just a wonderfully long and smooth track. The track actually spanned the length of the entire park. The coaster opened in 2000, which was the year of the dragon. This ended up being my favourite coaster of the whole trip, and as such I got well acquainted with the beautiful specimen!
I also really enjoyed the White Cyclone, the only wooden coaster at the park. It was not quite the same standard as some of the big woodies in the US, but held its own as the third longest wooden coaster in the world. I am sorry to say it has since closed. RIP White Cyclone, may you be rebuilt as a steel-wood hybrid like many others…
Last but by no means least, was Acrobat. I thought it looked familiar, and then it hit me…MANTA! I had freaking loved this coaster when I first rode it at SeaWorld Orlando, and here it was again – the nosebleed coaster! I have no idea why it was called Acrobat since it was clearly a manta ray, but it was still a most excellent flying coaster. They didn’t have on-ride photos, but they did have a stationary train where you could take a pic. Looks believable huh?
The variety of coasters was quite phenomenal, in addition to the huge range of carnival rides and play areas for kids. Once again I had the desire to go and play on the jumpy area, but it always feels too weird when I have no child to hide behind.
The Halloween vibe was strong again, and I was obviously thrilled that the lines were not overly long. I’m unsure if this is one of the lesser known fun parks for tourists in Japan, but it is definitely worth the journey!
I would have loved another day at the park, but our schedule was pretty tight and there was still so much to see. For people who have somewhat overdosed on rides, you will know the feeling of trying to sleep but your body is still in free fall. After a long night, we jumped back on the bullet train bound for Osaka.
Justine and I spent the afternoon shopping (again), this time at the longest arcade mall in the world. It was quite amazing at first, but I slowly developed an understanding of what my sister must have felt when the rides and lines at the fun parks just kept on going. 2.6kms of shops, and I was over it about half way through. I didn’t think that there was anything unique about the shops and what they were selling, but it was certainly unique in its painful length. I tried to avoid shopping after that day.
It was really lovely to settle in to our final hotel for 5 nights. We could unpack properly, the room was a lot more spacious than previous hotels, and the location was brilliant. Not only were we right next to the train station, we were also right next to McDonalds. I had been wanting to try the Halloween fries (with chocolate and strawberry/pumpkin sauce) since I had arrived in Japan. My advice? Don’t do it. Justine and I spent the night learning how to make paper cranes in preparation for our trip to Hiroshima the next day.
I reckon going from a fun park to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is probably one of the biggest mood deflators once can experience. It was terribly sad, and I had to hold it together at the child’s bicycle and lunch box which had been burnt, knowing what the outcome would have been for the owner. Part of the museum was closed for redevelopment, but there were just so many different memorials to look at that we ran out of time. It was quite surreal to see the place where an atomic bomb was dropped, because if it wasn’t for the ruins of the A bomb dome, you would never know the destruction that the city once faced. It was beautifully landscaped, had a peaceful atmosphere, and the locals were really friendly.
I loved the local school kids in their brightly coloured hats and neatly tucked in uniforms. They were keen to interact and share their knowledge of English. I enjoyed one of the little trams that was decorated in honour of the local baseball team who had just won the championships. Good job Hiroshima!
We jumped on the ferry to Miyajima which was an activity that was not on our list originally. I am so glad we went, as it was a fantastic area. As you got closer to the island, the O-torii (floating) gate came in to view.
There were plenty of wild deer around to pat, and I enjoyed watching them steal food from tourists – aggressive buggers (the deer that is…) If I had my time again, I would have arranged to stay at Miyajima for a couple of days. There were so many great walks, huge amounts of shops and markets, lots of shrines, and the whole place had a friendly village vibe to it. It was a massive day of travel, and I was thankful once again that we had arranged JR travel passes prior to our trip.
Roller Coaster Ramble 