From Saitama through Tokyo to Hakodate, Hokkaido, 1 September 2025
Now at last I'm here in Hakodate, Hokkaido, which I've longed to visit for twenty years. Yeah, I even wish I could live here for the rest of my life, but unfortunately I'll stay here for only two days and return home on the afternoon of the 3rd because I'll have no choice but to get a new job once I'm back in the Greater Tokyo Area. But what a traveler I have become this year! I really can't help thanking our heavenly Father for it. Without Him, it must have been completely impossible.
At 6:00 a.m.
At 6:20 a.m. The fastest bullet train in Japan, it can run as fast as 320 km/h.
At 6:22 a.m. Inside the 1st-class car. It was for the first time in my life that I was seated here. So luxurious that I felt as if I were somebody.
At 7:19 a.m. The bottle itself is so small, but - beware! - its content (50 ml of cognac) is so strong as to knock you down if you aren't careful enough. So I emptied only one bottle of it this time. What about next time? More than two bottles of it? That depends. Basically I wouldn't do such a thing, but if the Jewish beauty had been seated next and asked me to do so especially for her, then I'd be very happy to grant her request. As it turned out, the seat next to mine was vacant all the way from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate Hokuto.
At 7:21 a.m. A glass of cognac on the rocks. What a drunkard I am! Yeah, I'm very happy to admit that I am one, but it must also be added that the attendant probably just found me to be a good passenger worthy of being seated there. But how can I say that? You can just guess.
At 10:56 a.m.
At 10:55 a.m.
At 10:58 a.m. Great job, my dear bullet train. See you on the 3rd.
At 11:27 a.m. At long last!
At 11:27 a.m. There's something very nostalgic about the front of this local train.
At 11:56 a.m. The sea urchin served here (Uni no Murakami) is so delicious and expensive (over ¥10,000)! A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Yeah, eat sea urchin in Hakodate and then die. Why not give it a try if you can afford it?
At 12:33 p.m.
At 2:13 p.m. It would be very nice to live in a place like this.
At 2:23 p.m. I found a seagull resting on the beach. He seems to be enjoying himself. God bless him.